If the thought of the climate crisis fills you with dread and fear, you’re not alone. Climate anxiety is becoming more and more widespread, but Stanford Fellow Britt Wray has good news: these difficult feelings are actually the key to finding hope and fighting for the future of our planet. Britt sat down with Lavin’s Charles Yao to discuss her new book, her research, and practical steps we can take to stay sane and find purpose.
Britt has spent years researching the emotional toll of the climate crisis, and in her vital book Generation Dread, she shows us how we can work through these feelings and emerge on the other side ready to act. Naomi Klein, award-winning author of On Fire and This Changes Everything, said, “If you are ready to feel through eco-anxiety, grieve what’s lost, and imagine what comes next, read this courageous book.”
In her insightful interview with Lavin, Britt reveals the scope of climate anxiety (it’s more widespread than you think!), explains how we can make meaning out of suffering, and provides us with practical steps to find purpose in an age of anxiety. “It’s possible to develop more flexible ways of relating to the crisis that aren’t about splitting it off into doom vs. naively optimistic,” Britt says. “That gray zone is where the most strength can be mined from.”
Watch Britt on Lavin’s The Big Idea here: