Ten Across Conversations 2025 Year in Review

Listen and subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform:

I don’t care what you want to call it. You can call it climate change. You could call it anthropological, or you could deny all that and call it something else. Doesn’t really matter. These are impacts we’re feeling right now.

Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative; member of the Missouri House of Representatives

Climate change is here, it’s happening, we’re seeing it, and we actually need to start addressing it and thinking of it as an emerging public health issue.

Grace Wickerson, senior manager of climate and health at the Federation of American Scientists; co-author of Framework for a Heat Ready Nation

Ten Across Conversations this year engaged a wide array of experts for deep dives into many of the most timely issues seen in the highest relief throughout the Interstate 10 region.

For our 2025 year-in-review episode, we’ve curated a collection of excerpts and reflections from recent conversations, moments that capture some of the most salient insights into environmental, economic, and governance-related themes that resonate well beyond our portion of the country. From unstable insurance markets to shifting responsibilities for disaster recovery, we aim to share information between communities and sectors on the front lines that will lead us all toward the solutions we need.

Some of the key questions touched on in this episode include:
• Can insurance remain affordable and accessible in an era of escalating climate risks?
• Can state and local agencies build the capacity to handle increasing responsibility for disaster recovery?
• On the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, what lessons have been learned—and how are they shaping adaptation efforts today?

Tune in for a thought-provoking recap and discussion that offers valuable ideas about how we can better prepare for our knowable future.

Featured episodes by order of appearance in this recording:

The Hard Decisions Ahead for Lower Colorado River Basin States

10X Convergence: The Region’s Experts Convene to Address the Insurability Crisis

The Future of Insurability: New Approaches and Mindsets

Extreme Heat Has Only Just Begun: How Prepared is the U.S.?

Latest Deadpool Projections Inject New Urgency into Colorado River Negotiations

Katrina’s 20^th: Jeff Hébert on Community Recovery and Resilience

Katrina’s 20^th: Vann R. Newkirk II on What We Owe Climate Disaster Survivors Today

Mississippi River Mayors Coalesce to Address Shared Climate Risks

Why the Ten Across Geography Needs FEMA with Dr. Samantha Montano

Credits