FYS Final Project

Julia hosts a podcast episode with guests Clare Kohlbrook, Edward Burtynsky, and Mima Rove. Clare discusses her theory of the end of the world, emphasizing that it is humanity that defines the world and is responsible for its ending. Mima, a survivor of a natural disaster, sees the world as the physical Earth and emphasizes the importance of nature for our survival. Edward, a photographer, shares his experiences in China, highlighting the harmful effects of industrialization on the planet. The discussion explores different perspectives on the definition and potential outcomes of the end of the world. The episode ends with a preview of the next guest, Jojo Siwa. Hi listeners, welcome back to Table Talk Tuesdays with Julia. On today's episode, I have Clare Kohlbrook, a professor of English, Philosophy, and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She has a degree from the University of Edinburgh and has published several books, including Who Would You Kill to Save the World, one she will be discussing today, where she explains her theory of the end of the world and what happens after the end. I am also joined by the Mima Rove, who is a survivor of the 1956 natural disaster where Earth becomes uninhabitable. She is the last living passenger from Anyara and was in charge of the Mima, which was the only mental escape for passengers on the ship. Mima took them to a peaceful headspace where they got to relive their happiest memories and the most beautiful parts of the Earth. Last but not least, I am sitting with Edward Burtynsky, an award-winning photographer from Canada. He photographed for the documentary Manufacture Landscapes, which exposed the very pressing, harmful, and dangerous industrialization of China. Well, thank you all for joining me today. I really appreciate it. To preface the discussion, we are about to delve into about the world and the end of the world. When I use the word world, I am referring to Earth, and when I say the end of the world, I am talking about planetary disaster. Now, I would like to hear how each of you would define the world and the end of the world. Hi, Julia. Thank you for having me. Yes, thank you for having us. I can start. I would define the world as humanity rather than the physical Earth. When I think of the world, I think of those who inhabit Earth, and when I think of the end of the world, I think of an end to us. We are the only ones responsible for said ending and for saving the world. I wish more people understood that, as I conveyed in my book, Who Would You Kill to Save the World? There will be no lifeboats for the rich now that we are all in the same boat. What do you suggest we do about the rich, Claire? I think it is necessary to disassociate from an us-versus-them mentality. For example, Snowpiercer, the 2013 sci-fi film I discuss in my book, depicts the ongoing drama of us and them, the world and the worldless, the formation of who we are through a world that must be saved, and the destitution of those whom we must save. Thank you for this insight, Claire. Edward and Meemerove, what do you think? How would you define the world and the end of the world? I would define the world similarly to how you would, Julia. I would view the world as the very planet we inhabit, Earth. Nature is what keeps us alive, and if we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. I have seen this destruction in real life when I visited China. The massive factories, dangerous metals, and coal mines are destroying our planet, yet so many people choose to ignore this threat. I agree with you, Edward. When I think of the world, I think of the Earth, and when I think of the end of the world, I think of planetary disaster. It makes sense that my head would jump to the Earth when I hear world, because what I experienced back in 1956 was the end of the Earth. The world I left behind when I boarded Anyara was a world so polluted that it was uninhabitable to humans. However, I hold many other definitions of the world, because my new world became Anyara when my first world ended. In that Anyara world, I had two more worlds, Nima and my family. Could you tell us a little more about what those worlds looked like, and how your life looked after the world ended, if you feel comfortable sharing? What happened after the end of the Earth was survival. I was lucky that I got to board Anyara and be such a powerful figure on the spaceship. Though controlling the Nima was rewarding, it was incredibly stressful. It was, in my opinion, and I think most who were on the ship would agree with me, the largest responsibility one could have, aside from a chiffon or captain. That is why my world crumbled when Nima committed suicide. It was disaster, chaos, and misery from there on out. Nima tuned us into signs of life, spread far and wide, especially me. I lost all sense of purpose and hope for the future of mankind after that. I let everyone on the spaceship down, and Chiffon was out to get me because he pinned me responsible for Nima's suicide. The only thing I had left was my wife and child. How old is your child now? After Nima died, my wife killed herself and our baby. That was the only world I had left, so I deemed that my official end of the world. I was no longer Nima Robe, I was no longer a wife or a mother. I had no idea who I was. Everyone and everything I loved had been stripped from me. It felt as though I was living in a shell of who I used to be. There was quite literally nothing left for me to live for. I'm so sorry for your loss, Nima Robe. Thank you for sharing that with us. I think I speak for all of us when I say that you are incredibly strong, resourceful, and inspirational. I don't know how you survived all of that. I'm so sorry, Nima Robe. Wow, yeah, you're incredible. Claire and Edward, what do you think? Do you think life goes on after the end of the world? If so, what does that look like to you? If not, what does that mean for your idea of the end? I don't have a definitive yes or no answer to whether life goes on after the end of the world. However, I think it's important to look towards post-apocalyptic cinema for answers to questions like yours, because I view post-apocalyptic narratives as an exaggeration of the real world we live in. These narratives force us to imagine the end of the world, which serves as a reminder of what would be stripped from us if we don't take action to save our planet. Often, when the world ends in stories like The 100 or Interstellar, there are small groups of saviors or heroes in the spotlight who are protecting the rest of humanity from danger and working to repair what was broken. I hear you keep using the word we. Who is we? I understand that my usage of the word we is very specific and maybe even problematic, but I am referring to humanity when I use it. I think that there is a we of the present and a we of the past. Telling a story about a past and an elsewhere creates a we of the present, able to gaze with horror at the other, not yet human, humanity of the past. Very interesting, Claire. Edward, thoughts on what the end of the world looks like? I think I was looking at the end of the world when I visited China. The worsening conditions were alarming. I watched kids play around and eat in construction zones and landfills with miscellaneous poisonous metals. A lot of recycled metals go to China. In fact, 50 percent of computers wind up there. Workers will heat up boards and pull apart components to get the valued metals. However, that causes toxic smells to radiate. The toxins would wash into the rivers and soil, and after every rain, the water would be completely contaminated, so much so that they now have to ship water in. So when you ask me what the end of the world looks like, I envision that. Wow. Did you speak to any of the workers you photographed? Not really. We spoke to someone more in control of the whole operation. Did you see any of the workers, though? Yes. I saw quite a few of them, actually, and their faces looked lifeless. The uniformity of these factory workers were startling. The buildings were yellow. The shirts of every worker were yellow. The workers were forced to stand in a strict formation. They were given numbers. It looked like herding sheep. I can show you some of the photos I took. They were being stripped of their identity. It was dehumanizing and unfair. I completely agree with you. I would love to see those photos. Well, it looks like that's all the time we have for today. Thank you all for taking the time to speak to me and for being so open and honest about your experiences. I have learned so much from just the last 10 minutes of speaking to you all. Thank you for having us. That is all, listeners. Thank you for tuning in this week. Join us next week to hear our special guest, Jojo Siwa, discuss her new single, Karma.