Fix The News

The battle to restore the Klamath River lasted generations. When the dams finally came down, salmon returned within three days - far faster than scientists expected, marking a turning point for Indigenous rights, ecological restoration and cultural survival.
 
Meet Amy Bowers Cordalis - attorney, activist and member of the Yurok Tribe - who helped lead one of the most significant river restoration efforts in modern history. Amy shares the story behind America’s largest dam removal project: from growing up alongside the Klamath River and witnessing the devastating 2002 salmon die-off, to becoming the first General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe and helping navigate a long fight against political, legal and corporate interests that many believed was impossible to win.
 
This isn’t just a conversation about dams or conservation. It’s about what comes after victory - and what repair truly means for ecosystems, communities, culture and our collective future.

In this episode:
How Amy blew up a dam on her birthday
Why salmon returned to the Klamath River in just three days
The cultural and spiritual connection between the Yurok people, the river and salmon
What the 2002 mass death of 70,000 salmon meant for Indigenous communities
How grief and anger led Amy to law school and environmental advocacy
Warren Buffett - and why his team ended up on the banks of the Klamath River
The surprising economics of dam removal and river restoration
Finding the joy in advocacy
What the Klamath story teaches us about hope, persistence and ability of nature and communities to heal
Timestamps:

00:54 - Introduction to the Klamath River story
02:26 - Meet Amy Bowers Cordalis
03:59 - The Yurok's relationship with the Klamath and the salmon
07:05 - The turning point in 2002 
10:59 - How Amy's great-grandmother told her to take action
12:53 -  80,000 salmon died, no media showed up 
13:38 - What a decades-long battle felt like on the inside?
15:13 -  When Warren Buffet's team came out to the Klamath
19:02 -  Midpoint reflections
20:43 - How the Klamath restoration changes the story of environmental activism
22:55 - Why restoration and economics can go hand in hand
23:49 - What it's like to blow up a dam, on your birthday
25:04 - How the elders have responded to the Klamath flowing again
27:32 - How salon beat scientific predication and returned after three days
29:23 - The myth of the lone hero
32:11 - Other river restoration projects happening in America
34:26 - What comes after victory? Healing.
38:21 - What the Klamath story tells us about what's possible
40:22 - Final reflections

Want to dive deeper?
👉 Find out more about Amy and her book 'The Water Remembers'
👉 Amy's non-profit Ridges to Riffles

About Fix The News:
Fix The News is a solutions-focused media platform sharing stories from the frontlines of progress - exploring what’s working in the world and the people making it happen.

Subscribe & follow:
If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast and leave a review - it helps more people find these stories.

Production credits:
Hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose
Produced by Fix The News
Audio production: Anthony Badolato, Hear That!

 This episode was produced in Australia on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung peoples.

Gus and Amy recently attended Women Deliver 2026 – the world’s largest global conference on gender equality. Beyond reporting on the sessions, it was an opportunity to sit down with the people driving social change at every level. From feminist leaders in the Pacific to youth-led innovation, policymakers, and evolving conversations about the role of men in the fight for gender equality, Women Deliver 2026 offered a snapshot of a global movement in motion - and the tensions, ideas, and leadership shaping what comes next.
 
In this episode:
The value of global conferences
Why the current “crisis” feels like a reckoning
How the frontlines of feminism are reshaping the Pacific
Vanuatu and the landmark ICJ climate decision
Why global organisations are focusing on adolescent girls
The uncomfortable question around youth leadership
Helen Clark on why the UN Charter needs to adapt to the 21st century
Good news in global health and women’s health
The Melbourne Declaration on gender equality
The State of the World’s Fathers report
A glimmer of hope from conflict zones
Timestamps:
00:58 Why do we cover these conferences?
03:01 Gus & Amy - same conference, different responses
06:19 The legacy of gender equality conferences
08:08 Oceanic feminist leadership
08:48 Virisila Buadromo - Urgent Action Fund
10:29 Climate is not a single-issue story
11:23 Virisila Buadromo on echo chambers and global solidarity
12:49 Flora Vano - ActionAid Vanuatu
14:08 Climate and maternal health intersect
15:16 The power of community-led solutions
16:47 Vanuatu and the landmark ICJ climate ruling
18:44 Renewed focus on adolescent girls
19:16 Julia Fan - Director for Collective Action, Women Deliver
21:06 Emily McChrystal - Restless Development
22:18 Youth-led digital solutions
23:38 Rethinking the UN Charter for the 21st century
24:02 Helen Clark - former Prime Minister of New Zealand
25:01 Good news in global health
26:35 The Melbourne Declaration for gender equality
28:33 Paola Salwan Daher - Women Deliver
29:36 Unexpected outcomes from the Melbourne Declaration
31:24 State of the World’s Fathers report
31:47 “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”
33:08 Dr Taveeshi Gupta - Equimundo
34:56 What’s working with fathers globally?
36:38 Gary Barker - Equimundo
38:31 Bright sparks from Women Deliver
39:33 Anna Jarrett Rawlence - Women for Women International
40:47 Final reflections

Find Out More:
👉 Women Deliver
👉 Image credit: Joburg Ballet School/ Ihsaan Haffejee
About Fix The News:
Fix The News is a solutions-focused media platform sharing stories from the frontlines of progress - exploring what’s working in the world and the people making it happen.

