Wild with Sarah Wilson
Episodes
JEREMY LENT: Can humans build a (beautiful) new civilisation?
16 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Lent (author, systems thinker) is a leading authority on civilisations and has just created a manifesto on how to shift from the current crumbl...
FRANCIS WELLER: “Grief will wake us up”…so how do we do good grief again?
02 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Francis Weller (psychotherapist, bestselling author + “soul activist”) believes we have entered a “Long Dark”, a multi-decade (century?) perio...
RUTH BEN-GHIAT: How do we create a values-led politic from this mess?
26 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ruth Ben-Ghiat (historian of fascism +NYT bestselling author of Strongmen) is an internationally recognised expert in how psychologically unstable men...
ZAK STEIN: How do we raise kids in a metacrisis?
19 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Zak Stein (Harvard philosopher of education, AI + kids expert) is worried that we are not raising and educating our kids for the kind of wob...
MICHAEL MUTHUKRISHNA: Can we cooperate our way out of this? (Warning: a tricky episode!)
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Muthukrishna (behavioural scientist, cultural evolution researcher) has a unified “theory of everyone” that says we evolved as a spec...
ECE TEMELKURAN: How to save ourselves from fascism
05 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ece Temelkuran (fascism expert, political exile, journalist) first began reporting on the global slide into fascism as a journalist witnessing it...
SHELDON SOLOMON: Can we gamify all the denial around us and save humanity?*
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Sheldon Solomon (psychologist, founder of terror management theory) has spent 45 years proving that our fear of death is responsible for ...
AUDREY TANG: Can we wrangle AI off the techno-fascists (and make it a force for good)?
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Audrey Tang (“civic hacker", Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador-at-Large, polymath) is one of the world’s most influential thinkers and she has a vi...
SAMANTHA SWEETWATER: How do we *actually* emerge our way into “the what comes next”?
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Samantha Sweetwater (systems thinker, Gaian futurist, dance theorist) draws on personal transformation theories, complexity science and indigenous wis...
WE’RE BACK! Series 2 of Wild is here
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a long-ish hiatus, we’re returning with a fresh series of Wild. This second series will be taking a slightly new direction and is now “watch...
BEST OF: IAIN MCGILCHRIST - Our “wretchedness” is a left-brain issue
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As many of us move into the holiday season and slower days, I wanted to reshare this conversation with Iain McGilchrist. It’s a spacious, illuminati...
BEST OF: MARTHA BECK - Only the most nourishing chat I’ve had about anxiety ever
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As many of us head into the holiday season — travelling, slowing down, or looking for something good to listen to — I wanted to reshare this conve...
A Wild Live with Dr Sharon Blackie about… fairytales and collapse
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wild has been on hiatus while I finish my most recent book. We’ll be back with a fresh direction and new guests in the coming months, but in the mea...
A Wild Live with Ohh that’s RICH on "extinction burst"
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wild has been on hiatus while I finish my most recent book. We’ll be back with a fresh direction and new guests in the coming months, but in the mea...
A Wild Live with Grace Blakeley about neoliberalism and collapse
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wild has been on hiatus while I finish my most recent book. We’ll be back with a fresh direction and new guests in the coming months, but in the mea...
VANESSA ANDREOTTI: And now we have hospice modernity…(and a goodbye from Wild)
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Vanessa Andreotti (Indigenous Knowledge advocate; author) is a Brazilian academic who has developed a radical thesis for how to move...
MARTHA BECK: Only the most nourishing chat I’ve had about anxiety ever
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Martha Beck (author; “best-known life coach in America”) is about to release a book on anxiety. The international best-selling author – who ...
INDY JOHAR: The starkest collapse prognosis I’ve heard
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Indy Johar (founder of Dark Matter Labs, systems designer) re-imagines and redesigns systems for a changed world. The architect and Professor of Plane...
LYNDSEY STONEBRIDGE: How would Hannah Arendt explain Trump?
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lyndsey Stonebridge (Humans rights academic, Hannah Arendt biographer) was worried about the banality of evil she was observing in the world and ...
