A new paradigm is beginning to emerge in biology, though for some biologists, the new is, in fact, the old. The reductive treatment of living organisms, as if the gene were all, is giving way to the realisation that intelligence, even agency, operates at all levels of biological systems, from the proteins up.

There is no-one better to talk to about this development and what it implies than Professor Pauline Rudd, a regular at the Realisation Festival and leading glycobiologist, recognised most recently by being awarded the Torbern Bergman Medal 2025. 

In this conversation with Mark Vernon, she explains what it is like to befriend biochemical molecules, to understand how they see the world around them, and thereby to form the science of their activity.

Pauline also explores how this integrates with her wider sense of the living world and its manifold intelligences. 

For more on Pauline's professional work see https://kemisamfundet.se/torbern-bergman-medal-2025-to-pauline-rudd-university-college-dublin/

Oak trees lend themselves to proverbs and expressions of wisdom. The poet, George Herbert, is said to have written about these mighty trees sinking deeper roots, as a metaphor for resilience and preparedness for the future.

In this conversation, Mark Vernon speaks with Benedict Pollard, founder of the nursery Mighty Fine Oaks, conservationist, and Fellow of The Linnean Society. 

Benedict also looks after the trees of St Giles House, Dorset, where the Realisation Festival takes place. He has invited attendees to plant new trees and also to attend to the beetles in the shrubs and on the land, which is another source of fascination for him.

In this conversation, Benedict describes his deep relationship with trees, oaks in particular, as his intelligence meets theirs.

For more on Benedict and his nursery, Mighty Fine Oaks, see https://www.mightyfineoaks.com/our-mission

Damian Hallam is a  contributor to the Realisation Festival, both as participant and speaker. He has been named one of the top 5 dressage coaches in the UK and, as a rider, won over 15 national championships, as well as medals for GB. 

He has learnt much from his sport and a life lived with horses and other animals.

In this  powerful and moving talk, given in January 2026 at the Winter Gathering of the Realisation Festival, St Giles House, Dorset, Damian brings eloquence, expertise and soul to a range of questions. How can humans learn from their engagement with non-human others? What ethical knots are faced by working with animals in sport? Why does Damian say that horses are his greatest teachers?

Understanding AI has is a recurrent challenge. Should we be afraid or more sanguine or some combination of the two?

Ben is a good person to talk to as he works in the front line of AI developments and is alert to the wonder and complexity of things. He found the Realisation Festival through the work of figures such as Iain McGilchrist and John Verveake and brings their insights to bear upon his work and sense of things.

In this conversation, he discusses his own story of moving from a mechanistic and reductive worldview towards one aware of phenomena such as emergence. He explores how notions of quality and the sacred have developed his engagement with the movements such as Effective Altruism.

The Realisation Festival is held at St Giles House, Wimborne, the home of the Earls of Shaftesbury. The place is loaded with the history of social reform and philosophical innovation - not least when it comes to ideas that inspire our gathering. In this episode of the podcast, Mark Vernon talks with Esmé Partridge about one figure in particular.

The Third Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, was born in the latter stages of the seventeenth century and seeded in his genius the genius of thinkers as diverse as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Adam Smith. During his own lifetime he was as well known as the British empiricist, who was his tutor.

So what were the ideas Shaftesbury extolled? How did he understand notions like beauty, truth and the good? Why did he reject Locke’s ideas about waste lands and the tabula rasa? And in what ways is Shaftestbury still shaping the political landscape today?

For more on Esmé’s work - https://www.esmelkpartridge.com/

For more on the festival - https://realisationfestival.com/

If politics is broken how might people rediscover agency? If capitalism favours the powerful are there alternative forms of power to be found? If life often feels fragmented how can the fractal become revelatory? And further: how might practises like improvisation and resources like spiritual traditions assist?

Indra Adnan explores these themes and more in conversation with Mark Vernon. Indra is a Co-Initiator and Founder of The Alternative which seeks to surface new ways of coming together. She is a regular contributor to the Realisation Festival and a member of the festival’s advisory committee.

Indra and Pippa Evans, who is one of the festival directors, will be hosting a local Realisation Festival gathering in Edinburgh on 17th May 2025, 3pm-6pm. For further details direct message Indra if you are on the festival group WhatsApp or email her at [email protected].

For more on The Alternative see https://thealternative.org.uk/.

What good is a poem? How might poetry be a tool for transformation, both personally and collectively? And how does poetry help us to better understand the spirit of our times? 

In this conversation, Mark Vernon and Josiane Smith explore the ways in which poetry goes beyond 'the poem', towards a more soulful way of living; engaging more deeply with the forces of nature and change all around. It can be used in surprising places to console and challenge, it can be a catalyst for our dreams and actions, but can also uplift the mundane everyday. 

Carrying the spirit of realisation throughout, Mark and Josiane explore poetry as an education into, and a language for, the energetics of our times.

In this podcast episode, Josiane reads two of her poems, "The Nightingale" and "Do we have enough faith?” which can be found here - .rockpa.org/poetry-philanthropy-and-climate-action-opening-reflections-at-the-skoll-world-forum/. She also reads from Audre Lorde’s essay, “Poetry Is Not A Luxury”.

Josiane is a poet, philanthropic advisor and Quaker trustee. For more see - https://www.linkedin.com/in/josianesmith

For more about the Realisation Festival see - https://realisationfestival.com/

What is the function of myth and story? How can they help us  become more human? What do they teach us about the nature of reality and how we might orient wisely in a time such as ours when the world is in turmoil? 

In this conversation, Michael Bready of the Realisation team explores these questions with writer, mythographer and master storyteller, Martin Shaw. 

With warmth, wisdom and wit Martin shares from his deep experience as a wilderness guide, lover of mythology, and christian thinker.

Why is seeing simply so valuable? How can we relearn from nature a reimagining our of lives? What does it mean to tackle contemporary troubles with joy and devotion? And what role might myth and ritual play in the rediscovery of pathways to the future? 

Mark Vernon talks with Sarah about these questions and more.

Sarah is speaking at The Realisation Festival held in St Giles House, Dorset, 26-29 June 2025.

For more about the festival see - https://realisationfestival.com/

For more about Sarah see - https://sarahwilson.com/

Her substack can be found here - https://sarahwilson.substack.com/

Professor Pauline Rudd is a leading glycobiologist, recognised most recently by being awarded the Torbern Bergman Medal 2025. So what is it like to work as a scientist? And why is she inspired by everything from beluga whales to the grail stories?

In this conversation with Mark Vernon, Pauline describes how understanding the habits of sugar molecules is akin to playing music: a moment is reached when, in some sense, the object of study becomes part of you. 

She discusses how meaning in the natural world has been lost, though is also be re-found. She argues that we live in an age in which spiritual paths are being re-made - which is why she is gripped by the grail stories.

For more on Pauline's professional work see this interview with her following her recent award! https://kemisamfundet.se/torbern-bergman-medal-2025-to-pauline-rudd-university-college-dublin/