Is Empire Collapsing? Metacrisis Salon #9
Every empire believes it's the exception. History says otherwise.
In Goliath's Curse, Cambridge researcher Luke Kemp studied 324 collapsed societies and found the same pattern repeating: elite capture, runaway inequality, ecological overshoot, and a slow erosion of legitimacy — until the system buckles. The uncomfortable question isn't whether empires fall. It's whether we're watching it happen right now.
But collapse isn't just something that happens to systems. It happens through us — through our bodies, our relationships, our capacity to stay present when the ground shifts beneath us. If the structures are failing, who do we become in the process?
We'll be joined by:
Luke Kemp — Research Affiliate at Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and author of Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, a Sunday Times bestseller analyzing why civilizations fall — and what it means for ours.
Samantha Sweetwater — Gaian futurist, master facilitator, and author of True Human: Reimagining Ourselves at the End of Our World. For over 30 years, she has guided individuals and communities through personal and collective transformation, weaving embodiment, deep ecology, and systemic insight into a practice of meeting crisis with courage, clarity, and kinship.
Together, we'll explore what history reveals about where we are — and what it takes to stay whole, connected, and generative when the world as we've known it is shifting beneath our feet.
This is not about doom. It's about seeing clearly — and choosing who we become next.
⚡️ Volunteer Early Arrival Starting at 4:00 PM, we'll open the space for volunteers to help cook and set up. If you'd like to contribute to shaping the container — cooking, connecting, and preparing the room — we'd love to have you. Volunteers get in free. Just send a message to let us know you're coming early.
🗓 Evening Flow
6:30 PM — Arrival & mingling 7:00 PM — Welcome & framing 7:05 PM — Luke Kemp: Presentation + Q&A (55 min) 8:00 PM — Break (10 min) 8:10 PM — Samantha Sweetwater: Presentation + Q&A (30 min) 8:40 PM — Facilitated dialogue between speakers (20 min) 9:00 PM — Group discussion (25 min) 9:25 PM — Closing 9:30 PM — Mingling continues
Vegan & gluten-free snacks and drinks provided.
Searching for volunteer facilitators and cooks!Every empire believes it's the exception. History says otherwise.
In Goliath's Curse, Cambridge researcher Luke Kemp studied 324 collapsed societies and found the same pattern repeating: elite capture, runaway inequality, ecological overshoot, and a slow erosion of legitimacy — until the system buckles. The uncomfortable question isn't whether empires fall. It's whether we're watching it happen right now.
But collapse isn't just something that happens to systems. It happens through us — through our bodies, our relationships, our capacity to stay present when the ground shifts beneath us. If the structures are failing, who do we become in the process?
We'll be joined by:
Luke Kemp — Research Affiliate at Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and author of Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, a Sunday Times bestseller analyzing why civilizations fall — and what it means for ours.
Samantha Sweetwater — Gaian futurist, master facilitator, and author of True Human: Reimagining Ourselves at the End of Our World. For over 30 years, she has guided individuals and communities through personal and collective transformation, weaving embodiment, deep ecology, and systemic insight into a practice of meeting crisis with courage, clarity, and kinship.
Together, we'll explore what history reveals about where we are — and what it takes to stay whole, connected, and generative when the world as we've known it is shifting beneath our feet.
This is not about doom. It's about seeing clearly — and choosing who we become next.
⚡️ Volunteer Early Arrival Starting at 4:00 PM, we'll open the space for volunteers to help cook and set up. If you'd like to contribute to shaping the container — cooking, connecting, and preparing the room — we'd love to have you. Just send a message to let us know you're coming early.
🗓 Evening Flow
First Half (CONTENT)
6:30 PM — Arrival & mingling
7:00 PM — Welcome & framing
7:10 PM — Luke Kemp: Presentation + Q&A (50 min)
8:00 PM — Samantha Sweetwater: Presentation + Q&A (30 min)
8:30 PM - 10-minute break
Second Half (COMMUNITY)
8:40 PM — Breakout group discussions (50 min)
9:30 PM — Group discussion (25 min)
10:00 PM — Community Announcements and Close.
Community-Made Vegan & gluten-free dinner, snacks and drinks will be provided!!