{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Chasing Leviathan","title":"Formal Objects: On Beauty and Sustainability | Dr. Robert Hariman","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3061,"description":"Why do we often assume that fighting climate change requires a life of scarcity, asceticism, and sacrificing abundance, when nature itself is wildly generative and beautiful?\n\nNorthwestern University's Owen L. Coon Professor of Argumentation and Debate, Dr. Robert Hariman, joins host PJ Wehry on Chasing Leviathan to discuss how we can rethink our approach to the existential crisis of the Anthropocene.\n\nDr. Hariman explores the intersection of aesthetic knowledge and environmental survival in his book, Formal Objects: On Beauty and Sustainability. They examine how the mentality that got us into our current ecological mess isn't sufficient to get us out, and how embracing a new, ecological \"formalism\" might just be the key to designing a world we actually want to live in.\n\nIn this conversation they explore: \nWhy global warming is a symptom of a larger systemic crisis of modernity, and why we need a new conceptual vocabulary to survive it. \nThe history of \"formalism\"—why it was cast aside by academia 50 years ago, and why reinvigorating the study of form is vital for building a just and sustainable society. \nHow beauty and utility are not opposites, but actually converge to create fitness in both natural organisms and cultural artifacts. \nThe importance of \"aesthetic knowledge\"—an embodied, relational way of knowing that complements modern science and prevents us from treating nature merely as a mute object tailored for exploitation. \nWhy a truly sustainable society cannot be built on scarcity models or ugly, ascetic design, but must lean into nature's incredible abundance and joy.\nThe dangers of monocultural regimes in design and architecture, and how true formal processes rely heavily on diversity and continuous generation. \nPractical ways to cultivate everyday mindfulness by paying attention to the forms and local ecology around us, including a look at Central Florida's water table crisis and the impracticality of suburban lawns.\nThis is a conversation for anyone...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/oFG5X3hnTWeg1jpjktisRS_sI049dZZYEQFpaR8md3g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzIxNDQ2LzE2MzMx/MTQ3MTctYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}