On my Spotify, I create a playlist called “protest songs” and have been adding tracks to it since 2016 (yikes, how is that already a decade ago?). When I’ve felt off balance because of the latest crisis in our politics, the ongoing climate crisis and its slate of disasters, or just the accumulated weight of living through the past few years, I’ve reached for those songs. And belted them — often loudly — alone in my car or in my kitchen.
That simple act — singing — always made me feel better.
One of my favorite ideas in this recent Vox essay from Casper ter Kuile is that our capacity to keep showing up for the world is nourished by beauty and joy just as much as it is by information.
Casper starts with climate grief, but this piece is really about what you can do after your heart breaks: find other people, and sing. By the end of this piece, you'll have a much richer understanding of why humans have gathered to sing through joy, loss, uncertainty, and catastrophe for thousands of years — and why that tradition might have something important to teach us right now.
If this kind of story feels like a portal that leaves you feeling a little more connected, consider becoming a Vox Member. Your support helps us keep making space for journalism that doesn't just explain the world, but helps us live in it.
—Paige Vega, editorial director
