Sitting across from Dr Daniel Widdowson, it becomes clear that reconnecting is not just the first step of our conversation, but one of the very actions his new book encourages. It has been years since we last spoke, yet the familiarity returns quickly. As we talk, it is easy to see how his latest project, Humanity Isn’t Dead – Change the World in 40 Days, fits within a career shaped by curiosity, creativity, and a commitment to social awareness.
Widdowson’s body of work is wide. He holds a Doctorate in Creative Arts, lectures in theatre studies, has been an Australian of the Year finalist, received awards at international film festivals, and serves as Artistic Director of Salt House Creative. His résumé stretches across education, television, theatre, and advocacy. Many still remember him from his seven years hosting Saturday Disney, reporting from Disney parks and film launches around the world. Since then, he has written more than thirty stage plays, acted across television and theatre, produced documentaries, and worked on major Australian series including Home and Away, Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Last King of the Cross to name but a few.
In the middle of this variety comes a quiet but deliberate project: a small book about small acts. Humanity Isn’t Dead is made up of forty simple tasks intended to help readers reconnect with the world around them.
The book challenges the notion that the world is irredeemably divided or hostile. He argues that meaningful change doesn’t demand grand gestures; it begins with simple choices made consistently. The book unfolds across forty daily objectives, each designed to cultivate empathy, generosity, and deeper human connection. The book serves as both a personal challenge and a reminder: kindness is still deeply alive, and anyone can help revive it, one day at a time.
The idea began when Widdowson came across a headline claiming that humanity was dead. “I read that and thought, how can a media outlet share that to the world,” he recalls. “I was so convicted that it is not what I see. Humanity is not dead.”
When asked what he means by humanity, Widdowson explains that the title points to connection, not survival. “It is about the loss of our kindness, our ability to connect, our hospitality, our interconnectedness. Not that humankind is dying, but we are losing what makes us human, and we don’t have to.”
The book’s structure grew from that conviction. Forty tasks felt right, he says, partly because he wanted the process to be long enough to change habits.
“Originally I thought of thirty, but that felt too quick. Too easy. Forty gives people time to actually shift something.”
The tasks range from writing a handwritten letter and phoning a friend to thanking frontline workers, donating to charity, learning from someone of a different generation, giving someone a printed photo, or watching a friend’s favourite film through their eyes.
Every task is designed to be possible: “Have dinner with some friends. Reconnect. Some of the others are even simpler, like doing something kind for someone near you. They are all doable.”
The book’s interactive style is intentional. Each task has space for readers to write down who they reached out to, what they noticed, and how their responses changed throughout the forty days.
“It becomes a form of accountability. When you reread it, you remember why you did something and how you felt. If you go back later, you might realise why reconnecting with someone mattered or why you offered help on a particular day. It is a record of how much you changed yourself.”
Widdowson hopes to gather feedback from readers about how they use the book. “That is why I put my email in it. I want people to tell me what they are doing, to create a bit of community around it. Kindness, cooking a meal for someone, phoning them, asking how they are, these have become underrated.”
Our conversation turns to the themes that sit behind the project. Technology comes up quickly. He recalls taking the family to work on Norfolk Island in 2010 when smartphones were not yet that common. “I came back and caught a train from the airport. Everyone was staring at their screens and I remember being shocked. I did not understand it. Then within six months, I was doing it too.”
The book is, in part, a response to that change. It is a call to notice the world again. “If we are so involved in our own lives and goals, we don’t always see what is happening around us. But I hope by the end of the forty days, we might be a little more aware. We might see someone drop their groceries and actually help. It is about self-awareness.”
Widdowson’s interest in small habits echoes advice found in psychology. He mentions being struck by Jordan Peterson’s instruction to make the bed each morning. “They are little habits. Small personal habits that set things in motion. Then you go into the kitchen, and you see something, and you pick it up. Small habits.”
This attention to small actions that can make a difference has shaped much of his career. His play Worm Farming, a dark comedy about the global refugee crisis, premiered at the National Museum of Australia in 2017 and received endorsement from human rights advocate Julian Burnside. He later joined the Australian Writers Guild and now sits on its judging panel.
Widdowson’s most recent documentary ‘Mental Health & the Actor’s Life‘ received the Mainstream Journalism Award at The MHS Learning Network earlier in the year.
His documentaries, including one on trafficking in Australia called ‘Trafficked To Australia’, has been used in training by Victoria Police and Border Force. Yet, as he notes, the impact can feel uncertain. “You put all this work in and you wonder, is that it? Is that all? Where is the change?”
That question sits beneath Humanity Isn’t Dead. It is not a grand statement on global policy but a practical guide for daily life, written with the belief that small actions still matter. “Some projects I chase because I think they will sell or bring something in. Other projects I do because I feel I need to. This was one of those. If I didn’t do it, I would be asking myself why I didn’t.”
As our conversation winds through his teaching, his productions, his decision to study law in 2026 and the rising cost of theatre in Australia, he mentions that people who have read the book tell him they use it slowly. “One a week is fine. There is no pressure. It is not designed to be a test.”
What matters to him is that the book becomes a resource for people who want to live with a little more intention.
Before we finish, I ask what is next. “Next year I am touring Worm Farming again,” he says. “And I am working on another documentary, and I am going to study law. There is always something new.” He smiles at the thought, as if the work ahead sits naturally beside the small, daily tasks his book encourages.
Sitting together for this conversation, it is hard not to feel that we are practising one of the actions from the book simply by talking. Reconnecting, listening, and noticing. Widdowson’s latest work suggests that these small moments are where change begins, and the hour together offers an uncomplicated proof.
You can purchase Humanity Isn’t Dead – Change the World in 40 Days via the Salt House Creative website.
Digital copies are available online via Booktopia Amazon.com.au Barnes & Noble and Apple Books…but Dan recommends the hard copy as there’s room for you to write your own thoughts.
