HRH PRINCE WILLIAM, MARY ROBINSON, ADAM MCKAY, KATY MILKMAN, IMOGEN HEAP AND MORE JOIN THE LINE-UP FOR NEW AUDIBLE ORIGINAL PODCAST, CLIMATE OF CHANGE WITH CATE BLANCHETT AND DANNY KENNEDY

Launching today, the series showcases the ground-breaking work being done around the world to tackle the biggest environmental challenges facing humankind

LONDON – April, Thursday 14^th 2022 – Audible, a world-wide leader of spoken-word entertainment, has today announced a line-up of inspirational innovators, activists and thought leaders, including His Royal Highness Prince William, Mary Robinson, Adam McKay, Katy Milkman, Imogen Heap, Rutger Bregman, Jeraiza Molina, Agamemnon Otero, Becky Paisley and more, as part of the Audible Original podcast series, Climate of Change with Cate Blanchett and Danny Kennedy, launching exclusively on Audible today. 

Across six episodes, listeners will hear long-term friends, award-winning actor, producer and environmental advocate, Cate Blanchett and climate entrepreneur and activist, Danny Kennedy, explore eco-anxiety and optimism. Leaning into Danny’s experience in clean energy, the pair raise awareness of the emerging technological revolution that’s offering hope in the face of the unfolding climate crisis. Throughout the series, Cate and Danny speak directly to visionaries and trendsetters who are making innovative strides to turn the tide on climate change, from the Navajo Nation in Arizona to the Australian Outback.

Prince William joins Cate and Danny in Episode 2 “The Disruptive Decade” to give an exclusive update about his ambitious Earthshot Prize since the first winners were announced last year. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental Prize and platform to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking eco-solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. A special extended cut of Prince William’s interview in Episode 2 is available to listen to on YouTube where His Royal Highness discusses the positive innovations the Prize has already highlighted and the progress being made to support and scale their global impact. 

Joining the wider Climate of Change line-up of guests are other recognisable names, including Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up); Grammy award-winning electronic music artist Imogen Heap, who composed the soundtrack to the series alongside biologist, wildlife television presenter & documentary filmmaker Dan O’Neill; and founder of the Green Carpet Challenge, filmmaker and environmental and social justice activist Livia Firth. All three join Cate and Danny in the final episode of the series “Culture of Change”, which spotlights film and the wider arts, to ask how the industry can really make a difference through storytelling and beyond. 

Listeners can also expect to hear from some of today’s most important climate crisis thinkers, including social historian Rutger Bregman (Humankind: A Hopeful History), former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, and author and professor, Katy Milkman (Behaviour Change for Good). Climate of Change also travels to the Navajo Nation in Arizona to uncover how renewables are helping systematic problems in the region; to the Atacama Salt Flats in Chile, where lithium extraction is wreaking havoc; and to Australia where ground-breaking Drone Stringing technology is seeking to transform the lives of many without access to power. 

And when it comes to practical innovations on the ground, UK listeners will discover pioneering work being done on home soil, where initiatives in Sunderland and Cornwall have joined the frontline of the fight, thanks to the UK’s first Gigafactory and the reignition of sustainable mining for minerals used in rechargeable batteries. Providing insight and conversation that explores the psychological and the practical, Climate of Change celebrates the ground-breaking work being done across the globe.

Co-hosts and co-creators of Climate of Change, Cate Blanchett and Danny Kennedy said: “Climate innovations are disrupting how the world operates in incredible ways, but this progress is not yet fast enough, nor is it spread equally around the world. We already have a lot of the technology we need – like solar and batteries – to keep the world under 1.5˚C and stave off the worst impacts of climate change. What we need now are more climate innovators all around the world coming up with bundles of solutions and spreading them at speed. That’s why we’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on some of these innovators in this podcast.”

The Audible Original podcast was created and produced by Dirty Films, in association with StoryHunter, for Audible. The podcast is available to listen to now exclusively at http://www.audible.co.uk/climateofchange 

For more information, please contact Camilla Mosley at Audible, cammosc@audible.co.uk 

Episode Descriptions

Episode 1: “The Sooner the Better” finds our hosts and long-time friends Cate Blanchett and Danny Kennedy talking about Cate’s eco-anxiety and we learn why Danny is ever-the-optimist. We get advice from former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson about how to become “prisoners of hope”.  Social historian Rutger Bregman tells us why we should be more positive about humankind and we travel to The Philippines to meet entrepreneur Jeraiza Molina who is bringing clean energy to night fisherfolk.

Episode 2: “The Disruptive Decade” Cate and Danny chat with HRH Prince William about his ambitious Earthshot Prize and hear about some of the ground-breaking solutions from the 2021 Earthshot Finalists and Winners. Other guests include economic thought leader and author Tony Seba and Agamemnon Otero, who is transforming communities and train platforms across London.

Episode 3: Cate and Danny explore the “Collective Urge” to harness the power of the sun over the ages. Navajo Power is using utility scale solar to give the Navajo Nation access to electricity and an economic future in their native lands.  We pick apart how solar energy generation may be a force for social good if we can embrace change.

Episode 4: In “Collective Action” Cate and Danny meet some of the innovators changing the way we use, move and store energy. And author and inventor Saul Griffith leads the call to ‘electrify everything’ in order to build back better.

Episode 5: Ever heard the phrase “Boring as Batteries”? Danny will attempt to convince Cate that batteries are the lynchpin of our future fairer planet, and at the heart of a global renewable revolution.

