The pair talked greenwashing, fame and Björk’s new album during a new discussion for the New Statesman’s World Review podcast.
The seminal musician and world-renowned climate activist first encountered each other in 2019, when Björk asked Thunberg for a reading of an environmental manifesto for her show Cornucopia. Since, Bjork has released her latest project Fossora, while Thunberg is gearing up to release The Climate Book, detailing the effects of climate change and how we can combat the crisis.
The new podcast episode, which was shared on Sunday (16 October), sees the pair “meeting” for the first time as they discuss the climate crisis over the course of the 42-minute show. Speaking about how she stays optimistic in light of the crisis, Björk said: “I just released a track [Atopos] where I repeat “Hope is a muscle, hope is a muscle”. It is something you need to work on, it doesn’t fall from the sky.”
Elsewhere, Thunberg discussed the history of music in her family and the role it plays in her life. “All my family are musicians, and I’m the only one who is not,” she said. “I guess I kind of rebelled in that way. Music plays a very, very important part in creating the cultural shifts and social changes that we need in order to address the climate emergency. It’s a really important way to mobilise people.”
She also shared her appreciation for Björk’s new album: “I also listened to Fossora today, and I find it very cool, and I really like the idea behind it – about going back to the roots.”
You can find a written version of the conversation between Björk and Thunberg here and listen to the podcast episode below.
