In this episode, I speak with Darcia Narvaez PhD, Professor of Psychology at Notre Dame University. Professor Narvaez is the author and editor of numerous books, including Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, and Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First-Nation Know-How for Global Flourishing. She also writes regularly for Psychology Today with her Moral Landscapes column, which explores her work with parenting, child development, self-development, and morality.

The first time I spoke with Darcia was almost three years ago, back when I was first beginning to do interviews for this podcast. A great deal has changed and happened since then, not only with my work specifically, but in the world at large. In contemplating the roots of the fragmented, disruptive responses the novel coronavirus pandemic has generated, I felt compelled to reconnect with Prof. Narvaez to discuss her insights into this subject. This includes an examination of the contemporary, common child-rearing practices in the West (specifically the United States), and how this informs the ideologies/belief systems people attach themselves to in states of crisis and uncertainty, such as ours.

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/darcia-narvaez-2

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This is a segment of episode #247 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Breaking Us Open: Shame, Trauma, & The Double Edged Blade Of Privilege w/ Anthony Rella.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWrella

Learn more about Anthony and his work: https://anthonyrella.com

Much of this discussion with Anthony touches on some very personal topics I'm presently reflecting on and addressing in my own life. This includes personal reflections on intergenerational and collective trauma, somatic responses to conflict in intimate relationships, masculinity, privilege, and our individual and collective responses to the overlapping crises we are in the midst of contemporarily. In conducting this interview, I attempted to present my inquiries into these subjects with openness and vulnerability, while also keeping our explorations broad enough to be received by practically anyone that is receptive to these subjects.

This segment of Anthony’s essay ‘It is Right to Take Time to Grieve’ expresses some of what we explore in this discussion:

“Grief and disappointment are not separate from care, joy, and enthusiasm. All of these feelings are emotions of engagement with this life. Letting things matter to us. Taking risks. Opening our hearts. Asking for what we really want and need, and then getting it. Or not getting it. Or getting it in a way we didn’t want or expect. Or getting it in a way that kind of fucks up the whole enjoyment of it.

Should I turn myself away from my sorrow, grief, and disappointment of not getting, then it remains in me. The space and energy I would have for fresh caring and new daring remains occupied. These feelings begin to become stagnant, shifting into cynicism, pessimism, despair, and irritability. Life no longer seems worth the effort of caring.” (https://bit.ly/3cDDFlO)

Anthony Rella is a mental health therapist living in Seattle, Washington. He specializes in helping men and masculine people cultivate emotional resilience, intimacy, and integrity in relationships. His other passion is working with spiritual wounding, healing, and growth. Anthony is a student and mentor of Morningstar Mystery School and a member of the Fellowship of the Phoenix, and is the author of ‘Circling the Star,’ published through Gods & Radicals Press.

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

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DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

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In this episode, I speak with psychotherapist, writer, and witch Anthony Rella. 

Much of this discussion with Anthony touches on some very personal topics I'm presently reflecting on and addressing in my own life. This includes personal reflections on intergenerational and collective trauma, somatic responses to conflict in intimate relationships, masculinity, privilege, and our individual and collective responses to the overlapping crises we are in the midst of contemporarily. In conducting this interview, I attempted to present my inquiries into these subjects with openness and vulnerability, while also keeping our explorations broad enough to be received by practically anyone who is receptive to these subjects.

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/anthony-rella

// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This is a segment of episode #246 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Planet Of The Humans: Addressing The False Promises Of Green Energy w/ Jeff Gibbs.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWgibbs

Watch ‘Planet of the Humans’ and learn more about the film: https://planetofthehumans.com

Since its release, ’Planet of the Humans’ has generated enormous controversy, backlash, and intense discussion within the environmental and climate movement at large. Some of the harshest criticisms this film has received have come from stanch proponents of "renewable" and "green" energy technologies (like wind, solar, and biomass — the subjects of the film). The harshest of these criticisms have come from activist and ‘Gasland’ filmmaker Josh Fox, who has stated that the film "is wildly unscientific, outdated, full of falsehoods, and benefits fossil fuel industry promoters and climate deniers" and has asked Executive Producer Michael Moore and Director Jeff Gibbs to disavow the project. (https://bit.ly/3b6ElPa / https://bit.ly/3dnft7c) Pen America, preeminent watchdog in the U.S. defending free expression and human rights, in turn has responded to the calls to take down the film by stating “calls to pull a film because of disagreement with its content are calls for censorship, plain and simple.” (https://bit.ly/2YDZKgg)

In researching the dozens of reactions this documentary has generated, I recognized that the underlying point of the film was lost in all the controversy. In this segment of our discussion, I ask Jeff to provide some deeper insights into what his intentions with the film really were.

