The language of "catastrophe fatigue"

An interview with social scientist Dr. Laura Myers

I’m sharing this piece of audio in lieu of Cultish audio commentary—I hope you enjoy!

Pegged to the release of The Age of Magical Overthinking, I’m publishing an op-ed next month about “doomslang”—the linguistic trend of using casual colloquialisms that reference End Times (“bedrotting,” “doomscrolling,” the “this is fine” dog, etc.)—in Esquire. During my research for the piece, I got to have some fascinating conversations with a panoply of experts, including lexicographers and social scientists. One of my interviews was with Dr. Laura Meyers, who studies human decision making in regards to risk and crisis communication at the University of Alabama. I incorporated several of her quotes into the piece, but I found our raw conversation so interesting as a standalone interview that I thought I’d share it here. 

I’ll point you to the full Esquire piece once it comes out, but in the meantime, here is my interview with Dr. Myers, which focuses on her expertise of “catastrophe fatigue.” The beginning is transcribed below, and you can listen to the whole thing on audio. Please let me know your thoughts!