This event will take place at the Harriet Delph room by the cafe at the Stoke Newington High Street entrance to the park.
Tickets: £5
Book your tickets here.
We're all living through a metacrisis of apocalyptic proportions: climate breakdown, a rise in authoritarianism, looming war. What would it mean to live through this period of human history wisely? What do we need to do to hold true to radical values and not lose our minds?
In this interactive talk writer, researcher, political theorist, local resident and frequent Abney Park walker Sarah Stein Lubrano, author of the new book “Don't Talk about Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds”, will combine insights from history, politics, and literature to point to some less-commonly-understood things about the reality of the end of (this) world. She'll argue that some books mislead us when it comes to thinking about our current moment, while others can help. We learn from history, for example, that the apocalypse has already happened many times. There are historical elders to learn from.
And while some books mislead us into thinking that surviving an apocalypse is solitary, dramatic, and largely fearful, it is actually social, interdependent, and a chance for us to cultivate a new state of mind as we face the world: what the writer James Baldwin called passionate detachment.
This interactive talk will include moments of discussion and, of course, a reading list.
Book your tickets here.
Copies of "Don’t Talk About Politics" will be available for sale.
This event is part of Abney Park Trust's 2025 "Radical Writers" festival. The festival explores the works of writers inspired by Abney's and Hackney's diverse history of radical thought and action. We’ll be joined by scribes from across an array of genres, disciplines and backgrounds. And we’ll be thinking about radicalism in many senses – old, new, cultural, political, social and beyond. To see the full line up and book tickets for other events, visit abneypark.org/radicalwriters.
Special thanks to our sponsor, local butcher and deli Meat N16, for their generous support of the festival.