Hope! What is it good for? (Absolutely every'thin).
We ain't doing much about the climate crisis without it. Movements are founded on it, and most campaigns are about wanting us to feel it. Which is exhilarating for those who feel it most urgently - but what about everyone else?
The good news is it turns out there are lots of different ways to have climate hope, even ones that might not look like it. Raising kids in the age of climate breakdown; doing a strange little climate podcast; even being a mopey wee doomer: this episode, we learn about how all these things are types of hope.
Joining me on this episode is researcher Pancho Lewis, who's got a brilliant paper all about the many different types of climate hope there are. We talk about how politics is all about the feels, why being a Man U fan has tested Pancho's hope reserves no end - and how to truly have hope in the dark.
All that, and a bit of Terry Pratchett too.
(last minute edit: The term 'slow hope' was coined by Christof Mauch. Forgot to owl that)
Let me know your thoughts on the show - hello@yourbrainonclimate.com. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.
Owl noises = references:
- 13:33: My micro chat with Geoff Beattie about optimism bias.
- 16.38: Pancho's paper about fluid hope.
- 34.21: Over to Wiki to explain collective effervescence.
- 40.17: Jonathan Lear's book about radical hope.
- 45:20: Mathias Thaler's paper about eco-miserablism.
- 45.30: an owl is necessary to explain the Dark Mountain Collective.
- 50.46: Andreas Malm hates doomsters: see his book.
- 57:02: Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark. If you read nothing else, etc.
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.