Wild With Sarah Wilson podcast

26:18

How do you know when it’s time to make your next big career move? With International Women’s Day around the corner, we are excited to feature Avni Patel Thompson, Founder and CEO of Milo. Avni is building technology that directly supports the often overlooked emotional and logistical labor that falls on parents—especially women. Milo is an AI assistant designed to help families manage that invisible load more efficiently. In this episode, Avni shares her journey from studying chemistry to holding leadership roles at global brands like Adidas and Starbucks, to launching her own ventures. She discusses how she approaches career transitions, the importance of unpleasant experiences, and why she’s focused on making everyday life easier for parents. [01:26] Avni's University Days and Early Career [04:36] Non-Linear Career Paths [05:16] Pursuing Steep Learning Curves [11:51] Entrepreneurship and Safety Nets [15:22] Lived Experiences and Milo [19:55] Avni’s In Her Ellement Moment [20:03] Reflections Links: Avni Patel Thompson on LinkedIn Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn Ipsos report on the future of parenting About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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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.

197 episodes

#Society #LiSTNR Support

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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updated about a year ago

Series home•Feed

Sarah Wilson chats wild ideas for a fired up life.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

197 episodes

#Society #LiSTNR Support

All episodes

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
VANESSA ANDREOTTI: And now we have hospice modernity…(and a goodbye from Wild) 1:05:48

15 weeks ago1:05:48

1:05:48

Dr Vanessa Andreotti (Indigenous Knowledge advocate; author) is a Brazilian academic who has developed a radical thesis for how to move through the multi-crises we face. In her book Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism she draws on Indigenous wisdoms and entanglement theory to steer humanity through the destruction, grief and uncertainty as democracy, the growth model, “the West” crumbles around us. Dr Andreotti is the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, Canada where she is also one of the designers of the Facing Human Wrongs: Climate Complexity and Relational Accountability course. She has written 100-plus papers on climate education, global justice and race. In this chat – the last in the current Wild series – she talks through how modernity is the most “adolescent” civilisation in history, how Indigenous cultures have the knowledge to assist us, how the West won’t act until “the water is up to their bum” and the value of “black belt aunties”. Get your copy of Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism . Find out more about Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
MARTHA BECK: Only the most nourishing chat I’ve had about anxiety ever 1:12:15

16 weeks ago1:12:15

1:12:15

Dr. Martha Beck (author; “best-known life coach in America”) is about to release a book on anxiety. The international best-selling author – who holds three Harvard degrees in social science and was described by Oprah as “one of the smartest women I know” – specialises in helping people find meaning and integrity in their lives. In this episode, Sarah and Martha reconnect after 15 years to discuss their takes on the role of anxiety in our lives, and how it can be used to create purpose and direction (tune in to hear about the time Martha “bent a spoon with her mind” for Sarah!). They also share tangible techniques for using creativity to switch out of anxious spirals. Martha’s book, Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose comes out in early 2025. SHOW NOTES Here’s the newspaper column I wrote about my first meeting with Martha in 2010. I refer to previous podcasts with Dr Jill Bolte Taylor and Iain McGilchrist , and another on the role of creativity with Ian Leslie . You can read more about Martha's work here and connect on IG here . Preorder a copy of her upcoming book Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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INDY JOHAR: The starkest collapse prognosis I’ve heard 1:18:10

17 weeks ago1:18:10

1:18:10

Indy Johar (founder of Dark Matter Labs, systems designer) re-imagines and redesigns systems for a changed world. The architect and Professor of Planetary Civics at Melbourne’s RMIT and the University of Sheffield has worked with and advised organisations worldwide. Including the Scottish Government, the Mayor of London and WikiHouse, solving complex, entangled problems. Using complexity, emergence and entanglement theories he is a rare expert in this space to provide the (only) path to fixing the world, which is to say fixing our relationship with the world. This conversation goes to a level I’ve not been to before publicly. On his modelling, we don’t have any choice but to start building the world that comes next, for the current one has no viable pathway. He gives a vision for this this. And he gives a timeframe, too. For this episode, I’m providing a forum where you can talk through how you feel about the ideas and your feelings with others. Indy has offered to chime in too: Join the chat on Substack HERE . SHOW NOTES If you are new to this collapse topic you might want to catch up via this conversation with Luke Kemp , the one with Meg Wheatley and this one with Corey Bradshaw . There are some previous guests and topics that are referenced in this chat: Nate Hagens on the future of fossil fuels Kate Raworth on Doughnut Economics We talk about zero-sum theory. I talked about this with Liv Boeree , former world poker champion. We also cover the Blue Zones concept. I interviewed the man behind this, Dan Buettner , here. Indy also references the work of Iain McGilchrist , a guest a few weeks back. You can learn more about Indy's work via DarkMatterLabs Connect with Indy on socials @DarkMatter_Labs and @indy_johar Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
LYNDSEY STONEBRIDGE: How would Hannah Arendt explain Trump? 1:01:01

