Less than 1% of climate media coverage talks about solutions. Jacob Simon is working to change that.

Jacob trained as a pairs figure skater and spent five years on Team USA chasing the Olympics, until a dislocated shoulder ended his career overnight. Out of that loss he found a new path. A college newsletter of positive climate headlines grew into a full-time career, and today he spends half of every day hunting for what’s going right in the world and sharing it with millions.

Anne Therese and Jacob talk about why doom and gloom freezes us instead of moving us, and how negativity bias and the algorithm keep bad news on top. They get into solarpunk, the vision of “growing a beautiful new world in the cracks of the old one.” Jacob shares the “everyday heroes” behind his new series Hope Makers, some of the 16,000 new species discovered every year, and how skating taught him that change comes in inches.

It’s a conversation about agency, fulfillment and imagining the future we actually want, because we can’t build what we can’t picture first.

Find Jacob at @JacobSimonSays on all platforms and YouTube, and sign up for his newsletter at thehopemakers.org.

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Hey Change is a space for the conversations shaping a better future — where climate, culture, systems, and human potential meet. Hosted by Anne Therese Gennari

Website: annetheresegennari.com

Instagram: @heychangepodcast

Instagram: @annetheresegennari

YouTube: @AnneThereseGennariHeyChange

Proudly produced by Good Mess Media

Website: goodmessmedia.com

Instagram: @goodmessmedia

Music: Jackson Whalan

Website: www.heychangepodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heychange_podcast/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeP1VPMQbXP13C-r4re_HUg

Host: https://www.instagram.com/annetheresegennari/

Music produced by Jackson Whalan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate Week in New York brought Dax Dasilva back to Hey Change, fresh off the release of Yanuni, the documentary following Indigenous leader Juma Xipaia's frontline fight for the Amazon, which has already drawn millions of views on YouTube.

Dax and I talk about why the film is resonating, what it means to truly listen in a world built on distraction, and how a few minutes of urban nature can reset a whole day. He also shares what it was like to spend the last two years of Jane Goodall's life alongside her, the simple joy she carried through heavy work, and why she made everyone she met feel seen.

From there, the conversation turns to hope in action: the Phoenix Species Project, the effort to recover 100 of the world's most threatened species, and why Dax believes grassroots, Indigenous-led conservation is where real change happens. We also get into his new season of life, from leaving and returning to Lightspeed to taking up meditation, and what his 20-year-old self would tell him today (spoiler: get out of the club).

Plus, a story about drinking river water in the Amazon that we're not letting him live down.

You can also listen to this episode on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/431zgXOdb9fVUkLpBMc0kf?si=960de61a2e354cf9

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hey-change-podcast/id1221250672

Or wherever you listen to podcasts! If you like this episode, please hit like and subscribe for more!

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About Hey Change:

Hey Change is a space for the conversations shaping a better future — where climate, culture, systems, and human potential meet. Hosted by Anne Therese Gennari

Website: annetheresegennari.com

Instagram: @heychangepodcast

Instagram: @annetheresegennari

YouTube: @AnneThereseGennariHeyChange

Proudly produced by Good Mess Media

Website: goodmessmedia.com

Instagram: @goodmessmedia

Music: Jackson Whalan

Website: www.heychangepodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heychange_podcast/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeP1VPMQbXP13C-r4re_HUg

Host: https://www.instagram.com/annetheresegennari/

Music produced by Jackson Whalan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Every culture is sustained by the stories it repeats. Every institution is reinforced by the stories it rewards.”

Our guest today has spent two decades at the front lines of that realization — tracking how narrative doesn't just reflect our world, but actively constructs our power, our policy, and our future.

Melissa Jun Rowley is an award-winning journalist, activist, and a true veteran of the intersection where social innovation meets tech. From the red carpets of the Grammys to the high-stakes floors of the New York Stock Exchange—and even the zero-gravity chambers of NASA—she has reported for CNN, the BBC, The Guardian, and many more. She’s taken the global stage at Davos and the UN, and received numerous awards and accolades for her incredible work bridging the gap between digital tools and human rights.

Today, we talk about the true power stories hold and how we allow them to, not just inform, but empower us. We also get into her new book, Beyond the Mic Drop: How Our Stories Shift Culture, Power, and Policy, which is a beautiful roadmap for claiming our own narratives in an age of information overload.

She’s also a friend and a vital voice in the climate space—Melissa, it is such an honor to have you here. Welcome to Hey Change.

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About Hey Change:

Hey Change is a space for the conversations shaping a better future — where climate, culture, systems, and human potential meet. Hosted by Anne Therese Gennari

Website: annetheresegennari.com

Instagram: @heychangepodcast

Instagram: @annetheresegennari

YouTube: @AnneThereseGennariHeyChange

Proudly produced by Good Mess Media

Website: goodmessmedia.com

Instagram: @goodmessmedia

Music: Jackson Whalan

Website: www.heychangepodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heychange_podcast/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeP1VPMQbXP13C-r4re_HUg

Host: https://www.instagram.com/annetheresegennari/

Music produced by Jackson Whalan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.