Introductory Sources
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference Greta Thunberg, 2019:
A compilation of speeches from Thunberg, featuring “Almost Everything is Black and White,” “The People Are The Hope,” “Wherever I Go I Seem To Be Surrounded By Fairytales,” and “There is Hope.”
Almost Everything is Black and White
“One of the first speeches Thunberg delivered and one of the most effective.”
Paulina Morera Quesada, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
The People Are The Hope
“As many protest movements have pointed out, salvation will not come from politicians or corporations; rather it is through direct action and community that we will take the steps necessary to halt climate change.”
Marie Clare Paxton, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
Wherever I Go I Seem To Be Surrounded By Fairytales
“The first speech in which she mentioned the concept of equity in climate change”
Helena Skadberg, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
There Is Hope
“[In] ‘There is Hope,’ Thunberg mentioned how a ‘handful of rich countries had pledged to reduce their emissions by a certain amount at a certain date.’ Have these companies kept their promises? What impact has Greta Thunberg had on global emissions?”
Helena Skadberg, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
Our House is On Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman, and Beata Ernman, 2020
This intimate family autobiography details Thunberg and her sister’s autism diagnoses, the origins of Thunberg’s activism, and how their own family difficulties are uniquely linked to a rapidly deteriorating planet.
I Am Greta dir. Nathan Grossman, 2020
This deeply personal documentary from Hulu follows Greta Thunberg during the first two years of her activism.
“I think the film really humanized her for me, as many people see her as this figure put on a pedestal leading this huge movement for change but you don’t think about how she was so young and the struggles that came from the work she was doing. Seeing her emotional moments was really important in the film because it reminded me that she was still a child facing all this pressure.”
Helena Skadberg, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
“It […] shed light on mental health issues that arose from the climate crisis such as depression, anxiety, and social isolation, seen through Thunberg.”
Paulina Morera Quesada, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
“I Am Greta emphasizes how young Greta Thunberg was when she began her activism, as well as the toll her work has taken on her. Throughout the film, her speeches are interspersed with clips of her room filled with stuffed animals, video clips of her laughing with her dad, and her crying from the stress of making people care about the future of the planet.”
Marie Clare Paxton, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World prod. BBC Studios, 2021:
This documentary from Hulu follows Thunberg on her abbreviated journey around the globe learning from a variety of experts in their fields including climate scientists, indigenous peoples, and coal miners.
“This series felt like an educational platform where Thunberg — already established as an activist and spokesperson for the environment — interviewed the scientists to inform people. I think it is very connected to her logic in her speeches, where she says most people are unaware of what is happening. Therefore, this was her effort to educate people on the climate crisis, while interacting with scientists.”
Paulina Morera Quesada, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
“This series […] reiterated for me the concept of personal responsibility and how individual work affects the larger scale, an example being the reduction of carbon emissions. It can feel really hopeless thinking about how as individuals, we can’t control the companies that are producing most of the carbon footprint, but we can make individual decisions that do contribute to change.”
Helena Skadberg, CURI Summer Researcher 2022
“In a sense, I felt as though Greta took advantage of peoples’ fascination with her and used it as a means to expose her audience to a variety of climate scientists and activists to radicalize them against climate change.”
Marie Clare Paxton, CURI Summer Researcher 2022