The Long View October Digest

The Long View October Digest

Stanley Wu’s monthly Long View Digest curates the best work we find from around the world on the interconnected and interacting stressors of the global polycrisis.

This month, Stan reviews articles on the death of empire, collapsology, climate-driven mass migration, how AI invented 40,000 lethal molecules in six hours, Sri Lanka’s collapse, Australia’s decline, the Rhine drying up, and the poetic art of living in a time between worlds. He’s also found a beautiful new book that brings together Indigenous voices writing about climate change.

The Great Decline

The Great Decline

A dramatic decline in sperm counts is occurring around the world — more than 50 percent over five decades. This means a man today likely has only half the number of sperm that his grandfather did.

We Are the Middle of Forever

We Are the Middle of Forever

Edited by Dahr Jamail  and  Stan Rushworth 

An innovative work of research and reportage, We Are the Middle of Forever places Indigenous voices at the center of conversations about today’s environmental crisis.

Are we on the eve of a nuclear disaster?

Are we on the eve of a nuclear disaster?

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest power plant in the Ukraine and in Europe—some of the major protections against meltdown have been severely damaged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe is on edge and much of the world recognizes that we are facing the possibility of a nuclear meltdown as a result of the invasion: the Omega Collaborative brought these risks front and center in March with a webinar, Ukraine–Nuclear Safety & Nuclear Security by Dr. Tatsujiro Suzuki.

Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons

Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons

By Mary Watkins

This timely and pathbreaking volume maps a radical model of accompaniment, exploring its profound implications for solidarity. Psychosocial and ecological accompaniment is a mode of responsive assistance that combines psychosocial understanding with political and cultural action.

Designs for the Pluriverse

Designs for the Pluriverse

By Arturo Ecobar

In Designs for the Pluriverse Arturo Escobar presents a new vision of design theory and practice aimed at channeling design’s world-making capacity toward ways of being and doing that are deeply attuned to justice and the Earth.

More in this tag

Jul 06 2023

Global polycrisis: The causal mechanisms of crisis entanglement

by Dr. Michael Lawrence at The Cascade Institute….. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or more fast-moving trigger events combines with...
Jan 20 2025

Rediscovering harmony: How Chinese philosophy offers pathways to a regenerative future

By foregrounding relationships — between individuals, communities, and the natural world — we can build systems that prioritize wellbeing and resilience.

Jan 20 2025

The AMOC Might Be WAY More Unstable Than We Thought…Here’s Why

from PBS Terra…There is a mysterious cold blob in the North Atlantic that could be a warning sign that the largest heat transfer system on the planet, the AMOC,...
Jan 17 2025

The bioregional vision of Donella Meadows

by Isabel Carlisle in Bioregional Learning Center… ‘Helping people and cultures all over the world develop and express their own capacity to solve their own...
Jan 16 2025

How jazz shaped the civil rights movement

by Lesley McClurg in interview of Larry Tye on KQED.org…He profiles the trio in his new book, “The Jazzmen.” In it, he pieces together over 250 interviews,...
Jan 15 2025

Godfather of AI’ shortens odds of the technology wiping out humanity over next 30 years

by Dan Milmo in The Guardian…Geoffrey Hinton says there is 10% to 20% chance AI will lead to human extinction in three decades, as change moves fast

Jan 14 2025

Wanted: An early-warning system for the end of the world

by Charlie Cooper in Politico…Some experts believe we could hit catastrophic climate ‘tipping points’ in a matter of years. The U.K. government, with a bit of...
Jan 13 2025

Worlds within Us: Wisdom and Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders

How does one measure the intentions of a life? This is a question that Tekatsi:tsia’ kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation, New York) asks in her...
Jan 13 2025

Hope in the Face of the Polycrisis

by Jacob Bornstein & Mesa Sebree in Mediators Foundation…Historically, the leading causes of mass disruption across the world can be boiled down to the...
Jan 13 2025

Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: ‘This is life now’

by Diana Baptista in Context…In 2024, billions of people endured heatwaves, storms and floods; 2025 is set to be worse as man-made climate change wreaks...
Dec 30 2024

Policy brief: Nature for resilience

From UNDRR….Healthy and resilient ecosystems are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the objectives of the Sendai Framework for Disaster...