Subscribe & follow:
If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast and leave a review - it helps more people find these stories.

Production credits:
Hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose
Produced by Fix The News
Audio production: Anthony Badolato, Hear That!

 This episode was produced in Australia on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung peoples.

What happens when two solutions-focused news platforms compare notes on how to change the narrative of the world? Meet Myra Anubi - BBC journalist and host of People Fixing the World - who, like Fix The News, is part of a growing movement to challenge the doom and gloom by reporting on what’s working. Through stories of climate innovation, global health breakthroughs and grassroots problem-solving, Myra is helping prove that solutions journalism isn’t a soft alternative - it’s rigorous, necessary, and reshaping the future of news.
 
Myra takes us behind the scenes to unpack how these stories are found, verified and told inside one of the world’s largest media organisations. She also reflects on her lifelong relationship with the BBC World Service - and why telling stories of progress may be one of journalism’s most important challenges, and greatest opportunities, today.
 
In this episode:
·      What solutions journalism actually is - and why it matters
·      Why “good news” still faces resistance in mainstream media
·      Growing up in Kenya “raised by radio” 
·      How COVID and George Floyd coverage reshaped her family’s media diet
·      Collaboration as a practical remedy
·      Why audiences are hungry for stories of progress
·      What the future of journalism could look like
 
Timestamps:
02:15 What Myra really thinks of the news
03:50 What counts as someone fixing the world?
05:19 Inside the BBC: Pitching “What’s Working”
09:13 Raised by radio in Kenya
10:43 How the BBC shaped Myra’s worldview
12:16 Myra’s journey from solutions sceptic to evangelist
15.47 Gus & Amy’s midpoint reflections
17.11 The power of Kangaroo Care as a solution
19.03 The pattern of change
20.07 What makes someone fix the world?
22.13 Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and conservation through public health 
24.42 How being detained in Uganda exposed deeper challenges within journalism
26.56 The work ahead for solutions journalism
28.48 How to change your children’s media diet
31.55 Myra’s remedy for the world – collaboration
32.55 The personal impact of solutions journalism 
34.00 Gus & Amy’s final reflections 

Find out more:
👉 BBC People Fixing The World
👉 Podcast link
👉 Linkedin
👉 Instagram

About Fix The News:
Fix The News is a solutions-focused media platform sharing stories from the frontlines of progress - exploring what’s working in the world and the people making it happen.

Subscribe & follow:
If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast and leave a review - it helps more people find these stories.

Production credits:
Hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose
Produced by Fix The News
Audio production: Anthony Badolato, Hear That!

 This episode was produced in Australia on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung peoples.

This week’s headlines include – a historic shift in the global energy transition as renewables meet all new electricity demand; Africa’s measles vaccination drive saving 19.5 million lives; a breakthrough gene therapy restoring hearing; major global progress on poverty reduction and mental health; expanded access to education in Chicago; and  two different comeback stories for seagrass ecosystems in France and Australia.
NewsFix has officially moved to its own feed! You can check it out here or search 'NewsFix' on your favourite podcast app.
This podcast is brought to you by ⁠Fix The News⁠. Hosted by Anthony Badolato, ⁠Hear That!⁠ If you want to get in touch with the team, email [email protected]

What happens when two friends in rural Australia take on the global hunger crisis? Meet Rob Houghton and Ken Dachi - a third-generation farmer and a multicultural advisor from Leeton, NSW - who turned a single conversation into Grain of Hope: a grassroots initiative shipping Australian wheat to Sudan, where millions face displacement and acute malnutrition.(We’ve linked ways to support their work below.)
Rob & Ken share the reality of delivering 100 tonnes of grain into a crisis zone - from complex logistics and rising fuel costs to working outside traditional aid systems. Backed by a groundswell of public support, Grain of Hope challenges the idea that global hunger is too big to tackle and shows what’s possible when ordinary people decide to act. 
 
In this episode:
·      How Grain of Hope started with a single conversation
·      The real cost of shipping food aid
·      Why Sudan - and why now
·      What works (and doesn’t) in traditional aid
·      The power of multiculturalism
·      From emergency aid to long-term food systems
·      What it takes to act on global problems from a local place

Timestamps:
00:40 Why This Story Matters
02:33 Meeting Ken and Rob
03:06 The Real Challenges
05:11 From Idea to Mission
06:49 Why Sudan, Why Now
09:06 Community Backs Grain of Hope
14:30 Leeton: The UN of Country Towns
17:04 Stubborn Vision, Flexible Details
19:20 Growing Food vs Moving Systems
21:54 The Team behind Grain of Hope
24:39 Five-Year Vision and Self-Sufficiency
29:21 How You Can Help
31:06 Remedies for a Hard World
32:24 Amy & Gus Reflect and Wrap Up
34:21 Credits and Subscribe

Support Grain of Hope:
If you want to help get this shipment to Sudan - or support future projects - you can find out more below.
👉 FTN Story
👉 Donate

About Fix The News:
Fix The News is a solutions-focused media platform sharing stories from the frontlines of progress - exploring what’s working in the world and the people making it happen.

Subscribe & follow:
If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast and leave a review - it helps more people find these stories.

Production credits:
Hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose
Produced by Fix The News
Audio production: Anthony Badolato, Hear That!

 This episode was produced in Australia on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung peoples.