We are talking to Nicole and Christina about something quite fundamental in this episode: how do you resist hierarchies and create space for alternative ways of thinking and being in academia? We need epistemic pluralism to end the stubborn cycles of exclusion, poor problem-solving, and loss.

They take us through Buddhist philosophy, feminism, crip theory, and indigenous law in the sub-Arctic region to close with three provocations that you can hold onto not only for this episode but our whole series:

• What if health isn’t about curing our body of the changes it endures? But about living well with those changes instead?
• What if research isn’t an act of knowledge creation? But a service to those who hold knowledge that is true for their context?
• What if bioethics as governance is not rooted in prevention of harm but reciprocity? Where we recognise how our well-being is squarely dependent on that of others including Nature itself.

Nicole Redvers is a member of the Denı́nu Kų́ę́ First Nation (Northwest Territories, Canada). She is an Associate Professor, Western Research Chair and the Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. Christina Lee manages Knowledge Exchange for the Disability Matters Programme at the University of Sheffield, UK.

The audio quality of this episode tends to fluctuate. Please listen to it in a quiet environment if you can.