In this episode, Marlowe reflects on her summer as a U.S. Senate Page in Washington, D.C. Sitting in the chamber, she watched Senator Sheldon Whitehouse deliver the 308th speech in his "Time to Wake Up" series and started rethinking a question she'd never fully answered: if people already know climate change is real, what actually makes them act? From insurance premiums and mortgage risk to the exhaustion of caring about a problem no single person can solve, Marlowe unpacks what persistence, communication, and government up close taught her about reaching people who see the world differently than she does.

In this episode of The Hottest Generation, Marlowe explores the surprising connection between climate change and Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water systems. Prompted by the ongoing outbreak on Manhattan's Upper East Side, she breaks down how rising temperatures, urban heat islands, and aging infrastructure are creating conditions that can increase the risk of these outbreaks. From cooling towers and public health to environmental justice and climate resilience, this episode uncovers one of the lesser-known ways climate change is already affecting our everyday lives.

Most people don't spend much time thinking about wastewater, insects, or DNA sequences. After attending the Urban Barcode Research Program Symposium, I learned why we should. In this episode, I discuss how scientists use wastewater to track public health trends, how DNA barcoding helps identify species, and what my own research on urban wasps revealed about biodiversity in New York City. Plus, I share what it was like winning the Outstanding Poster Award and why science communication matters just as much as scientific discovery.