Sarah Wilson on Complexity, Collapse and Making Art in the Apocalypse

About this episode

Sarah Wilson discusses her new book and the importance of art and beauty in the face of societal collapse.

Sarah Wilson has lived through almost every era of modern media — from becoming a newspaper columnist in her early 20s, to editing Cosmopolitan magazine and hosting MasterChef Australia, writing bestselling books, podcasting and independent publishing. But in recent years, her focus has shifted toward much bigger questions: how do we live meaningfully in an age of ecological crisis, political instability, information overload and growing civilisational anxiety? In this conversation with Tina Quinn, Sarah discusses her new book, I Eat the Stars, why she believes our resistance to societal collapse needs to evolve, and why making art, finding beauty and embracing uncertainty may be more important than ever. They also discuss why Australian media often struggles to grapple with complexity, the pressures of the modern attention economy, and how Sarah’s own long and unconventional career has shaped the way she now thinks about journalism, culture and the path forward. Get in touch, we'd love to hear from you and 2SER needs you! Head to ⁠⁠love2SER.com⁠⁠ and tell us your thoughts, or email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fourthestate@2ser.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also tweet us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@fourthestateau⁠⁠…

People in this episode

Host: Tina Quinn

Guest: Sarah Wilson

Topics covered

• ecological crisis
• political instability
• information overload
• civilisational anxiety
• art and beauty
• journalism
• media complexity

Keywords

• Sarah Wilson
• I Eat the Stars
• ecological crisis
• political instability
• art
• journalism
• media

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cosmopolitan, MasterChef Australia, 2SER

Books & works: I Eat the Stars

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