Accidental Gods - The Thrutopian Podcast

Accidental Gods

Another World IS still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose - and now it's collapsing around us. So how do we co-create a Thrutopian future that we'd all be proud to leave as our legacy?

What stories can we weave of possibility? Of transformation? What happens if we commit to a world based on generative values: compassion, courage, integrity?

What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that really matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves, between ourselves and each other, between ourselves and the Web of Life - so that we can reclaim our birthright as self-conscious nodes in the web of life?

We can do this. Some of us already are. Every week on Accidental Gods we speak with the people who are living this world into being, courageous pathfinders who are exploring the emergent edge of inter-becoming.

As a species, we have all the answers, we just haven't yet crafted all the new stories and woven them into a future that works. We have the choice now - we can choose to transform…or we can face the chaos of a failing system.

Our Choice. Our Chance. Our Future.

Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program devoted to exploring the ways we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations yet to come.

Find the membership and the podcast pages here: https://accidentalgods.life
Find Manda's Thrutopian novel, Any Human Power here: https://mandascott.co.uk
Find Manda on BlueSky @mandascott.bsky.social
On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/
On FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/MandaScottAuthor

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388 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes388

Newest first

Mar 10, 2021 · 1 hr 2 min
Parents for A Future: Creating a world we're proud to bequeath to future generations with Rupert Read
Suppose we all made this year the one where we choose to make a difference? We could take a sabbatical and join in the actions around COP26. Or we could go to work and do whatever it takes to make our business regenerative. Or we could join Parents For Future and build a world that we are proud to leave to our children. Rupert Read on his new book: Parents for a Future and how now is the time to act. Professor Rupert Read works in the philosophy department at UEA in Norwich. He's author of numerous books and a hands-on, sit-in-the-streets climate activist. His latest book, Parents for a Future is a passionate, beautifully argued clarion call for all of us to do whatever it takes to move us onto a trajectory that will shape the future we need and want for future generations: a future we're proud to leave behind. This year in particular is a crucial turning point. As we emerge from COVID and move towards COP26 in Glasgow, the decisions we make now will shape this decade, which will shape this century, which will shape this millennium - and the future of the human and more-than-human worlds. You can connect at @parents4afuture and #ParentsforFuture, so head for both of those and see what you can do to make this year the one where we changed. Parents for a Future Book: https://www.parentsforafuture.org/shop Rupert's website https://parentsforafuture.org ThruTopia paper: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rupert-read/thrutopia-why-neither-dys_b_18372090.html Narrative Ark Television for the future website https://narrativeark.net
Mar 3, 2021 · 1 hr 11 min
Meeting our needs, healing the earth: Donnie Maclurcan of the post growth institute
Suppose we already have all the answers to the crises that assail us? Suppose countless people, companies, non-profit organisations and local community groups were already working to change the way things work? And suppose we could knit these together into a movement for change? Donnie Maclurcan of the Post Growth Institute explores the ways we can find a generative future. Donnie is a facilitator, author and social entrepreneur, passionate about all things not-for-profit. Originally from Australia, he moved to the U.S. in 2013, from where he coordinates the Post Growth Institute. As a consultant, he has worked in Egypt, Kenya, Fiji, Thailand and South Korea, helping 500+ not-for-profit projects start, scale and sustain their work, while his own initiatives include developing: Free Money Day, the Post Growth Alliance, the (En)Rich List, the Offers and Needs Market process, The Not for Profit Waytraining, Silent Skype team meetings, Project Australia, and the globally-used #postgrowth hashtag. An Affiliate Professor of Economics at Southern Oregon University and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Donnie holds a Ph.D. in social science. He is passionate about the concept that we already have the answers to the current world, social, cultural, climatic, ecological and economic crises - and that if we can understand this fact, it will help us to work towards answers that will work. In the podcast, he explores the ways in which we can spread this understanding, and build on it to create a generative future. He focuses on the things that are already working - and ways we can shift the focus of our economy away from the massive hoarding of wealth by big multinationals and the global hyper-rich. How on Earth: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/How-on-Earth-by-Donald-Maclurcan-author-Jen-Hinton-author/9780990369004
