What can we learn from plants? In Western thinking, plants have usually been seen as the most lowly beings, fixed in one place and without capacity for thinking. But many cultures have known – and modern science is confirming – that plants carry their own kind of vibrant intelligence. They communicate, interpret and elaborate – could it be that we humans are more plant-like than we tend to believe? In the 12th century, the mystic Hildegard of Bingen wrote about viriditas, a kind of capacity for self-renewal and vitality expressed most clearly in the vegetal realm. In today’s episode I speak to philosopher Michael Marder about Hildegard’s ecological theology and what we might learn from plants. Michael Marder is Ikerbasque Research Professor of Philosophy at University of the Basque Country, and his work spans the fields of environmental philosophy and ecological thought, political theory, and phenomenology. LINKSMichael Marder website (free articles, book overviews)Green Mass: The Ecological Theology of St. Hildegard of Bingen Pyropolitics: Fire and the political Michael’s SubstackSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
If you’d prefer to watch the episode, it is available here on Youtube. In 1962 , a young man named Satish Kumar set out with his friend Prabakhar Menon on a pilgrimage for peace that would take him around the world, forever changing the course of his life. Later on, Satish dedicated himself to the work of making peace with nature, as the editor of the ecological magazine Resurgence, and in helping to found Schumacher College, a school for transformative learning. We first met when I did my master’s at that college more than a decade ago. In this conversation we talk about the power of walking and of pilgrimage, about the kind of education we are in need of today, and about whether working for peace means the same thing today as when Satish was young. Peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. He undertook a pilgrimage for peace, walking for two years without money from India to America for the cause of nuclear disarmament. Now in his 80s, Satish has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration and social justice. He is a world-renown author and international speaker, founder of The Resurgence Trust and Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist – a change-making magazine he edited for over 40 years. LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT:Satish Kumar’s autobiography No Destination – autobiography of a pilgrim.Satish's mentor Vinoba BhaveSatish’s peace pilgrimage – if you’d like to hear more details about his trip, I can recommend this episode of Follow your Blissters. Schumacher College – support the college here.Resurgence magazineSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
As we are faced with multiplying crises, we often rush into trying to fix the world through words and busy action. What if an adequate response is to simply listen? What new worlds can be made, what wounds can be healed, through listening deeply? In this episode, Keri Facer returns to the podcast to explore the subtle art of listening.Keri is Professor of Educational and Social Futures at the University of Bristol, and co-founder of the Society for Transformative conversations at the Swedish Agricultural university. LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: My previous conversation with KeriKeri’s paper “Beyond voice: Listening and silence in climate change education”Momo by Michael EndeLisbet LipariSand Talk by Tyson YunkaportaTim Ingold - the pause as the moment of thoughtWays of Council and Keri’s mentor Pip Bondy SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
What could art making and aesthetics mean to us in these difficult times? Can we justify going off to paint or to spend time in nature when there is so much destruction going on in the world? Aesthetics is about opening up our senses to the world - but do we even want to stay sensitive when there is so much pain? How do we deal with that paradox? Today’s episode is with artist and educator Jan van Boeckel. Jan’s work brings together art, education and ecology. He has been Professor in Art & Sustainability at Hanze University in the Netherlands and is now a Senior Research Associate there. He is also an avid painter, and hosts wild painting courses throughout Europe. LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUTJan’s websiteJan’s Wild painting coursesActive Facebook group on arts-based environmental education“Call of the mountain” – a film on Arne Næss and deep ecologyEveryone is an artist - Joseph BeuysEnabling constraintsJames Hillman: Our crisis is an aesthetic crisisGregory Bateson writes about “the pattern that connects” in Mind and NatureDavid Abram (who talks about Eros)Robert Jay Lifton and psychic numbingRenée Lertzman’s book Environmental MelancholiaBayo Akomolafe: the times are urgent, let’s slow down.F. Scott Fitzgerald : Superior intelligence is the ability to embrace two completely contrary ideas, and still retain the ability to functionBill Wahpepah of the American Indian MovementSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
