Climate Journalist
Ethan Brown is the Training Program Coordinator at Metcalf Institute, where he develops and oversees programs to support journalists and scientists in accurate and accessible climate communication. Prior to joining Metcalf, Ethan was the Founder and Host of The Sweaty Penguin, a comedy climate podcast presented by PBS’s climate initiative Peril and Promise aiming to tackle climate anxiety and polarization. In its four year run, the podcast released over 220 episodes, received over 50,000 downloads, and interviewed over 130 climate scientists and scholars from 18 countries and 6 continents. The Sweaty Penguin also won Webby and Signal Awards, won first place in Boston University’s New Venture Competition, and inspired a new geography course at the University of Kansas which replaced their textbook with the podcast. Ethan has also worked as a climate journalist and commentator, with bylines in Newsweek, The Hill, and Times of Israel among other outlets. He is Jewish and has traveled and volunteered in Israel several times, and much of his recent writing has explored antisemitism in the climate movement and clean tech innovation in Israel. He earned a dual degree in Environmental Analysis & Policy and Film & Television from Boston University in 2021, and won Covering Climate Now’s Emerging Journalist of the Year Award in 2024.