Victoria’s Blue Initiatives
This week, we’d like to introduce you to the woman who wrote our cover story, Victoria Riskin. She’s a dedicated activist who worked on everything from writing and producing television shows and film to launching her own magazine, Bluedot Living, which we work with to bring you the Santa Barbara Green Guide.
You wrote our cover story this week and interviewed Linda Krop. Why is this story so important right now?
The prospect of Sable Offshore Oil restarting drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel is the most important environmental story in a decade regarding Santa Barbara, the region, and maybe even the State of California. Pumping oil out of the ocean to transport it 150 miles through a corroded pipeline would have disastrous effects on marine life, coastline, the air we breathe, and our economy if there is another spill, which is highly likely. Linda Krop is at the forefront of the legal battle to stop ExxonMobil and Sable, and her smart, spirited style makes her a good subject to profile.
What brought about Bluedot Living? Was this an idea you had for a long time that was finally able to be brought to life?
Most climate stories highlight important aspects of the crisis, but these stories can also leave the reader feeling helpless. In fact, there’s a lot we can do in our homes and towns to be a part of the solution. I wanted to create a lifestyle newsletter and magazine to inspire people to become engaged and try some things that if we all do can make a difference. I wanted to explore all the climate-solution innovation going on like new ways of farming, micro-nuclear technology, microgrids, wind and solar farms, kelp farms, electric cars and buses, even leather made of mushrooms, shoes made from pineapple…. I love to tell those stories and the people behind them. We have yummy recipes to remind people how food waste plays a big role in climate; 30 percent of all food is thrown away and turns into carbon emitting methane gas. What if we waste less food at home and in restaurants and compost? For those like me who are lazy, you can buy small composting machines that fit on a countertop.
You’re also working on another Santa Barbara Green Guide with the Independent. What are you most looking forward to for this year’s publication?
Our second edition of the Green Guide will come out before Earth Day in early April this year. You’ll read about local community gardens, how parents can guide their kids, and you’ll learn about programs to save animals: pelicans, eagles, island foxes, peregrine falcons, gray whales, and monarchs. That sort of thing. Working with the Independent team is a real pleasure.
Bluedot magazine is in eight cities now; are you still looking for ways to expand and reach more people?
We are taking a pause on our location expansion and asking ourselves: How can we go deeper and be more part of a community in our cities? We have some exciting ideas. Important change happens at the community level, which was our reason for having local editions. We also have four national digital publications: The Hub, Bluedot Marketplace, Bluedot Living Kitchen, and our Daily Dot, and those readers are all around the country. Bluedot Living Kitchen is a special quarterly e-magazine with food stories and recipes. I love the way it looks, and it has an audio tool to listen while you take a walk or prepare a meal.
Can you tell me a bit about how your background in psychology mixes with your current career in journalism?
Psychology as a background can be helpful in almost any endeavor. When people tell you what’s going on in their lives, you hear rich, often complicated narratives — dramatic stories. I transitioned easily from psychology to writing and producing movies for television, two-hour stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Psychology, like drama, seeks to understand a character, their motivations and challenges. Bluedot Living writing is done by talented contributors, and sometimes I write, too, always about people, like this profile of Linda Krop or one I did about Billie Eilish’s mom.
What is some advice you’d give to aspiring journalists in the field?
It depends how old the aspiring journalist might be. We have a program that works with high school students called the Bluedot Institute. The students are fantastic but need help knowing what story they want to tell and then shaping how best to tell it. Kids are trained academically in school, but writing for the general audience is different. Some of our students have done interviews and learned how to ask probative questions. This March during spring break, we’re taking 20 students from around the U.S. to Santa Cruz Island for a Climate Leadership Program with the Bren School. The emphasis will be on communication, learning to express ideas, listening to others, and finding ways of telling the story while exploring the island. Over the summer, we’re hosting another Climate Leadership Retreat on Martha’s Vineyard during July 2025.
