Keep up with the latest news by listening to these political podcasts.

We’re all super busy, but now more than ever it is critical to keep up on what is going on in the world. While Twitter and Facebook can be part of where you get your news, they should not be your only sources. That’s where political podcasts come in. While some news is the breaking kind, most of us can benefit from a deeper look at the latest news. Political podcasts can provide a way for busy folks to get that much deeper analysis.

You can listen to political podcasts while commuting, working out, or doing housework. And lest you think all political podcasts are dry and boring, think again. The podcast world is full of hilarious shows that manage to deliver deeper examination of the world’s news with levity.

Listen to these podcasts with your favorite podcatcher (Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, and others).

7 Political Podcasts

1. Pod Save America

A self-proclaimed no bull podcast for people not yet ready to give up or go insane. Hosted by former President Obama staffers, this pod is full of current events with a definitive irreverent approach.

2. Reveal

A deeper podcast revealing the hidden stories from our world. Produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting with the mission to engage and empower the public through investigative journalism and groundbreaking storytelling.

3. FiveThirtyEight

The “FiveThirtyEight” podcast is for people who want to know about the numbers. Each week, the pod breaks down that week’s news topics using polling analysis.

4. Radio Atlantic

“Radio Atlantic” is a new podcast produced by The Atlantic magazine. This podcast translates the thoughtful news commentary found in the magazine into weekly conversations with leading journalists and thinkers to make sense of the history happening all around us.

5. On The Media

“On the Media” looks at current events through the lens of the media. It is a thoughtful and insightful podcast that will help you become a more informed media user. It is definitely one of the top podcasts you should be listening to.

6. The New Washington

Much like “Radio Atlantic,” this is another new Trump-era podcast. It’s a new interview series from “The Daily,” which is a daily news podcast from The New York Times. “The New Washingtonian” will take you inside Trump’s Washington with interviews from the political characters you want to hear from most.

7. Lovett It or Leave It

Produced by Crooked Media, the same people who produce “Pod Save America,” this podcast is for those who want a lot of snark in their political podcasts. Recorded each week in front of a live audience, this podcast features regular games like the “Rant Wheel” and “Too Stupid to be Congress”.

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Privilege can be one of the most difficult, complicated subjects to talk about these days. I’ll be the first to admit that learning about my own privileged status has been a process for me. It’s an ongoing one.

Here’s an un-fun confession: I’ve been the person in the room who needs to check their privilege but has no idea what that means (and so looks like a jerk). I’ve gotten into heated conversations that didn’t end well. Now, embarrassingly enough, I know that I was on the wrong end of many of those conversations.

Before I began to understand my own privileged status, I had a series of difficult conversations with many close friends. What I noticed during these conversations was that there were two approaches: One type of person talks about privilege in a way that is aggressive and accusatory. Essentially, they say, “You have privilege.” The other type of person does something really interesting and simple: They don’t use the word privilege at all.

For me, this was the type of person who was able to reach me and ultimately teach me to accept and acknowledge my own privileged status. While this way takes more time and can be frustrating, I recommend it. It worked with me, and I’ve seen it work with other people.

Here’s how to teach someone about privilege in three simple steps, from someone who had to be taught about hers.

Step One: Don’t use the word privilege.

You’ve been educated about your privileged status, and that in itself is a form of privilege. Understand this when you approach a conversation with someone who hasn’t had access to the same education.

On the face of it, privilege can sound like something very different to someone who doesn’t know the higher, academic definition of the word. This is especially true for poor whites (see this story for a good example). I was a teenager when I heard the word used politically for the first time. And as an average white suburbanite, being told I was privileged sounded absurd to me. To me, being privileged meant owning a yacht or living in a mansion or getting to leave the country for a vacation. How could I be privileged when I couldn’t afford a college education, a car, or basic freedoms?

I also struggled to understand my status because I had already faced my own lack of privilege numerous times. For example, the day I trained a new hire at my first job, my boss put him “in charge” of me. She also paid him more. I’d worked there for two years. Privileged? Me? No way.

You’ll see this reaction a lot with people who don’t understand the word in the political sense: They only see their lack of privilege. Calling them out on something they don’t think they have will never work.