I was born into a world where many of the things that are most important to me, like art, beauty, relationships, embodied experience, love, and the sacred, are not really considered very important to our understanding of the cosmos. They are thought of as ‘extra fluff’ rather than being at the core of our existence and reality.One of the thinkers who has tried to create a science more attuned to these philosophical questions was mathematician turned philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. In the early 20th century, this really radical time when quantum and relativity theory had begun to undermine the old mechanistic view of physics, Whitehead developed his process philosophy, which focused on the co-creative processes of the world’s becoming, and where lived experience, creativity and a poetic God took centre stage. Matthew David Segall, PhD, is a transdisciplinary philosopher and Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. His scholarship challenges dualistic and mechanistic paradigms and bridges process philosophy with contemporary science and spirituality. LINKSMatthew David Segall’s website and SubstackCalifornia Institute of Integral StudiesCentre for Process StudiesSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Is it possible to look clear-eyed at the enormous challenges we’re facing today, and still do something practical and creative in the face of that? What happens when we engage with nature and people in an embodied way, rather than through their representations in statistics and media? And how do we stand up for what we believe in without falling into the dehumanising tribalism of us versus them?Ashley Fitzgerald holds a PhD in environmental sociology, is the creator of the Rizoma Field School and a host of the Doomer Optimism podcast. She also organises Doomer optimism events, bringing together constellations of writers, thinkers, farmers, and practitioners, from all sides of the political spectrum. We met on a hot day in downtown Chicago, among the tall skyscrapers facing the river.LINKS: * Doomer Optimism Podcast* Ashley’s Rizoma Field school* Perception gap studySHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.substack.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Why is there so much beauty in the natural world? What can we learn from jamming with the more-than-human? Join interspecies musician David Rothenberg and myself as we explore these questions and experience some bird-bug-clarinet collaboration, perched on a hillside outside of LA.David Rothenberg is a musician, composer and professor of philosophy and music, with a longtime interest in understanding other species by making music with them. In this conversation we follow his journey from being a young environmentalist collaborating with deep ecology founder Arne Næss to his current work as interspecies musician and philosopher, playing music with bugs, birds, whales, ponds and more.* David’s website* Documentary (free) Why Birds Sing:* Pond music* Arne Næss and deep ecologySHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
What are the underlying patterns of thought that have led our civilization into its current crises? And how might we begin to tell a different story, one that would allow both humans and the more-than-human to thrive?In this episode, I speak to author Jeremy Lent. In his wide-ranging book The Patterning Instinct, Jeremy identifies the root metaphors that different cultures have used to construct meaning in their universe, also tracing the deep historical foundations of our modern worldview. In his latest book, The Web of Meaning, he integrates science with traditional wisdom to tell a new story, one that is both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful.Jeremy Lent is an author exploring the patterns of thought that have led to our crisis of sustainability. He is founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth.Special thank you to the Centre for Process Studies for helping to make this interview happen in conjunction with their Ecological Civilization conference. LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: * Jeremy’s website and books* Freya Matthews* Centre for Process StudiesSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox.🎧 All episodes and more at forestofthought.com.💜 Support us on Patreon or Substack.🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Many cultures maintain that we are not born human but that we may become fully human through cultivation and care. Could it be that our destructive tendencies are not because of our human-ness, but rather due to a lack of it? If so: where and how can we cultivate our humanity? All species play their part in the living web – what role might we humans have to play in this unfolding drama? Mikael Kurkiala is a cultural anthropologist and author. He spent many years living and working with the Oglala Lakota people of South Dakota, and is currently a researcher at the Swedish Church Office. His most recent books are "When the Soul Goes into Exile: Modernity, Technology & the Sacred“ and “Where the Pendulum has its Base: On the Eternal in Humans”.This conversation was recorded with a lovely audience at the Uppsala Public Library in Sweden, December 2024. It's one of three public conversations we hosted 2023-2024 as part of a series of events exploring the concept of ‘life-force’. You’ll find all three episodes (26, 27 & 28) at forestofthought.com or on your podcast listening platform. Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. Find all available platforms here.Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Caroline Ross has spent decades being immersed in Daoism, art, crafting and foraging (and spent 10 years touring with her rock band). Today, her practice weaves these diverse threads together into a philosophy of life centred on embodied living, exploring the Way (in the Daoist sense of the word) and making art as if the Earth mattered. Caroline Ross is an artist, craftswoman, writer and T’ai Chi teacher. You’ll find her sharing her passion for foraging and crafting via @foundandground on IG, and she writes weekly on themes of embodied life, art and the Way as Uncivil Savant on Substack. This is one of three public conversations that were recorded 2023-2024 as part of a series of events exploring the concept of ‘life-force’. The final and last episode will arrive in a few weeks’ time! This episode was recorded at and produced in collaboration with CEMUS at Uppsala University, and supported by the Viriditas foundation. LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT:Caroline’s booksCaroline’s substack, The Uncivil SavantLink to Caroline’s text about the Spruce Tree CroneDougald Hine's Substack The Dark Mountain Project Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. Find all available platforms here.Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Forest of Thought episodes are back! And over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing three public conversations that were recorded 2023-2024 as part of a series of events exploring the concept of ‘life-force’. We begin with philosopher Jeremy Naydler, delving into the question of how we may cultivate the human in a time of intelligent machines: “Advanced technologies and artificial intelligence are rapidly growing more enmeshed in our lives. How does this affect the deeper realms of consciousness, spirituality and our relation to the living world? What are the unfolding human qualities that machines cannot acquire and how might we cultivate them?”Jeremy Naydler is a gardener and philosopher based in Oxford, England. He has written several books on the experience of the sacred in ancient cultures. In his newer work he focuses on the fraught relationship between humans and technology as it has developed from ancient times until today, and explores how we cultivate the human in an era of intelligent machines. We recorded this with a wonderful audience at NAV Sweden, Stockholm, in September 2023 with support from the Viriditas foundation. (There is also an unedited, filmed version available here on Youtube). LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Unedited filmed version of this conversation is here.Jeremy’s books on the sacred in ancient traditions (e.g. The Future of the Ancient World, The and Temple of the Cosmos).Jeremy’s books on technology in relation to the human (In the Shadow of the Machine and The Struggle for a Human Future).We would love your support! Find us on Patreon.Share and subscribe. Find all available platforms here.Our wonderful theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode I speak to writer and filmmaker Sarah Thomas. Her memoir, The Raven’s Nest, is a meditation on her time spent in Iceland, and explores how identity and language are interwoven with landscape and ecology. What does it mean to fall in love with a place, with its human and non-human inhabitants? And how may we each do our little part in mending the world? Sarah Thomas is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and traveller with a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. She is committed to work that explores, evokes and honours our entanglements with the living world. She has lived and journeyed from the Equator to the Arctic Circle finding stories in the everyday. Her films have been screened internationally. In 2020 she was nominated for the Arts Foundation Environmental Writing Award. She was longlisted for the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize for nature writing and shortlisted for the 2021 Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize. Her ecological memoir, The Raven’s Nest (Atlantic Books 2022), is her debut. ICELANDIC WORDS FROM THE EPISODE: Óvissuferð – a journey where you don’t know what will happen Kvöldvaka – an evening gathering, traditionally to mend or do crafts while listening to someone reading aloud. Bergmál – echo (literally: language of the mountains) Tölva – computer (literally: number oracle)LINKS: Sarah’s website: https://sarahthomas.net The Raven’s Nest: https://sarahthomas.net/the-ravens-nest/ Book by David Abram on language and ecology: Spell of the sensuous: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/319/the-spell-of-the-sensuous-by-david-abram/ Ursula LeGuin’s The carrier bag theory of fiction: https://otherfutures.nl/uploads/documents/le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction.pdfMORE INFO: All episodes and more at forestofthought.com Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthought Share and subscribe. Find all available platforms here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/forestofthought Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
