Ada Palmer on Surviving the End of the World… Again and Again

Ada Palmer, is a sci-fi writer, historian, and someone who sees the world with an incredibly rare, long lens. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the headlines, this episode might help.

Ada believes we’re not living in a uniquely apocalyptic time—just a normally apocalyptic one.

“We're living in a moment we must rise to, work hard on, do well where what we do matters,” she told me. “We have the ability to reduce 100% harm to 70% harm. We have that responsibility.”

That line really stuck with us—because it’s so easy to feel powerless right now. But Ada’s message is the opposite: we do have agency, and what we do does matter.

She also reminded us that fear isn’t new.

“We are not more scared than our predecessors were 50 or 100 years ago. They were just as scared as we are. The stakes were just as high. The rewards of hard work were just as real. The penalties of messing up were just as disastrous.”

Ada sees change not in election cycles, but in centuries. And that shift in perspective is powerful. We talk about why we need to stop chasing “total wins” and start celebrating the small, meaningful steps forward. Progress is almost always incremental, but that doesn’t make it any less real or important.

From ancient Rome to climate policy, Ada brings in vivid historical parallels that made us see our moment differently. She doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges—we talk about the real stakes—but she offers something many of us arel craving: perspective, hope, and a reminder that we’ve come through hard things before.

The part of our conversation that keeps echoing for us is this:
Every generation has been called to save the world.
They rose to the challenge.
Now, it’s our turn.

 

🗣️ Quotes from Ada Palmer

"We shouldn't think that we are living now in a uniquely apocalyptic moment. We're living in a normally apocalyptic moment."

"Nothing is more similar to the future than the past."

"Success isn't 100% victory. Success is mitigating the thing so that it's less bad when it happens."

"Every generation has to save the world, and we can work hard at it and meet this occasion."

Topics Discussed:

• 03:15 - Understanding the historical context of our current challenges
• 10:42 - The cyclical nature of apocalyptic moments throughout history
• 18:30 - Ada's journey as a historian and science fiction writer
• 25:50 - The impact of AI on society and the importance of policy
• 35:12 - How collective efforts can mitigate climate change
• 45:07 - The significance of partial victories in history
• 52:40 - Embracing resilience and responsibility in uncertain times

 

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