Sarah Wilson on collapse, fierce mother energy, and the relief of accepting the moment

Sarah Wilson has built a career on telling uncomfortable truths, including about sugar, anxiety, and about how we're living. Her new book, I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World, goes further than anything she's written before. It argues we are already inside systemic collapse and experiencing the same pattern every complex civilisation before us has followed. The way through is to stop performing hope and start experiencing the world around us./ In this conversation with Angela Priestley, Sarah explains what "collapse" actually means, why women may be uniquely placed to lead through it, and what she calls "fierce mother energy" — the antidote to the "fierce toddler energy" of the men currently running the world. She also tackles the question every parent is asking: how do we talk to our kids about this? It is, against all odds, a hopeful listen.I Eat the Stars is out now in Australia and New Zealand via Penguin, with global release on 16 June 2026.The Women's Agenda Podcast is produced by Agenda Media, publisher of Women's Agenda. Sign up to our free daily news update here. Thank you to this week's sponsor of the podcast, The Women in Leadership Summit. You can find out more about the event and here. Our partner's message: Leadership isn’t built in a single moment - it’s built through momentum. In partnership with UN Women Australia - The Women in Leadership Summit is coming to a city near you this September. Australia’s Queen of Comedy, Celeste Barber, headlines a lineup of leaders worth clearing your calendar for. Forget the one-off event - this is a leadership journey, designed to build momentum before, during and after the Summit. Every ticket also directly supports UN Women Australia's work advancing women's economic empowerment, leadership and safety. Find out more and register at australia.womenleadersummit.com.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.