Watcha Reading?

Initially, this blog was not meant to exist. Perhaps a small website with some links to podcast episodes, but not a blog.

COVID-19 changed a lot of things, though, and we wanted to engage with that topic (among others) on a level that a once a week podcast (whenever we get around to that) could not quite capture.

So, here we are, writing a variety of blog posts centering on our personal experiences, the more nuanced side of disaster and climate, and the effectiveness of visual aids in providing context for complex issues.

Join us as we dive into the nitty-gritty parts of the existing pandemic and other complicated disaster and climate issues that touch our lives every day, and keep the conversation going by engaging with us here, through email, and on social media!

  • Mindset Shifting Techniques
    Methods To Adapt Our Perspectives To Better Address Climate Change And Disaster Stress can sometimes feel a bit like a monster with seventeen arms, tentacles, and razor-sharp teeth – completely overwhelming and beyond our capacity to deal with. When it comes to enormous changes, it is easy to find… Continue Reading Blog
  • The Psychology of COVID-19 Denial
    WHY ARE WE RE-OPENING ALREADY? We’re re-opening?! Hooray! It’s all over!  Wait…Didn’t the experts (and Globally Heated) say we would need to do the stay-at-home thing for months? And limit certain activities for a year or more? And what about cases going up? Is it safe out there or… Continue Reading Blog
  • Whose Fault Is It Anyway?
    Placing blame is a pretty natural reaction.  If something goes wrong, we can’t fix anything or make it better if we don’t know what caused things to go wrong in the first place. But, if we place that blame on the wrong person, the wrong activity, the wrong variable,… Continue Reading Blog
  • Red Lines & Red Tomatoes
    Red lines tend to be rather ominous.  Your teacher may have drawn them all over that essay you turned in in second grade, showing you how wrong you were about everything in your tiny human life, scarring you emotionally forever.  Those red lines don’t get any less emotionally taxing… Continue Reading Blog
  • Being An Ally
    We’re Working On It The protests happening across the country have radicalized a lot of people and stirred them to action. We want to help keep that momentum going by using our platform to create visibility and recognition of the reality of racism and violence in our country –… Continue Reading Blog
  • Income, Preparedness, & What The Heck We Can Do About It
    You may have heard the phrase, “disaster is the great equalizer,” at some point before in your life. Don’t let them fool you.  Every disaster movie is centered on a group of people from different backgrounds coming together to solve the crisis – but they never show you what… Continue Reading Blog
  • Do You Feel Prepared?
    If a hurricane or tornado or earthquake hit right now, would you know what to do?  Odds are, if you live in an area prone to those types of disasters, you might have some sort of idea. Odds are also that if that disaster were a bioterrorism attack, a… Continue Reading Blog
  • The Supplies Surprise
    Having what you need on hand before a disaster strikes can be easier than you think—but why do so many of us mess it up? (The answer is a level of surprising worthy of a clickbait title…) Bottled water? One of those hand-crank radio-flashlight combinations? Six months’ worth of… Continue Reading Blog
  • Disaster Planning: Escape from Shanghai!
    I walked past the authorities in hazmat suits and masks, only to be motioned to proceed down a short hall to be screened again, this time in a small cubicle. After handing over bags and passport, explaining my entire situation over again—with liberal use of hand gestures and several… Continue Reading Blog
  • Numbers are hard, yo
    If there is anything that is permeating the national conversation wholly and completely as of late, it’s a bunch of numbers and percentages tossed like spaghetti at a wall hoping something might stick.  And a lot of those same numbers and percentages are freaking a lot of people out. … Continue Reading Blog
  • Panic & Percentages
    Who wants to listen to news anchors spout off a bunch of percentages and rates of change without any context? No one. No one wants that.  Communication about numbers has been a struggle during this crisis, and it has not exactly gotten better over time. If there are any… Continue Reading Blog