“I thought if we just told people the truth, we just told people how it is, then of course they'd realise. We just have to tell them the truth hard enough and then they will change. And that's just not how we work as humans. That's not how our brains work.
“We're super messy, irrational creatures. The truth does not always set us free. We often don't act in our own best interests. And actually, story and emotion is incredibly important. And the right has understood that, and they've understood it much earlier than we have.”
Ella Saltmarshe is “incorrigibly plural” — an anthropologist by training, Ella is a writer, activist, organiser, founder and narrative strategist with experience in public policy and international development. Ella works at the intersection of stories and the climate crisis, channeling her immense creative energy and agency into creating a world we can leave behind for generations to come.
Alongside discussing Ella’s impressive work in the narrative field, which includes helping policy-makers around the world reframe their understanding of the future to consider our long-term impacts and responsibilities, we delve into the principles of storytelling, the fight against propaganda, short-term vs long-term thinking, and the fascinating concept of considering oneself an ancestor to future generations.
The World We Leave Behind | Ella Saltmarshe