Do Get Your Hopes Up...Rocking Out With Hope Punk

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The world can seem like a dark, scary place these days — one where hope seems hard to come by.

But while so much in our culture reminds us of the darkness, there are authors and artists trying to hold up some light. Utopian fiction and a new genre called Hope Punk remind us to dream of a better tomorrow and fight for it.

Our guest W. Mahlon Purdin wrote about the importance of imagining these new worlds:

I want you to think about the future differently. It's not easy. In a country with a declining birth rate and a falling average length of life, we have trouble seeing through the weeds of our own problems. They seem overwhelming. They are overwhelming. We're so deep in our weeds, we no longer notice the forest. When way too many parents are questioning whether they really want to bring children into this world – and even if they do, should they? – it is pretty easy to see that we have a problem with the future. People in their silos see the sun only once a day. It gets dark down here. The dystopian vision and the utopian vision could not be more different, and that difference could not be more important.

How can we have hope in times of trouble? We discuss with makers of the art form that might make it possible.