There is a lot going on with our water. Sometimes we have too much, sometimes too little, it’s too salty, too dirty, it’s getting warmer… All too often these observations lead to self-agonizing ‘it’s five to twelve’ podcasts. We, the Dutch, so well known as warriors against the water, are very good at making heavy, guilt-provoking environmental podcasts, which do not fail to spice up our reprehensible behaviour. Fortunately, we have journalist Tracy Metz, who takes a very different approach with her American cheerfulness. No penance Calvinism. Right, the water comes, is her starting point, and then? What do we do? How are we going to protect ourselves, how are we going to use our creativity and urge to innovate to see the water and ourselves differently?
A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad of 23 April 2022