How are our modern ways of thinking and being different from those of ancient peoples? When did logic and rational thinking become ‘common sense’, instead of just one of the many ways we may contemplate life’s important questions? And how is our consciousness and presence in the world altered as we become evermore enmeshed in advanced technologies?Ingrid speaks to philosopher-gardener Jeremy Naydler. Jeremy has written several books on the experience of the sacred in ancient cultures. In his newer work he focuses on the fraught relationship between humans and technology as it has developed from ancient times until today, and explores how the acceleration of modern technologies forces us to examine how we cultivate the human in an era of machines. Jeremy Naydler, Ph.D., is a philosopher who specializes in the religious life of ancient cultures. He is a Fellow of the Temenos Academy and author of Temple of the Cosmos, Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts, The Future of the Ancient World, and Goethe on Science. He lives in Oxford, England.LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Jeremy’s books on the sacred in ancient traditions (e.g. The Future of the Ancient World, The and Temple of the Cosmos): https://www.innertraditions.com/author/jeremy-naydler Jeremy’s books on technology in relation to the human (In the Shadow of the Machine and The Struggle for a Human Future): https://www.templelodge.com/viewauthor.php?auth_id=109 Egyptian Book of the Dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead Heidegger on “The question concerning technology”: https://monoskop.org/images/4/44/Heidegger_Martin_The_Question_Concerning_Technology_and_Other_Essays.pdf The Philokalia: https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Philokalia.pdfAll episodes and more at forestofthought.comSupport us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. Find all available platforms here: https://anchor.fm/forestofthoughtOur theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
It’s been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism and our modern way of life. Why is it so hard for us to cultivate our imagination and to imagine that things might be different? What becomes possible if communities harness the power of imagination in building a more beautiful world? In this episode I speak to Rob Hopkins, writer and co-founder of the Transition movement. I visit him in the Buttercup Field and we discuss what might be possible if we moved from ‘What is’ to ‘What if?’Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Network and of Transition Town Totnes, and author of several books including ‘The Transition Handbook‘ and most recently, ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’. He is a Director of Totnes Community Development Society and of New Lion Brewery, and hosts the podcast ‘From What If to What Next‘.LINKS: Rob’s website: https://www.robhopkins.net Rob’s podcast: https://www.robhopkins.net/podcast/ Transition Towns: https://transitionnetwork.org Joanna Macy & ‘The work that reconnects’ : https://www.joannamacy.net Jane McGonigal on the things that can change in 10 years: https://janemcgonigal.com Civic imagination office in Bologna: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-03-07/bologna-the-city-with-a-civic-imagination-office/ Antanas Mockus, ex-mayor of Bogota: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/opinion/the-art-of-changing-a-city.html New Lion Brewery in Totnes: https://www.newlionbrewery.co.ukAll episodes and more at forestofthought.comSupport us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. Find all available platforms here: https://anchor.fm/forestofthoughtOur theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
How might the use of voice and song be an unexpectedly powerful way to access our deeper selves? In this episode I speak to Briony Greenhill, an incredible musician who uses collaborative improvisation as a way to connect and heal. Briony also generously shares her personal experiences and the philosophy of life that she has come to through her work. Briony Greenhill is an artist, teacher and changemaker, with a special focus on improvisation, described as "one of the world's leading proponents of Collaborative Vocal Improvisation (CVI)" by the Guardian, and as "Marvin Gaye crossed with a funky earth mother" by Mojo. She finds her music and lyrics through improvising, often together with others. Her lyrics focus on themes of human depth, paradigm shift, the intimacy and bigger picture of our times. As a teacher she helps people bring out their full voices, develop