"Fandabi Podcast" with Tom Langhorne

Support the Podcast & get extra content here: https://www.patreon.com/TomFandabidoziMy guest today is Madge Bray. Madge was born "Margery Allan" into a long line of village Scots traditional poets musicians and storytellers from the village of Ballater .She was born into the carrying stream where a cultural inheritance of musical expression was second nature . She encountered our ancient Keening Tradition first as a young woman . Madge undertook pioneering work in trauma resolution internationally where she studied sound in human harmonisation - and her journey eventually took her to the High Caucasus mountains and polyphonic grief ritual .You can see her YouTube channel here - https://youtube.com/@traditionalfutures?si=0JH0TcPGvOXUQti-Her recent odyssey with cancer and music is contained in the Ebb and Flow playlist on Traditional Futures . Here https://youtu.be/TbnpQacu92Y?is=0YkAlENQ_jWmdLX7Her article on Restoring the Feminine in Scottish Lament is here: https://ojs.st-andrews.ac.uk/index.php/TIS/article/view/3174Her books "Poppies on the Rubbish Heap - Sexual Abuse the Child’s Voice" and "Rob the Robin and the Bald Eagle" can be obtained online.She has another book "Songs in the Breastmilk" Coming out soon . Sometimes she can offer one to one (or up to two ) in house sharing's for those who seek more inner explorations in our Scot’s traditional musical medicine , deep in Assynt .Pm her on Facebook messenger if this resonates . She also teaches on the Keening Module of Weaving Remembrance . https://weavingremembrance.org/

In this episode, I speak with members of the Save Loch Ness campaign about the proposed pumped hydro storage scheme at Glen Earrach, and the wider expansion of wind farms and renewable energy infrastructure across the Scottish Highlands.

We explore what these developments could mean for Loch Ness, the Highland landscape, and local communities, and ask a wider question:
Who really benefits from Scotland’s energy boom, and does it deliver true energy security if the infrastructure is not locally owned?

We also discuss:

• The proposed Loch Ness pumped hydro storage scheme (Glen Earrach)
• Expansion of energy infrastructure across the Highlands
• Ownership of Scotland’s energy systems
• What “energy security” actually means in practice
• The impact on landscape, wildlife, and rural communities

Scotland is undergoing a major expansion of renewable energy infrastructure. While this is often presented as essential for the energy transition and national energy security, it also raises deeper questions around ownership, control, and how the benefits of this transition are shared.

Support this podcast & keep it independent:
https://www.patreon.com/TomFandabidozi

Save Loch Ness:
https://savelochness.co.uk/latest-news/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Save-Loch-Ness/61555829794691/
https://substack.com/@savelochness/
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-industrialisation-of-our-sacred-loch-ness

Join my resilience school here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/

More about Ben's work "Deep Roots" here: https://deeprootsalba.org/

You can support this podcast by becoming a Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/TomFandabidoziMy guest today is Ben Reid Howells. Ben is a Canadian facilitator and teacher of grass-roots leadership and community resilience strategies. He has led and been part of many community resilience projects all over the world and has some valuable insights into how to heal ourselves, our communities and our culture in the modern age.#resilience #grassroots #culturalregeneration #communityresilience #scotland #fandabipodcast

FREE Journaling course here: https://www.tomlanghorne.com/4-days-to-focusJoin my school here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/If you want to SUPPORT my work and help keep it going, then Patreon is the best place for that: https://www.patreon.com/c/TomFandabidoziThe modern world is filled with unlimited easy access to cheap & quick pleasures, so why don't we all feel great all the time? Well it comes down to a neuro transmitter called dopamine. Modern science now shows how dopamine is the currency of our motivation and that our pleasure and our pain are inseparably connected. But way before science knew about this, the wise old poet Kahlil Gibran writing about this in finely crafted words which still send chills down my spine when I read it. So, in this ponder I want to share a passage from Gibran and show the overlaps with what we now know about the science of dopamine. Enjoy#deepdive #philosophy #kahlilgibran #rewildyourlife #natureconnection #simplifyyourlife #dopaminedetox #resilientroots