Step Two: Acknowledge their struggles and ways they may lack privilege.

When you’re in a bad financial situation, you lack financial privilege. When you’re a certain race, religion, gender, or sexuality, you lack privilege as well. Privilege takes on many forms, and we all have varying levels of it based on these complicated, overlapping, and interacting factors. A perfect privilege calculator would take these – and countless other factors – into account. As mere humans, we have to consider all of these complications when trying to explain the concept to someone. We have to acknowledge that someone may understand they’re privileged in one way, but still not understand another dimension of their status.

Instead of attacking someone on the privilege they have but don’t understand, acknowledge areas where they may not have it. The friend who was able to reach me did this. He acknowledged where I had it rough: my gender and my lack of financial stability. Only after doing that could he allow me to see where others struggled even worse than I did.

What my friend did – and what you can do – is connect to this person by expressing empathy. When you acknowledge their suffering, even if it’s less than yours from a standpoint of privilege, the chances of them acknowledging yours increases. As it turns out, empathy can be taught. The chance of someone acknowledging the suffering of others in general increases, just because you’ve taken the step to empathize with them.

Step Three: Take their lack of privilege, and show them what the next level looks like.

Much of understanding privilege comes down to understanding that you and your pain aren’t the center of the universe. Yes, you suffer, but suffering is on a far larger scale. As a teenage girl, all I saw was how unprivileged I was. What bridged the gap for me were real-life stories and people that put it into perspective.

There was the guy who had fought homelessness and survived a violence-ridden neighborhood to go to Harvard. There was my friend, growing up as a minority and gay in a small, close-minded, southern town. The fact that he had patience with me blows my mind today. I’m so thankful.

Sometimes people don’t understand their privileged status because they don’t see what true lack of privilege means. I believe that most people who argue about privilege – and their lack of it – simply don’t know any better. Three steps and a handful of conversations later, that could change.

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Chances are, if you are reading this, you are, like me, a white, well-educated woman.

I identify the majority of my readers because considering your audience is one of the most important lessons I learned in activism. So, here’s lesson one: Know your audience. I’m speaking to you, white, well-educated women.

Like many others, my first dip into activism came about recently and unexpectedly: after the 2016 presidential election. I arranged a gathering for peace for hundreds of people after Trump stole the White House because I couldn’t sleep from the horror and anxiety. I didn’t know what else to do.

Like so many other white, well-educated women, I also invested in an IUD  (grab that, Drumpf). Like so many others, I didn’t talk to my father for the first month after the election, because I felt betrayed by him for supporting you-guessed-who.

As an amateur organizer – “activist” as people started to call me – I made the mistake of planning my gathering for peace at a local park. Hugh MacRae Park is one of the largest, most beautiful parks in Wilmington, North Carolina. It also just happened to be named after a white supremacist who promoted the lynching of black people.

I didn’t know the history of Hugh MacRae. I quickly learned it when I received a stream of public and private messages berating me for planning to have the event at a racist park. Four out of five angry messages were from white, well-educated women. I felt terrible and quickly changed the event location.

I had an idealistic aim, but I am, deep-down, an idealist. The news emphasized the story that we weren’t having an #ImWithHer party, but it wasn’t a Drumpf-themed gathering by any means, either. We welcomed everyone. Mostly, progressives came. They also started a new organization to pull together disparate leftist groups called the Wilmington Progressive Coalition. And this is what I love about progressives in my area: They are legitimately welcoming, they listen to their audiences, and they act accordingly. They know activism.

Lesson one: Know your audience.

My audience was the entire community – everyone needed to feel welcome.

Your audience is one you have either been ignoring, openly detesting as a whole, or at the very least, keeping at a comfortable distance: other white people who aren’t as well-educated.

I’m talking about the guy who is buff and gorgeous but also, as you learned the hard way, a Trump supporter. The guy you may have unfriended after an unsuccessful conversation that turned into a rant. I’m talking about the neighbor you got along with so well – until you saw them put the Make America Great Again sign out on their front lawn.

Our country is fractured, and hatred breeds best in cracks between different people and points of view. Realize this: the people you don’t really want to talk to are the people you probably need to talk to more than anyone else.

Lesson two: Listen to your audience.

