The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Parenting through the climate crisis

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Does being a parent today necessarily mean also being a climate activist? Sean Illing speaks with moral philosopher and political theorist Elizabeth Cripps about her new book Parenting on Earth, in which she discusses the real-life moral obligations of raising children in our current ecological crisis. Drawing from her experience raising two daughters, Elizabeth and Sean talk about how both to want the best for your children and to build a better society, the conflicts that arise from putting trust in institutions, and arguments made by some that we shouldn't be having kids at all.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Elizabeth Cripps (@ebcripps), senior lecturer in political theory, University of Edinburgh; author

References: 

  • Parenting on Earth: A Philosopher's Guide to Doing Right By Your Kids and Everyone Else by Elizabeth Cripps (MIT Press; 2023)
  • What Climate Justice Means And Why We Should Care by Elizabeth Cripps (Bloomsbury; 2022)
  • "Moral Saints" by Susan Wolf (Journal of Philosophy, vol. 79 no. 8; Aug. 1982)
  • Family Values: The Ethics of Parent-Child Relationships by Harry Brighouse and Adam Swift (Princeton University Press; 2014)
  • How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm (Verso; 2021)
  • "The case for a more radical climate movement" by Sean Illing (Vox; Oct. 1, 2021)


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    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Engineer: Patrick Boyd
    • Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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