LUKE KEMP: Will our global civilisation go the way of the Roman Empire?
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Luke Kemp (historical collapse expert; associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) has studied past civilisations and mapped ...
AMA: A post on how I write a book about collapse on Substack
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of “Ask Me Anything” questions about the minutiae of writing about - and having to live through - collapse. I ...
JOEL PEARSON: Do we have free will? Is anything our fault?
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prof. Joel Pearson (Neuroscientist; AI and cognition scientist) returns to Wild, this time to discuss whether free will is an illusion. In o...
CHRISTIANA FIGUERES: On “stubborn optimism”
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Christiana Figueres (the woman behind the Paris Agreement) is possibly the best-known official in the global climate change movement. The former Costa...
ELIZABETH OLDFIELD X ME: How to be Fully Alive in a collapsing world
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this SPECIAL EPISODE British coach, author and broadcaster Elizabeth Oldfield and I sit down in her London intentional community home and interview...
BONUS EP: Nika Kovač the activist from the Slovenian gondola
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I do these bonus episodes occasionally whereby I interview someone I serendipitously met on my adventures and who I wrote about in my books AND who st...
IAIN MCGILCHRIST: Our “wretchedness” is a left-brain issue
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Iain McGilchrist (neuroscientist, psychiatrist, polymath, author of The Master and His Emissary) devised a thesis that sets out how the two si...
COREY BRADSHAW: Are humans going extinct? (And how soon?)
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Corey Bradshaw (global ecologist; author) has spent a career studying species populations and biodiversity loss and has the starkest of mess...
AMA: How do I explain collapse to someone?*
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
*(and that the wars, climate disasters, democratic upheavals etc today are VERY different to crises in the past)?This episode’s question has been as...
NICK BRYANT: What has happened to America?
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Nick Bryant (BBC Washington correspondent, author) has spent most of his career covering the events that many of us see as spelling the decline of ...
CLIVE HAMILTON: CONTENTIOUS CLIMATE COLLAPSE TRUTH - how the “Electrify Everything” message + private schools could be our downfall if we don’t change course
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Clive Hamilton (public ethicist; climate activist; founder of the Australia Institute) has led the emissions reduction conversation for deca...
COLLAPSE SERIES: Jonathon Rowson - Welcome to the “metacrisis”. Now what?
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, dear wild friends! I'm taking a short break, but I wanted to share some of my previous interviews with guests who delve into themes of collapse...
COLLAPSE SERIES: Olivia Lazard - The big fat renewable energy blindspot NO ONE wants to talk about
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, dear wild friends! I'm taking a short break, but I wanted to share some of my previous interviews with guests who delve into themes of collapse...
COLLAPSE SERIES: Nate Hagens - On the “Great Simplification”
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, dear wild friends! I'm taking a short break, but I wanted to share some of my previous interviews with guests who delve into themes of collapse...
COLLAPSE SERIES: Margaret Wheatley - An episode on civilization collapse (warning: truly confronting)
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, dear wild friends! I'm taking a short break, but I wanted to share some of my previous interviews with guests who delve into themes of collapse...
COLLAPSE SERIES: Gaya Herrington - Complete global collapse by 2040? The prediction is “right on track”
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, dear wild friends! I'm taking a short break, but I wanted to share some of my previous interviews with guests who delve into themes of collapse...
JEM BENDELL: Oh gosh! Finding beauty in a collapsing world.
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jem Bendell (collapse “poster kid”, academic) wrote the paper that launched the “Deep Adaptation” movement and spawned Extinction Rebellion. T...
JEAN TWENGE: Do millennials and Gen Z have it harder?
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jean Twenge (psychologist; professor at San Diego State University) is regarded as the world expert on “generations”. She famously described ...
AMA: How do I parent in the face of so much existential crisis?
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week I asked fellow substacker Anya Kamenetz to help me answer the above question. Anya is a parent and climate activist, a former NPR journ...
GREG LUKIANOFF: Cancel culture – the *non-hysterical* reason why we should be very worried
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Greg Lukianoff (New York Times best-selling author, attorney) co-wrote the blockbuster The Coddling of the American Mind, which argued we were fa...