I carefully listened to my community’s concerns about the event location. And this translates in all activist pursuits. Ask yourself: Is it my goal to be well-educated and correct about politics and to educate other people on how correct I am, or is it my goal to make lasting, positive social change?

Lesson three: Take what you’ve learned, and act accordingly.

I changed the event location. Simple, right?

Use your resources to forge connections rather than create divisions. Make sacrifices when it makes sense. And above all, make every effort to act for the greater good.

Lesson four: Invite your detractors (or challengers) to work with you.

I didn’t want people protesting a peace gathering. So, after I changed the location, I also reached out to those who had (rightly) called me out. Unfortunately, the majority of the detractors who said they’d work with me if I moved the location mysteriously disappeared when I asked them to join me.

Nothing shuts down an angry, armchair activist more than inviting them to pick up a shovel and start digging ditches for peace. But it also makes your life much easier (less work, more networking, more outreach). Armchair activism is easy. Actually doing something isn’t. Sometimes, though, you can convince people to become involved. And when you do that, everyone wins.

Activism: How You Can Actually Do Something

As an apprehensive activist, what interests me most is creating lasting, positive social change. In my research, I discovered intergroup conflict theory (ICT). Put simply, ICT is placing people who disagree in the same room and making them hold a conversation (you can read a great primer on ICT here). Since first tested out, numerous groups have self-reported reduced prejudices as a result of ICT. Activists, policymakers, and peacemakers around the world use ICT.

For an extreme example of ICT, consider Daryl Davis, a black man who befriended numerous KKK members with one simple question in mind: “How can you hate me if you don’t even know me?” Davis successfully convinced Roger Kelly, the former Imperial Wizard of the KKK, to quit the hate group entirely. He’s also converted at least 12 other KKK members.

Like so many others, Davis showed that it works. While shallow conversations help make a dent in prejudice, it’s deeper connections – like the friendships Davis goes out of his way to forge – that research has shown make the most lasting change.

A Difficult But Necessary Call to Action

After putting together my own Gathering for Peace, reading up on intergroup conflict theory, and attending my own local YWCA’s Potlucks for Peace, I have a difficult but necessary call to action for you: try to connect to other people in the hopes that this connection will reduce prejudice and hatred.

Using the lessons above:

1. Invite someone you disagree with to a neutral and safe place, like a coffee shop or Potluck for Peace.
2. Listen to them: Before you meet this person, check in with yourself. Then, listen to how they feel, what they value, and where they’re coming from.
3. Find what you have in common with this person.
4. Invite collaboration: Invite this person to volunteer with you for a cause you both care about. Ignore the impulse to lecture or educate. Show what you value by example first. Try to connect. In time, the tough conversations will come.

In your new life as an activist, remember to also take care of yourself. Know when to walk away (at least, for a while). Activism is tough work, and real change takes time to create. But keep coming back. Peace and love are worth trying for. What other choice do we have?

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Retailers have turned Donald Trump’s “nasty woman” comment into tangible pieces of merchandise that hold a surprisingly empowering place in presidential debate history.

Donald Trump once again proved that making it through a 90-minute debate without looking like a complete douchebag is akin to spitting into the wind, where the stupid rhetoric he spews is only going to come back and smack him. Right.In.The.Face.

During the third and final presidential debate, Trump initially proclaimed that no one respected women more than him, only to go on to call opponent Hillary Clinton, “such a nasty woman.” (Queue the horrified gasps and looks of utter disbelief.)

As soon as Americans collected their jaws off the floor, and regained their composure, they did what this country does best. This condescending and defamatory vitriol was turned from the most tart, lip-pursing lemon you’ve ever tasted, into the sweetest, go-f*ck-yourself glass of lemonade.

Aaaah, so refreshing.

“Nasty woman,” a blow that Trump spouted out in his signature careless manner, has now become fodder for the masses, and pure motivational gold for female voters. As if you needed any before this happened.

Capitalizing on his cantankerous remarks, retailers have made it possible for you to wear this message like a badge of honor — because, let’s be real, that’s exactly what it is. Whether you choose to wear a t-shirt to the polls for early voting, or decide to incorporate the decor at home for the celebratory party you throw after Clinton smokes his ass, this is merchandise worth springing for. Girl, it’s time to treat yo self!