their musicianship, express themselves, connect and heal.LINKS Briony’s website – find all info and music there: https://www.brionygreenhill.com/ Call off the Thought and Sing – conversations hosted by Briony (past convos available on Youtube): https://www.facebook.com/CallofftheThoughtandSing Pat MacCabe : https://www.patmccabe.net Kimberley Hare – The Edge https://www.heartofthriving.com/conversations/ Happy Thank you More Please: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls_SKFeJxEg Robert MacFarlane’s book Mountains of the Mind: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/nov/13/guardianfirstbookaward2003.gurardianfirstbookawardDid you enjoy? Please consider supporting the podcast at patreon.com/forestofthought. Thank you for sharing and subscribing!Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
In what ways might the roots of the internet actually stretch back much further than we think? Does the internet enhance or distort our humanness? How is our deepening entanglement with algorithms shaping how we think and what we pay attention to?Justin E. H. Smith is a professor at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the Université Paris Cité, and is a writer of both non-fiction, fiction and poetry. His latest book is The Internet is Not What You Think It Is: A History, a Philosophy, a Warning, in which he traces the deep history of the internet and asks where these technologies may be taking us next. His previous books include Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason and Divine Machines: Leibniz and the Sciences of Life. He posts regularly on Substack at Justin E. H. Smith’s Hinternet.LINKS: Justin’s book The Internet is Not What You Think It Is: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691212326/the-internet-is-not-what-you-think-it-is Justin’s Substack: https://justinehsmith.substack.com Justin’s book on Gottfried Leibniz: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691141787/divine-machines David Abram on technology and animism: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/magic-and-the-machine/ James William’s Stand out of our light (Ted Talk based on book of same name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaIO2UIvJ4g Yves Citton on the Ecology of attention: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Ecology+of+Attention-p-9781509503735Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. We're available on most podcast apps, including: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ue3XA6IQQLC05FQMINuy1 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/podcast/forest-of…/id1508610729 Links to all platforms: https://anchor.fm/forestofthoughtOur theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
How do we manifest the world we would like to see? How are art and activism connected to things like magic and ritual? How does being rooted in a place help us defend it? In this episode I visit Isa Fremeaux at the ZAD (zone à defendre) in Brittany, France, where an unlikely alliance of local residents and activists succeeded in stopping the building of a planned airport. Isa shares her experiences of working at the intersection of art and activism, and we explore what it means to create the worlds we want to inhabit.Isa Fremeaux is a writer, activist and educator, formerly senior lecturer in Media and Cultural studies at Birckbeck College, London. Together with her partner Jay Jordan she has, among other things, created Pathways to Utopia, a film/book project exploring utopian communities in Europe, and the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, a place for experiments at the intersection of art and activism. Their book “We Are ‘Nature’ Defending Itself – Entangling Art, Activism and Autonomous Zones” explores these ideas further and takes us along on part of the journey of the ZAD.LINKS: Isa and Jay’s book: We are ‘Nature’ Defending Itself – Entangling Art, Activism and Autonomous Zones: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745345871/we-are-nature-defending-itself/ Pathways to Utopia: https://lessentiersdelutopie.wordpress.com/trailer/ Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination: https://labo.zone/ Links to the six points: https://zad.nadir.org/IMG/pdf/6pointszad-a3-2.pdf The invisible committee: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/comite-invisibleSupport us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/forestofthoughtFind all episodes on our website: www.forestofthought.comShare and subscribe. We're available on most podcast apps, including:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ue3XA6IQQLC05FQMINuy1 . Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/podcast/forest-of…/id1508610729. Links to all platforms: https://anchor.fm/forestofthought.Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
