Growing up in East Berlin, Climate Change & My Life as a Pansexual with Jessica Kind

My guest is Dr. Jessica Kind. She is a climate change scientist, entrepreneur, and NFT illustrator currently living and working in Guatemala.

Back in 2015, she and a group of friends started the fossil fuel divestment movement in Switzerland because of the risks it poses for both investors and the planet. In 2011, she also searched for wind’s historic directions in the deserts of Australia and enjoyed cave expeditions as part of her paleoclimatic studies.

In her 40s, Dr. Kind spends most of her time studying environmental education & emotional intelligence (EQ)—she comes across as quite the student and professor of emotional intelligence. Probably because she’s near infinitely intelligent with a keen insight on EQ

At the time of recording, she had just finished a workshop at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), where she wanted her students to be curious, actively participate, and be aware of the environmental problems upon us here & now.

Growing up in East Germany

In this episode, Jessica says before German reunification, she grew up with her grandparents and aunt in very poor conditions. She recalls living in a multi-family home with an outhouse rather than a regular bathroom—which most of us take for granted today.

At night, she would often opt to pee her pants rather than walk out in freezing temperatures to put her bare ass on a freezing seat. Hard to blame her (we men have it a little easier). They only had one room with central heating in the flat, which was like a little stove fired with coal.

She says the primary reason she’s living in Guatemala now is because she can’t stand cold temperatures.

Who could blame her?

We also discuss how Dr. Kind became interested in climate activism. She says it started when she was around 18 years old and went to her first demonstration. She realized it’s something she would like to continue, and went to more demonstrations.

By the time she started studying environmental science, she immersed herself in the topic. Over time, she admittedly became more radical in her activism. She and her radical friends decided to occupy a German coal-fired power plant, which she thinks is the most exciting thing she’s done in her life so far.

I knew I’d enjoy this conversation and learn a lot—how often do you get to sit with a climate scientist for 2-3 hours and discuss her life growing up behind the Iron Curtain. Hope you learn a lot too (she’s also got a great personality).

Questions asked:

What was it like growing up in East Germany?
Did everyone you know live in a multi-family situation?
Did you have any contact with your biological parents? Who initiated it?
Did you have siblings?
What is GDR?
Did you know anyone who successfully escaped (GDR]?
Do you feel that same pull where you wanted to soak up as much life as you could, as much of their lives as you could before they moved on or passed away?
When did the genocide in Guatemala happen?
Was the slaughtering primarily of indigenous people?
How far did you live from Berlin?
How would you get to these luxurious communist blocks? Would it be political connections?
How many people were in that flat with you? Did you share a room or did you have your own room?
Could you ever consider going on a vacation or leaving East Germany?
Does your experience give you confidence to know that you can survive just about anything?
Do you feel you value human life more than the average person?
If a dog that you loved & a stranger from Panama were drowning, which would you save?
When you left at age 26 to get a PhD in Switzerland, did you realize that the [Berlin] Wall came down and that that was going to change things for you?
Had you ever been near the border prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Can you fill the gap for me from when you were [age] 12 to 26?
Did you not want to have children because of what you’d been through or because of the environment?
Is it possible that you’ve made life decisions based on being susceptible to the influence of professors who also may have been “hoodwinked?” What if it’s not as bad as they’re telling us?
Would you be willing to read something by someone who could provide charts and data that would signal that it’s not as big a problem as we’ve been led to believe?
Do you know what a hashtag activist is?
Have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy?
Can you explain your quote that “the wealth of the North is built on the poverty, oppression, and exploitation of people and natural resources in the Global South?
Any idea how many people or what percentage of the world has been lifted out of poverty in our lifetime?
Are we grateful for those who came before us?
Can the “economic pie” grow?
Do you know what a non sequitur is?
Have you heard of Sam Harris?
Why are people destroying the world?
At what age did you become interested in “climate activism?”
Do you have any idea when & why the phraseology changed from global warming to climate change?
Are you making your comics into NFTs?
Have you heard of Charles Murray?
Are you open to the opposing view? Is that something you would even be interested in?
What is the biggest advantage of modern nuclear power plants?
Do you think that, indirectly,white people are stealing resources from people of color?
What would you think if white people ever took pride in their history or their culture?
You are openly pansexual. What does it mean? And have you always been this way?
Do you think your last name has played a role in how kind you’ve been throughout your life?
How did your English get so good?

Fun questions:

Would you rather win a Nobel Prize or $2 million?
If you could meet one person, who would it be?
If you are guaranteed the best sex of your life, which would you choose as your partner—man or woman?
If you could spend a month anywhere in the world & costs were no issue, where would you go?
If you could only bring one album on this one-month trip, which band/group would you take with you?
If you can take one book, what would it be?
Is there a book that you wish everyone would read?
On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you?
On a scale of 1-10, how proud is your family of you?
If I gave you $100,000 & said you had to give it to a charity that you’ve never been associated with in any way, which would you choose?