For all of the nasty women, otherwise known as the strong, beautiful females (yes, all of you) who not only get shit done, but who also vote, and secretly plot to take over the world in their spare time — this is for you.

1. T-Shirt

You watched, you cringed, now buy the t-shirt. Nasty Woman + Co. pioneered the #NastyWoman merchandise movement just one day after the debate, and offer #DumpTrump supporters the opportunity to purchase a stylish tee emblazoned with the message. Whether you want to be the original nasty woman, a nasty woman who gets shit done, or a nasty woman who votes, they’ve got your bases covered. The best part? Proceeds, aside from the cost of making, printing, and packing and shipping the shirts, go to Planned Parenthood (20k raised so far) and RAINN (5k raised so far).  

2. Button

Accessorize any outfit with a dash of nasty woman attitude with this wear-anywhere button. It’s cute, it’s affordable, and 50 percent of the proceeds from this purchase will be donated to Planned Parenthood. Here’s an idea — buy a bunch for your girlfriends and make a day of voting together. Definite #squadgoals.

3. Wall Art

If you need a reminder that you’re a nasty woman, then hang this print in your home office, or even your cubicle. Use it as inspiration for those times when you might be feeling unsure, or need that extra confidence booster. It’s a great way to remember that women can do anything, even in the face of adversity.

4. Pillowcases

If you ask me, there couldn’t be a better way to bring politics into the bedroom, especially if you’re nasty. Whether you relate this to your love life, or the words of affirmation you desire before drifting off to sleep, it just goes to show that no place is off limits when it comes to getting what you want.

5. Mug

Everyone knows that nasty women get even more shit done after their morning cup of coffee or tea. Remember to slay the day each and every morning by pouring your favorite caffeinated brew into a mug just like this one.

6. Embroidery

Dotted with the perfect amount of patriotism, this red, white, and blue piece of embroidered empowerment would be a welcome piece of decor in any feminist’s house. Display it alone, or next to your homemade dartboard featuring Donald Trump’s face. Bullseye!

7. Tank

Sweat it out at the gym, and turn heads at the same time in this tank that shows the boys who’s really next in line for becoming leader of the free world. This is the perfect motivational tool for pumping iron in the mirror, or simply stepping out for some errands in your athleisure.

The message that’s been spun from this blunder is a great one, don’t get me wrong, but even more important than buying the merch is getting your nasty self down to the voting polls. I’ve already cast mine, and suggest you do the same. As always, let us know what you think of this #nastywoman loot on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Image of Mug via Aceti Design Co.

The post We Get Our Sh*t Done With Lots of ‘Nasty Woman’ Loot, ‘Cause that’s How We Roll appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnIf you’ve met more than a handful of American women in your life, then you know all women are unique. So, why haven’t fashion designers and politicians read that memo?

Society seems to have a strange desire to make all women the same. We’ve noticed quite a few instances of this societal behavior over the past week, but the following two stories caught our eye. Why were they interesting? Well, because the people at the heart of these stories are demanding we change this all-too-common dialogue.

Yeah, It’s Hillary

While Hillary Clinton was recently accused of being unfit for the presidency because she’s had to take some time off due to phenomena–a serious illness–she’s also had to deal with other negative press.

Recently, a prominent Republican tried to accuse Clinton of looking too angry… Yes, we’re serious.

The New York Times recently reported that “Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, wrote on Twitter that Mrs. Clinton had appeared ‘angry + defensive’” during last week’s national security forum on NBC.

Here’s all of Priebus’ tweet so you can see what he wrote:

“@HillaryClinton was angry + defensive the entire time – no smile and uncomfortable – upset that she was caught wrongly sending our secrets.”

Nah, Reince. She was just too consumed with answering questions. Maybe she, like many women, just has what you men can’t seem to stand: a bitchy resting face.

But the real question is why do people want Clinton to “smile more” yet they don’t care about Trump’s face? Is it because she’s a woman and everyone expects women to be “nice” and “accommodating” all the time, no matter what? Of course it is. So, you know, even when she’s talking about national security she should be always thinking about her appearance.

