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Rethinking Life, The Universe And Everything In The Anthropocene

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Donn Young

The Anthropocene is considered by many scholars and scientists to be the epoch in which humans became a dominant force in shaping the world around us. 

Assuming that we are currently living in the Anthropocene, a couple of Duke professors are calling on a mass, multidisciplinary shift in thinking in order to slow the destruction of the planet. They also hope to bring the core tenants of fields like law, philosophy, and politics into a more contemporary frame. Duke University theology and ecology professor Norman Wirzba and Duke Law professor Jedediah Purdysay their own fields, along with many others, need a major and urgent overhaul.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with Purdy and Wirzba about their multidisciplinary project and the future of life, the universe, and everything in the Anthropocene.

Laura Pellicer is a digital reporter with WUNC’s small but intrepid digital news team.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.