166. I Save People & I Know Better Than You: How Not To Save The World / Anthea Lawson

In today’s conversation, I have the please of welcoming Anthea Lawson back onto the show. Having trained and worked as a reporter at The Times, and studied history at Cambridge, her work as an activist has seen Anthea campaign to shut down tax havens, control the arms trade and prevent banks from facilitating corruption and environmental devastation.

While working at Global Witness, a human rights and environmental organisation, Anthea also launched a campaign that succeeded in changing the rules on secret company ownership, resulting in new laws being passed in dozens of countries around the world.

A lot has changed since then – the geopolitical landscape has shifted, some of these laws have been repealed, and so her new book, How Not to Save the World: Doing Good Without Annoying Everyone is perfectly timed, and it’s coming out on June 4th. And given the theme and where we find ourselves right now, I felt like this would be the perfect moment to invite her back on the show.

I first encountered Anthea in 2022, when I interviewed her on episode 86 about her book, The Entangled Activist. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, that is a fantastic place to start.

BOOKS

• How Not to Save the World: Doing Good Without Annoying Everyone – Anthea Lawson (https://www.anthealawson.uk/how-not-to-save-the-world)
• The Entangled Activist – Anthea Lawson (https://www.anthealawson.uk/the-entangled-activist)

WEBSITES

• anthealawson.uk

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Global Human Psyche and Climate Awareness

02:44 Activism and Personal Motivators

06:52 The Save the World Script

10:56 Navigating Activism and Community Engagement

14:44 Bridging Divides in Activism

18:56 Stories of Change and Resistance

31:36 Navigating Civility in Hostile Conversations

34:02 The Impact of Personal Histories on Activism

37:51 Understanding the Savior Complex in Activism

45:22 Rethinking Service vs. Saving in Philanthropy

50:23 Building Solidarity Through Community Engagement

55:37 The Role of Technology in Activism and Community Building