Jeff Gibbs is the director, writer, and producer of the feature documentary film ‘Planet of the Humans.’ Born in Flint, Michigan, Jeff has served as a long time collaborator with Michael Moore. The first film he ever worked on was ‘Bowling for Columbine’ producing many iconic scenes including “the bank that gives you a gun,” “dog shoots hunter,” and the “Michigan Militia.” Following the success of ‘Bowling for Columbine’ Jeff became co-producer for ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ the largest box-office documentary of all time. Jeff also wrote the original score for both films. Since ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ though taking an occasional break to produce other films including the Dixie Chicks documentary ‘Shut Up and Sing,’ Jeff has been singularly obsessed with the fate of the earth and humanity.

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

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In this episode, I speak with Jeff Gibbs, Director of the popular and controversial documentary film Planet of the Humans. The film was Executive Produced by Michael Moore and released to the public on YouTube, generating over six million views since its release on Earth Day last month.

Since its release, Planet of the Humans has generated enormous controversy, backlash, and intense discussion within the environmental and climate movement at large. Some of the harshest criticisms this film has received have come from stanch proponents of "renewable" and "green" energy technologies (like wind, solar, and biomass—the subjects of the film). The harshest of these criticisms have come from activist and Gasland filmmaker Josh Fox, who has stated that the film "is wildly unscientific, outdated, full of falsehoods, and benefits fossil fuel industry promoters and climate deniers" and has asked Moore and Gibbs to disavow the project. (https://bit.ly/3b6ElPa / https://bit.ly/3dnft7c) Pen America, preeminent watchdog in the U.S. defending free expression and human rights, in turn has responded to the calls to take down the film by stating “calls to pull a film because of disagreement with its content are calls for censorship, plain and simple.” (https://bit.ly/2YDZKgg)

In researching the dozens of reactions this documentary has generated, I recognized that the underlying point of the film was lost in all the controversy. In this discussion, I ask Jeff to provide some deeper insights into what his intentions with the film really were, as well as address some of the criticisms the film has received, in particular from Josh Fox.

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/jeff-gibbs

// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This is a segment of episode #245 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Prayer For The Earth: Traditional Knowledge & An Indigenous Response w/ Stan Rushworth.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWrushworth

Learn more about Stan Rushworth and Dahr Jamail’s upcoming book ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island’ and support them through their GoFund Me: https://www.thechangingearth.net / https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-changing-earth

This is a segment of my interview with Indigenous elder, author, and teacher Stan Rushworth. We discuss Traditional Ecological Knowledge and his upcoming book project ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island,’ made in collaboration with journalist and author Dahr Jamail. Stan is featured in Ian MacKenzie's recently released short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times.’

Our planet is undergoing massive ecological, climatological, and cultural shifts, with the consequences of these crises playing out in the near and distant future. In our attempt to reattain a harmonious balance with the life systems of the planet, certain traditions of knowledge and wisdom come to the forefront, namely Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But what is attached to these traditional forms of knowledge is something that is often overlooked, whether on purpose or not: the hundreds of years of genocide that nearly erased Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island. This erasure is just as much physical and is it cultural and spiritual. For those that carry the values and perspectives of the dominant culture, to respectfully and humbly embrace traditional Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives requires taking a hard look at the what has brought us collectively to this moment. This includes listening and full acknowledging Indigenous people and their history, including all the pain, sorrow, and beauty that comes with it.

Stan Rushworth was born in 1944 and raised on the banks of the Stanislaus River in the East San Joaquin Valley in California by his grandfather, who was of Cherokee descent. He has taught Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, in Aptos, California for the last twenty-eight years, including similar work at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a lecturer, and worked for eighteen years at Cabrillo’s Watsonville Center teaching basic skills and critical thinking surrounding Indigenous peoples’ issues, including six years as Director/Instructor of the Puente Program, centered in the Chicano community. He authored 'Sam Woods: American Healing' (Station Hill Press, New York) in 1992, and 'Going to Water: The Journal of Beginning Rain' (Talking Leaves Press, Freedom, CA) in 2014. As a tenured faculty emeritus, he currently teaches Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, and works as an activist and advocate for Indigenous people as a teacher, writer and speaker. He is an enrolled citizen of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, and is also a member of the Santa Cruz Indian Council, where he is an Advising Cultural Elder. He is currently the Attending Elder (school year 19-20) for the American Indian Resource Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is married, with two sons and one grandson.

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

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DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

In this episode, I speak with Indigenous elder, author, and teacher Stan Rushworth. We discuss Traditional Ecological Knowledge and his upcoming book project, The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island, made in collaboration with journalist and author Dahr Jamail. Stan is featured in Ian MacKenzie's recently released short film Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times.

