Michelle talks to Ashley Ward, director of Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub, to discuss why extreme heat has been overlooked and how it is changing, especially in the Southeast. Explore Ashley Ward’s work at Duke’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub and push local leaders and organizations to prioritize heat safety, affordability, and infrastructure resilience now.

03:07 How Ashley Got Into Heat

07:36 Why Heat Gets Ignored

28:11 Staying Cool Without AC

34:12 Finding Hope and Momentum

37:05 Infrastructure Under Heat Stress

40:25 More Heat Songs and Climate Stick

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Host Michelle Lewis interviews Amberly Dyer of the Rodanthe Waves and Salvo Civic Association about their fourth annual Earth Day event in Rodanthe, which began as a free, neighbor-connecting plant swap tied to litter pickup and has grown to include live music, community organizations, master gardeners, native plant giveaways from a regional grower, and a low-cost raffle—while avoiding vendors to keep it pressure-free. They discuss gardening successes and frustrations (herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, cold-weather crops, companion planting, and pests), the value of simple, consistent community engagement beyond social media, and how gardens help build relationships and shared leadership for longevity. Amberly shares that people—especially young people—give her hope, and she would use a “climate stick” to push better solutions for the power and water impacts of large data/AI centers on marginalized communities. Website: rwscivicassociation.org.

00:00 Meet Amberly Dyer

01:40 Why an Earth Day Event

03:44 Plant Swap and Gardening

04:50 Cold Crops and Garden Hacks

06:56 Favorite Plants and Pest Battles

10:03 Community Engagement Advice

12:30 Gardens Build Community

16:45 Growing Earth Day Bigger

17:34 Native Plants and Local Partners

19:32 When Events Really Connect

21:07 Start Local Gatherings

25:20 Herbs And Gut Health

27:21 Heat Tolerant Varieties

29:23 Container Gardening Basics

33:26 Earth Day Every Day

35:16 Climate Stick Data Centers

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Host Michelle Lewis talks with Sherryl Durrant, resident garden manager and community lead at Kelly Street Garden in the South Bronx, about her shift from corporate work to nearly 20 years in community gardening after the 2008 economic collapse and training at Farm School NYC. Sherryl describes Kelly Street Garden’s history tied to housing activism after the “decade of fire,” its small 8,000-square-foot footprint, and its programming around culturally relevant food, health, education, art, and mental wellness. She emphasizes learning from community knowledge, the politics of poverty, and practical advice for new growers—volunteer, learn from elders, and follow seasonal timing. They discuss youth transformation through gardening, collaborative growing that increased harvests from about 600 to nearly 1,800 pounds, a community apothecary of herbs, and Sherryl’s hope in collective community, plus her “climate wand” vision for greener, more livable cities.

01:28 From Corporate to Soil

04:23 Kelly Street Garden Origins

12:01 Advice for New Growers

15:28 Youth Transformation and STEM

20:02 Okra Love and Food Culture

20:50 Finding Hope in Community

23:21 Growing Together and Big Harvests

25:52 Climate Stick

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