18 weeks ago1:01:01

1:01:01

Lyndsey Stonebridge (Humans rights academic, Hannah Arendt biographer) was worried about the banality of evil she was observing in the world and so dug down into the work of controversial philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt for insights. Her new book, We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience is a guide on how to live--and think--through a moment like the one we’re in now in the wake of the US election. It draws on Arendt’s ideas about totalitarianism, loneliness, the dulling of the mind, capitalism, as well as the imperative to love the world. Lyndsey is a Professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and writes and broadcasts about a range of topical subjects: refugees, feminism and the moral mind. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. SHOW NOTES I mention the Wild episode with BBC Washington correspondent Nick Bryant Get your copy of Lyndsey's new book, We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience Read more about Lyndsey's work here and follow her on IG 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
LUKE KEMP: Will our global civilisation go the way of the Roman Empire? 1:14:07

19 weeks ago1:14:07

1:14:07

Luke Kemp (historical collapse expert; associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) has studied past civilisations and mapped out a picture of how long they tend to last before they collapse, what tends to tip them and what (if anything) can be done to stall their demise. Luke works alongside Lord Martin Rees and Yuval Noah Harari, is an honorary lecturer in environmental policy at the Australian National University and his collapse insights have been covered by the BBC, the New York Times and the New Yorker . His first book, 'Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collaps e' will be published in June 2025. In this episode I get Luke to provide a bit of a 101 on how civilisations do indeed decline and perish and to update us on the latest theories on how and whether ours might make it through. The answer is surprising. SHOW NOTES Here’s Luke’s original report on complex civilisation’s lifespans. Keep up to date with Luke's work here A few past Wild guests are referenced by Luke. You can catch the episode on Moloch with Liv Boeree here , the interview with Adam Mastroianni here and my chat with Nate Hagens here The first chapter of my book serialisation – about hope – is available to everyone here And here are the two chapters that I reference at the end -- 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 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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AMA: A post on how I write a book about collapse on Substack 28:30

20 weeks ago28:30

28:30

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of “Ask Me Anything” questions about the minutiae of writing about - and having to live through - collapse. I try to cover most of these kinds of questions as we work through the book Serialisation process, but a few get left behind. And so this week’s Wild episode covers these off. You are welcome to join the 55,000 subscribers who are following the book, chapter by chapter, week by week, here . You’ll be invited to upgrade (sorry to have to use such commercial language) to a paid subscription…this helps me to be able to dedicate most of my working week to writing said book. But don’t feel obligated. You can stay a free subscriber and read these first few chapters here and a preview of every other one! SHOW NOTES Here’s where you can start reading the first chapter of the Book Serialisation And here’s the link to subscribe to my Substack newsletter Want to ask me your own question… post it 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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JOEL PEARSON: Do we have free will? Is anything our fault? 57:55

21 weeks ago57:55

57:55

Prof. Joel Pearson (Neuroscientist; AI and cognition scientist) returns to Wild, this time to discuss whether free will is an illusion. In our last chat (about intuition) the subject was raised and Joel promised to come back to discuss it further, particularly in the context of AI, algorithms, the rise of totalitarianism and our agency in systems collapse. Joel is the founder and Director of Future Minds Lab which applies neuroscience findings to art, AI, media, advertising and various philosophical quandaries. He’s also a National Health and Medical Research Council fellow and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He developed the first scientific test to measure intuition and wrote The Intuition Toolkit. In this conversation, we also cover the science of manifesting! SHOW NOTES I mention the chapter on Blame and the very robust discussion the Substack community had around it. You can join this here Here’s the previous episode where Joel talks about the scientific proof of intuition Get Joel’s book The Intuition Toolkit: The New Science of Knowing What without Knowing Why Follow Joel on his Future Minds Lab Substack I previously had willpower expert Roy Baumeister on Wild to talk about how the female orgasm shapes the world! -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
CHRISTIANA FIGUERES: On “stubborn optimism” 1:05:26