Fashion Designers

The other story that caught our eye this week concerns Tim Gunn and his official “boy, bye” to the boring, out of touch fashion world.

Gunn recently penned an editorial in The Washington Post about how absurd sizing in the fashion world is.

Titled “Designers Refuse to Make Clothes to Fit American Women; It’s a Disgrace,” his article is full of great observations about how stupid designers can be about everyday women’s sizes. Gunn is, thankfully, over that:

“This [designers’ overwhelming desire to only cloth thin women] is a design failure and not a customer issue,” Gunn writes.

“There is no reason larger women can’t look just as fabulous as all other women. The key is the harmonious balance of silhouette, proportion and fit, regardless of size or shape. Designs need to be reconceived, not just sized up; it’s a matter of adjusting proportions. The textile changes, every seam changes. Done right, our clothing can create an optical illusion that helps us look taller and slimmer. Done wrong, and we look worse than if we were naked.”

Damn straight. It’s insane for designers to think that women have to change in order to fit their beauty standards—it needs to be the other way around, bozos.

So, everyone, take note. American women and women everywhere owe you nothing. Just leave us alone and maybe you’ll get our business… and our vote.

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Image of Hillary Clinton via Shutterstock, Evan El-Amin

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Politics don’t have to be ugly—in fact, if you add a little chocolate, some nuts, and dried fruit, political topics can be pretty sweet. Here’s proof:

“This election season, D.C. graphic design firm Design Army and chocolate manufacturer Harper Macaw have teamed up to create a series of chocolate bars, each with a flavor and wrapper inspired by a political theme,” NPR reports.

Watch how the bars are made and what has inspired each of their flavors below.

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If American politicians keep doing boneheaded things, SNL will have an amazing season next year, too.

This past weekend, SNL did an on point fake movie trailer about bigoted bakers and politicians in America. Watch the hilarious spoof below.

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Column We’re in the middle of the food wars, and food marketers have a new way to fight: making their ads look more like political ads.

There was a time when food didn’t need advertising. Because people grew it, other people bought it, and they took it home and cooked it up into dinner.

But then food products came along, and you know what products need? Marketing. There is in fact even a Food Marketing Institute, also known as an organization that “advocates on behalf of the food retail industry.” You know what that means: lobbying.

Food advertising is everywhere, but recently it’s taken on a new approach.

There’s the McDonald’s ad poking fun at people who like organic kale, and who eat soy products; there’s the Budweiser commercial taking the piss out of craft beer – “proudly a micro beer” – and then of course, there’s the new milk social media campaign which is all about slapping plant-based milks up side the head, #milktruth as they call it.

All three of these campaigns are developed because the brands (or lobby, in the case of milk) behind them understand that change is afoot in the marketplace. People are eating less meat, and hence, fewer burgers. People are buying more craft beer, and that means less of the industrial stuff. People are switching to plant-based milks, and that means the dairy lobby is pissed.

Food ads and marketing are obviously meant to boost sales, and usually that means highlighting all the great aspects of the food product in question. Juicy burgers, tasty, American-made beer, and good ol’, plain milk that’s chock full of health benefits. These ads all do that, but there’s another thread tying all three of these campaigns together: they are all based on putting their opposers down.

If you are already in the anti-McDonald’s burger camp, McDonald’s knows that they probably aren’t going to convince you to eat a burger. But you know what they can do? Convince the person that’s on the fence about burgers, and isn’t sure if they like veggie burgers or not, and a bit annoyed at all those kale-loving foodies, that eating at McDonald’s isn’t just tasty, it’s a statement. It will allow them to distance themselves from this elitist, burger-hating crowd.

Same goes for Budweiser. They’re not out for the lovers of microbrew, they’re out for the people that “just want to drink a beer.” They want that person to know that it’s ok to just want a regular beer, and they’ll give it to you. A good, honest, American beer. None of that geeky stuff included.

It’s the food version of anti-intellectualism. For example in an image posted on Twitter by Milk Life,  a graphic shows a bottle of milk and a carton of almond milk. Under milk, it says “13 syllables” and under almond milk, “80 syllables,” a reference to the ingredients in milk.

