The Simplest Thing to Do Is Play a Better Song

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i think the simplest thing to do is play a better song, make art that is so delightful and compelling. I mean, bankey has done more to rock people's worlds and change their thinking rit with his gorilla art than any earnest policy wonk holding forth on what we ought to do. i'm ready to do a meaning three point o local community culture. What do i do? Wat that look like? That's such a fun question writ large. All i know are things we're fired up to try. And i'v sure hoped that other people get equally fired up to tried similar things and totally different things.

What helps you make meaning in challenging times? As you confront COVID, the climate crisis, and all of the challenges we discuss on this show, what helps you avoid nihilism or fundamentalism, and instead access healing, inspiration, and connection?

Today on Your Undivided Attention, we're joined by anthropologist and writer Jamie Wheal. Wheal is the author of Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That's Lost Its Mind. In the book, he makes the case that in order to address the meta-crisis — the interconnected challenges we face, which we talked about in Episode 36 with Daniel Schmachtenberger, we must address the meaning crisis — the need to stay inspired, mended, and bonded in challenging times. Jamie argues that it doesn't matter whether we're staying inspired, mended, and bonded through institutionalized religion or other means as long as meaning-making is inclusively available to everyone.

What we hope you'll walk away with is a humane way to think about how to address the challenges we face, from COVID to climate — by enabling us to make meaning in challenging times.