Damien Cave on the Australian way of dealing with risk in 'Into the Rip'

Good Reading Podcast

Having worked in Afghanistan and Mexico, Damien Cave thought he understood something about the subject of risk. When he brought his young family to Australia to set up the New York Times' Australian bureau he was unexpectedly confronted with an entirely new approach to managing risk. Instead of being eliminated or romanticised he found a culture that respected and even embraced the idea. Following extensive research and interviews, Damien began asking himself critical questions about the American approach to risk he was familiar with. Into the Rip explores the idea that a managed exposure to risk where communities undertaken that responsibility together, has the potential to build true self-confidence and a clearer pathway to happiness and fulfilment. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Damien Cave about communal parenting, the Australian institution of Nippers and surf life-saving, the dangers of the self-esteem movement, and overcoming fear in his pursuit of the Bronze Medallion.