Wen Stephenson

Contributing Writer

Wen Stephenson has been a frequent contributor to The Nation since 2013. A veteran journalist, essayist, and activist, he is the author of What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other (2015), about the pivotal early years of the climate justice movement. More of his writing can be found at wenstephenson.com.

An Urgent Witness, Not a Passive Bystander, to Climate Catastrophe

An Urgent Witness, Not a Passive Bystander, to Climate Catastrophe An Urgent Witness, Not a Passive Bystander, to Climate Catastrophe

Conversations with Jane Hirshfield, poet of the present moment.

Dec 4, 2023 / Feature / Wen Stephenson

Cornel West speaking at a lectern

Cornel West: The Christian Socialist Running for President Cornel West: The Christian Socialist Running for President

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, the candidate talks church, state, prophecy—and politics.

Jul 31, 2023 / Q&A / Wen Stephenson

Cornel West and the Rev. Traci Blackmon

The Gospel of a New Christian Left The Gospel of a New Christian Left

Faith leaders around the country are building a resistance movement against Christian nationalism.

Jul 31, 2023 / Feature / Wen Stephenson

What It’s Like to Be Trans and Christian in Nashville Right Now

What It’s Like to Be Trans and Christian in Nashville Right Now What It’s Like to Be Trans and Christian in Nashville Right Now

Talking with Nashville-based transqueer Christian scholar and activist Roberto Ché Espinoza about faith, violence, and healing.

Apr 5, 2023 / Wen Stephenson

A BP refinery and a Uniper coal-fired power plant in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, March 6, 2023. A new United Nations report released Monday, March 20, 2023, provided a sobering reminder that time is running out if humanity wants to avoid passing a dangerous global warming threshold.

The Media’s Recent Turn to “Climate Optimism” Is a Cruel Fantasy The Media’s Recent Turn to “Climate Optimism” Is a Cruel Fantasy

Beneath the upbeat messaging, the latest UN climate report makes it clear that while the means to save the planet may still be available, the political will is nowhere in sight.

Apr 3, 2023 / Editorial / Wen Stephenson

A storm in the Angeles National Forest looks like clouds on fire.

Against Climate Optimism—Because “Team Normal” Won’t Save the World Against Climate Optimism—Because “Team Normal” Won’t Save the World

Some of us refuse to go along with a mainstream climate movement that settles for genocide.

Dec 19, 2022 / Wen Stephenson

Coal Trains and Climate Protest: It’s Spring in New England

Coal Trains and Climate Protest: It’s Spring in New England Coal Trains and Climate Protest: It’s Spring in New England

What connects anti-war demonstrations in Russia with climate activists in the US? An opposition to fossil capital.

Mar 30, 2022 / Wen Stephenson

Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood on Their New Initative, Third Act

Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood on Their New Initative, Third Act Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood on Their New Initative, Third Act

They spoke to The Nation about their generation—and how to get their peers back in the streets.

Oct 25, 2021 / Wen Stephenson

Seeing the Climate Crisis Through the Eyes of Henry Thoreau

Seeing the Climate Crisis Through the Eyes of Henry Thoreau Seeing the Climate Crisis Through the Eyes of Henry Thoreau

“I walk toward one of our ponds,” Thoreau wrote in “Slavery in Massachusetts,” “but what signifies the beauty of nature when men are base?”

Aug 11, 2021 / Feature / Wen Stephenson

Stop the Enbridge Ecocide!

Stop the Enbridge Ecocide! Stop the Enbridge Ecocide!

From Minnesota to Massachusetts, the Canadian pipeline company is engaged in crimes against humanity and the earth—abetted by state power.

Jul 6, 2021 / Wen Stephenson

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