‘It’s Okay To Be Smart’ Host Joe Hanson Headlines New PBS Digital Series About Climate Change

With its latest series, PBS Digital Studios is informing viewers about the current state of our environment. The online video arm of the public broadcasting network has launched Hot Mess, a channel whose videos will concern climate change and other related topics.

Hot Mess is led by three hosts, two of whom — Miriam Nielsen and Talia Buford — are journalist who write about the effects and politics of climate change. The third person who will be emceeing Hot Mess proceedings is Joe Hanson, who is best known as the host of the PBS Digital Studios-run channel It’s Okay To Be Smart. That channel, which offers scientific explainers that are both detailed and colorful (literally), has amassed an audience of more than two million subscribers since its 2013 launch.

In the first Hot Mess episode to arrive on YouTube, Hanson looks back at the history of climate science in an attempt to understand why it

has taken so long for humans to respond to serious changes to their planet. “Climate change will affect us all no matter where we are or how we live,” Hanson says in the video. “Solving it can’t wait for tomorrow, and we can’t wait for other people to solve it for us, and that’s why we’re making this show.”

“Hot Mess is dedicated to growing online communities that are interested in exchanging dialogue about environmental science,” PBS Digital Studios Senior Director Brandon Arolfo added in a press release. “At its core, Hot Mess is rooted in science education, and we are lucky to have such smart, passionate hosts bring their varied experiences and perspectives to the series.”

If you are so inclined, you can provide Hot Mess with financial support by backing it on Patreon.