S5 Ep2: National Poetry Day

I mean, you were constantly saying stories and narratives, and we realized that these are the things that people respond to in whatever context.

So I think I think some people might be kind of quite surprised by the idea that kind of climate science and where we are on all that could go together with poetry.

I mean, I mainly champion nonfiction.

So I interviewed an amazing data scientist called Hannah Ritchie.

whose book is essentially about all the things that are happening.

And she always says, you know, two things can be true at the same time.

Everything's awful.

So you've got to feel that visceral thing to impel you to do this work.

But at the same time, there's more than one story to be told, as you've said.

And I think that's, to me, what was so fascinating reading about your work before doing this was that sense that, you know, the arts and creativity are an integral part of everything.

They're not just the icing on the cake,

and the cake is the serious stuff that's actually going on in the issues.

But it is an integral part of how we find our way through these huge issues that we face.

Would that be, is that my instinct right about that from your point of view, Francesca? Because you said you've done a lot of research, so they're not uneasy bedfellows, these things, are they?

I mean, well, for a start, poetry is in the nonfiction section.

I know,

I cover it.

Yes.

Poetry, it's really about a sense of authenticity when you're performing spoken word.

What it's also I think about is about trying to get beyond words to get to some felt truth about the human experience.

So for me, poetry is actually about the space between the words rather than the words.

It's about, and maybe we'll touch on this later when we get to

Those two letters, AI.

Yes, those two letters,

AI.