JENNY ODELL: How to *not* save time (and *creatively* reject the productive, growth imperative!)
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Odell (NYT bestseller, artist) wrote a bestselling book five years ago that Barack Obama declared one of his “books of the year”. “How to ...
AMA: Sarah, what's your take on dating apps?
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
OK, this week is a kind of personal and also sociological muse-fest (from someone who's been on ALL the apps since shortly after the last ice age). I ...
FRANK OSTASESKI: How to live fully when it feels like so much is dying
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Ostaseski (Buddhist; end-of-life teacher; elder) helps people die best. He has accompanied over 1,000 people through the dying process and train...
AMA: BONUS menopause questions answered, plus my BIG announcement
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I need to give everyone here a bunch of updates…Plus, the BONUS video episode I promised with Dr Louise Newson is now live. Louise answers your ques...
DR LOUISE NEWSON: A wild chat about menopause
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Louise Newson (British GP; hormone specialist) is regarded as the “medic who kickstarted the menopause revolution”. For two decades w...
AMA: What is the best gear to pack for a minimalist camping trip?
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s question is one I always love answering…what do I stuff into my backpack, and what backpack do I actually use (ditto hiking shoes, tent, g...
PARAG KHANNA: Where should we move to as climate collapses?
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Parag Khanna (climate migration expert; AI founder) is a global strategist who forecasts human movement around the world and has a company, Clima...
AMA: What is hypergamy? And explain why older women are dating younger men
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s AMA, I cover an intriguing phenomenon in male-female dynamics playing out in the dark, twisted underworld that is dating culture - hyperg...
OLIVIA LAZARD: The big fat renewable energy blindspot NO ONE wants to talk about
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Olivia Lazard (peace mediator; rare minerals expert) exposes missing chunks in the “green” energy transition that many of us assume to be the “f...
AMA: Is it doomist to talk about civilisational collapse?
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A cracking Ask Me Anything question this week that gives us a chance to talk about crazy-making tech bros and their antics. My answer sees me dive int...
KATE RAWORTH: Doughnut economics as the antidote to “death by growth”
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Raworth (“renegade” economist; inventor of the “doughnut” systems model) has one of the most dynamic and controversial theories for “fi...
AMA: How do you manage information overload PLUS should white women activists get out of the arena?
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's AMA, I share my hacks and my “mindset” for sifting through, retaining and managing all the data inflow (amino supplements, tilting, bit...
JOHANN HARI: Is Ozempic a miracle drug or something darker?
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Johann Hari (bestselling author Stolen Focus and Lost Connections) has written another system-rattling book, this time about the new weight loss drugs...
AMA: How do you plan your life financially in a collapsing world? Do you bother?
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As we become aware of climate collapse and its ripple effect on the financial and energy systems, and as houses become uninsurable and fossil fuel mar...
ANNABEL ABBS: The subversive, creative upside of insomnia (oh joy!)
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Annabel Abbs (English novelist; author of Sleepless) was crippled with insomnia. Rather than fight it she looked for its productive plus side and...
The “Uncles” climate case that could change EVERYTHING
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Isabelle Reinecke (founder Grata Fund) is leading a super exciting landmark legal case that could force the Australian Government to actually stick to...
ANNA FUNDER: On Wifedom (and calling out Orwellian “doublethink”)
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Funder (international bestselling author of Wifedom) pens books about power. She is the author of the international bestselle...
A FUN BACKSTORY: Because I promised it…
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In last week’s interview with a Palestinian and an Israeli Father, I promised to share how we met, a story that involves a famous actor, an Irish au...
HELEN LEWIS: A heterodox update from TERF island
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Lewis (The Atlantic columnist, BBC podcaster, pop culture decoder) has become a darling of the heterodox podcasting community (and this podcast;...
A PALESTINIAN AND AN ISRAELI FATHER: “We must all stop being victims; victimhood causes the violence!”
