“Everybody Talks About the Weather”

Abstract

By telling the history of the widely quoted advertising slogan “Everybody talks about the weather. Not us,” this article contrasts the way environmental problems were perceived in the 1960s and today. While environmental matters were once seen as extraneous, lacking a connection to fundamental political concerns, they are now at the center of political discourse. Since this transformation is also reflected in the changing connotation of “talking about the weather,” growing awareness of climate change has also shifted the way people in the Global North think about meaningful politics and what constitutes small talk.