Wen Stephenson, who writes for The Nation (among other publications), has a new book out, Learning to Live in the Dark: Essays in a Time of Climate Catastrophe. There is so much despair and doom among people who understand climate change. One big part of the book--the part we focus on in this episode--asks about an earlier time that was likewise filled with doom and despair: the 1930s and 1940s. Wen considers how some of the major writers of that time--Arendt, Camus, Weil, and others--found meaning in the midst of despair. But what about today? Where do we find the resolve to keep going when there's so much despair and doom? Wen offers some answers.
