THE SPACESHIP EARTH PODCAST

In deeply mysterious times I can think of no finer human to help us consider other ways of seeing, thinking and responding to the crises than Bayo Akomolafe who we welcome back for Episode 97.

Bayo is a philosopher, writer, post-activist, professor of psychology and executive director of the Emergence Network.

Bayo was guest in Episode 66 and this conversation was recorded live in a Becoming Crew online learning event in June this year .

As we witness mythic scale events unfold almost weekly, this conversation feels more timely now than it did 5 months ago when it was recorded.

Bayo’s words and thinking continue to ferment in such profound ways.

Having sat on it for a few months, we’ve added some Spaceship Earth sonic love and I feel this is a really potent and helpful offering for this moment .

Bayo is without doubt one of the most important thinkers, writers and speakers in these times of unravelling and one of the most humble, kind and funny humans with it.

The rarest of combinations.

He invites us to see and notice differently, to consider things which often feel invisible, beyond our individualised ways of seeing and yet perhaps, might be critical noticings for finding ways through our collective stuckness.

But only if we’re prepared to venture into the cracks as Bayo might say.

We invited Bayo to come to this conversation to help us explore and better understand the terrain of ‘whiteness’  - whiteness not as skin colour but perhaps as the invisible controlling logic of the systems, structures and deeply engrained ways we act out everyday enmeshed in the pervasiveness of capitalist modernity.

We cover :

- The terrain of whiteness

- Desensitisation and grief

- Moving towards cracks and openings

- The limits of systems theory

- Post-Activism

- Cultivating different ways of responding to these times

- How alternative solutions often continue to serve dominant systems and infrastructure

- Learning to live well with loss and uncertainty

This is a deep, rich, creative and vulnerable conversation about the trouble we are in as a species, brimming with provocation and insight to sit with in this moment.

I’d suggest this is essential fertiliser for heading off the highway of modernity and making new moves.

This was a live online session with our community and includes some beautiful questions towards the end which Bayo responds to.

We play out with a new song from Natalie Fee called Winter.

Is it possible to create thriving, liveable futures without doing the work to acknowledge and process the destructive systems, stories and behaviours that are causing so much devastation to life on Earth today ?

- To understand how these logics run deeply through us and our dominant ways of thinking, seeing and relating.

- To create space to collectively compost these ways to ensure we do not continue to perpetuate the same destructive patterns as we co-create responses and pathways into the future.

- To recognise the urgent need for intergenerational responsibility, to connect across generations for collective processing, learning and healing and cultivating moral responsibility for future life.

Personally I don’t believe we can avoid this work for much longer if we are serious about meaningful change and my guest in this episode Vanessa Andreotti has dedicated her life work to exploring how the dominant knowledge systems of modernity and ways of relating to ourselves, to each other and to the Earth are deeply entangled with the growing violence, divisiveness and declining health of all life on this planet - human and more than human.

Vanessa is Dean of Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, Canada, Author, of the groundbreaking book - Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's wrongs and the implications for social activism and Co-founder, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective.

Vanessa’s life work has been in education and learning, her practice is rooted in relationality, indigenous knowledge and centering our entanglement with the living Earth.

She has worked extensively across sectors internationally and is a leading voice in global justice, global citizenship, Indigenous knowledge systems and the climate and nature emergencies.

If you haven’t read Hospicing Modernity, you may find some of this conversation challenging.

Hospicing Modernity is not a comfortable read, it proposes that colonialism, racism and other toxic divisions and cultural supremacies that inform the systems of Modernity that we all inhabit run deeply inside us  - perhaps neuro-biologically - it invites readers into an uncomfortable unlearning journey, of noticing, letting go, composting and unmaking ourselves from the violent ways of seeing and being that modernity and industrial consumerist society has created.

We explore:

The challenges we are facing on Spaceship Earth

Responsibilities and challenges in education systems

Hospicing Modernity: The context today

The dis-ease of separation

Intergenerational responsibilities

Composting W.E.I.R.D s**t - Western, Entitled, Individualistic, Reductionist and Delusional.

The role of education, humour and metaphor in addressing complexity

The gut as a site of learning and vulnerability

Embracing entanglement

Healing our fractured relationship with Earth

Supporting the young

The role of elders and rites of passage, transitioning through grief

Time for some tunes.

Time for moving.

As Autumn unfolds

I offer you another Earth Sessions mix

Falling

A gathering of tracks that have been looping heavily of late for me.

A deep, cosmic, organic house vibe.

I hope they move you in some way as things fall.

If you enjoy this, check out the artists, producers and labels in this selection, they are all exceptional creators with stunning offerings to dig into.

More conversations coming soon.

Right I’m off to see Sasha and Digweed.

Wishing you peace wherever you are.

Track Listing on Site

What does one do when everything in our world feels so unhinged ?

As the planet becomes swamped this week with flooding and hurricanes, climate protest as we know it, in the UK at least, carries an increasingly high chance of arrest and conviction.

Politics even with a new administration feels as stuck, exhausted, divisive and non-participatory as ever.

As the polycrisis intensifies, the systems of governance and ways of organising ourselves become more ossified and brittle, and we can see how woefully unfit for purpose they have become for a complex uncertain future.

Now must be the time to accelerate constructive, people-powered participation, for more of us to begin to practice, rehearse, prototype and birth the new moves and the new systems that will put life at the centre.

Because ask yourself - if we’re not doing it - is it going to happen from the top down - led by Govt, Media and Corporations ?

Do you still trust that putting an X in a box during an election is going to do the job, to tackle all the things that keep you awake at night about the future and the rapidly unravelling and violent present ?

My guest in this episode is active citizen - Clare Farrell.

With a background in sustainability, fashion and more recently climate activism as one of the original Co-founders of Extinction Rebellion.

As a designer her work has expanded beyond clothing and material products and into experience design and participation design, strategic communications and strategies for positive social change. 

Clare has been focussing her energies and creativity of late towards constructive forms of social and cultural transformation in the UK.

Manifesting through work with The Humanity Project - a platform focussing on grassroots, participatory democracy via innovative local citizens assemblies

and

with Hard Art Collective - with artist and activist Brian Eno - an artist led ‘feel tank’ exploring how we might weave new cultural contexts that put care and solidarity at the centre.

We explore:

* Grassroots Democracy and Intersectional Issues

* The Power of Collective Imagination

* The Role of Non Violent Protest and Civil Disobedience

* Legal Systems and the Fight for Justice

* The Importance of Disruption in Social Movements

*  Imaginative Capacity and Hard Art

* The Role of Artists in Cultural Change

* Participatory Democracy and Cultural Networks

* Designing Spaces for Interaction and Engagement in people led change

Ultimately to build a connected, resilient society based on care, compassion, freedom and love is going to need big numbers of people actively participating in local assemblies and community organising in the places they live and through the networks and influence they hold.

Citizens not consumers as my friend Jon Alexander puts it.

Becoming Crew on Spaceship Earth as we like to say around here.

Play Out Song

Seeds - Olivia Fern feat Carrie Tree

Episode 93: Ode to the Futures

Recorded in the summer, this 6 minute immersive story is both a framing of the context we find ourselves in

And…

A sonic orientation towards the future - of this podcast, and the offerings and invitations of Becoming Crew.

It’s an expression of the spirit of the ongoing inquiry of this work, the intentionality, manifested through the podcast and the action learning collective and practice community of Becoming Crew.

I hope it speaks to you in some way, and that it might serve as a curious invitation to join us, to dive into the many podcast conversations past and future, to participate in one of our future gatherings and events online and onland.

To collaborate or entangle with us in some way.

If it brings something up for you, please comment, drop us a mail or DM we’d love to hear from you.

May you find peace in these mysterious times.

One for the headphones.

______________________

Words and voice Dan Burgess

Sound design Charlie Shread

Episode 92 is a conversation with three very smart, courageous and thoughtful humans from new regenerative venture with a massive ambition - Nature 2

Gail Gallie, Jay Lipman and Patricia Zurita are co-founders who between them represent highly experienced operators and practitioners across worlds of campaigning and mobilisation, ethics driven finance and global conservation.

Nature 2 is a collaboration that seeks to connect, build and scale systems to urgently drive finance into protecting and regenerating the natural world globally.

At this moment in time there is a funding gap around nature, biodiversity and ecosystem protection and regeneration of approximately 830 billion dollars (gulp!)  - something they call the ‘nature financing gap.’

Nature 2 are on a mission to close that gap. Seeking to catalyse the finance and investor communities to commit to directing 2% of managed assets towards nature based solutions.

We explore:

* Nature 2: A new mission - how this idea emerged, how it works and the roles within this collaborative venture

* The role of finance in nature conservation

* The importance and complexity of shifting destructive subsidies towards regenerative practices

* Navigating capitalism and conservation

* Balancing big company action with local farmers and land based communities

* Mapping the most urgent places on Earth for nature conservation and regeneration

* Philanthropy and capitalism and the entanglement of todays economic system design with climate and ecological breakdown

* Stories and communication to engage funding and investor communities

This conversation was recorded in spring 2024.

My guest on this episode David Johnstone is in my view a beautiful example of a human taking responsibility and using their gifts, experience and influence to cultivate the courage and creativity to face into the uncomfortable questions we are being confronted with

* To speak up to the messy contradictions of this moment

* To raise awareness of the massive changes coming down the line

* To  experiment with weirder moves

To keep self examining not just the impacts of business as usual but to imagine and participate in business unusual, where we commit to the messy process of healing, reconnecting, reimagining and liberating. 

He is founder, CEO and Executive Creative Director of global design studio, Accept and Proceed , host of the brilliant podcast ~Endless Vital Activity, convener of strange solstice gatherings We don’t know what this is yet on Hackney Marshes.

