Thanks for asking what we want, Britt! I'm a big fan of the newsletter as is; I always read it and find it valuable. :)
That said, I would welcome hearing more about your research-- would be really interesting to get a bit of a glimpse into your work in progress, what colleagues in the field are discussing, the latest from conferences etc., since it is such a relevant and timely topic and research takes so long to complete, publish and get out in the world.
I would also really love stories and "examples of people harnessing climate emotions for greater agency and action"-- that sounds great. Maybe this could be a space to go into more depth with some stories from your book -- e.g., I'm sure some of your interviews were cut to just a few sentences in the book, but you could use that material to tell a more complete story here?
I'm not on Slack (feels like the one digital platform I've managed to avoid so far!), but I would participate in Discussion Threads here on Substack, I think those are a really nice format for community building both with you and among readers. IMO they are interactive and lead to interesting discussions without being too frenetic/stressful/overwhelming.
All of this is just my two cents, you are doing amazing work so please just keep it up! Congrats on the book tour!! x
Hey Britt - I'm glad to have found your newsletter as I'm working on my literature review for my MA on masculinity and climate emotions. I'd love to continue receiving the literature you come across and I'm fully welcoming the opportunity to connect with this community: a slack workspace or online forum would be a great opportunity, thank you for the fantastic idea!
Newbie to the newsletter here but HUGE fan and share-er of your incredible book - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for writing it and validating so much of the eco-anxiety experience.
Echoing some sentiments already in the comments, but feeling overwhelmed at the scale of the crisis, it would be inspiring to hear more of ordinary people making local or important impact and of their stories. Would also be interested to hear more about your research, as well as interviews with leading thinkers (to tall an order to hear from those with reason to be hopeful??), and I’ve found reading lists - fiction and non-fiction to be so helpful and am always looking for more! A gen-dread book of the month! :) thank you!
Love your work Britt. As a HS teacher about to retire I see the increasing anxiety in the young. My own journey began in 2018 with the combination of the IPCC report and grandchildren living with us which prompted me to overhaul the sustainability material that is part of the course I teach. As I researched ever deeper the true nature of our predicament hit me and there were quite a few months of grief and foreboding at the hospital pass my grandaughter and her generation were going to be handed. I see the only avenue for real change coming from below and was thinking that perhaps a segment of the newsletter focused on local initiatives/stories from around the world that can illustrate what ordinary people can actually do in their local area to gain some agency which is a great help in dealing with the feelings of helplessnes at the scale of the problem. Perhaps a page of links to take newbies out to places where they can educate themselves such as PCI , Nate Hagens, The Consilience Project, Peak Prosperity, Tom Murphy, Peter Kalmus and many more. Your book arrived last week and is in the que to read -haha. I have watched a few of your Youtube appearances and its great for me to have someone with a face much fresher than mine that I can direct my students to - particularly young women to help them. Keep up the great work.
I would like to see this newsletter also used to raise awareness of the abuse of this issue, wherein an amount of damage equivalent to what would be caused in the future is being done right now, in the present, by governments bullying farmers out of producing food and threatening people's food supply.
Hi Britt! I agree your newsletter is already a tremendous resource. I was fortunate to find your newsletter shortly after my hometown in Northern California burned in a wildfire last year. It was SO VALIDATING to learn about climate anxiety from you and the great resources you curate for us.
I am deeply grateful in particular for the announcements of upcoming opportunities that you share with us. Do you remember sharing in a past newsletter about the opportunity for a young person to speak with PBS about their experience with climate anxiety? I saw your announcement just weeks after our fire, contacted PBS immediately, and was chosen for the segment. That opportunity gave me purpose in one of the darkest periods of me life.
Your newsletter, book, and voice in the world has helped me very much (and I’m sure that’s true for so many of us). No other feedback at the moment other than to please keep going :) Wishing you and your family all the best.
Hi Britt. Just finished your fantastic book! So many wonderful nuggets of wisdom and lots to think about. Sorry I'm just getting around to reading June's newsletter, but as a response to your query at the end: I'd love to have opportunities to connect with others who are doing climate work via Slack or other means. Thank you for all you do and share!
Hi Britt! Thanks for the invitation to provide feedback. The newsletter is great and always really interesting. As someone who is not versed in psychology, I do sometimes find myself lost in some of the most technical jargon (e.g., affect theory came up a couple of newsletters ago). I wonder if a glossary could be added - could be within the newsletter itself or could be a separate link/page that gets updated as more terms become used/created.
I would also probably check out a Slack page if this community starts one!
Thanks Britt for all your work. In your book "Generation Dread" you talk about "toggling" between states of despair and resilience. In my experience, each time I toggle it's to a slightly different place, having learned a bit more about myself and how to live with creativity and integrity in a very sick world. What makes your book so compelling is it's being rooted in your own life-experience. I agree that it would be great to hear about your research, and the way that it influences and helps you (or doesn't!) you on your own continuing journey into the Anthropocene.
