PODCAST · arts
New Rules
by David Finnigan
A monthly audio series about how art and storytelling meets the world of complex systems, earth science and planetary transformation.
Episodes
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Four climate storytelling tropes to retire
If your show hinges on one of these points, make a different show
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They have to be smarter than you
If your audience think you’re clever, you’ve fucked up.
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2025-2030: Emerging themes in the climate space
The stories we'll tell about climate in the second half of this decade
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Writing on the wave
On the treacherous border between artist and activist, and how to make worthwhile art about political issues.
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The benefits of giving up hope
Why my art improved when I stopped trying to be optimistic.
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I was part of a scene
The rush of being part of a creative community - and what it taught me about the world of climate science.
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How do you tell a story about everything?
A story about the hunt for a storytelling form that can hold the full complexity of the transforming planet.
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2023 was the tipping point
In which my brother Chris and I share our list of the major climate stories of the year. This has been a watershed year for the planet, in ways both good and bad.
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Four lessons from climate history
I've recently been doing a deep dive into the last hundred years of the climate conversation. Here are the top four surprising takeaways.
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We don't like change
When it comes to adapting to our new world, are humans more like crows or more like sparrows? An episode about inventive intelligence vs Facebook nostalgia.
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Falling in love with microplastic
The Real Housewives of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You already know: plastic is everywhere. It's a familiar story, we hear it every week, told in the same way with the same moral. But is there a different way to tell this story?
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We've been here before
When a fifth of the world went underwater, we had to become something new in order to survive. Now, we have to do it again.
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The day after a shooting
Every shock that brings us close to death has three things in common. https://davidfinnigan.substack.com/
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We gather strength as we go along
You've already, in the last years and decades, absorbed so much climate grief and loss - and you're still okay. Joy is coming, as well as pain.
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How to get your bearings in the age of confusion
Everything shifted in the late 2010s. Now we're in a new world, and it's crucial we reorient ourselves before we lose our way completely.
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How to fall in love with the world as it unravels
Lessons I learned as a taxi driver for injured possums.
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A career built on failure
The failure of my arts practice - or, why the arts will never succeed in communicating the truth of climate and global change.
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When will the climate era end?
We try to make sense of who we are by dividing our lives into chapters. But chapters have ends - so if the climate era is one chapter of human history, when will it conclude? And who will we be on the other side of that journey?
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What theatre teaches us about preparing for disaster
People have described Covid as a kind of rehearsal for the oncoming crises of climate and global change. But if it is, it's a very particular kind of rehearsal that theatre-makers know as the 'stumble through'.
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Does someone deserve to die for this?
Have we all become quietly radicalised in the last two years? A dive into the world of climate activism in the last three years - what drove the sudden escalation in the year 2018, where are we headed next, and how has lockdown turned each of us into our own kind of radical?
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No new normal
The thing I find hardest to process about planetary change is that we're not heading towards a new normal. There's no new paradigm that we'll reach. The impacts won't hit in one single burst or a smooth continuum: they will accelerate. So how do we make sense of this in the context of our own...
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You're not a primate, you're a missile
Things change when you become an accelerated species. A story about the difference between shooting an animal and striking it with a car, and about roadkill that hits back.
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Trying to change the world, not understand it
In this episode, I talk about the connection between scientific models and games. Both are tools to help us think about the world - but not just for the sake of understanding it. Instead, scientists and artists model the world so we can help transform it.
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In praise of shifting baseline syndrome
Some people say we need to remember what we’ve lost, in order to fight to stem those losses - but increasingly, I wish I could forget the world of my childhood altogether.
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My personal moral hazard
In 2015 I wrote a play called Kill Climate Deniers. One of the scariest predictions in that play - one of my personal biggest climate fears - took place last year. But I was completely wrong about how I’d react. I don’t think I realised until this year how much my values and principles are…
more -
The end of climate art
'Climate art' emerged several decades ago as a label for art and storytelling engaged with climate change. Around the turn of the century, the genre label made some sense. But the 21st century has seen a growing awareness that climate change is not a scientific issue: it's the backdrop against...
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Where's the hope?
As an artist making work about the climate and the environment, the most frequent question I get asked in interviews is, ‘Where’s the hope?’ But I find myself asking myself: Are you asking for a way to help or a way to make yourself feel better?
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A monthly audio series about how art and storytelling meets the world of complex systems, earth science and planetary transformation.
HOSTED BY
David Finnigan
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does New Rules have?
New Rules currently has 27 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is New Rules about?
A monthly audio series about how art and storytelling meets the world of complex systems, earth science and planetary transformation.
How often does New Rules release new episodes?
New Rules has 27 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to New Rules?
You can listen to New Rules on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts New Rules?
New Rules is created and hosted by David Finnigan.
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