Feb 24, 2021 · 1 hr 10 min
Breaking the Austerity Myth: The system is broken - but we can mend it. With Richard Murphy
Imagine a world where we didn’t always feel as if money was tight. Imagine an economy that works for the health and welfare of people and planet rather than all of us working for the health of the economy. Richard Murphy describes where money comes from and how we could use it differently. We all know the economy is broken - that the experiment of free market capitalism has driven us to the edge of extinction. The problem is working out what to replace it with that will help us to find new ways of being without creating such havoc that lives are destroyed in the process. In this first of a two-part series, Richard Murphy explores ways we can change the current system to create a different world. Richard Murphy is a political economist, author of the book 'The Joy of Tax', and is a visiting professor at Sheffield, Anglia Ruskin and City universities. He's an adviser at the Fair Tax Mark and was deeply involved in creating the first iteration of the Green New Deal in the UK. He writes the Tax Research Blog, which shines bright lights on the economic illiteracy of free-market governments. In our conversation, we explore how money is made in the current system, the mythology of austerity and how the world could be if we all understood the nature of the lies. When we all see the Emperor has no clothes, we can re-create a new way of doing and being. Tax Research Blog: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ Fair Tax Mark: https://fairtaxmark.net The Joy of Tax: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Joy-of-Tax-by-Richard-Murphy-author/9780552171618 Tax Justice Network: https://www.taxjustice.net The Green New Deal: https://greennewdealgroup.org
Feb 18, 2021 · 1 hr 8 min
The Town that shaped its world: Pam Barrett on FlatPack/DIY Democracy and taking charge of politics
We all know national politics is in chaos. But local governance can be a place of enlivening, inspiring, radical change. Pam Barrett speaks of her work to change the nature of her local town council - what she achieved - and how we can do the same. Pam Barrett worked at the heart of the Westminster government's civil service. Then she moved to picturesque Buckfastleigh, a mill town on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, and began to see how badly the town was served by the town and regional councils. She started a group to preserve the town's only swimming pool. That grew, and the pool was saved, and she moved on, in time, to stand as an independent for the town council. A group of others stood with her, and they gained 9 seats on a 12 seat council. Which meant they could do things, make things happen... discover the freedom that local democracy gives if it truly serves the local people. With the newly independent group on the local council, the concept of 'of the people, by the people, for the people' took on new meaning. They moved the council to a bigger room and made the proceedings far more transparent. They asked local people what they wanted to do - and then worked out how much it would cost.. .23p per household per week to really keep the swimming pool open, other bits for other things, amounting to an extra 97p per household per week. And then they let local people decide if they wanted that... and, like almost all participatory budgeting, when people have a chance to really see what their money goes towards - they did want it, and they were happy to pay. So that four years later, when the council came up for re-election, 10 independent councillors stood and 10 were elected. Pam's story is one of agency, and local empowerment and it can play out pretty much anywhere in the world where democracy is still alive. Listen in and be inspired - then go out and see what you can do in your local area. FlatPack Democracy: https://www.flatpackdemocracy.co.uk Trust the People online Training: https://actionnetwork.org/events/trust-the-people-online-course-spring-2021 Be Buckfastleigh: https://bebuckfastleigh.co.uk Positive News on Pam Barrett and Buckfastleigh: https://www.positive.news/uk/the-devonshire-town-that-transformed-local-democracy/ Handforth Parish Council Zoom call (full) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsalmnyed7k Handforth Parish Council Zoom (highlights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGmYeAm0jk
Feb 10, 2021 · 59 min
The Subtle Shaman: Chris Taylor, living our purpose and the Tao of R-evolution
