Marjolijn van Heemstra on the overview effect
07/20/23 • 48 min
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Marjolijn van Heemstra believes that we can change the world by gazing into the night sky. Her book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry, explores the ‘overview effect’, a personal transformation reported by astronauts who have seen the earth from space. People who’ve experienced this rare view often report an ethical shift taking place, a new sense of mission in their lives. They come to see themselves as guardians of their planet, rather than its passive citizens.
Clearly not all of us can - or want to - leave the atmosphere to gaze over the earth from space. But in this thought-provoking conversation, Marjolijn makes a case for us learning to draw on the overview effect from where we stand, suggesting that this could lead us to become better stewards of our environment, and form closer bonds with the communities around us.
Marjolijn is a Dutch theatre-maker, journalist and poet who has recently been named Amsterdam’s Poet Laureate. Her most recent work has focused on reacquainting ourselves with darkness, and this includes her creative project The Night Watch, and the Amsterdam Dark Festival, of which she is the founder.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
- Marjolijn’s Instagram
- Marjolijn’s book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry
- Amsterdam Dark Festival
- Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
- Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
- Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Marjolijn van Heemstra believes that we can change the world by gazing into the night sky. Her book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry, explores the ‘overview effect’, a personal transformation reported by astronauts who have seen the earth from space. People who’ve experienced this rare view often report an ethical shift taking place, a new sense of mission in their lives. They come to see themselves as guardians of their planet, rather than its passive citizens.
Clearly not all of us can - or want to - leave the atmosphere to gaze over the earth from space. But in this thought-provoking conversation, Marjolijn makes a case for us learning to draw on the overview effect from where we stand, suggesting that this could lead us to become better stewards of our environment, and form closer bonds with the communities around us.
Marjolijn is a Dutch theatre-maker, journalist and poet who has recently been named Amsterdam’s Poet Laureate. Her most recent work has focused on reacquainting ourselves with darkness, and this includes her creative project The Night Watch, and the Amsterdam Dark Festival, of which she is the founder.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
- Marjolijn’s Instagram
- Marjolijn’s book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry
- Amsterdam Dark Festival
- Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
- Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
- Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Amy Jeffs on ancient stories and new understandings
How can we return to a richer, more complex understanding of national identity and personal ethics - one that can only come from folklore?
Amy Jeffs is the perfect person to ask. An art historian and printmaker, she creates immersive retellings of ancient stories, beautifully illustrated with her own woodcuts and etchings. In this week’s episode of How We Live Now, we discuss the function and appeal of folklore, and roam around the wind-blasted landscapes of Medieval Britain. We get a glimpse of the British Isles through ancient eyes - a haunted place stranded on the far edge of Europe, isolated and vulnerable, but full of courageous, hardy folk. What can these tales tell us about who we are now? And how can we restore this agile way of understanding the world?
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
- Amy’s Instagram
- Amy’s Twitter
- Amy's book, Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain
- Amy’s book, Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain
- Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
- Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
- Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Dacher Keltner on awe, humility and purpose
1 RecommendationsI stumbled across Dacher Keltner’s work when I was first researching Enchantment, and now - for the final episode in this season - I’m honoured to speak to him about Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.
Dacher’s research attempts to understand this very fleeting, ineffable emotion. He and his colleagues have shown that awe induces a feeling of being small within a vast universe - a radical shift into context. What’s more, by absorbing ourselves in awe, we become better people, more motivated to go out and do good. In this episode, we explore how it feels to experience awe, how we can seek it out in the everyday, and we share the personal experiences of awe that have inspired both of our books.
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, and The Power Paradox. He has written for many popular outlets, from The New York Times to Slate. He was also the scientific advisor behind Pixar’s Inside Out.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
- Dacher’s website
- Dacher’s book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
- Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
- Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
- Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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