Mothers of Invention

The climate crisis has made our young people a marginalized group. But the youth climate movement is being led by no ordinary generation. They are passionate, educated and organized. In our season finale, six days before the US election, Mary, Maeve & Thimali recognize the importance of these critical perspectives from global North and global South youth. In an unprecedented episode, we learn about their hopes, their fears, the...

Extractive capitalism has caused so much destruction to our planet. So with all we've learnt this season, how can we rethink the value of natural resources, and the people who work hard to bring them from the land to our homes? And how does it contribute to our new visions and value systems for a regenerative future? Could 'climate justice for all' in fact be in our reach? In this episode we talk to Bina Agarwal in Delh...

Keep having climate chats with your family that end in eye rolls, clenched or lost teeth? Well in this week's minisode, Maeve & Thimali talk to two youth activists from The CLEO Institute in Florida, our friends Gabi Rodriguez & Nicole Gazo. They're on a mission to awaken our parents’ inner climate warrior. From deflecting confrontation and forging connection, to active listening and using stats the right way, we le...

We sometimes forget that the most sophisticated carbon sequestration infrastructures in the world are thousands of years old! Reforestation may reduce fossil fuel emissions, but replanting monocultures won’t solve the problem. Our ecosystems are ancient, complex and not easily replaced. What are some of the oldest and newest techniques around for protecting and regenerating our planet’s biodiversity? Mary, Maeve & Thimali talk ...

Taking your government to court over their climate impact is a fast-growing phenomenon that’s seeing powerful change. Individuals and organisations all over the world are setting new precedents and holding governments to account. But it’s not exactly a walk in the park! So how do you get it done? Well luckily Tessa Khan, human rights lawyer, co-founder of the Climate Litigation Network and Season 1 Mother of Invention, is on hand t...

We learned in our last episode that food insecurity will cause huge swathes of climate migration by the end of the century. So are there ways large-scale farms could nurture our soil? What could small-scale farming do to bring justice to marginalized communities? This week, Mary, Maeve & Thimali meet Zoraida Calle in Colombia, and Vivien Sansour in Palestine as they learn how to breathe new life into dead land, and bring hope b...

Do you do a sad face when you see a big grey space in the town centre where a tall green tree should be? Well this episode is for you. Maeve is on (another) mission - this time to green up her home, and not just for cleaner air but for climate and racial justice too. But how easy is that in New York City? And what can all of us do, no matter where we are, to make it happen? Maeve attempts to plant her very own tree on the street an...

This late into the climate crisis, it’s now time for us to embrace adaptation as a solution, as communities reconsider the fight for their ancestral homes. We welcome Mary’s friend, Ursula Rakova, executive director of Tulele Peisa on the Carteret Islands, who is helping almost its entire population migrate to safe land. And Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Colette Pichon-Battle of Louisiana, USA wh...

Yearning for good news? Hungry to get involved in IRL change? Well we could all learn a lot from our friend Tara Houska who has been smacking climate justice victories out of the park this summer. Frankly, it’s kind of hard to keep up. From big banks and big pipelines to big league football teams it’s clear that Tara really knows how to get things done. Maeve called her up to find out how we can learn from her summer of success. 

The IPCC uses the Industrial Revolution as the keystone for human-induced climate change, but there is a different marker for black, brown and indigenous peoples who have also been measuring climate change. How can the colonial impact on their homes be quantified, argued and repaid? Archaeologist Kristina Douglass talks about colonization and climate in Madagascar. And Lidy Nacpil, of the Asian People’s Movement on Debt & Devel...

Ever wanted to write a letter or email to rage and complain to the Powers That Be, but found yourself lost after “Hey. You.”? Yeah, us too. But take a deep breath and join Maeve and Thimali as they figure out how to put pen to paper for the climate crisis. From who to write to and how to build your argument, to which edible treats to include - we’ve got you covered. And there’s some top advice from our very own Mary Robinson. Now -...

We moved heaven, Earth and Covid, and we are back! But with too many emergencies stacking up, and no way to press pause on the climate crisis, how do we cope? How do we visualize what happens next? Daiara Tukano is from a Northern Amazon indigenous community in Brazil. She describes her Covid experience and identifies the opportunities to review global health. And co-executive director of the Green New Deal UK, Fatima-Zahra Ibrahim...

It’s mad, sad, exhausting and unfair. So what do we fight for and how do we get there? Climate justice is racial justice is gender justice. That’s how.

Mothers of Invention is back! And this year, Mary, Maeve & Thimali are (kinda) reunited for a season to remember. From their home studios in Dublin & New York, Season 3 unfolds an unparalleled line-up of Mothers from every continent on the globe. 

This season, Mothers of I...

The fashion industry constitutes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, and is reported to be the fifth-largest polluting sector in the world. But with a growing ambition to both revisit ancient practices and develop futuristic technologies, can fast fashion quickly adapt and reverse its reputation into one of positive change? Eco-fashion designer, Thao Vu of Kilomet109 guest hosts this week’s episode from Hanoi, Vietnam, as...

The Arctic and it’s melting glaciers are the first images to mind when we think about climate change. But what do we know about the millions of indigenous peoples, who are fighting back against not only shifts in climate, but invasions for mineral extraction, shipping and fishing in their territories?  Dalee Sambo Dorough, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, guest hosts this week episode with Mary & Maeve, from Anchorage, A...

City resident and co-founder of Help Delhi Breathe, Reecha Upadhyay, tells us how she rallied tens of thousands of voters to pass legislation that will help cap air pollution killing millions every year. She discusses biomimcry with Clare Miflin, who shares her epiphany that nature doesn’t create any waste and that perhaps our misuse of materials is a design flaw. We hear how Clare took her thought to the NYC’s Department of Sanita...