'Hope, Humour, and Hyperobjects - How to think at the end of the world' with Antony Malmo

Climate-anxiety is soaring — especially amongst the youth. It's no wonder; record-breaking weather events are now the norm, microplastics are inescapable, and entire ecosystems are collapsing right before our eyes.

To amplify our fears, we all get to watch this trainwreck unfold in real-time through our TVs and phones. Meanwhile, politicians and businesses are scrambling to find fixes, cash in, or save face. Predictably, public cynicism, division and disillusionment abound — it's all so overwhelming. In that overwhelm, we tend to respond in two ways; either dismiss and deny the problem or fall into hopelessness and helplessness.

That's a problem because just when we need to cooperate and collaborate at scale, we're paralysed. Somehow, we need to cultivate ways of thinking that allow us to operate despite the brain-bending scale and complexity of it all.

In this Drinking Dialogue, we'll roam far and wide through the philosophy of hyperobjects, the anthropology of annihilation, the cognitive science of risk, and the psychology of comedy, to finally ask the question: might satire be our saving grace?

Join us for two hours of uneasy feelings and dark humour.

Watch the primer 'Das Rad'

Bio Antony Malmo
After years of simultaneously studying psychology and biology at university, I was forced to make a choice between the two. I decided on biology in the hope that it would lead me to a life of adventure in exotic locations. That was naïve - instead, I soon found myself bored senseless in the lab - no jungle or ocean in sight. So I left, became a teacher, and spent the next 15 years educating young-adults and business professionals located conveniently close to biodiversity hotspots around the globe.

Upon returning to Australia, I helped found Allos Australia. The aim; to breathe new life into the concept of Employee Assistance Programs; away from the crisis-driven model of mental health and towards the use of proactive and systemic approaches to enhance wellbeing and prevent poor mental health..