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan (peace activists with Parent’s Circle) are the two protagonists from Colum McCann’s Booker-Prize-longlist...
LIV BOEREE: Explaining Moloch, the mysterious game theory force breaking the world (plus a fix!)
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Liv Boeree (world poker champion; astrophysicist; game theorist) is on a mission to explain why we are all trapped in a zero-sum, race to the bottom…...
AMA: How do you, Sarah, deal with a broken heart?
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Substack subscribers have posed some beautiful thought-provoking questions this week. Do I suffer from a broken heart and how do I cope with it at a s...
PROF JOEL PEARSON: Gut feeling is (scientifically) real; this is how to use it
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prof. Joel Pearson (Neuroscientist; AI and intuition expert) developed the first scientific test to measure intuition, dragging it out of the woo-woo ...
PETER FRANKOPAN: How climate collapsed civilisations (and will it ours?)
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Frankopan (Silk Roads author, Oxford historian) has just written a mega-history book called The Earth Transformed that reframes human histo...
AMA with a Palestinian peace broker: What should we be doing to help, not hinder, the crisis? Does posting on social media do ANYTHING?
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s question has come in from many of you over recent weeks. It’s an important one to ask as we grapple with the horror in the Middle East and...
KELLY WEINERSMITH: Why settling Mars is a really dumb idea
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Kelly Weinersmith (behavioural ecologist and space expert) and her husband Zach have just spent four years researching a subject that perplexes man...
DEVIN MOSS: An atheist death row chaplain on how to die without God
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Devin Moss (atheist chaplain and humanist) late last year ministered a convicted murderer to his death by execution in the state of Oklahoma. Signific...
AMA: Do we create art in the apocalypse?
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve been doing a bunch of Substack meetups around Australia over the past few weeks (the Sydney and Northern NSW ones are happening in March and yo...
MAGGIE JACKSON: Why “not knowing” is 2024’s survival superpower
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maggie Jackson (award-winning author and journalist) has just written a book - Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure – that argues t...
AMA: Why does hiking “work”?
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than 43,000 studies have been done to show how and why walking in nature (hiking) has so many mental and physical benefits. In this episode, prom...
MAGGIE DENT: What to do about boys (‘cos you asked)
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maggie Dent (the “queen of common sense”; parenting expert) raised four sons, largely solo, and went on to write about her experiences ...
AMA: Why are girls flocking Left and boys are flopping Right?
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did you see the results of the survey published in the Financial Times that showed there is a growing political gap between millennial men and women? ...
CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN: Exposing the Ultra-Processed Food Trap
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chris van Tulleken (doctor, TV host) is a London infectious diseases specialist known for his popular BBC health TV programs that he hosts with h...
AMA: Do you regret not having kids?
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A quick, breezy episode that talks about how to navigate decision-making regret, honing in on landing in one's post-repro years and not having had kid...
ALAIN DE BOTTON: A philosophical fix for anxiety
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alain de Botton (School of Life founder; author) has written 15 books about the philosophy of living – such as The Art of Travel; Status Anxiety; Ar...
BEST OF: BEAU MILES: How to be a backyard adventurer
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the Australian summer, I’ve been picking out some cracker eps that you might have missed or would benefit from revisiting. This chat with Beau ...
BEST OF: TIM BROWN: Sarah’s interview with her meditation teacher
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wild is having a bit of a break as the New Year gets started and we’ll be running a bunch of important or really poignant episodes that you might ha...
BEST OF: JULIA CAMERON: How to live the artist's way
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wild is having a break for a few weeks as the New Year gets started and we’ll be running a bunch of my favourite episodes that you might have missed...
BEST OF: AZIZ ABU SARAH: A radical Palestinian peace broker on how to solve wicked conflicts
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wild will be taking a pause for a few weeks over the summer period and we’ll be running a bunch of my favourite episodes that you might have mi...
BEST OF: BAYO AKOMOLAFE: The times are urgent, let’s slow down and become a fugitive
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wild will be taking a pause for a few weeks over the summer period and we’ll be running a bunch of my favourite episodes that you might have mi...
