Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform



Episode Summary



On this episode of Writer’s Voice, we speak with science journalist Lizzie Wade about her groundbreaking book Apocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures. Through stories of ancient climate collapse, pandemic upheavals, colonial conquests, and societal reorganization, Wade shows that the end of a world is often the beginning of something new.




“Bringing to an end a type of society that isn’t working for the new world that’s emerging is not necessarily a bad thing. That’s called adaptation.” — Lizzie Wade




From the Neanderthal “extinction” to the fall of ancient Egypt, from the Great Drowning of Indigenous Australian coastlines to the climate-driven rise of El Niño societies in Peru, Wade explores how disasters reshaped political systems and economies. Crucially, she argues that today’s climate, social, and technological apocalypses offer not just threats, but transformative possibilities.



Then we re-connect with former Writer’s Voice guest Betsy McCulley who I interviewed recently on the new podcast I host, Changehampton Presents. That episode is about native grasslands and why we should protect and restore them and we air a short excerpt on WV.



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Key Words: Lizzie Wade, Apocalypse book, ancient disasters, rethinking apocalypse, end of the world, post-apocalyptic optimism, Changehampton, native grasslands



You Might Also Like: Betsy McCully, AT THE GLACIER’S EDGE










Segment 1: Lizzie Wade



Human societies have experienced numerous apocalypses. And each time, the survivors have emerged to build new societies, ones that work better for them.



We talk with science journalist Lizzie Wade about her groundbreaking book Apocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures. Through stories of ancient climate collapse, pandemic upheavals, colonial conquests, and societal reorganization, Wade shows that the end of a world is often the beginning of something new.Wade redefines the word “apocalypse”—not as doom, but as rapid, collective loss that sparks social transformation.



Drawing on archaeological case studies, she explains how past societies adapted to major upheavals, from sea level rise and plagues to the collapse of empires. Some became more equitable and resilient—others failed to recover.