Episode 6:  Cate’s beloved film industry comes under the spotlight in “Culture of Change” as she and Danny delve into the role the creative arts play when telling the story of climate change. Can films, literature, art, fashion and music really make a difference? They speak to director Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up), artist Luke Jerram (Gaia), fashion activist Livia Firth and musician Imogen Heap.

Full series guest list and contributors:

• Mary Robinson – Former president of Ireland and currently Chair of Nelson Mandela’s “Elders” – Ireland
• Rutger Bregman – Social historian and author of Humankind: A Hopeful History – Netherlands
• Jeraiza Molina – Co-founder of Shiftech Marine, Philippines (NB English v/o to be re-recorded) – Mindanao
• Prince William – Earthshot Prize finalists and winner updates from:
  • Vidyut Mohan, Co-founder and CEO, Takachar (India)
  • Olugbenga Olubanjo, CEO, Reeddi (Nigeria)
  • Dr Katherine Dafforn, Co-leader, Living Seawalls (Australia)
• Tony Seba – thought leader, academic and author of Clean Disruption of Energy & Transportation
• Energy Gardens – tackling fuel poverty with renewables and democratizing the energy system – London
• Andrew Birch – Solar expert, founder of solar design software OpenSolar – Devon
• Navajo Power – Clean energy on tribal lands, SW USA
• Katy Milkman – Behavior Change for Good Initiative – Expert on the scientific methods could change behavior around climate crisis
• OhmConnect – Residential energy demand response company, California
• Infravision – Drone power line stringing, providing energy to hard-to-reach places, based in Australia 
• Renewell – Transforming abandoned oil wells and fracking sites across the US
• Saul Griffith – Thought leader, founder of Rewiring America and author of Electrify Everything, San Francisco
• Thea Riofrancas – Political science Professor, focusing on resource extraction in Chile
• Owen Mihalop, Cornish Mining – low impact mining 
• Becky Paisley, Cornish Lithium – extracting high grade lithium to fuel green tec
• Sunderland, Gigafactories – battery production at an enormous scale and job generation
• Kari Estrevag, Hydrovolt – Electric car battery recycling, Norway
• Imogen Heap – Music artist, composer and producer and created soundtrack for Climate of Change
• Dan O’Neill – Wildlife television presenter & documentary filmmaker
• Luke Jerram – Multi- disciplinary artist, creator of Gaia
• Livia Firth – Founder of the Green Carpet Challenge
• Adam McKay – Film director “Don’t Look Up”

About Audible

Audible, an Amazon company, is a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day.  Audible.co.uk content includes more than 700,000 audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals. Audible has millions of members around the world who subscribe to one of 10 localised services designed for customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US. Audible members download nearly 4 billion hours of content annually and listen across a wide range of supported devices.

About Dirty Films

Dirty Films is an independent film, television and podcast production company, whose partners are Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. The company has a first look deal with FX Productions for television projects, and with New Republic Pictures for feature films. Dirty Films executive produced Christos Nikou’s APPLES, which was named one of 2020’s Best International Films by the National Board of Review. It was also Greece’s official submission for the Best International Feature for the Academy Awards. Blanchett and Francini produced the 10-time EMMY-nominated MRS AMERICA for FX, which was named one of 2020’s Best Television Shows by the American Film Institute. Dirty Films also produced the 13-time AACTA-winning series STATELESS for Netflix, which Blanchett also co-created, in addition to executive producing the feature documentary BURNING from director Eva Orner for Amazon. Other film credits include CAROL, TRUTH, LITTLE FISH, and THE TURNING. Upcoming film projects include: A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN with director Pedro Almodovar; THE CHAMPIONS with director Ben Stiller; and QUEEN BITCH AND THE HIGH HORSE with Directors Bert and Bertie.

About Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett is an internationally acclaimed, Academy award-winning actor, producer, artistic director, and humanitarian. She is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and a lifetime member of the Australian Conservation Foundation. Blanchett is also a strong supporter of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and received a Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos for her work with UNHCR. In 2012, Blanchett was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. She has presided over the festival juries in Cannes (2018) and Venice (2020). She has received Honorary Doctorates of Letters from the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, and Macquarie University as well as the Companion of the Order of Australia in the General Division in recognition of her continued advocacy for the arts as well as humanitarian and environmental causes. Currently, Blanchett is in pre-production for the Apple series “Disclaimer” directed by Alfonso Cuaron, in which she will star and executive produce. Most recently, Blanchett wrapped production for the Todd Field-directed feature TAR, in which she will also star and executive produce, as well as Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO for Netflix. She can now be seen starring in Guillermo Del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY for Searchlight Pictures, as well as Adam McKay’s film for Netflix, DON’T LOOK UP. Alongside Andrew Upton (with whom she was co-CEO and Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 – 2014), she is the co-Founder and Principal of film and television production company Dirty Films.

About Danny Kennedy 

Danny Kennedy is the CEO of New Energy Nexus (NEX), the world’s leading ecosystem of funds and accelerators supporting diverse clean energy entrepreneurs. Since 2004, NEX has accelerated over 600 clean energy startups, supported over 3000 entrepreneurs, and leveraged over US$1.5 billion in investment. NEX started in Silicon Valley and now operates in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda and the USA – a global clean energy solutions movement.

Danny is also Managing Director of the California Clean Energy Fund, and is an advisor to clean energy companies in Australia, China, Kenya, the Philippines, USA and elsewhere. Danny co-founded Sungevity, a solar pioneer in 2007, was the first backer of now US$6 billion solar loan provider Mosaic in 2011, and an author of a book on rooftop solar. He speaks regularly to media and at major conferences, and is co-host with Cate Blanchett of Climate of Change on Audible.