About this episode

The episode explores our fascination with daredevils and the evolving relationship with risk through the lens of Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus's engagement atop the Empire State Building.

Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, of Skywalkers Netflix documentary fame, climbed the Empire State Building without ropes, got engaged at the summit as the world watched on, and claimed it was all in service of a message about peace and love. This week, Alice Griffin and Jannah Anderson unpack why we’re so drawn to the daredevils among us (the biology, the psychology, the myth-making) and how our relationship with risk continues to evolve – shaped by context, age, and even the generation we grew up in. ☆ Flavour up your Dry July with ⁠Angostura Bitters⁠ . We’ll see you at the bar this month with a lemon lime n Angostura bitters in hand, our go-to non-alc choice (it’s a literal Aussie icon). ☆ Climbers Get Engaged Atop Empire State Building. Then They Get Arrested. By Andy Newman, Maia Coleman and Chelsia Rose Marcius, The New York Times Skywalkers: A Love Story documentary, Netflix Free Solo documentary, Disney+ The Strange Brain of the World's Greatest Solo Climber by J.B. MacKinnon, Nautilus The Morbid Curiosity of Watching a Daredevil Risk His Life⁠ by R. Douglas Fields, Psychology Today ⁠An integrative framework for mapping the psychological landscape of risk perception⁠ by…

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