22 weeks ago1:05:26

1:05:26

Christiana Figueres (the woman behind the Paris Agreement) is possibly the best-known official in the global climate change movement. The former Costa Rican diplomat and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2010-2016), managed to bring together 195 nations to sign the historical 2015 agreement that set the “1.5C” target/warning. She wrote The Future We Choose, cohosts the Outrage + Optimism podcast, has a moth, a wasp and an orchid named after her, and has won countless international awards for her work. In this episode, we challenge each other on whether hope and optimism are still useful given we’ve passed the 1.5C threshold in February, whether the Paris Agreement is still viable almost 10 years on and the viability of the green energy transition. We don’t agree on a number of points, but we come together on what keeps us in the “fight” …love. Listen to the end with this one. SHOW NOTES The work of rare earth minerals expert Olivia Lazard and energy futurist Nate Hagens supports the energy points I make in this episode. This international team of researchers and this team working out of France show fossil fuels will become net-energy negative in the future. We are spending more energy to get less energy than before—our net energy is “plummeting” . The world’s consumption of fossil fuels climbed to a record high last year according to the University of Exeter's Global Carbon Project and NASA . A Finnish Geological Survey finds that “global reserves are not large enough to supply enough metals to build the renewable non-fossil fuels industrial system”. According to a study on societal tipping points , a peak and fall in global oil production would bring down the entire financial and trade system like a house of cards. This chapter of my book outlines the argument in detail. And here are the first two chapters of my book, that outline my position on hope v truth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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ELIZABETH OLDFIELD X ME: How to be Fully Alive in a collapsing world 1:12:03

23 weeks ago1:12:03

1:12:03

In this SPECIAL EPISODE British coach, author and broadcaster Elizabeth Oldfield and I sit down in her London intentional community home and interview EACH OTHER on…what is sacred (and how we access it), acedia ( the moral loneliness we feel in turbulent times), how we sit in the grief and despair of things, losing friends to the cause, how to be of service, how to be Fully Alive (the title of her book) and honour This One Wild and Precious Life (mine!). Elizabeth’s book has been endorsed by Krista Tippett; she’s written and broadcast for the BBC, The Times, and The Economist; was the Director of Theos, the UK’s leading religion and society think tank; and her podcast The Sacred has featured Nick Cave, Jonathan Haidt and an incredible array of spiritualists and existential thinkers. This was a joyous meeting of spirits! SHOW NOTES Visit Elizabeth's website and subscribe to her Substack Buy your copy of Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times here This One Wild and Precious Life is available 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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BONUS EP: Nika Kovač the activist from the Slovenian gondola 24:04

23 weeks ago24:04

24:04

I do these bonus episodes occasionally whereby I interview someone I serendipitously met on my adventures and who I wrote about in my books AND who struck a chord with readers. I track them down to see where they are now, and there is ALWAYS the most amazing follow-up story. This time, Nika Kovač, a controversial Slovenian activist and Obama scholar who once invited me on a gondola ride with a communist philosopher when I was stranded without a bed for the night and pregnant (read This One Wild and Precious Life to learn more) found me. And it turns out I’d been following her activist work from afar…without realising, she was the dynamic founding director of The Research Institute of 8th March, which won two referendum campaigns, one against the privatisation of water in 2021 and the other against political influence on public media in 2022. Nika also led the most extensive “Get-Out-The-Vote” campaign in Slovenian history ahead of the 2022 Parliamentary election, contributing to a 71 per cent voter turnout. BUT HERE’S THE JUICY BIT: Her latest campaign could achieve free and accessible abortion for all women in the EU. I’ve asked her to explain how the campaign works so everyone here can help achieve the goal…it’s a wild goal (and it’s a wild, wild life), but if anyone can do it, it’s Nika. Join us for the ride! SHOW NOTES You can learn about Nika here and follow her on IG here . You can get This One Wild and Precious Life in the US, UK, Australia, Spanish, Lithuanian, and more… here . Listen to my previous chats with The Lady in Red and Mammoth Dude . Watch and join the conversation on Substack . To get involved in the campaign with us: 1. Read more here , and if you’re an EU citizen, sign here . 2. Send the info to all your EU friends. 3. Share this Mark Ruffalo IG post and tag or message a Euro celebrity in your midst. 4. Look out for posts by Nika and I on Instagram and share those too. -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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IAIN MCGILCHRIST: Our “wretchedness” is a left-brain issue 1:16:24

