From Vox.

If someone asked you to describe the state of the world right now, odds are you’d reach for the bad news first: political division, AI panic, war, ecological crisis, unraveling everywhere. And none of that is imaginary. But Rebecca Solnit thinks the pessimistic view is incomplete. We’re good at seeing catastrophe and reversal, and much worse at seeing the slower, more positive transformations that unfold over decades.

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Solnit’s new book, The Beginning Comes After the End, is an argument for noticing those changes without denying the darkness of the present. She joins Sean to talk about hope, backlash, political despair, and why fragile victories are still victories worth defending.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)
Guest: Rebecca Solnit

00:00 Intro
02:17 Why we struggle to recognize change
08:44 What is driving today’s political backlash?
15:25 How to find hope in fragile victories
20:39 Is backlash an eternal political reality?
24:54 Power vs. culture: where does change really happen?
37:06 Does Rebecca Solnit ever lose hope?

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