About the Good Apocalypse Guide

Welcome to the Good Apocalypse Guide - a Substack by me, Alex Evans, about how we can survive and thrive during the liminal times we’re living through, and unlock a breakthrough rather than breakdown future. You can read the first post, which says more about the kind of ideas we explore in the Substack, here.

It’s free to all, but supported by reader contributions, so if you enjoy it then please consider supporting the work to make it sustainable - thanks so much :-)

About me

Hello! I'm Alex Evans and I run Larger Us, which explores how to bring people together, bridge divides and build a brighter future, through working at the places where psychology and politics meet.

In 2017 I wrote a book called "The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren't Enough?" which is about the power of deep stories to unlock transformational change. There's a summary on BBC Focus here, an Economist review here, and you can buy it here.

I'm currently a Professor in Practice at Newcastle University's School of Arts of Cultures and a Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, and have had work published by think tanks including Brookings in the US and Chatham House in the UK.

Until March 2018, I was a Campaign Director at Avaaz, the 50 million member global citizens' movement, where I led campaigns on areas like Brexit, tax havens, and human rights in Turkey and Yemen.

I've done two stints in the UN Secretary-General's office - one as part of the team that organised the first ever head of government level climate summit, back in 2007, and the other as the writer for the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability in 2010.

Last time Labour was in government in the UK, I was Special Adviser to two Secretaries of State (Valerie Amos and Hilary Benn) at the Department for International Development from 2003 to 2006.

I live with my wife Emma, our two kids and two cats in a little cottage on a hilltop in North Yorkshire.