I also value the links to resources/material that you provide - it is so valuable to have a reliable guide making selections from the mind-boggling array of material that is out there.
I find the newsletter valuable as is, especially the sharing of links to other resources that readers may not be aware of. I have benefited from exploring these links. I do resonate with the topic of "people harnessing climate emotions for greater agency and action" and would love to see further explorations of the topic.
Recent subscriber - share the newsletter content with a lot of folks in my network, its really rich and hugely useful - no criticism. Just a question or thought - some Collapse aware networks I am part of - Transition US, Earth Regenerators, Climate Alliance - use Mighty Networks, not Slack?
Deep Adaptation Forum use slack for volunteers - and we found it has a too high learning curve cost and most volunteers/occasional users dropped out quickly and never used it (and left the volunteer role..) Loads of rich functionality, but actually quite hard to manage notifications etc. In case that's helpful
Again, thanks for asking. I am a newbie here and have not read your book (will soon), so shooting somewhat in the dark for now. Anyway, what I am interested in is the philosophical, cultural and psychological dilemma of being human at this time, the sheer paradox encapsulated by what some marines in the Vietnam War wrote on their helmets, "Born to kill." (For example, by typing this comment in my fossil-fuel-dependent poisonous plastic laptop.) What to make of being here, now - how to understand what precisely one is doing here, and here to do - other than, naturally and inevitably, to kill? That, in a word, is what I want to know.
Thanks - this is a wonderful newsletter as it is! However, I’m wondering if you could slowly incorporate other dimensions of this “polycrisis” (perhaps “metacrisis” is a better term) into these discussions. We are right to focus on the climate crisis but people must still cope with an overwhelming confluence of threats like failing human systems, changing norms and psychological pressures that are sending the incidence of many mental health disorders skyrocketing. Perhaps this is casting the net too wide, but for me it’s hard to separate the climate catastrophe - “the great threat multiplier” - from this bewildering threat array. What are the research models or frameworks that could help the average schmuck like me to organize our thinking? ps And thanks again for your incredibly important book.🙏🏾🙏🏾
Thanks for asking what we want, Britt! I'm a big fan of the newsletter as is; I always read it and find it valuable. :)
That said, I would welcome hearing more about your research-- would be really interesting to get a bit of a glimpse into your work in progress, what colleagues in the field are discussing, the latest from conferences etc., since it is such a relevant and timely topic and research takes so long to complete, publish and get out in the world.
I would also really love stories and "examples of people harnessing climate emotions for greater agency and action"-- that sounds great. Maybe this could be a space to go into more depth with some stories from your book -- e.g., I'm sure some of your interviews were cut to just a few sentences in the book, but you could use that material to tell a more complete story here?
I'm not on Slack (feels like the one digital platform I've managed to avoid so far!), but I would participate in Discussion Threads here on Substack, I think those are a really nice format for community building both with you and among readers. IMO they are interactive and lead to interesting discussions without being too frenetic/stressful/overwhelming.
All of this is just my two cents, you are doing amazing work so please just keep it up! Congrats on the book tour!! x
These are such helpful suggestions Kim, thanks so much, I will certainly consider everything you wrote, and thanks for the kind words! x
Slack channel or a discord for the climate-engaged. We need to build a support community that shares the load.
Hey Britt - I'm glad to have found your newsletter as I'm working on my literature review for my MA on masculinity and climate emotions. I'd love to continue receiving the literature you come across and I'm fully welcoming the opportunity to connect with this community: a slack workspace or online forum would be a great opportunity, thank you for the fantastic idea!
Newbie to the newsletter here but HUGE fan and share-er of your incredible book - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for writing it and validating so much of the eco-anxiety experience.
Echoing some sentiments already in the comments, but feeling overwhelmed at the scale of the crisis, it would be inspiring to hear more of ordinary people making local or important impact and of their stories. Would also be interested to hear more about your research, as well as interviews with leading thinkers (to tall an order to hear from those with reason to be hopeful??), and I’ve found reading lists - fiction and non-fiction to be so helpful and am always looking for more! A gen-dread book of the month! :) thank you!
Love your work Britt. As a HS teacher about to retire I see the increasing anxiety in the young. My own journey began in 2018 with the combination of the IPCC report and grandchildren living with us which prompted me to overhaul the sustainability material that is part of the course I teach. As I researched ever deeper the true nature of our predicament hit me and there were quite a few months of grief and foreboding at the hospital pass my grandaughter and her generation were going to be handed. I see the only avenue for real change coming from below and was thinking that perhaps a segment of the newsletter focused on local initiatives/stories from around the world that can illustrate what ordinary people can actually do in their local area to gain some agency which is a great help in dealing with the feelings of helplessnes at the scale of the problem. Perhaps a page of links to take newbies out to places where they can educate themselves such as PCI , Nate Hagens, The Consilience Project, Peak Prosperity, Tom Murphy, Peter Kalmus and many more. Your book arrived last week and is in the que to read -haha. I have watched a few of your Youtube appearances and its great for me to have someone with a face much fresher than mine that I can direct my students to - particularly young women to help them. Keep up the great work.
