Let’s Reboot the Future

Rachel (Rai) Lewis is the director and co-founder of Plant One, a Cornish woodland creation CIC restoring habitats and connecting communities with nature across the South West.

Rai is also autistic, and in this conversation she speaks candidly about what it’s like to move through a world that often perceives her as naïve. She shares some of the traits many autistic people experience - struggling to detect lies quickly, finding it difficult to lie convincingly, and navigating social contexts that neurotypical people often take for granted.

For Rai, this has often meant being judged as lacking “street smarts” -  including when she decided to launch Plant One with her business partner without startup funding. But what others might see as naïve, she understands as something else entirely: honesty, passion, and a deep commitment to what matters.

That passion is woodland creation. Today, Rai and the Plant One community are planting trees across Cornwall, restoring habitats and bringing wildlife back to the landscape.

This episode is a conversation about honesty, perception, and the power of caring deeply enough to act.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are the experiences and opinions of one autistic individual and do not necessarily reflect the wide array of difficulties and experiences of all autistic individuals. 

Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast?

Read our blog 'Have We Got Honesty the Wrong Way Around?' here.

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Mark Winters is a Texan acoustic rock singer-songwriter with an unexpected past in aerospace engineering. Now a regular touring artist, he blends analytical thinking, creativity, and a hopeful spirit in songs that celebrate reinvention and science-fuelled joy. When Mark says “think like a proton,” he is encouraging his audiences to approach the world with positivity and possibility.

Coming to music later in life helped Mark answer a question he had wrestled with for years. How can I make the world a better place? Through his music he has found a way. Using concerts as a convening force, he has raised money to tackle food poverty while connecting with others who share the same desire to help.

Mark’s mission is simple. To use music to spark optimism and connection wherever he travels. Whether exploring positivity in song or using scientific metaphors to navigate complex feelings, he invites listeners to break boundaries, both scientific and personal.

Mark heads back out on tour this month.

Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast?

Read our blog 'Listening for the Harmony' here.

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Ben Solanky, Co-Founder and Director of Empathy Action, speaks up for not allowing your enthusiasm to be dampened.

From a young age, Ben was encouraged to bring his enthusiasm and energy to any task he put his hand to. A sliding door event brought him into the world of development, where he learned that championing a cause is not optional, it is a powerful skill, especially when funding and resources are scarce.

Empathy Action works through immersive experiences that help people try to understand complex issues from the perspective of “What if it were me?”

They are now taking on British poverty through their new immersive experience, Broke. It invites participants to stop. To take a moment to feel. To listen. To reflect. To interrupt our stride as we walk past these issues every day.

You can find out more about Broke here

Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast?

Read our blog 'The Lost Joy of Entering a Room' here.

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Sarah Howard, Managing Director of the Global Philanthropy Forum, speaks up against allowing others to judge our ideals as naïve.

Growing up in the Bay Area, at the heart of Silicon Valley, shaped Sarah’s cultural context; where ideas that might be labelled naïve elsewhere are re-framed as bold, innovative, and novel. She deeply resonates with this energy and brings a willingness to push at the edges of what is considered possible into every space she works in.

Sarah describes this bold action through making her film The Way Back to Yarasquin, hitchhiking across the borders of Honduras and El Salvador after meeting one woman, Myra, who captured her imagination. Sarah had a strong feeling that Myra could, and would, change the trajectory of an entire community, and set out to learn how Myra would  create the conditions needed for them to thrive.

Sarah also reflects on curiosity as a powerful tool and asset, a key that opens up the world. She encourages us to nurture it, invest in it, and allow ourselves to have fun with imagination as a force for change.

A little more about Sarah...

Sarah has developed and spearheaded the Global Philanthropy Forum's recent 2.0 strategic vision, the first post-founder strategic transition. A social innovator, entrepreneur, and storyteller, Sarah’s passion for understanding systems has led her across the globe to witness and document complex human and systems stories. She uses narrative development, strategic thinking, and community-building tools to map new structures for society and stories for how to get there. Sarah is particularly passionate about applying her skills to address pressing global issues such as climate change, digital futures, and global governance. Along the way, she has built several initiatives and organizations from these experiences. Her latest documentary Climate Blueprint is currently on a global tour, and her social cohesion project, Listening Lab, is growing alongside her podcast, Track Two, which explores the question ‘What is a good society?’. Sarah grew up in Berkeley and now lives on Ohlone land in Oakland, CA.

Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast?

Read our blog 'Who Gets to Decide What's Possible?' here.

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This week we’re joined by Minnie Moll, CEO of the Design Council, who shares stories that shaped her belief in pushing beyond what many think is possible.

From growing up on a boat in the English countryside, Minnie’s deep love of nature and animals fuelled a childhood full of adventure and curiosity, always bringing other children along for the ride.

She speaks with real pride about creating the Design Council’s Design for Planet mission, launched at COP26 in Glasgow. Built on faith that it was the right thing to do, even without all the answers in place. What some might have seen as naïve, Minnie sees as building in flight, with early implementers shaping something bigger. A powerful example of cathedral thinking in action.

We also talk about staying the course, even as climate commitments slip around the world. For Minnie, this isn’t just strategy. It’s a moral imperative and a huge opportunity for growth.

As both CEO and coach, Minnie reframes naivety as limitless belief in what’s possible. A refusal to be constrained by barriers. A trust that transformation and a better world can be created.

Minnie Moll, Chief Executive, Design Council 

Minnie spearheads the Design for Planet mission to help address the climate crisis.  

She was previously Chief Executive of Jarrold Retail in Norwich, Joint Chief Executive of the East of England Co-op and held senior leadership roles at Notcutts Garden Centres,?What If!, and HHCL.  

