Adam Mastroianni (experimental psychologist, Substacker) recently published a study in Nature that hit headlines. The paper, co-published with happiness expert Daniel Gilbert, demonstrated that everyone (literally) thinks the world is in moral decline, that we are less honest, and less kind, and that we need to return to the golden days of yore. The controversial bit? Everyone has ALWAYS thought this. And ALL of us are wrong.
Adam and I talk through the mad cognitive biases that steer us to this error and cover a bunch more that explain why being smart doesn’t make you happy, why we forget what we've learned and why we all (again) think the general public is stupider than us (we can’t all be right!?). I was overdue for a confrontation on my biases and my moral despair…you?
SHOW NOTES  Follow Adam's Substack - Experimental History Read The illusion of moral decline
If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ADAM MASTROIANNI: Do we need to make the world great (and kinder) again?

Sarah Wilson chats wild ideas for a fired up life. The multi-New York Times bestselling author, activist, minimalist and former news journalist who founded the global phenomenon ‘I Quit Sugar’ travelled the world for 10 years (living out of one bag) to explore the freshest ways to live fully…and to save this one wild and precious life we have together. She riffs with philosophers, creatives, poets, scientists (and at least one nun!) on the Big Questions that haunt us. What goes through the mind of a prisoner on death row? How does Sia invent her art? Will we die from climate change and can our rage save us? Is being Australian a mental health crisis? Join Sarah as she wrestles a path to the answers… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Olivia Lazard (peace mediator; rare minerals expert) exposes missing chunks in the “green” energy transition that many of us assume to be the “fix” to the climate crisis. Via her work as a fellow at Carnegie Europe and advisor on global security, she explains how the mining and extraction of rare earth metals like lithium, graphite and cobalt - to make the batteries etc for the new green “economy” - are both rare (there’s literally not enough of them to make the transition), come with massive ecological costs (therefore rendering the “clean tech” very dirty), but are also destabilising the world in ways few are able to fathom. This is a very confronting reality, especially for climate activists and green economy evangelists. 
In this chat we go deep and wide into climate security issues, pull apart the techno-optimist “but AI and innovation will save us!” mindset, and what we really need to know about geo-engineering. This, on paper, sounds like a very “head-y” conversation, but Olivia also weaves in “heart” considerations that I think many of you are aching for in this debate. At the end, we discuss whether we have “hope”.
SHOW NOTES Connect with Olivia on X / Twitter   Check out Olivia’s TED talk to see the charts she talks about. Listen to Nate Hagen on WILD here and Douglas Rushkoff here 
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If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OLIVIA LAZARD: The big fat renewable energy blindspot NO ONE wants to talk about

A cracking Ask Me Anything question this week that gives us a chance to talk about crazy-making tech bros and their antics. My answer sees me dive into p(doom) numbers, Freud, techno-optimistic manifestos and fertility collapse. Fun! 
Join the conversation over on Substack and post your own Ask Me Anything here.
If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AMA: Is it doomist to talk about civilisational collapse?

Kate Raworth (“renegade” economist; inventor of the “doughnut” systems model) has one of the most dynamic and controversial theories for “fixing” or adjusting to the planetary mess we’re in. Back in 2017 she released her book Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist and it became a cult read – the Pope, Extinction Rebellion and the UN General Assembly praise it. It designs an economy that allows humans to flourish while ALSO not destroying the planet – existing within the planetary boundaries. 
In this chat, Kate, an Oxford professor and Club of Rome member, and I talk about how the current economic model is fundamentally flawed (all those supply/demand and growth models have never been peer-reviewed!), how to debunk a Stephen Pinker disciple and how to balance the reality of looming (locked-in) collapse and living fully (the two are actually connected). Kate is a brilliant delight of a human – this chat is fun.
SHOW NOTES Find visuals of a “rational economic man” and her doughnut head here  You can find out if your city has or is taking part in the Doughnut Economics Action Lab  If you’re from Melbourne, check out Regen Melbourne and Kate also mentions Takethejump.org Here’s the chat with Nate Hagens on energy collapse Here’s my Wild episode with Jason Hickle on degrowth economics Here’s my chat with Gaya Harrington about the Limits to Growth report
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If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KATE RAWORTH: Doughnut economics as the antidote to “death by growth”

On today's AMA, I share my hacks and my “mindset” for sifting through, retaining and managing all the data inflow (amino supplements, tilting, biting off more than I can chew as a tactic and advice gleaned from systems thinkers). And I wade into when to speak out and when not to wade into a rally and take the mic (and the responsibility that comes with being a privileged white woman who looks as tame as a mum from an OMO commercial).
SHOW NOTESJoin the conversation over on SubstackSubscribe and post your own Ask Me Anything here--
If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AMA: How do you manage information overload PLUS should white women activists get out of the arena?

Johann Hari (bestselling author Stolen Focus and Lost Connections) has written another system-rattling book, this time about the new weight loss drugs that everyone is both talking about AND not talking about. I’ve been wanting a wild mind to come chat about the phenomenon for over a year. Johann happened to reach out and tell me he’d been experimenting with Ozempic, had travelled the world interviewing 100-plus experts on the matter and was up for a chat. 
In this conversation, we talk through what he lays out in his book Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs. We cover how the drugs work on our biology; the emerging risks; how the rich are the guinea pigs in this particular science experiment; the implications of a world with no appetite (“What will become of the dinner party?”); and the fact these drugs mask the real problem – how Big Food manipulates our hormones with their Franken-foods. And, so, here we are again, told to fix a systemic problem with the same mindset that caused it in the first place (ie: manipulating nature with additives for profit). The Ozempic debate is a lot. This chat goes there!
SHOW NOTES Johann's book Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs is available now  Connect with Johann on Instagram and buy his books here Listen to my Wild chat about Ultra-Processed Food with Dr Chris van Tulleken Read my Substack post on the Ozempic “divide” here 
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If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most! Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ADAM MASTROIANNI: Do we need to make the world great (and kinder) again?

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