If you want to download my guitar music then follow this link- Its just £5 and helps fund human creativity: https://www.patreon.com/posts/147642951

or listen to the Youtube playlist here (without bonus track): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHLpk2hRsXftSsHAw1I0DQ8sd0DRMfrMXIf you want to join my school were we are exploring what it means to be human and how to be self-reliant in our basic needs, then here is a link to that: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/In a world where artificial intelligence can generate “perfect” music, art and poetry in seconds, what becomes valuable? In this pondering, I explore creativity as something that doesn’t come from algorithms, but from lived experience, from wild places, and from what I can only describe as a conversation with the creative muse.I’m also sharing music I recorded 12 years ago, imperfect, raw, and inspired by time spent in forests, by streams, and on solitary adventures. This music I was once too self-conscious to release, but now... funnily enough I feel its time to share some real human creation.Maybe in an age of machine perfection, authentic human imperfection matters more than ever.Let me know in the comments: where does creativity come from for you?

Link to my school: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/Is poo the future currency? This video explores my personal journey with gut health and how learning about the human microbiome reshaped the way I think about value, diversity, and resilience. A healthy gut and healthy poo is becoming increasingly rare in the modern world, and that loss of inner biodiversity mirrors what is happening to the living systems around us.Inspired by a conversation on ‪@TheDiaryOfACEO‬ this reflection draws a line between caring for our inner ecosystems and relearning how to value the outer ecosystems we depend on.Credits:Clip referenced from The Diary of a CEO podcastOriginal episode:    • The No.1 Poo & Gut Scientist: If Your Poo ...  Channel: @TheDiaryOfACEO#GutHealth #Microbiome #Ecosystems #Biodiversity #ModernHealth #SystemsThinking #HumanNature

My work relies on patronage- So if you enjoy my content, please consider supporting me via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TomFandabidoziYou can join my survival school here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/

My guest today is Roddy McLean, a Gaelic speaking ecologist, author and expert in Gaelic place names. I filmed with Roddy in summer of 2025 as part of my 3 part "How did Highlanders Navigate Series" where I edited our conversation down to a more digestible video. But I thought there was still so much interesting knowledge shared that I have decided to put the full conversation into a podcast.I hope you enjoy it!Watch my shortened version of this conversation here: https://youtu.be/BZegPgwyHeU#GaelicPlaceNames #AncientNavigation #Highlanders #ScottishHistory #NaturalNavigation #livinghistory #indigenous #language

You can support my "context" creation work here: https://www.patreon.com/c/TomFandabidoziOr Join my community led survival school here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/We are drowning in "content", but starving for meaning. We have completely forgotten the "context"- which originally means: "that which is woven together".This video explores what happens when life is stripped of context, in our media, our economies, and our relationship with the living world. It is a reflection on how meaning is not something we consume, but something that emerges from connection, place, and attention.I also share a simple outdoor awareness practice for remembering the wider weave we live inside.

Join Resilient Roots Survival School here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/

Many people want to feel more prepared for uncertain times, but fear-driven prepping often leads to paranoia, isolation, and a narrower way of living. In this pondering video, I explore why that approach usually fails, and how a fun, curiosity-led, community approach builds far deeper resilience.Drawing from my survival training background and the conversations happening inside the Resilient Roots community, I look at why the indirect approach to preparedness works so well: simple monthly learning prompts, hands-on skills, shared adventures, and practical ways to build resilience together rather than alone.

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/HQo5APleGfQ?si=6eF3J_lo70CY2Cyt

FREE Journaling course here: https://www.tomlanghorne.com/4-days-to-focusJoin my school here: https://www.resilientrootssurvival.com/Have we grown too comfortable for our own good?Kahlil Gibran warned that “the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul and then walks grinning in the funeral.”In this Deepdive, I explore what Gibran meant, why wilderness living feels so alive, and how we can rewild our houses so they nourish the spirit instead of dulling it.If you’ve ever felt modern life slowly numbing your senses… or sensed the forest creature in you wanting to wake up… this one’s for you.I read the full poem “On Houses” from The Prophet, unpack some of its most powerful passages, and share how discomfort, wilderness skills, and resetting our “baseline” can renew our connection to the world and to ourselves.If you want to learn the practical side of this — building your resilience rucksack, resetting the baseline, and living closer to the land — come join us in Resilient Roots.May the morning mist always be your doorway,and the songs of the night your windows.