Fighting Climate Change with Storytelling: Julian Aguon

"If climate change is the fight of our lives, we cannot win that fight by way of facts.” Julian Aguon is a CHamoru Indigenous human right lawyer from Guam and author of the essay “To Hell with Drowning,” which was published in The Atlantic and nominated for a Pulitzer Award in 2021. Alice Walker said this of Julian’s soon-to-be-released memoir-manifesto, No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: “Its fierce love—of the land, the ocean, the elders, and the ancestors—warms the heart and moves the spirit.” Julian talked with Seedcast producer Felipe Contreras about the importance of storytelling in activism, the longstanding effects of colonialism, and why it’s essential for Islanders to add their unique voices to the fight against climate change. Also included is Felipe Contreras’ reflections on his own Puerto Rican heritage in the wake of the most recent hurricane, a shout out to Bad Bunny, and a preview of what kinds of conversations could be in store at November’s U.N. global gathering in Egypt, COP27.

Producer and Host: Felipe Contreras. Story Editor: Jenny Asarnow

Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.
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