How does it feel to know we're really living our purpose? What's the felt sense inside that tells us to keep going in a particular direction? Or to stop? Radical evolutionary, Chris Taylor explores the pathways to right being that will let us transform what it is to be human. Chris Taylor, author of 'The Tao of Revolution' is a Tai Chi teacher, regenerative farmer, musician, performance poet, facilitator-of-change and author - who describes himself as a revolutionary mystic. Or mystical revolutionary. His book is described as 'A field guide for Global Transformation, - a book on climate and societal change that isn't about the coming chaos, but about how we learn to live with the future. The system will not be over-thrown, it will be overgrown - here's how.' In this heart-warming, thought-provoking podcast we move through Immanuelle Wallerstein, Quaker philosophy and Mellissa Etheridge to the Green New Deal, QAnon and Taoism, to how we can live deeply connected to the land that feeds us. Ultimately, we explore the opportunities and gifts of our times and the ways that we can each find the margins of ourselves, find the things that make our hearts sing and find the ways to do them - so that together, we are building a world based on connection, coherence and empowerment. Chris Taylor's book: The Tao of Revolution: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Tao-of-Revolution-by-Chris-Taylor-author/9781939269973 Oasis Human Relations: https://www.oasishumanrelations.org.uk Grace Blakeley: Green Capitalism is not enough: https://democracycollaborative.org/learn/publication/green-capitalism-not-enough Jem Bendell's Deep Adaptation paper: https://jembendell.com/2019/05/15/deep-adaptation-versions/ Immanuelle Wallerstein: World Systems Analysis: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/World-Systems-Analysis-by-Immanuel-Maurice-Wallerstein/9780822334422
Feb 3, 2021 · 1 hr 2 min
Models of Mind: bringing emotional intelligence into the heart of governance with Rachel Lilley
How different would our world be if we understood how our minds - and feelings - worked? How would our workplaces change if everyone was doing their best to understand how everyone else experienced the world? Dr Rachel Lilley describes how shifting our perspectives changes everything - from work to home to government. Rachel combines extensive academic research with many years practical experience working with teams and senior leaders to offer unique and practical insights into attention, emotions, consciousness and decision making. She has particular expertise in behaviour change related to sustainability, climate change and community engagement as well as extensive academic and personal experience of using mindfulness to develop self and other awareness and gain insight. In today's podcast, we discuss the basis behind her PhD thesis, which explored the practical results of teaching mindfulness to civil servants in the Welsh Government and how this impacted on the ability to deliver results particularly related to climate change actions. The core of this: that people learned how their own minds worked - and so began to understand how others' minds work, that not all minds are the same, and not all thought processes follow the same lines - is transformative in our lives, our workplaces and our ability to respond to the current planetary crisis. Rachel explains the basis of her work and its results so far- as well as the potential for extending it further. Rachel Lilley Predicting Mind website - https://predictingmind.com Lisa Feldman Barret: How Emotions are Made - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/How-Emotions-Are-Made-by-Lisa-Feldman-Barrett-author/9781509837526 George Lakoff Metaphors we Live By: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Metaphors-We-Live-By-by-George-Lakoff-author-Mark-Johnson-author/9780226468013 Podcast: Sam Harris talking to Anil Seth: https://samharris.org/subscriber-extras/113-consciousness-and-the-self/
Jan 28, 2021 · 1 hr 47 min
Everybody Now: A PodBoom on The Climate and Ecological Emergency
This is part of a PodBoom - a unified call around the world where multiple podcasts broadcast on the same day (19th October 2020) to amplify the call that the time is now - and we are the answer. This is not specifically an Accidental Gods podcast - it
Jan 27, 2021 · 1 hr 4 min
Kindness, tribalism, faith, hope: exploring Christianity in the climate crisis with David Blower
