This episode features a chat with Alex Evans, the founder and executive Director of ‘Larger Us’, which is a community of change-makers who share the aim of using psychology for good – to bridge divides, build broader coalitions and bring people together.
Alex is the author of "The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren't Enough?", which is a book about the how power of deep stories can help us unlock transformational change. This is a text I’ve used with my own students when exploring the power storytelling.
Alex has also previously worked as a Campaign Director at Avaaz, the 50-million-member global citizens' movement. He’s also worked in the UN Secretary-General's office on climate and sustainability, and as Special Adviser to two Secretaries of State at the Department for International Development.
In our chat we explore the highs and lows of Alex’s fascinating journey and what that led him to set up Larger Us back in 2018.
This chat was recorded over zoom in October 2024, a few weeks before the US general election – so, you’ll hear that mentioned a couple of times.
I want to thank Darren Kelsey for connecting me with Alex and I also wanted to give a shout out to the Larger Us Podcast – which has some fantastic guests and explores how we can become a larger us, rather than an us and them society – that’s definitely worth checking out.
Links:
Larger Us: https://larger.us/
Larger Us Podcast: https://larger.us/ideas/?podcast
The Good Apocalypse Guide: https://goodapocalypse.substack.com/
Get Out the Vote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_out_the_vote
Dave Fleischer (Larger Us Podcast): https://www.buzzsprout.com/1738464/episodes/8465284-3-how-to-change-people-s-minds-with-dave-fleischer
Daryl Davis (Larger Us Podcast): https://www.buzzsprout.com/1738464/episodes/15989624-how-to-get-a-white-supremacist-to-leave-the-kkk-with-daryl-davis
McKinsey & Company: https://www.mckinsey.com/uk/overview
Greenpeace UK: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/
Loving the Enemy (Article by Alex Evans): https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/author535-alex-evans.html
Environmental Technology Imperial College): https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-taught/environmental-technology/
Institute for Public Policy: https://www.ippr.org
United Nations: https://www.un.org/sg/en
Baroness Amos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Amos,_Baroness_Amos
Claire Short: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Short
Hilary Benn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Benn
Department for International Development: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_International_Development#:~:text=Three%20former%20British%20Prime%20Ministers,Foreign%2C%20Commonwealth%20and%20Development%20Office
The Centre on International Cooperation: https://cic.nyu.edu/
Dami Makinde: https://www.socialchangeinitiative.com/dami-makinde
Building a Larger Us: Five Questions for Change-Makers (pdf download): https://www.larger.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Building-a-Larger-Us.pdf
The Myth Gap (Alex Evans Book): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/435427/the-myth-gap-by-alex-evans/9781909513112
Activists throw soup on Van Gogh painting again (BBC Article): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c243v5m0r0lo
The WI: https://www.thewi.org.uk
Unison: https://www.unison.org.uk/
Parent for Future: https://parentsforfuture.org.uk/
Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/