She was Vistage Business Leader of the Year in 2020 and an Ambassador for Responsible Business in the East of England in 2016. She is currently an Ambassador for the charity Fresh Start and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Westminster in 2024 for her contributions to design and innovation. 

Want to read more about the issues raised in this episode?

Read our blog 'The Tale of Rosie & Archie' here.

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Seasoned creative, entrepreneur, and advocate for a regenerative future, Gareth Jenkins joins Let’s Reboot the Future to share how life experiences, from encounters with racism to time spent at Plum Village, gently chipped away at his childhood naivety and led him back to something deeper: a belief that the future doesn’t have to be a continuation of the way things are today, and that we can remake it with kindness, fairness, and love at its centre.

Gareth reflects on how waking up to the harshness of the world can create both emptiness and a longing to learn new ways of living and seeing, ways that move beyond fear, protection, and the masks we build, and instead reconnect us to what it means to be human.

He shares why he believes emotional intelligence, time in nature, and immersive experiences offer powerful guidance for shaping a better future, not through data and models alone, but through emotions, connection, and the stories that remind us what truly matters.

This is a hopeful story about responsibility, creativity, and the courage to believe that a kinder world is possible.

Gareth Jenkins is currently Global Head of Storytelling at EY, working with the firm’s senior leadership to craft human-centric narratives across sustainability, technology and geopolitics. His work aims to inspire EY’s people and clients that a better tomorrow is possible, and that those of us in business have a role and responsibility to make it a reality. 

Here he speaks to us in his personal capacity as a storyteller and creative.

Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast?

Read our blog 'Moving Through the Messy Middle' here.

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American author John Perkins joins Let’s Reboot the Future to reflect on what it really means to follow your heart, and the courage it takes to keep listening to that inner voice even when it disrupts expectations, security and status.

John shares how dropping out of college to become a journalist in Boston set him on an unexpected path that allowed him to build skills in both writing and business. Over time, these came together in his bold attempt to tackle the problem of acid rain caused by waste coal, transforming it into a positive energy source.

He reflects on the challenges of turning vision into reality, from financial strain to disappointing others, and the deep uncertainty that often accompanies meaningful change. Yet this work ultimately contributed to the success of an energy plant and to legislation that prevented new coal plants from being built that would produce acid rain.

For John, following the heart is rarely easy, but it is always necessary. He reminds us that lasting change begins by listening closely to ourselves, trusting that inner guidance, and being willing to walk a more difficult but more truthful path.

You can find out more about books authored by John here.

Read our blog 'What happens when the life you're living no longer feels like your own: John Perkins' episode' here

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Writer, theatre maker and producer specialising in immersive and site specific performance, Marie Klimis joins Let’s Reboot the Future to share her stories and reflect on how she has learned, and helped others, to think about the world in a different way.

Marie reflects on learning early in life that rules need to be questioned, and that being kind, being a good person, and not betraying anyone’s trust sit powerfully at the heart of how we should live, even when this runs against what we are told.

Moving from a background in business into socially engaged, political immersive theatre and site specific performance, Marie describes creating environments outside of traditional theatre spaces. Spaces centred on empathy, and on building together a more inclusive and more multicultural view of the world.

She shares why using play and fiction to get people to think about important things is so powerful, and reflects on her first family show, Checkpoint Universe, created as a way to spark better narratives around migration. This episode is rooted in imagination, empathy, and a belief that small actions can be just as life changing as large ones.

Marie is the Artistic Director of Koro, a charity dedicated to immersive theatre that celebrates urgent contemporary stories and marginalised voices, also a founding member and director of 27 degrees, a migrant-led collective creating socially engaged immersive theatre.

Read our blog 'Not all rules deserve to be followed, and not all the most important ones are written down: Marie Klimis' here.

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Augustus Hoff, conservationist and storyteller, shows how passion can bridge divides and inspire care for the environment beyond our own backyard.

He reflects on how growing up in a small Florida town taught him the importance of connecting across differences and inspiring care for the natural world. Now pursuing a master’s in environmental science and policy at CU Boulder, he shares his insights on science communication and environmental policy, translating the importance of ocean health to people who may never have seen the sea. 

Augustus encourages us to approach even polarised differences with curiosity and empathy, and to lead with passion in connecting with others and the world around us.

Read our blog 'Shared Values in a Polarised World: Listening to Augustus Hoff' here.

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Artist and Creative Producer Becky Burchell joins Let’s Reboot the Future to reflect on the power of story and how the arts can create spaces that feel exploratory, creative and safe. Spaces where people can lean in, sit with difficult emotions, and imagine different futures.

Growing up in an activist household, Becky was surrounded by conversations about nuclear weapons, peace, and the very real fear of global destruction. Alongside this, fiction played a formative role in helping her understand both the consequences of our actions and the futures we might choose instead. This early combination of activism, fear and imagination continues to shape her work today.

Becky reflects on her play The World We Made as a space where audiences could explore their feelings about the climate crisis, question the systems around them, and think ambitiously about solutions, because without space to imagine differently, we risk continuing on the same course.

Reading and storytelling have influenced Becky throughout her life and work across the arts, environmentalism and community, helping her hold both fear and hope at the same time. A vital practice when facing complex challenges and imagining the futures we want to create.

Read our blog 'The Emperor's New Clothes: Thinking about Becky Burchell's Podcast Episode' here. https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/the-emperors-new-clothes-thinking-about-becky-burchells-podcast-episode

📻 Tune in to this inspiring story on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Reboot the Future podcast.rebootthefuture.org 

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