Wiser Now

A conversation with the regenerative farmer and entrepreneur Fausto Araújo.

Alongside his partner Maria Pussig, Fausto has spent the last five years transforming his family’s estate, Quinta do Pinheiro, in Guimarães, Portugal, into a pioneering lab of what it looks like to produce food more wisely.

Together we explore Fausto’s story of becoming. What is syntropic farming and how it differs from mainstream agriculture. Some of the challenges and learnings of managing a farm. And, among much more, how Fausto feels about our collective future.

To learn more about, visit or volunteer at the farm PinusSintropico click here.

To book accommodation at the Quinta do Pinheiro click here.

To learn more about the syntropic farming method developed by Ernst Götsch click here.

Credits:- Creator, Writer & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠- Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think might appreciate it. That's the easiest way to support the show :)

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A conversation with Tatjana von Steiger about how she become a diplomat and mediator. Together we explore Tatjana’s early life, including how her unlikely studies in Russian Literature shaped the way she approaches her work. We listen to some of the challenges Tatjana encountered as a rather shy woman learning to play the diplomacy game. We talk about her experience navigating the high-stakes negotiations of the SDGs as one of the representatives of Switzerland. And, despite the sobering reality that only 15% of the UN-defined goals are on track, we listen to what gives Tatjana hope.

Guest Bio: Tatjana von Steiger is the Head of Global Policy Outreach at Wyss Academy for Nature. Throughout her twenty year career in diplomacy, she has served for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, representing Switzerland in the executive boards of the main UN development agencies and the World Bank, where she developed partnerships and solutions to global challenges ranging from climate change, water, and food security to health and migration.

Photo of Tatjana by TAG HOUSE, Kenya.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Emzingo.-------

Wiser Now is an award-nominated podcast with a living question: What does it mean to live with more wisdom? We explore it by listening deeply to stories of becoming of humans beings across vocations and generations. Podcast: https://www.wisernow.org/s/podcastEssays: https://www.wisernow.org/s/essaysPrograms: https://www.wisernow.org/s/programs-and-offeringsCreated & hosted by Carlota Guedes. Music & sound by Carlos Sierra.

What is the role of stories in shaping our understanding of reality? What is failing in our current media landscape and what might alternative models look and feel like? Who are the people experimenting with them and what do they value? These are some of the questions we explore with our guest Maria Almeida.

Together we talk about Maria’s early life and her dreams of becoming first, a football player, then a storyteller, one of them which she rescued as a journalist at Fumaça, an award-winning media organization she co-founded in 2016 during her twenties. 

We listen to Maria’s professional challenges of being taken seriously as a rather short woman in height with a tendency to people please. And the difficulty of making ends meet within a precarious financial reality in Portugal. 

We discuss the state of the media, and Fumaça’s organizational style. And lastly, we listen to the advice Maria would give her younger self, namely to care less about what people think of her, and more about what brings her to life. 

Guest Bio: Maria Almeida is the co-founder and journalist at Fumaça, an independent media based in Lisbon with a focus on thoughtful investigative audio journalism. Learn more about her work here.

Credits:

• Creator, Writer & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think might appreciate it. That's the easiest way to support the show :)

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with ⁠Emzingo⁠.

While the connection between football and social impact might not be an immediate one, in this episode we listen to the story of becoming of Alexia García, a football lover and activist, who will show us their joint potential.

Guest Bio: Alexia García is a player, coach, director of business development and project manager at Dragones de Lavapiés. Located in the Madrid's most diverse neighborhood, ⁠Dragones de Lavapiés⁠⁠ is a grassroots football club on a mission to promote social integration, equality and respect through sports.

Alexia is also a freelance tech and travel writer, and an occasional DJ.

Credits:

• Creator, Writer & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think might appreciate it. That's the easiest way to support the show :)

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with ⁠Emzingo⁠.

Ashanti Kunene, our guest, defines 'calling' as that which keeps coming back to you, whether you like it or not.

In this episode, she tells us how she came into acceptance of hers as a social justice activist helping, mostly white, people walk their talk as leaders, and become more aware of and accountable to systemic discrimination, racism and inequality.

What is the role of intuition in our lives? How can we discover what is our vocation? How might we cultivate the courage to align our thoughts, feelings and actions? Is the use of psychedelics inherently alienating or can it support our individuation? How might an intimate experience with death open us to the beauty of life? These are some of the questions we contemplate.

Guest Bio: Ashanti Kunene is a social justice activist, a decolonial dialogue facilitator, a poet, the founder of Learning 2 Unlearn, the director of pedagogy at Culture Hack Labs, and an occasional painter. You can check out Ashanti's art on her Instagram.

Learn more about the Boom festival here.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠⁠⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think might appreciate it. That's the easiest way to support the show :)

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with ⁠Emzingo⁠.