Because real milk always keeps it simple. pic.twitter.com/XrlWIDn07o

— Milk (@MilkLife) January 21, 2015

That’s a kind of backwards way of taking a hit at the whole foods industry which often notes the excessive ingredients in certain products. Of course, regardless of whether or not you like drinking almond milk, not every brand of almond milk has that many ingredients in it. Not to mention that real milk shouldn’t have those additives in it to begin with. And have you looked at the ingredient list for chocolate milk lately? This kind of advertising completely oversimplifies the issue (which is of course what good marketing campaigns do), failing to mention all the reasons that make people choose plant-based milks in the first place, factory farms for example.

You know what these ads make me think of? Political ads. Instead of trying to convince potential eaters of all your merits and reasons why you should be elected, you take down your opponent. Hit them hard and where it hurts so that people will vote for you, regardless of whether you have leadership ability or smart policies.

These advertising campaigns are the political ads of the food world, pitting one group against each other.

But if we have one unifying factor, no matter what side of the political spectrum that we’re on, it’s food. Sure, some choose barbecue and some choose bulgur, but at the end of the day we all have to eat on a daily basis, and we all want to live healthy lives. That means that food has the potential to be our common language, not the one that divides us.

If we are going to do anything to combat the efforts of these marketing campaigns, it’s just to make sure that we’re keeping an open, honest dialogue. One that doesn’t push people out, one that doesn’t come off as elitist.

We have to point out all the things that these ads don’t say, because we have to hope that ultimately science and facts will win out over marketing. Because food shouldn’t have to be political. It’s political because the world of agribusiness and industrial food companies have made it so, making real food have to fight for itself against food products.

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Image: Budweiser ad

The post Food Marketing: Are Food Ads The New Political Ads? Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Laugh and learn by digging deep into these five stand up comedians who address serious issues through comedy.

“What’s the deal with airline food?”

Now that we’ve gotten the heavy-hitting stuff out of the way, let’s talk about other things.

Comedy serves as a natural distraction and relief from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. However, it doesn’t always have to be light one-liners, and can instead serve as a powerful medium for addressing heavy, hard-to-digest dialogue in a different, more understandable context.

Check out these five stand up comedians who don’t always keep things comfortable and instead use part of their artform for social consciousness.

Disclaimer: Some clips below are NSFW, so view at your own discretion.

Maria Bamford

I won’t mince words: Maria Bamford is one of my favorite stand up comedians on the planet and has been so since I first watched her on Comedy Central Presents as a kid. As an unorthodox, quirky female comedian with bipolar disorder — “the new gladiator sandal,” as she calls it — she addresses issues such as gender inequality, mental illness, and suicide in ways that bring about an”Aha!” kind of perspective, clarity, and laughter. The spaces into which she pushes the medium are often uncomfortable, but wildly important.

Tig Notaro

Imagine for a moment that you’re hospitalized with a life-threatening disease. Then, on top of that, your mother passes away a few days after you’re discharged. Now on TOP of that, your relationship ends. Now on TOP of that, you’re diagnosed with breast cancer and require a double mastectomy. Meet Tig Notaro.

“Hello. Good evening, hello. I have cancer, how are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer, how are you?”

Notaro experienced what seems like a lifetime of tragic events in the span of four months, and her stand up special, “Tig Notaro: Live!” — recorded just days after she was diagnosed with cancer — is unlike any other comedy album you’ll ever hear as it intimately addresses all of the above with humor, emotion, and an impact that cannot be understated.

Patton Oswalt

If you don’t recognize Oswalt’s name from his illustrious stand up comedy career, you may recognize him from his enormous social media presence that has been the subject of many articles, tweets, and other discussions, which have collectively made Oswalt into one of culture’s biggest critics and satirists.

Though he’s currently on a much-needed break from social media, he utilizes his Twitter following of 1.8 million as a significant off-stage platform to offer challenging perspectives both in support of liberal causes and as critique of the leftist PC police who seem eager to judge and sensationalize nearly anything.

Danielle K.L. Grégoire

While a wonderful stand up herself, Danielle’s biggest social impact comes from her founding and management of The Comedy Womb, a “female-focused-but-not-female-exclusive” stand up comedy space in Seattle. In the boy’s club that is the greater comedy world, Grégoire has successfully created a place where female stand up comedians can feel safe and supported as the Womb reserves half of its open mic spots for self-identifying women comedians. Adding in the room’s well-understood content policy against misogyny, racism, homophobia or hate-ridden material, Grégoire has created a place for everyone to laugh together.

