Climate

A New Story

By: Charles Eisenstein

Narrated by: Steve Wojtas

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Flipping the script on climate change, Eisenstein makes a case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction

With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our “fight” mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier’s point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The rivers, forests, and creatures of the natural and material world are sacred and valuable in their own right, not simply for carbon credits or preventing the extinction of one species versus another. After all, when you ask someone why they first became an environmentalist, they’re likely to point to the river they played in, the ocean they visited, the wild animals they observed, or the trees they climbed when they were a kid. This refocusing away from impending catastrophe and our inevitable doom cultivates meaningful emotional and psychological connections and provides real, actionable steps to caring for the Earth. Freeing ourselves from a war mentality and seeing the bigger picture of how everything from prison reform to saving the whales can contribute to our planetary ecological health, we resist reflexive postures of solution and blame and reach toward the deep place where commitment lives.

©2018 Charles Eisenstein (P)2018 North Atlantic Books

Critic reviews

“What a blast of sanity! Eisenstein's corrective is a bracing piece of work, dazzlingly thought through and eloquent in its articulation. He writes from within an uncannily woke worldview, enacting a full-bodied way of thinking that discerns and feels into the complex entanglement of our lives with every facet of this breathing biosphere. This book is visionary and prophetic, achingly grounded and useful to the max.” (David Abram, cultural ecologist, geophilosopher, and author of Becoming Animal and The Spell of the Sensuous)

“There is nothing ‘safe’ in these writings; almost every chapter courts controversy. We as readers are the beneficiaries of this bravery. This is a message that must be heard loud and clear as we chart a path toward social and ecological renewal.” (Helena Norberg-Hodge, author and filmmaker of Ancient Futures and The Economics of Happiness)

“This is a groundbreaking book. Eisenstein makes an inspiring, positive, and convincing case for a full and proper understanding of the present human predicament - a radical shift from a utilitarian worldview to an integral world view rooted in a sense of the sacred which recognizes the intrinsic value of nature and life.” (Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College and editor emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist)

Incredible Lucidity

I’m a big fan of Charles Eisenstein’s work, and this book was no exception. He has a way of unfolding and revealing a new world story in a way that gives me a very grounded sense of hope. This book is full of both useful, sobering information and inspiring, hopeful possibilities. The narrator was very pleasant to listen to and read the book with heart. Highly recommend!

For the Business of Life

"Climate" is a a vital book for business that only the most daring - and most caring - CEOs will read - and heed! I am sorrowful for those who do not.

Refreshing take on climate change

While the subject matter is quite grave, the author maintained a optimistic tone that held steady throughout book.

I enjoyed his personal philosophy on the crisis and his reasonings for what we ought to paying more attention to and why.

I would recommend this book to anyone, really.

Loved it!

Loved this and look forward to reading Sacred Economics next. Will share this with others.

one of this era's most important books

Eisenstein does it again: he gets beyond the reason into the dark spaces of our culture's subconscious narratives and deconstructs its foundation while he holds the reader's hand to steady them as their whole worldview unravels, He offers a new narrative. a new hope, a stronger and more grounded foundation for a new more beautiful world.

This book is a good philosophy book for non-philosophers. It is not meant to be as thorough as a philosopher might expect, but its great for most of us. it does not need to be complex or unintuitive to be granted as true. it is simple and true in the most profound way.

keep up the good work.

another solid book from.the big egg head himself...thanks bubba...keep em coming thank you Charles

Sober Wisdom For Best Results

The middle way(as applied to system analysis) of the current crisis careening into our faces.
I love this ‘honoring of all prospective’, with the honest authentic appraisal & understanding that allows this intensity to be grasped by everyone to actually discuss & apply, with sobriety for all extremes.
I’m gonna listen again a few more times cause it’s really great poetry as well. :-)

powerful

Really challenged me to think outside the box. A new and broad way to look at healing the planet.

Must read/listen

This is not another book of doom that treats human beings like parasites. Nor does it preach sustainable growth. It preaches something desperately missing from the debate and very obvious, even for a religious climate policy sceptic like myself. The fact that the earth and all that grows out of her, is living, sentient being, including these amazing creatures called human beings. The consequences of this realization for the way we act and the foundations of our current system are described in depth and with great clarity on all levels. It asks for radical change on the macro, but, perhaps more importantly, the micro level. The focus on the local and unique as the solution to a global systemic problem is perhaps what I love most about this book. It is more about the way we treat our backyard than about our political color (if any). Accepting this is and acting on it, is not an easy thing but it is humbling and beautiful to realize that there is hope. Not for managing disaster but for a much much more beautiful world.

This book is also a must read for spiritual seekers who experience a gap between their inner life and the so-called real world, and for confused professionals who are bugged by the gap between what we teach our children and how we do and teach business.

One of the most important voices on climate change

I have spent years studying clinate change and sustainability and while most writing on the subject is either highly academic, fear mongering or biased denialism this author does not. Nor does this book rehash the same old carbon reduction techniques that I have heard argued a hundred times. Instead he aproaches the issue from unbiased, rational viewpoint and offers a systems based, holistic set of solutions to the problem.