Hi,

Last week I kicked off a series of deeply personal profiles that provide intimate access to the lives of key figures in the climate movement.

is helping to draft the Green New Deal – the most radically progressive climate policy the US has seen in decades. He’s also a brilliant writer and activist on Indigenous issues. And, as I learned, his life story is fascinating.

What I didn’t say in the NoiseCat profile was this style of interview is a direct consequence of what I’ve already learned in my time at The Correspondent. It’s my latest effort to be more transparent and collaborative as a journalist and cut the carbon footprint of my reporting process. 

And I think it worked. Julian’s vulnerability came through in this profile. The best part was the conversation I had with his mother (while the power was out due to wildfire threat) about what it was like to raise a kid who was in love with learning. There was a humanising quality to asking Julian about his childhood hopes, fears, and obsessions. All this gave me a window into his world that felt rare and precious. In the midst of this climate emergency, I firmly believe that the more we realise the people we look up to are just like us, the more we understand our own power to change everything.

Here’s the concrete steps I developed, which are still a bit of a work in progress. I’ll continue to practise these for the rest of the profiles in my interview series: 

  1. In addition to interviewing the subject themselves, I request intimate access to key people in their life as an experiment in low-carbon journalism. I don’t fly except in extreme cases, and unless they happen to be passing through Minnesota, I can’t travel to spend a few days in person with people I’m profiling. Talking to key people in the subject’s life helps me gain a fuller understanding of what motivates them without being physically present. The telephone and internet are marvellous inventions, and I think journalists should use them more!
  2. Collaboration during the editing process. By letting the main subject review the profile in its entirety to check for factual errors and expand on the intention behind specific quotes, I am co-creating the interview without giving up editorial integrity.
  3. An open dialogue with members after publication. I invite the subject to join in a conversation with The Correspondent’s members on the platform and ask that they extend this invitation to their friends and family. This is not new, but it’s a key part of a spirit of collaborative transparency we intend to do with all intimate profiles.

Doing these steps might not be possible in every instance, and it involves a lot of trust on everyone’s part. But it’s already helping me think very differently about people who I’ve long looked up to in the climate movement, as well as myself as a journalist. It’s an example that – when it works – gives a glimpse into the kind of future I’m excited about.

PS If you know someone who you think would be a fascinating person to profile in this way, please let me know!