A great opportunity to meet you and looking forward towards see your newsletter as we build a better climate change in the world 🌎 🌍 now and forever:
I would like to see this newsletter also used to raise awareness of the abuse of this issue, wherein an amount of damage equivalent to what would be caused in the future is being done right now, in the present, by governments bullying farmers out of producing food and threatening people's food supply.
odysee.com/@AussieFighter:8/Evidence-of-%E2%80%98CONTROL-FOOD-to-CONTROL-PEOPLE%E2%80%99---Dutch-farmers---No-farmers,-no-food:e
odysee.com/@Instigator:2/Sri-Lanka-R-Us:f
youtube.com/watch?v=6o02uGWuMD0
Hi Britt! I agree your newsletter is already a tremendous resource. I was fortunate to find your newsletter shortly after my hometown in Northern California burned in a wildfire last year. It was SO VALIDATING to learn about climate anxiety from you and the great resources you curate for us.
I am deeply grateful in particular for the announcements of upcoming opportunities that you share with us. Do you remember sharing in a past newsletter about the opportunity for a young person to speak with PBS about their experience with climate anxiety? I saw your announcement just weeks after our fire, contacted PBS immediately, and was chosen for the segment. That opportunity gave me purpose in one of the darkest periods of me life.
Your newsletter, book, and voice in the world has helped me very much (and I’m sure that’s true for so many of us). No other feedback at the moment other than to please keep going :) Wishing you and your family all the best.
Ana
Hi Britt. Just finished your fantastic book! So many wonderful nuggets of wisdom and lots to think about. Sorry I'm just getting around to reading June's newsletter, but as a response to your query at the end: I'd love to have opportunities to connect with others who are doing climate work via Slack or other means. Thank you for all you do and share!
Hi Britt! Thanks for the invitation to provide feedback. The newsletter is great and always really interesting. As someone who is not versed in psychology, I do sometimes find myself lost in some of the most technical jargon (e.g., affect theory came up a couple of newsletters ago). I wonder if a glossary could be added - could be within the newsletter itself or could be a separate link/page that gets updated as more terms become used/created.
I would also probably check out a Slack page if this community starts one!
Thanks Britt for all your work. In your book "Generation Dread" you talk about "toggling" between states of despair and resilience. In my experience, each time I toggle it's to a slightly different place, having learned a bit more about myself and how to live with creativity and integrity in a very sick world. What makes your book so compelling is it's being rooted in your own life-experience. I agree that it would be great to hear about your research, and the way that it influences and helps you (or doesn't!) you on your own continuing journey into the Anthropocene.
I also value the links to resources/material that you provide - it is so valuable to have a reliable guide making selections from the mind-boggling array of material that is out there.
I find the newsletter valuable as is, especially the sharing of links to other resources that readers may not be aware of. I have benefited from exploring these links. I do resonate with the topic of "people harnessing climate emotions for greater agency and action" and would love to see further explorations of the topic.
Recent subscriber - share the newsletter content with a lot of folks in my network, its really rich and hugely useful - no criticism. Just a question or thought - some Collapse aware networks I am part of - Transition US, Earth Regenerators, Climate Alliance - use Mighty Networks, not Slack?
Deep Adaptation Forum use slack for volunteers - and we found it has a too high learning curve cost and most volunteers/occasional users dropped out quickly and never used it (and left the volunteer role..) Loads of rich functionality, but actually quite hard to manage notifications etc. In case that's helpful
Gen Dread...welcome to the real world...come out of your 'climate distress'. from Trevor in New Zealand, 90 in August!!
Again, thanks for asking. I am a newbie here and have not read your book (will soon), so shooting somewhat in the dark for now. Anyway, what I am interested in is the philosophical, cultural and psychological dilemma of being human at this time, the sheer paradox encapsulated by what some marines in the Vietnam War wrote on their helmets, "Born to kill." (For example, by typing this comment in my fossil-fuel-dependent poisonous plastic laptop.) What to make of being here, now - how to understand what precisely one is doing here, and here to do - other than, naturally and inevitably, to kill? That, in a word, is what I want to know.
Thanks - this is a wonderful newsletter as it is! However, I’m wondering if you could slowly incorporate other dimensions of this “polycrisis” (perhaps “metacrisis” is a better term) into these discussions. We are right to focus on the climate crisis but people must still cope with an overwhelming confluence of threats like failing human systems, changing norms and psychological pressures that are sending the incidence of many mental health disorders skyrocketing. Perhaps this is casting the net too wide, but for me it’s hard to separate the climate catastrophe - “the great threat multiplier” - from this bewildering threat array. What are the research models or frameworks that could help the average schmuck like me to organize our thinking? ps And thanks again for your incredibly important book.🙏🏾🙏🏾