Food Sovereignty, Soil, and a Sneak Peek at Season 4
A special bonus episode mini-series from Climate Changed
In the fourth and final installment of our special storytelling bonus series, hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis conclude our journey through the 2025 BTS Center Convocation with a powerful story about the connection between our physical bodies, marginalized communities, and the health of the planet.
We hear from Tawni White, a registered nurse and congregational health leader, who shares her moving journey from experiencing childhood hunger and scarcity to discovering the empowering, healing abundance of the soil. Tawni reminds us that food sovereignty isn’t just about having food; it’s about reclaiming dignity, connection, and hope through the simple act of planting a seed.
Then, we mark a major milestone for Climate Changed as we officially pass the mic to our new Season 4 co-hosts: Rev. Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown! Nicole and Autumn share their vision for the upcoming season—exploring what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world—and share exclusive audio clips from their upcoming guests.
Finally, we cordially invite you to our Season 4 Live Launch Event happening on Monday, March 16th, 2026, at 7:30 PM Eastern!
Episode Chapters
Mentioned in this Episode
- The BTS Center: thebtscenter.org
- AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance): aorta.coop – The cooperative where Autumn Brown spent eight years as a facilitator and political educator.
- Reclaim: reclaim.care – A Minnesota-based nonprofit previously led by Autumn Brown that helps queer and trans youth access mental health care and community support.
- How to Survive the End of the World podcast – A podcast co-hosted by Autumn Brown and her sister, adrienne maree brown.
- Grist: grist.org – The media organization where Tory Stephens works on speculative fiction and climate storytelling.
Join Us for the Season 4 Launch Party!
Get ready for a deep dive conversation about the current pressure points in American society, politics, and justice, and how they intersect with our climate reality. We will feature exclusive video samples, behind-the-scenes footage, bloopers, and giveaways!
- Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
- Time: 7:30 PM Eastern
- Register for free here
Connect with Us
We would love to hear your reflections on these stories! Share how they impacted you or share a story of your own.
- Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org
- Voicemail: 207-200-6986
- Website: climatechangedpodcast.org
Meet Our Hosts
After spending 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents attempting to “de-gay” himself through conversion therapy, Peterson Toscano came out a quirky queer Quaker concerned with human rights. He asks himself and his audiences unusual questions: Who are the gender outlaws in the Bible? What is a queer response to climate change? What is the role of comedy when addressing trauma? His film, Transfigurations—
Ben Yosua-Davis serves on The BTS Center staff team as Director of Applied Research, where he shapes the organization’s posture of “rigorous and reverent curiosity,” focused on research that supports and shares the wisdom of on-the-ground practitioners working in a climate-changed world. He is a graduate of Drew Theological Seminary and Colby College.
Previously, he lived in Haverhill, MA, where he co-planted a new church called The Vine, one of the earliest mainline missional church expressions in the country, and hosted a podcast entitled, “Reports From the Spiritual Frontier,” which chronicled the day-to-day lives of leaders innovating new forms of spiritual community.
Ben is a Maine native and now lives on Chebeague Island, Maine with his wife, Melissa, his son Michael, and his daughters, Genevieve and Emeline; where he directs the community chorus and delivers tins of cookies to unsuspecting neighbors.
Meet The Storyteller
Tawni White is a registered nurse who believed that her calling as a nurse was more than just a profession, but a ministry. Witnessing the decline of health in marginalized communities, she sought a deeper understanding between the physical body and the environment. Having concluded that the wellness of the body is tied to the wellness of the earth, sparked her passion to emphasize creation care as a viable intervention for improving health outcomes. Today, Tawni is devoted to congregational health, helping churches understand that caring for creation is also a part of loving our neighbors as ourselves. Her hope is that every community of faith will rise up to see holistic health not only as an individual concern but as a shared mission rooted in God’s love and command.
Meet the Season 4 Guests
Next season, Autumn and Nicole will be talking with artists, theologians, organizers, and scientists who are helping us imagine new ways of living. Here is a sneak peek at some of the incredible voices you will hear:
- Katie Mears: A disaster response leader working on the front lines to create accessible risk communication and collective solutions that empower communities.
- Tory Stephens: A climate fiction advocate at Grist who believes speculative fiction and imagination are our most powerful tools for dreaming up the climate futures we actually want.
- Norma Wong: A Zen master and Native Hawaiian leader who invites us to breathe together through collapse and honors the vital role of indigenous wisdom in a changing world.
- Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: A rabbi and spiritual leader who helps people find grounding, values, and holiness amidst the messy uncertainty of our current times.
- Francis Weller: A psychotherapist and author who utilizes the power of ritual to help us safely fall apart, realign, and recognize that grief and love are two sides of the same bridge.