In this episode, we listen deeply to the story of becoming of Pablo Esteves, a professional golfer turned social entrepreneur.

Are you torn between following your professional bliss and opting for a path of more security? Are you curious about entrepreneurship and business? Are you interested in making the world a better place? If you've ever found yourself pondering some of these questions, this interview might keep you some company.

Together we explore the thought processes guiding Pablo life’s big decisions, the most significant challenges and learnings as a managing partner of Emzingo, why Pablo cherishes his privacy in a social media landscape often obsessed with self-promotion, and what he would like to tell his younger self where he in his twenties today.

Guest Bio: Pablo Esteves is a managing partner and executive director at Emzingo, a learning design firm he joined in 2011 after finishing his MBA at IE Business School. His experience includes designing, managing, and facilitating over 70 innovation and leadership development projects and learning experiences in South Africa, Peru, Spain, the United States and beyond.

Pablo is also a professor in Leadership, Innovation, and Creativity at IE University, a visiting professor for Trinity College Dublin and Universidad de Valladolid, and an Aspen Institute Fellow in Spain.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think might appreciate it. That's the easiest way to help the show :)

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with ⁠Emzingo⁠.

In this episode, we listen deeply to the story of Rui Quinta, a precocious pine nut seller who came of age as a self-proclaimed typefreak and graphic designer. In recent years, as he discovered the post-it-world of design thinking, Rui has transformed into a more systemic designer and conscious entrepreneur.

Should we start our own business now or learn with others first? What does it mean to lead a business with consciousness? And how might the awareness of our inevitable mortality inspire us to participate more fully in the life-affirming story of our times? – are just some of the questions we sit with.

Guest Bio: Rui is the co-founder of Toyno, a space experience design studio, and With Company, a transformative design consultancy that does a bunch of cool multidisciplinary projects in Portugal and beyond. In 2013, Rui co-founded Peixaria Centenária, a fish shop that artfully rewrote the narrative of his family business tradition for younger generations that is no longer in business. He’s also a frequent lecturer at several universities, and the program director of Systems Thinking for Innovation at the Porto Business School.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you liked this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you think would appreciate it. That's the easiest way to help the show :)

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with ⁠⁠Emzingo⁠⁠.

Additional Links:

• Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the end of Civilization

Should we follow a conventional career path, or pursue our artistic longings? Can the pursuit of knowledge coexist with a spiritual journey? How might a radically honest approach to our relationships foster personal and collective evolution?

In this episode, we converse with filmmaker Caveh Zahedi to listen deeply to his experience of living the questions above mentioned.

Caveh is a film director, actor and professor at the New School, in New Work. Some of his movies include In the Bathtub of the World and I Am a Sex Addict. More recently, he created ⁠The Show About the Show⁠, a meta-TV series in which each episode is about the making of the previous one, as well as the podcast Recording Myself And Everyone Around Me All Day for 365 Days Was Destroying All My Relationships So Now I'm Doing a Daily Audio Journal Instead.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media here.

Have you ever pondered dedicating your life to making the world a better place? Are you curious about what motivates people to choose a humanitarian career?

In this episode, we sat with Amanda Huits to explore the roots of her decision to venture into a humanitarian career, in part influenced by the experience she had when visiting her mom's original home in a favela in Brazil.

Amanda holds a bachelor's degree in Internal Relations and a master’s in Political Science from Leiden University in the Netherlands. Since 2020, she's been working in the Learning and Operations Team at GPPAC⁠, the world’s largest member-led network of civil society organizations working to prevent conflicts and build peace.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.

How many failures precede success? How many books are written before one of them becomes a best-seller? How many anxieties and insecurities hide underneath the surface of a "successful" career?

In this month's episode, we converse with Rebecca Seal, best-selling author of the book "Solo: How to Work Alone and Not Lose Your Mind" and host of the Solo Collective Podcast.

Rebecca is also the author of over ⁠a dozen cookbooks⁠, including "Lisbon: Recipes from the Heart of Portugal" and "Leon Happy One-Pot Cooking." As a freelance writer, she has written articles on food, drink, and lifestyle for numerous prestigious publications including The Guardian, TheObserver, The Financial Times, and National Geographic. Before venturing into solo work, Rebecca was a contributing editor for the Observer in London.

We invited Rebecca to learn more about her story of becoming. How does a grad in International Relations from the LSE and a post-grad in International Peace and Security from Kings College ends up pursuing a career in writing and journalism with a focus on food, drink, lifestyle, and working alone? Listen to find out :)

Themes:

• The roots of Rebecca's interest in writing and food;


• Rebecca's early academic and professional background;


• Rebecca's initiation into journalism;


• Rebecca's transition to freelance writing;


• Rebecca's advice across time to her younger self.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.