Kindness costs nothing and it enhances our lives and those around us. And yet our world is full of random acts of unkindness. How can we change this? How can we extend the boundaries of faith and spirituality to bring the best of ourselves to a world in crisis. This week, podcaster, musician, writer, theologian – and deep spiritual activist – David Blower talks about Christianity and kindness and the climate crisis. David Benjamin Blower is a radical Christian theologian, a musician, a writer, and a podcaster. He is co-host of NOMAD podcast which describes itself as 'Stumbling through the post-Christendom wilderness looking for signs of hope". His first book Kingdom vs Empire is 'an explosive manifesto for politicised faith in 21st Century Britain.' In this deep dive into the nature of faith, we explore spirituality, belief, tribalism - and the narratives we spin ourselves of where we are and where we could be. David's Website davidbenjaminblower.com David's Music benjaminblower.bandcamp.com/music Nomad podcast - Elizabeth Oldfield episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nomad-podcast/id301419170?i=1000493995562 Nomad podcast - Elaine Heath episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nomad-podcast/id301419170?i=1000422414384 Climate PodBoom - https://pdst.fm/e/media.transistor.fm/1f96c344/de91b51d.mp3
Jan 20, 2021 · 59 min
The Ocean is Alive: Ocean-shaman Glenn Edney speaks of the living waters of the Earth.
What if the Ocean were a living thing, in the way that the earth breathes as Gaia? The Maori say that if the Ocean is healthy, so, too, will the people be healthy. And we are not healthy - nor is the Ocean. But we are intimately linked and Glenn Edney, Ocean Deep Ecologist explains how - and what we can do to heal ourselves and the waters of the Earth. Glenn Edney is a Deep Ecologist, an Ocean explorer, diver, sailor, an activist for the living Ocean - and a deeply thoughtful visionary, following in the footsteps of his hero, Jacques Cousteau. He's the author of three books, the most recent, published in 2016, is 'The Ocean is Alive'. He wrote this as his way to help those of us more land bound to understand that, like Gaia, the Ocean is a living entity with its own hyper-complex physiology - that everything from the chemical composition of the water, through the lives of the plankton and microbiomes to the majesty - and super consciousness - of the great whales, is part of a single Being. The detail of how the Ocean lives and breathes is fascinating and glorious, but it's the stories of connection, heart-to-heart, with the living elements of the Ocean that stay with us long after we've put the book down. In the podcast, Glenn shares his complete connection with the Ocean - and the ways we can - and must - open to this magnificent part of our planet. “Mena kei te hauora te moana ka pera ano te hauora o te iwi” If the ocean is healthy so too will the people be healthy - Maori saying The Ocean is Alive: book link: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Ocean-Is-Alive-by-Glenn-Edney-author/9780473352608 High and Deep Sea Photos by Glenn: https://www.synchronicityearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Synchronicity-Earth-High-Deep-Seas-Insight.pdf
Jan 13, 2021 · 56 min
Trust The People: Creating a politics that works
How would our world feel if our local, regional and national politics really listened to all the people, really brought together diverse views, and knew how to listen deeply to whatever was said? How would we be if our politics brought out the best in all of us, and worked for the living planet? We talk to Trust The People, a new movement to bring this about - globally. Trust The People is a movement of community builders open to everyone sharing deliberative democratic tools to support local communities dealing with global crises. In this episode, Mags Mulowska, an activist with TTP, explores how our current system is broken, and the ways we can change it so that everyone has choice and a voice, so that everyone's voice is heard and communities build around a sense of place and of purpose. She describes the courses run by TTP and some of the ways they have led to flourishing outcomes in diverse local communities. And we discuss the May local elections in the UK and how people can join a movement of independent candidates dedicated to bringing radical inclusivity, deep listening and trust to the local process. Trust the People: https://www.trustthepeople.earth Isabel Hardman "Why we Get the Wrong Politicians"
Jan 6, 2021 · 1 hr 5 min
Four arrows flying: Alnoor Ladha, activist and visionary on changing the stories we tell ourselves.
What if we could see the nature of the stories that drive us, how would we be? Would we be able to change them? And what would we want in their place? This week, Alnoor Ladha, mystic, visionary, activist and regenerative farmer explores the four ways to change the world. Alnoor Ladha's work focuses on the intersection of political organizing, systems thinking and narrative work. He was the co-founder and Executive Director of The Rules (TR), a global network of activists, organizers, designers, coders, researchers, writers and others focused on changing the rules that create inequality, poverty and climate change. TR started in 2012 as a time-bound project and an experiment in anarchist organizational design, exploring new ways of how to work, play and make trouble together. Alnoor comes from a Sufi lineage and explores/writes about the