We spoke with Dr. Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis. In this conversation, Samantha explains the counterintuitive reality that the people who most need support during a disaster tend to get less government assistance, and her suggestions for how emergency management can be reformed to support disaster justice.

Welcome to Season 4 of Pullback, where we’ll be focusing entirely on climate justice — what it means, why it matters, and the policies we can implement today to address the crisis and build a fairer world. In this first episode, hosts Kristen and Kyla explore how climate change is already impacting people around the world, including the ways it’s deepening existing inequalities — especially for communities that are already marginalized.