BEST OF: DAN BUETTNER: Sarah chats with her friend about all things Blue Zones
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wild will be taking a pause for a few weeks over the summer period and we’ll be running a bunch of my favourite episodes that you might have mi...
DAVID BROOKS: How to be humanist in cruel times
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
David Brooks (New York Times columnist; best-selling author) is both one of America’s best-known conservative commentators and one of its most commi...
BONUS EPISODE: A Life More Wild
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recently I was interviewed on the popular British podcast A Life More Wild which interviews prominent (mostly British) folk about what matters in life...
HANNAH BARNES: We need to think through the transgender kids debate
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hannah Barnes (BBC journalist; exposed the “Tavistock Clinic” scandal) has become the somewhat reluctant global voice on the raging child transgen...
AMA: How should I (ethically) do a massive clean-out (to "Kondo" or to "Wilson”)?
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Ask Me Anything I answer three questions: How should I do the massive cleanout of my life - to Kondo or to Wilson? What d...
CONNOR BEATON: The confronting reason why men watch porn
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Connor Beaton (men’s coach, porn addict mentor) helps men face their shadows. The US author and podcaster has coached thousands of men on “how to ...
AMA: My climate activist son needs your help!
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s question comes from concerned mum Emma, but it’s one that is cropping up a lot - What to do about the burden young people are shoulder...
PAUL HAWKEN: We’re ending the climate crisis in one generation
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Hawken (Project Drawdown founder) is the climate activist who, for decades, has shown us how we can *actually* make a difference. He’s been an ...
BONUS EP: Sarah + Oliver Burkeman chatting on Intelligence Squared
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Figured many of you here would like to hear the conversation I had recently with Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For M...
MARGARET WHEATLEY: An episode on civilization collapse (warning: truly confronting)
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Margaret (Meg) Wheatley (collapse theorist, global leadership consultant) is something of a legend in her field. She has worked for 50 ...
AMA: How do you make your podcast?
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s question comes from long-time reader, frequent and generous commenter Kei Ikeda, but it’s one I’ve been asked a few times - Wha...
ANAND GIRIDHARADAS: How to persuade people in a polarised world
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Like many of us, Anand Giridharadas (American political commentator, bestselling author) despaired how the world had become stuck in a fractured ...
BONUS EP: Sarah + Berry Liberman talk Sensemaking in the Metacrisis
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For something a bit different this week, I’m posting an important conversation I had a few days ago via the Small Giants Academy with its co-founder...
TRACEY SPICER: AI is the new frontier of feminism!
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are many ways to challenge the AI juggernaut that has been unleashed on the world, but Tracey Spicer (multi-Walkley winning journalist, feminist...
AMA: Sarah, What do you think of marriage?
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing with this new weekly format, each week I’m answering a hoary question from my Substack community (you can join here and post YOUR hoary -...
ANNIE MURPHY PAUL: We don’t think with our brains, we think with the world!
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Annie Murphy Paul (US science writer and author of The Extended Mind) recently came out with a bold theory about how we think – we don’t think wit...
AMA: Sarah, why did you move away from Australia?
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
News! Sarah is now answering your questions.No fanfare here…I’m just launching into this by announcing I’ll publish an extra 10-15 minute episod...
MISSY SIMS: The TikTok star suing Big Oil
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Missy Sims (TikToker, Republican, lawyer taking down Fossil Fuel companies) could be described as the modern-day Erin Brockovich. Late last year she f...
NATE HAGENS: On the “Great Simplification”
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nate Hagens (mindblowing energy futurist) was working on Wall Street when he realised…we don’t have enough energy to fund the world’s economy! M...
ADAM MASTROIANNI: Do we need to make the world great (and kinder) again?
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Mastroianni (experimental psychologist, Substacker) recently published a study in Nature that hit headlines. The paper, co-publish...
EMILY M. BENDER: AI won’t kill us any time soon (don’t believe the bro’ hype!)
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emily M. Bender (ChatGPT expert) is a linguist, a scholar of the societal impact of language AI and a professor at the University of Wa...