Margaret Cho

Loud. Crass. Cho.

Maragaret Cho is an undeniably unique figure in the stand up comedy world, and as a bisexual, female, Asian-American comedian, she is a subcultural reservoir from which many perspectives may be drawn. The subject matter of her comedy focuses at length on LGBT issues — helping create her large following in this community — while also covering race, eating disorders, substance abuse, gender, and more.

Follow Garth on Twitter @garthinkingcap

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How do you describe the bizarre weather patterns and environmental issues sending our planet into a tailspin? Do you call it “global warming?” Or do you prefer “climate change?”

True story: Earlier this week over on our sister website, Organic Authority I had just finished up an article about the impact droughts are having on beef prices, causing the return of ‘pink slime.’ I cited global warming as the cause, per the information I was reporting on. Our Editor-in-Chief, Laura Klein, asked me to change it to ‘climate change’. “I feel that ‘global warming’ is a politically-charged phrase,” she wrote to me in an email, adding, “most of America still questions the validity of (whether it’s really happening or not), and the term ‘climate change’ to me feels like – it’s happening there’s no doubt, there’s no questioning that weather patterns are changing and the polar ice caps are melting.”

I let Laura know that the reason I prefer “global warming” is because of the emotions it triggers, and that the term “climate change” was the more politically charged one, having been first widely used by Republican strategist Frank Lutz. I am not a Republican. And I prefer to keep my political beliefs out of my semi-clean Los Angeles air and currently un-flooded home. (I’ll be open to political haranguing over our freaky weather problems if and when Sharknadoes start threatening my family.)

Laura and I agreed to disagree (and, ahem, to keep my job, I changed it to “climate change”). Then, not a day later, this study dropped into my inbox. We both had a good laugh over it, and we also realized it’s a pretty big discussion happening in our country: Is it “global warming” or is it “climate change?”

The report, called “What’s In A Name? Global Warming vs. Climate Change,” conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication looked at both “climate change” and “global warming” and just how the American public views and uses these terms.

“Americans are 2 times more likely to say they personally use the term global warming than climate change in their own conversations,” the report noted, even though most Americans say they are equally familiar with both terms. In fact, the study found that Americans were four times more likely to say they hear the term “global warming” over “climate change” in public conversations.

The term “global warming” appears to be more strongly associated with a “greater certainty that the phenomenon is happening,” particularly among men, liberals, and 31-48-year-olds. Among independents and liberals, “global warming” is more often associated with the understanding of the (scientific) reality and urgency, and the personal threats as a result. People who favor “global warming” also seem to be more likely to be active in campaigns and efforts to address the issue.

“While for some in-the-know, the two phrases are often seen as synonymous,” reported EcoWatch, “the general public tends to favor the term ‘global warming’—and perhaps we should take note.”

But the climate deniers are still out there. “Big contenders with even bigger pocket books, like the Koch Brothers, are able to pump money into anti-climate campaigns, bills and agendas, drowning out the voices of scientists who continue to prove that climate change—or, global warming, rather—is real, caused in part by humans and happening right now,” noted EcoWatch.

Another client of mine recently asked me to delete copy from a paper that referenced global warming as a cause for supporting organic farming. They found that much of their audience, sadly, still doesn’t believe there’s enough evidence to support the claims, even despite the recent comprehensive White House report, and the recent news about the West Antarctic glacier melting “past a point of no return,” which will lead to rising sea levels by as much as four feet in the very near future, say experts.

Is the term “climate change” too soft, too disarming to ignite the immediate, urgent changes we need to make in order to protect our environment and our species from going extinct? Granted, debating over what to call this situation is precious time we could all be spending doing something about the effects these weather fluctuations are having on our present and our future. But there’s something to be said for consensus reality and coming to an agreement about this major shift to the planet. Our perceptions about the world we share play as significant a role in shaping our future as our actions do. Assuming we have a hospitable future on Earth, that is.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Image via Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

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