26 weeks ago1:16:24

1:16:24

Dr Iain McGilchrist (neuroscientist, psychiatrist, polymath, author of The Master and His Emissary ) devised a thesis that sets out how the two sides of our brains can affect the way we both interact and create the world. The left hemisphere is a narrow, extractive, problem-solving “machine” that divides and conquers things, fails to see our part in the world and to fathom beauty, awe and responsibility. Our civilisation, Iain says, has become ruled by a left-brain mentality, which is killing us and leaving us “wretched”; we need to put the right side back in charge! Iain is an associate of Green Templeton College in Oxford and a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal Society of Arts. His 2009 book Master and his Emissary became a cult read and the recent follow-up, The Matter with Things took him 12 years to write (and is 600,000 words long!). In this chat we cover why societies start out creative, happy and flourishing (right-brained!) but switch left and destructive as they expand; the secret to living a well and happy life and how to find meaning and beauty in a world we possibly can’t “fix” (in the left-brain sense of the word). SHOW NOTES Learn more about Iain's work via his website and watch his videos here . Buy Master and his Emissary and The Matter with Things here . Listen to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's Wild episode . Here’s the link to the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival that I’m speaking at this month. Here’s the starting point for joining my book serialisation project. -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

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COREY BRADSHAW: Are humans going extinct? (And how soon?) 1:17:30

27 weeks ago1:17:30

1:17:30

Professor Corey Bradshaw (global ecologist; author) has spent a career studying species populations and biodiversity loss and has the starkest of messages for humanity: we are in our own mass extinction event. Debate rages as to whether humans have an overpopulation problem or are in a fertility collapse, and which is more likely to take us down. The director of the Global Ecology Lab at Flinders University talks us through the devasting finer points of this divide. We also cover why Australia has the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world, why we should be having one less child, what happens when bees die out, and the importance of supporting anyone trying to ban political donations. This conversation is a hard one, but like many in this space, Corey has a philosophy for living fully and joyously with the truth he feels compelled to share: Life is going to get far shittier than we can imagine; our noble obligation is to make it a bit less shitty. SHOW NOTES Here’s the chapter in my book where I explain in full how fertility collapse is playing out. A REMINDER!! Corey will be joining the comments and is happy to answer any questions you have. You’ll need to post them in the comment section of this post . Here’s where you can get started with the Book Serialisation (Put Table of contents). Here’s my Wild chat with Parag Khanna on the best place to live in the world going forward. Read Corey's blog Conversation Bytes -- 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
AMA: How do I explain collapse to someone?* 27:47

27 weeks ago27:47

27:47

*(and that the wars, climate disasters, democratic upheavals etc today are VERY different to crises in the past)? This episode’s question has been asked by too many of you to mention. Many of us have been in situations where we try to talk about the domino’ing of crisis - AI, nuclear, climate, food insecurity, democratic decline, political polarisation, fertility collapse - and get told we’re just being a big old Henny Penny, and that crises happen all the time and humanity survives. The belief is that tech innovation, price mechanisms, progress (!) and human ingenuity will find a way to save us. However, this time is categorically different to past near misses and calamities. There are reams of science that prove it (sadly). So how do you explain this in a calm, convincing way at the next BBQ? Sarah provides a comprehensive rundown of all the points that one can make that set out a picture of how the collapse of complex systems works. SHOW NOTES Here’s where you can start reading the first chapter of the Book Serialisation. And here’s the table of contents . Here’s the Meg Wheatley episode from the recent Collapse Series. Here’s the written versio n of the explainer (should you want a printable version on hand!) Want to ask Sarah your question… post it 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
NICK BRYANT: What has happened to America? 1:10:09

28 weeks ago1:10:09

1:10:09

Dr Nick Bryant (BBC Washington correspondent, author) has spent most of his career covering the events that many of us see as spelling the decline of the US, a once-great nation – the school shootings, Trump presidency, Roe v Wade, storming of the Capitol, George Floyd, conspiracy theories and…all the rest. But in his new book The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself Nick argues that the hate, divisiveness, racism and murmurings of civil war are part of the fabric of the country – “America is just doing America”. Nick has been a foreign correspondent for three decades, writing for the BBC, The Economist , The Washington Post , The Atlantic and more. A copy of his previous book, When America Stopped Being Great sat on Joe Biden’s Oval Office bookshelf. This chat sets out to give context to the issues swirling in the lead-up to the November election. We cover Gaza, RFK Jnr, Project 25, guns, media both side-ism and the fascinating history of American Exceptionalism. SHOW NOTES Get your copy of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself I reference a post I wrote on Project 25. You can read it here . This 7am podcast about Project 25 is useful. And check out the Jim Jeffries clip on gun control. It’s brilliant. You can get started with reading my next book 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.…

Wild with Sarah Wilson

1
CLIVE HAMILTON: CONTENTIOUS CLIMATE COLLAPSE TRUTH - how the “Electrify Everything” message + private schools could be our downfall if we don’t change course 1:12:45

29 weeks ago1:12:45