"Crisis" was a topic that came up many times in this season of the podcast, in discussions on everything from pandemics, to climate change, to spiritual transformation, and healing. In this episode, wandering host Ingrid Rieser offers a personal reflection on the true meaning of crisis.Find a transcript of this episode at www.forestofthought.com LINKS: Quotes on Egyptian mythology from Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler: https://www.innertraditions.com/books/temple-of-the-cosmos Quote on crises from To Our Friends by The Invisible Committee: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-invisible-committe-to-our-friends.a4.pdfSupport us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthoughtShare and subscribe. We're available on most podcast apps, including: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ue3XA6IQQLC05FQMINuy1 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/podcast/forest-of…/id1508610729 Links to all platforms: https://anchor.fm/forestofthoughtOur theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Felix Marquardt used to enjoy a jet-setting lifestyle, advising CEOs and heads of state, and mingling at elite gatherings like the World Economic Forum in Davos. Now he is on a slow journey of recovery from substance abuse, and has recently published The New Nomads – a unique perspective on migration in our time. In this episode we talked about how patterns of addiction are playing out in all parts of our society, what sobering up might mean, and the unrecognised power of prayer.Felix is Austrian-American born but raised in Paris. He counts a dozen nationalities in his family, has lived in as many countries and held as many jobs. He’s run communications for large publications and companies, advised CEOs and heads of state, and founded a bunch of projects, the latest of which is called Black Elephant, an outgrowth of his The New Nomads book (Simon & Schuster, 2021).LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: The New Nomads by Felix Marquardt: https://thenewnomads.org Black Elephant, Felix’ latest project including podcast: https://www.blcklphnt.com ‘Davos is dead and coronavirus killed it’, article in FT by Felix (June 2021): https://www.ft.com/content/3177eb28-6fb1-459a-83a1-837124b43e0e “The culture wars require a peace process and GenXers must initiate it”, op-ed by Felix and others in South Africa Sunday Times: https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/opinion-and-analysis/2021-12-02-the-culture-wars-require-a-peace-process-and-genxers-must-initiate-it/ Kevin Anderson is a climate change researcher: http://kevinanderson.info/blog/home-2/ Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira (previously Andreotti): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/675703/hospicing-modernity-by-vanessa-machado-de-oliveira/ Des empires sous la terre (Empires under earth – English translation forthcoming) by Mohamad Amer Meziane (Felix’ friend who writes about racial and ecological history of secularisation) https://religion.columbia.edu/content/mohamed-amer-meziane Also by Mohamad Amer Médiane: https://politicaltheology.com/is-there-a-secularocene/Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/forestofthought .Share and subscribe. We’re available on most podcast apps, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Links to all platforms: https://anchor.fm/forestofthoughtOur theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe
Might harmful norms around masculinity be at the root of both men’s violence against women and the degradation of nature? In this episode we look more closely at men’s relationships their – to themselves, to other humans (especially women), to nature, and we ask the question: what becomes possible when men connect to what they most deeply long for?Vidar Vetterfalk is psychologist and expert in masculinites and the climate crisis at MÄN (Men for Gender Equality), Sweden. He has been active in the feminist organisation MÄN since its inception in 1993, working with engaging boys and men for gender equality and ending men’s violence. Vidar grew up on a biodynamic farm and he is passionate about the interlinkages between gender equality, the environment, the climate crisis, and how to engage more men to care together with others.LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT MÄN (Men for Gender Equality) website: www.mfj.se/en Resource materials for working on men’s violence against women, and men’s relations to climate and the environment: https://mfj.se/en/resources Global online seminar series on “Climate Crisis, Men, Masculinities and Climate Justice”: https://mfj.se/articles/2021/08/ny-arbetsgrupp-foer-klimatraettvisa Publications related to Vidar’s work: https://mfj.se/articles/2021/08/maen-om-fn-s-klimatrapport Joana Macy’s “Work that reconnects”: https://workthatreconnects.orgSupport us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/forestofthoughtFind all episodes on our website: www.forestofthought.comShare and subscribe. We're available on most podcast apps, including:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ue3XA6IQQLC05FQMINuy1 . Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/podcast/forest-of…/id1508610729. Links to all platforms: https://anchor.fm/forestofthought. Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen at stoneproduction.no. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe