Where To Next? By Dan Kieran

This is the second episode of my Do Radio Series Where To Next? A new episode is released every Monday. The week after each episode is aired I put it up here on my Substack to create a series archive for those who discover it in the future and want to go back to the start, and for those who want to re-listen to the wisdom of my guests that does seems to bloom on a second and third listening. That has been the case for me, anyway. This episode was first broadcast on DO Radio on September 8th 2025.Thank you so much for your support, which is crucial for me to be able to continue making the show. I have recorded eight episodes so far, with many more exciting guests organised between now and Christmas. I’m also thrilled to say that Iain McGilchrist has agreed to appear on the show and I can’t wait to go and visit him up in Scotland later this year.

Now back to this episode. I went to see Mark Vernon at his home in South London at the end of May and we had a wonderful conversation about William Blake (Mark’s new book on Blake is available here ), Owen Barfield, serendipity and the Realisation Festival that Mark is also involved in. All of Mark’s books and his latest event appearances can be found on his website here

There were so many fascinating takeaways from the conversation. I particularly enjoyed the way Mark explained Blake’s work that has made a huge difference to how I now make sense of him. He also showed me how Blake saw the imagination not as something inside our heads that we have but as something outside of us we can receive, which reflected an idea I spoke about in my Do lecture about ideas a decade ago. We also discussed the continuum of experience we travel back and forth along every day of our lives, with rationality at one end and the more sacred and mystical experiences at the other. Mark encourages us to venture away from rationality alone and live more in the middle, which is something I have been doing ever since.

Mark is a wonderful man and an incredibly smart thinker with a range of perspectives taking in physics, theology and philosophy and he is able to roam within all three at once while talking. You will learn a huge amount from this episode. Enjoy!

Much love,

Dan

Following The Stag by Dan Kieran is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and help me fund my Do Radio show, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

My weekly video about the latest episode of my DO Radio programme. Mark Vernon on Owen Barfield, meaning and William Blake.

This weekly video is usually for paid supporters only, but I’m sharing it to everyone today in an attempt to entice more people to upgrade into a paid subscription because the series it hotting up (exclusive future guest reveal at the end of this video) … and I need to find a way to get it to start paying for itself!

Much love,

Dan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

This is the first episode of my Do Radio Series Where To Next? A new episode is released every Monday. The week after each episode is aired I put it up here on my Substack to create a series archive for those who discover it in the future and want to go back to the start, and for those who want to re-listen to the wisdom of my guests that does seems to bloom on a second and third listening. That has been the case for me, anyway. This episode was first broadcast on DO Radio on September 1st 2025.Thank you so much for your support, which is crucial for me to be able to continue making the show. I have recorded seven episodes so far, with many more exciting guests organised between now and Christmas.

I visited Martin back in April 2025, as the country was beginning to rouse itself from Winter and start the languid stroll into Spring. My journey with the programme was just beginning and, in retrospect, I could not have had a better guide to set me on my way. I did not intend for the series to unfold in the way that it has, but I can see now that meeting Martin has helped steer what it has subsequently become and I’m very grateful for his generosity in agreeing to be my first interview. Not least because it was very speculative at the time as neither the series or indeed Do Radio itself existed at the time.

It’s important to me to go and visit the people I’m interviewing in person where possible because there is something about travelling to see them that changes me and how I show up in the conversation. It’s almost as if I pick up breadcrumbs of meaning in the act of journeying towards them. I see that journey both as an act of respect to them, but also as a gift for me. As a stay at home dad, the chances to get out and about are rare for me these days and I enjoy journeying to different parts of the country.

For those keen to know more about Martin and his work, he can be found here on his Substack, which I strongly recommend and here on his website where you can find out about all his books and events.

As I mentioned in the episode, the first book of Martin’s I read was Courting The Wild Twin, which gave me a mythological framework for un-nameable and strange instincts I had begun to feel and was finding overwhelming in my life. It was the perfect entry point into his work. I then read Bardskull and Scatterlings both of which I found challenging, inspiring, nourishing and enlightening too. I have recently ordered Stag Cult, which will make sense if you know about the encounter with a stag that indirectly set me off on this quest. I will report back on that once it arrives.

In the meantime, I would love to know your thoughts on the episode. It’s my first attempt at this kind of thing and while I have much to learn, I really enjoyed getting to grips with the equipment and having a go at editing and producing the programme. It’s a bit low-fi as a result. Apologies for that. Any tips and suggestions on potential interview subjects are very welcome.

Thanks for listening and, as always, let me know what you think.

Dan

Following The Stag by Dan Kieran is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and help me fund making my Do Radio show, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

Wow. My mind is still re-structuring itself in lots of ways after an amazing day at the Realisation Festival I went to so I could record more interviews for my Do Radio programme. I spoke to Roc Sandford (author, activist and one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion), Ed Haddon (coach and co-director of the festival), Jonathan Rowson (author, Grandmaster of Chess and philosopher) Sarah Wilson (author, force of nature and philanthropist), Nick Ashley Cooper (DJ, author and the Earl of Shaftesbury) and Pippa Evans (Comedian, improviser extraordinaire and co-founder of the Sunday Assembly). It was an incredible event and unlike anything I’ve been to before. Very similar vibe to the Do Lectures but also very different too. Watch the video for a more detailed summary.

See you soon, Dan

The Autotelic by Dan Kieran is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve had a busy couple of weeks writing a comic novella (!) and editing my first three programmes for Do Radio, that I now think will be aired in September. I will let you know the TX date as soon as I do.

I’ve also been reading Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination by Mark Vernon (it’s fantastically good and I would recommend both to Blake aficionados and those who are just curious) and a few more chapters of Iain McGilchrist’s The Matter With Things, which has ben teaching me about the role each hemisphere of the brain plays in the way we understand reality (specifically atoms and waves).

And this weekend I’m going to the Realisation Festival on the Saturday to do more interviews. I can’t wait!

Dan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

I just got back from three days walking along the South Coast Path with my wonderful wife and some of my closest friends. Then on the last day more friends and family came to spend the evening with us. It was such a rich and nourishing experience and it felt more ‘real’ than the ‘real life’ I live in most of the time. It was one of those experiences where time slowed down. It feels as though I’ve been away for weeks and not three days. It was deep time rather than shallow time. Anyway. Thoughts on this and the island of consciousness you can create for yourself and how different the world seems when you are within this frame of mind. And how important it is to try and retain this perspective when you get back to ‘normal’ life.

Thanks for reading / watching and as always, let me know what you think.

Dan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

This week I’m heading up to London to record my third interview for the Do Radio programme I’m recording to speak to Mark Vernon. Mark is a fascinating author and speaker on all kinds of subjects as a result of his wide ranging adventures in the academic disciplines of Physics, Theology and Philosophy. He’s also got a new book coming out about William Blake that I can’t wait to read. This week’s video touches the surface of Mark’s excellent book and I pull out a couple of things in it that have sent my mind off in interesting directions.

More next week.

Thanks for reading / watching.

Dan

The Autotelic by Dan Kieran is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

It feels important to flag the book that in many ways has guided my intellectual and spiritual curiosity that is pushing me forward in my project for Do Radio. The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist. In this week’s video update I give a background on this work and my understanding of it and how it is informing the way I see the world.

Thanks for watching.

Dan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

This weeks video update includes behind the scenes info on how my Do Radio project is going. I also re-discovered an interview I did with James Hollis whose book introduced me to the Carl Jung’s theory of the two adulthoods.

I’ve also just announced a LinkedIn Live about the book on leadership I’m writing called Lead Like a River. In the session I’ll be explaining the importance of what I call your Origin Myth, the story you use to articulate why you are doing what you are doing in your professional life. This is designed for entrepreneurs, but is just as relevant for everyone else whatever work you do. The LinkedIn Live registration link is here.

Thanks for watching. More next week.

Dan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve just read ‘Burnt Rain’ by Roc Sandford - an activist and thinker who is part of Extinction Rebellion and lives on his own island off Mull in Scotland. I’ve also discovered Jonathan Rowson and Mark Vernon and the Realisation Festival they are Directors of, which looks AMAZING and I’m hoping to visit this Summer. Check it out.

Much love, Dan

PS- Apologies to Sarah Raad (not Serena 🤦 ) for the tip on Katherine May!

PPS - Martin Shaw is appearing at the Realisation Festival. Another reason to go if you need one.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dankieran.substack.com/subscribe