Our planet is undergoing massive ecological, climatological, and cultural shifts, with the consequences of these crises playing out in the near and distant future. In our attempt to reattain a harmonious balance with the life systems of the planet, certain traditions of knowledge and wisdom come to the forefront, namely Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But what is attached to these traditional forms of knowledge is often overlooked, whether on purpose or not: the hundreds of years of genocide that nearly erased Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island. This erasure is just as much physical and is it cultural and spiritual. For those that carry the values and perspectives of the dominant culture, to respectfully and humbly embrace traditional Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives requires taking a hard look at what has brought us collectively to this moment. This includes listening and full acknowledging Indigenous people and their history, including all the pain, sorrow, and beauty that comes with it.

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/stan-rushworth

// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This is a segment of episode #244 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Philippines Under Lockdown: Encouraging Mutual Aid In A Dire Situation w/ Ja Reyalidad.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWreyalidad

Filipino citizen and mutual aid activist Ja Reyalidad discusses the current situation in the Philippines as the nation undergoes a national lockdown in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Ja explains, large segments of the Filipino population, particularly in the crowded metropolitan areas of the nation (like Manila), are facing staggering levels of "involuntary hunger" as the nation grapples with the outbreak of COVID-19. Very little is being done to aid the most affected (the working class and poor), as social distancing measures are imposed, domestic travel is severely limited, and testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) is being hoarded by the political and economic elites. To make matters even worse, President Duterte "took to the airwaves with a chilling warning for his citizens: Defy the lockdown orders again and the police will shoot you dead."

"I will not hesitate. My orders are to the police and military, as well as village officials, if there is any trouble, or occasions where there's violence and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead," he said in a mix of Filipino and English in the televised address. "Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose." (https://cbsn.ws/2RC8M94)

Ja fears, rightfully, that through a combination of strict government crackdowns on dissent and lack of essential supplies like testing kits, PPE, and food due to corruption and government hoarding, will culminate in martial law — an essential step toward a fully-fledged dictatorship under Duterte.

“On March 23, Duterte put to Congress the erroneously titled “Bayanihan Act of 2020”. The word ‘bayanihan’ means community assistance or ‘communitarian’ and the spirit of ‘bayanihan’ means assistance given voluntarily and without any monetary consideration by a member of the community. The title itself is fake, a lie. Nowhere in the bill does the spirit of ‘bayanihan’ prevail. The doctors, nurses, health workers, grocery employees, transport workers and all the frontliners who are heading the fight against COVID19 are not empowered in this bill — instead it extends more power to Duterte, the bureaucracy and his minions. This bill is sinister in many ways, as it aims to give wide powers to a president who’s proven to being incompetent in dealing with the pandemic.” (https://bit.ly/2XvM2vg)

In spite of this, Ja is engaging in mutual aid in his community, working to provide food and resources to his community in this time of dire struggle.

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

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DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

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This is a segment of episode #243 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Meeting Basic Human Needs: Mutual Aid Under The Shadow Of Coronavirus w/ Shane Burley.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWburley3

Read Shane’s article ‘Amid the coronavirus crisis, mutual aid networks erupt across the country’ at Waging Nonviolence: https://bit.ly/3a5GN89

In this segment of my interview with author, journalist, and political researcher Shane Burley, we discuss rent strikes and expanding the role of mutual aid in the time of COVID-19. Millions of workers in the United States are now without jobs as a result of widespread economic disruption and lack of a comprehensive government aid.

As Shane describes in his recent article published at Waging Nonviolence: “In almost every city around the United States mutual aid networks have started to form — ranging from projects for resource distribution to simple options like fundraising, compiling lists of resources and contacts, and creating “chat threads” so that people in the same area can stay in contact with one another. The speed with which these groups have arrived, and the depth of care that many of them offer, have started to show what options communities have when the large institutions around them fail, or are unwilling to deal with the disaster.” (https://bit.ly/3a5GN89)

Shane Burley is a writer and filmmaker who regularly reports on far-right movements in the US, as well as anti-fascist resistance, workers rights, and class struggle. He is the author of ‘Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It’ from AK Press, and his work has appeared in numerous publications, such as Jacobin, Truthout, and Commune Magazine. 


WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

In this episode, I speak with Filipino citizen and activist Ja Reyalidad from his residence in Manila. We discuss the current situation in the Philippines in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the nation undergoes a national lockdown.

As Ja explains, large segments of the Filipino population, particularly in the crowded metropolitan areas of the nation (like Manila), are facing staggering levels of "involuntary hunger" as the nation grapples with the outbreak of COVID-19. Very little is being done to aid the most affected (the working class and poor), as social distancing measures are imposed, domestic travel is severely limited, and testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) is being hoarded by the political and economic elites. To make matters even worse, President Duterte "took to the airwaves with a chilling warning for his citizens: Defy the lockdown orders again and the police will shoot you dead."

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/ja-reyalidad

// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast