Joining the dots with youth activist Jamie Margolin

A Huck podcast — Joining The Dots is a Huck podcast. In the latest episode, we talk to climate activist Jamie Margolin about growing up in Trump's America.

At the age of just eighteen Jamie Margolin has already had quite the impact. The Seattle-based activist is the co-founder of Zero Hour, an organisation for youth to organise against the lack of action being taken by officials across the world in the face of the climate crisis, and last year was one of a number of plaintiffs involved in suing Governor Jay Inslee and the State of Washington over carbon emissions in the state.

Jamie’s writing on the climate crisis has appeared on CNN and HuffPost and now she is releasing a book, Youth to Power: The Power of Your Voice and How to Use It. The book is a guide to making change aimed at her contemporaries, the much-courted Generation Z. Jamie writes about those around her, at once empowered and embattled by social media, constantly negotiating burnout, exhaustion and cynicism. But she also speaks of their ability to harness anger as an energy — a force that, used correctly, can motor tangible change.  

In our latest episode of the Joining the Dots podcast, Jamie joins us to discuss growing up a climate activity in Trump’s America, all the while a concerned parent hovers off-camera insisting that it’s time for lights out. It is, after all, the early hours in the Pacific Northwest.

On The Power of Your Voice and How to Use It

“The book is a guide to being a young organiser for any cause. It’s the guide book I would have given my younger self when she was starting to get involved, trying to organise and be an activist, and trying to take the action where I could… It was definitely an unconventional book releasing experience. There was no tour that we had planned or anything, because of Coronavirus, and then also it came out during a time of mass protest, where I live and all over the world. So I had to be very mindful and respectful of that as well. It has been very unconventional, but I am really glad that I have put it out into the world.”

On growing up in a time of perpetual crisis

“There has never been a time in my life where it didn’t feel like there was a crisis, but there was definitely a time where it didn’t feel so terrifyingly urgent. Right now it just feels like disaster after disaster, after disaster, after disaster. In my personal experience, there has always been urgency on the climate crisis.  I was never under the illusion that everything was ok. But the result of the 2016 American election… it was an absolute trash fire that really flung me into the political atmosphere.  I have been non-stop advocating for justice ever since.”

On Generation Z and burnout

“My generation definitely has a lot of anger, but I think we also have a lot of exhaustion and burn out. We receive a constant influx of bad news. You scroll through Twitter, and there is bad news, bad news, bad news, a video of this, a personal account of this. But obviously this is also such an amazing tool to create change and organise protests… We are angry but we are also exhausted… I feel like our generation is inheriting the culmination of so many issues that have been going on for so long.”

On being an ‘American Teenager’

“I never really was an American teenager. Obviously I am American, and I was born in this country, but my experience is different from the typical White Anglo Saxon Protestant teenagers you see on TV. Also I just never had that care-free, idealistic attitude, I have just been working really hard all the time. Climate change and all the activism that I have done has robbed a lot from me, but also the Coronavirus. Coronavirus made it so that I didn’t even have a graduation ceremony or a Prom.”

On American Exceptionalism

“Americans don’t pay attention to other countries’ politics. There are many American politicians who brag about having never left the country, or speaking one language as if being ignorant to the world around you and only having one language and all these things is something to be proud of. This exceptionalism… it’s almost like a cult.”

You can find out more about Jamie’s work by following her on Twitter and Instagram. Youth to Power: The Power of Your Voice and How to Use It is available to buy now.

Listen to Joining the Dots on acastSpotifyApple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to subscribe to get each new episode delivered straight to your feed.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


Ad

Latest on Huck

Elderly man with glasses, white hair, and suit; young woman with long brown hair playing electric guitar on stage in green jacket.
Activism

Bernie Sanders introduces Clairo at Coachella, urging young Americans to “stand up for justice”

Coachella charmed — The Vermont Senator praised the singer-songwriter for her efforts in raising awareness of women’s rights issues and Gaza.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Vans

The Changing Face Of Brooklyn, New York’s Most Colourful Borough

After three decades spent capturing stories around the world, Magnum Photographer Alex Webb finally decided to return home to Brooklyn – a place that champions chaos, diversity and community spirit.

Written by: Alex Webb / Magnum Photos

Black and white image of subway carriage interior with sleeping man seated on bench
Culture

The mundane bliss of New York’s subways in the ’70s

NYC Passengers 1976-1981 — During a very different decade in NYC, which bounced between rich creativity and sketchiness, photographer Joni Sternbach captured the idiosyncratic isolation found on its rail networks.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A man playing a guitar whilst a horse stands beside him in a rocky, moonlit landscape.
Music

Analogue Appreciation: lullahush

Ithaca — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. Today, it’s Irish retro-futurist lullahush.

Written by: lullahush

Two people of unidentified gender intimately embracing and kissing on a bed.
Culture

Spyros Rennt captures connection and tenderness among Berlin’s queer youth

Intertwined — In the Greek photographer’s fourth photobook, he lays out spreads of togetherness among his friends and the German capital’s LGBTQ+ party scene.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Surfers against sewage protest box floating in water with people swimming around it.
© Alex Brown / Surfers Against Sewage
Sport

The rebellious roots of Cornwall’s surfing scene

100 years of waveriding — Despite past attempts to ban the sport from beaches, surfers have remained as integral, conservationist presences in England’s southwestern tip. A new exhibition in Falmouth traces its long history in the area.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.