Mountains and Desire with Margret Grebowicz - podcast episode cover

Mountains and Desire with Margret Grebowicz

Jun 18, 202135 minEp. 36
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

In 1923, when British mountaineer George Mallory was asked why he wanted to summit Mount Everest, he famously answered “Because it’s there.” These days, there are still many who want to climb Mount Everest, but the conditions of mountaineering have altered significantly:  people are outraged by the trash on Mount Everest; concerned about the risks incurred by the Sherpa; worried about environmental degradation and indigenous rights, as in the case of Uluru in Australia, which is now closed to climbers; and, last year, the Himalaya were closed to climbers due to Covid 19. All of this complicates the age-old question, “Why do it?” 

My guest, the environmental philosopher Margret Grebowicz, argues in her latest book, Mountains and Desire, that mountaineering is a kind of test case for the challenge of knowing what desire really is in our late-capitalist era when the things we love to do are so often appropriated by everything from advertising to popular culture and social media.

For a list of suggested documentaries on climbing see in-the-weeds.net
To contact us with suggestions, questions, etc. write to [email protected]

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast
Mountains and Desire with Margret Grebowicz | In the Weeds podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast