It Could Happen Here: CZM Book Club - "Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy" by Charlie Jane Anders (Part One)

Date: January 18, 2026
Host: Margaret Killjoy

Episode Overview

This episode is the first half of a two-part Cool Zone Media Book Club feature, in which host Margaret Killjoy reads and discusses Charlie Jane Anders’ short story, "Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy." Examining themes of climate collapse, found family, subcultural evolution, and community, the story is a speculative fiction set in a drowned, future San Francisco. Margaret’s reading is infused with reflections on change—both ecological and social—and how we navigate love, loss, and the impermanence of our chosen communities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to the Story & Its Relevance

• [03:18] Margaret opens the episode and introduces the story, originally published in Drown Worlds (2016), describing it as a love letter to San Francisco—but more deeply, "a story about falling in and out of love with a community, and about aging and subculture."
• Margaret notes her personal connection: "That's why I'm interested in it. I have no opinions about that, no experience with that whatsoever, but I'm excited to hear what you all think."
• The anthology's premise revolves around rising oceans and the futures left in their wake, making the choice especially relevant for a show about collapse and building hope for the future.

2. Sacred Moments in Collapse

• [05:00] - [06:30] The story begins with a communal ritual—naked on the shore, sending candles out into flooded San Francisco Bay.
• The atmosphere is simultaneously sacred, joyful, and irreverently human (broken up by a group fart and laughter), embodying the mix of solemnity and humor that sustains community through hard times.
• Quote: "This was sacred. This was stolen. And then someone, probably Miranda, farted. And then we were all laughing and the grown up seriousness was gone." – Narrator (Margaret reading) [06:20]

3. Personal and Generational Trauma, and the Search for Identity

• [06:45] - [10:00] The protagonist recounts fleeing Fairbanks in search of something authentic, questioning what it means to belong and to be real in an age where the past is gone, literally under water.
• A conversation with Juya, an older, queer mentor, frames generational trauma:
  • Quote: "Our parents, our grandparents and their grandparents, they were all living like every day could be the day the planet finally got done with us. They didn't grow up having moisture condensers and mycoprotein rinses and skin cysts." – Juya (Margaret reading) [08:45]
• The idea that new communities and subcultures arise as ways to process inherited trauma and forge identity.

4. Migration, Newfound Love, and Community

• [10:00] - [12:00] The journey south with Juya is described as a passage through wastelands—literal and emotional—culminating in arrival at the "wrong headed" community on Bernal Island.
• The formation of the community is bound to the lost city under the waves and to music:
  • Quote: "Listening to Yokanda, I almost fancied I could put my ear to the surface of the ocean and hear all the sounds from generations past still reverberating." – Narrator (Margaret reading) [11:40]
• There’s an undercurrent of polyamory, fluid relationships, and chosen family throughout the narrative.

5. Living with the Ocean: Environmental Postmortem and Making Do

• [16:50] After the break, the episode explores the daily realities of eco-engineering and survival:
  • Failed techno-fixes for ocean dead zones—"filler with quicklime," "genetically engineered fish," and more—have left debris and new problems.
  • The community’s slow cleanup efforts and improvisational approach become metaphors for coping with climate grief.
  • Community music sessions, arguments about history, and midnight debates provide emotional sustenance.

6. Subculture and Change: The Pain and Joy of Impermanence

• Ongoing turnover in the community mirrors ecological instability. People drift in and out, relationships shift, and new conflicts emerge (e.g., jealousy, personality clashes, resource scarcity).
• Quote: "Falling in love with a community is always going to be more real than any love for a single human could ever be. People will let you down ... but the group is a rhythm." – Narrator (Margaret reading) [26:00]
• The insertion of new faces—and departure of beloved ones—triggers nostalgia, jealousy, and the challenge of maintaining openness and abundance even as resources (and tolerance) ebb and flow.

7. Crisis: Filtration Failure and Food Shortage

• The community’s food supply collapses when the mycoprotein vats spoil due to contaminated filtration. The moment is both a literal crisis and a metaphor for community vulnerability and the constant intrusion of systemic failure.
• Quote: "The stench was so powerful we all started to cry and retch... It looked like our whole filtration system was off... Even the fungus that wasn’t spoiled would have minimal protein yield." – Narrator (Margaret reading) [29:30]

8. Hazel’s Commentary & Margaret’s Reflections

• [30:45] Margaret reads a reflection from producer Hazel, emphasizing the deep emotional resonance of finding your people, only to lose them again:
  • Quote (Hazel): "The way Charlie writes about finding your people and it just clicking is so real ... The specific combination of annoyance, nostalgia, and trying to hold on to the community that you fell in love with is just so gripping."
• Margaret connects these feelings to her own experience in subcultures, suggesting that surviving personal upheaval can give strength to face larger-scale collapse:
  • Quote (Margaret): "I haven't quite been in exactly this wild subculture, but I've been in some wild subcultures where it just feels like this is it, this is my family... And how that changes and how shocking it is... The microcosm of that happening in a subculture that's changing... kind of almost helps me handle climate grief, right?" [31:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [06:20] "This was sacred. This was stolen... And then... we were all laughing." (Margaret reading)
• [08:45] "Our parents... lived like every day could be the day the planet finally got done with us." (Juya via Margaret)
• [11:40] "I could put my ear to the surface of the ocean and hear all the sounds from generations past." (Margaret reading)
• [26:00] "Falling in love with a community is... more real than any love for a single human could ever be." (Margaret reading)
• [29:30] "The stench was so powerful we all started to cry and retch." (Margaret reading)
• [30:45] Hazel's reflection on community change: "The way Charlie writes about finding your people and it just clicking is so real..."
• [31:40] Margaret’s closing reflection: "The microcosm of that happening in a subculture that's changing... kind of almost helps me handle climate grief, right?"

Episode Structure & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment & Topic | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 03:18 | Introduction to the Book Club and story premise | | 05:00 | Candle ritual on the drowned shore—community vibes | | 06:45 | Leaving Fairbanks, generational trauma | | 08:45 | Juya on trauma and survival | | 10:00 | Protagonist’s journey, arrival at Bernal Island | | 11:40 | Discovery of community, music, legacy | | 16:50 | Cleaning the dead ocean, community resilience | | 26:00 | Exploring polyamory, community rhythm | | 29:30 | Food supply crisis: mycoprotein vats spoil | | 30:45 | Hazel and Margaret on the resonance of the story | | 31:40 | Margaret's personal reflection, hope amidst grief |

Closing Notes & What’s Next

• Margaret teases Part Two, which will address how the community copes with losing its food production and further explores themes of adaptation, loss, and resilience.
• Information is shared about Charlie Jane Anders’ other work and accolades.
• Margaret warmly invites listeners to the dedicated Cool Zone Media Book Club feed.

Sign-off:
"Until then, may the ocean hold you in her infinite grace and love. And also fuck ice. Love you. Bye." – Margaret [32:05]

For listeners, this episode offers a moving blend of speculative fiction and lived experience, inviting reflection on our own communities, the inevitability of change, and how to face the immense grief and hope engendered by collapse.