David is a humble, curious, insightful, creative human, a radical experimenter with a big heart and infections imagination.

This was a wide ranging conversation exploring his work in brand design, his journey working with global corporations, awakening to the impacts of commercial creativity,  of taking responsibility for the impacts we are making through these creative human entities we call ‘brands.’

This has led to the Design for the Future mission of Accept and Proceed which he unpacks alongside an exploration of brand power, the ‘dark ages of the future’, ‘Together World’ strategy and the emergence of new relational entanglements between humans, enterprise and this living mysterious Spaceship Earth we call home.

We explore:

The nervous energy of these times

Panpsychism and Consciousness

David's journey into brand

The power and responsibility of brand

Designing for a ‘Together World’

Navigating the Three Horizons Framework

Embracing complexity and uncertainty

Understanding business and systemic cycles - death and endings

The significance of tuning into Earth’s patterns like sunrises

Imagining brand futures

LINKS

Accept and Proceed

David Johnston Instagram

Accept and Proceed Instagram

Endless Vital Activity Podcast

In this episode I’m in conversation with Jasmine Isa Qureshi - a multimedia journalist, marine biologist, queer ecologist, award winning spoken word / published poet and storyteller.

She writes and studies across ecology, conservation, trans / queer / muslim identity, politics and sociology.

Her work seeks to understand the systems by which we and nature have grown intertwined and apart, explore the intersections of identities, origins as queer, global majority folk, and provide alternative systems for our futures, by sparking discussions, thoughts and creating resources to make these as accessible as possible.

She is currently working on her first book.

We explore:

* Personal identity and its connection to the natural world

* Anthropocentrism and the Human vs nature binary

* Queer Ecology and Queerness - perspectives and misconceptions

* Colonialism and identity and the dismantling of colonial structures to envision inclusive and liberating systems.

* Intersectionality and Global majority futurism

* The necessity of community, interdependence, and the power of unlearning and renewal to craft liberating, inclusive futures free from systemic oppression.

Links

Jasmine Qureshi website

Jasmine Qureshi Instagram

In this episode I’m in conversation with Lily Cole.

Lily is a model, activist, social entrepreneur, writer, actor and mother who has campaigned and acted persistently on multiple social, environmental and climate justice issues throughout her working life.

She is committed to exploring new possibilities and ways of being which put care and life at the centre.

I connected with Lily last year when we were both invited to attend a climate activism retreat at Plum Village, the Zen Buddhist Monastery in France founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

The Plum Village force is strong in this episode.

This conversation is grounded in this moment, it’s a dive into the deeper parts of change, the inner and outer dimensions of our values and actions and how they influence and shape the systems we seek to change.

We explore:

* Mindfulness, practicing deep listening and cultivating empathy for addressing the complex, contradicting and overwhelming issues of living in these times.

* The interconnectedness of all beings, ancient wisdoms and other ways of knowing, and the potential of shifting perspectives to create more caring and sustainable cultures.

* How we can integrate these practices and insights into our lives and communities as part of a collective journey towards regenerative and peaceful change.

Links

Lily Cole

Who Cares Wins Podcast

Plum Village

Play out Track

Will Flisk with Sif Augustdottir - Satie and the Crow

Recorded in 2021 I’m posting this Episode with Dr Wallace J Nichols today to honour his sudden passing this week.

The most humble human who gave so much to widening our collective understanding of the human entanglement and interdependence with the waters of this Earth.

His book Blue Mind is a must read and rightly influenced so many to see beyond water just as a resource to be protected but a sacred flow of life itself, so entangled with human life and health and our emotional regulation and wellbeing.

I spent a little bit of time with ‘J’ in California in 2018 and hosted him on the podcast in 2021 as we were emerging from the pandemic and he was coming to terms with the loss of his family home from wild fires.

He spoke a lot then about the need for water connection and blue mind in these times of increasing rage, stress, violence and divisiveness.

We had planned to record another conversation exploring loss, trauma, losing what we love and healing with the Earth but we never managed it.

He had those very rare qualities of deep intelligence and wisdom, empathy for all life, the capacity to invite curiosity and inquiry from people with humility and without the need to shout loudly or divide. He always spoke so beautifully of his family too - we send them love for these most challenging times of loss.

He would always hand out blue marbles, and say -

‘if we zoom out from our planet Earth a million miles - all you can see is a little blue marble floating in space - a planet made of water. Keep that marble in your pocket to remember this miracle’

He would encourage you to go and find your water, a river, stream, lake, pond or the ocean if you’re lucky. Be near it, on it, in it - cultivate your blue mind.

Water is medicine - he said.

In these time more than ever.

_______________________________________

Dr Wallace. J Nichols is a renowned marine-biologist, wild water advocate and author of the bestselling book - Blue Mind: How Water Makes You Happier, More Connected and Better at What You Do.

His experiences as a field research scientist, government consultant, teacher, mentor, public speaker, parent, founder and director of businesses and nonprofit organisations, all support his quest to build a stronger and more diverse global blue movement.