Wen Stephenson

Contributing Writer

Wen Stephenson is the climate-justice correspondent for The Nation. An independent journalist, essayist, and activist, he is the author of, most recently, Learning to Live in the Dark: Essays in a Time of Catastrophe (Haymarket, 2025). His previous book, What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other (Beacon, 2015), is a personal account of the pivotal early years of the US climate-justice movement.

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 / 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

Andreas Malm

What’s Worse Than Climate Catastrophe? Climate Catastrophe Plus Fascism. What’s Worse Than Climate Catastrophe? Climate Catastrophe Plus Fascism.

A conversation with Andreas Malm about his new book, White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism.

May 25, 2021 / Q&A / Wen Stephenson

How a Climate-Justice Champion Won Office in Rural, Working-Class Maine

How a Climate-Justice Champion Won Office in Rural, Working-Class Maine How a Climate-Justice Champion Won Office in Rural, Working-Class Maine

State Senator Chloe Maxmin, a progressive activist who unseated the GOP minority leader in November, talks about social-movement organizing.

Feb 16, 2021 / Q&A / Wen Stephenson

Two activists with painted faces stand, holding a sign that reads

The Hardest Thing About the Green New Deal The Hardest Thing About the Green New Deal

Three new books raise the question: What does global solidarity look like at this late hour?

Oct 12, 2020 / Wen Stephenson

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