intersection between politics and spirituality in troubled times. He is also a co-founder of Tierra Valiente, a post- capitalist community in northern Costa Rica. In this week's podcast, we discuss his ideas of Capitalism, memes and mind viruses - notably the idea of the Wetiko - and what the antidotes might be. We explore the nature of subjective reality and the narratives that promote capitalism. We explore the need for mystical anarchism, the means by which we might transcend subject/object duality, cultivating relationality and cultivating a sense of connection to the web of life. The Rules: https://therules.org/author/alnoor/ Tierra Valiente: https://www.braveearth.com Seeing Wetiko: on capitalism, mind viruses and antidotes: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/seeing-wetiko-on-capitalism-mind-viruses-and-antidotes-for-a-world-in-transition/ What could possibly go right: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-10-20/what-could-possibly-go-right-episode-19-alnoor-ladha/
Dec 30, 2020 · 1 hr
Building Soil: Healing the Earth: Feeding Humanity - Regenerative Farming with Navona Gallegos
What if we had a way to draw carbon out of the air, heal our ecosystems and feed the world? We do: It's called Regenerative Agriculture and the understanding of how we do this is key to a flourishing future. But we need to listen to the land first, as Navona Gallegos describes in this new Accidental Gods podcast. Navona Gallegos is an ecologist and farmer working to transition desert back into grassland in the arid Southwest of Turtle Island. She works and educates on the intersection of clean water, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrition: soil. Navona's passion is decolonization and she sees building soil as the keystone that allows us to step into right relation with our surrounding ecologies, access more of our innate capacities, and create a culture that truly meets our needs. Her insight into the spiritual connection with the land is a breath of fresh air, giving us ways to connect that are healing for us as well as the earth. Links: Dr Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web: https://www.soilfoodweb.com
Dec 23, 2020 · 30 min
All the Best of 2020: Books and Podcasts that will lift you into the new year - and beyond.
An end-of-year round up of the best fiction and non-fiction books - and podcasts - of 2020. All are my opinion and this is only a tiny selection of the really good stuff out there - but it's good. Enjoy! We have to stop consuming stuff... but we never stop imbibing ideas. So here are some to choose from - all links to Blackwells. For obvious reasons. Non-Fiction 'From what is to what if' by Rob Hopkins The Trembling Warrior and others by Gill Coombs 'The Best of Times, the Worst of Times' by Paul Behrens 'How to Be More Pirate' by Alex Barker 'Doughnut Economics' by Kate Raworth (also Doughnut Economics Action Lab) 'Less is More' by Jason Hickel 'The Ocean is Alive' by Glenn Edney 'The Tao of Revolution' by Chris Taylor Fiction: 'This is How You Lose The Time War' by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 'The Border Keeper' by Kerstin Hall 'Slough House' by Mick Herron 'Agent Running in the Field' by John le Carré 'Attack Surface' by Cory Doctorow 'Call Down the Hawk' by Maggie Stiefvater 'The Timekeeper' by Tara Sim 'In Other Lands' by Sarah Rees Brennan 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' by Alix E Harrow 'The Left Handed Booksellers of London' by Garth Nix. 'A Deadly Education' by Naomi Novak 'Fallible Justice' by Laura Laakso 'Poison in Paris' by Robert Wilton 'The Last Protector' by Andrew Taylor 'The Angel of the Crows' by Katherine Addison Podcasts: Upstream hosted by Della Duncan The Hive hosted by Nathalie Nahai The Sustainable Futures Report by Anthony Day A New and Ancient Story by Charles Eisenstein 'Your Undivided Attention' by Tristan Harris 'Regenerative Agriculture Podcast' by John Kempf Farm Gate hosted by Ffinlo Costain 'Equiosity' by Alex Kurland 'Horses For Future' by Alex Kurland Drinking from the Toilet by Hannah Brannigan Link to Dreaming the Year Awake
Dec 21, 2020 · 1 hr 14 min
Birthday/Solstice Celebration: a new Anniversary tradition, with Della Duncan and Nathalie Nahai
It's our Birthday... and it's the December Solstice, the time of transition and potential transformation . In honour of which, we are crafting a new tradition: a PodBoom shared with Della Duncan of UPSTREAM podcast and Nathalie Nahai of THE HIVE. So, it's our Birthday - and it's that time of year when every pundit endeavours to look back at the year just gone and ahead to the one that is coming. And we thought we'd like to establish a parallel tradition, where we bring together our favourite podcasting-friends and explore the ways we think. So we set up a structure that will be repeatable in future years... where we give each other gifts of a book, podcast or something else that has brought us real insight, and then we explore each other's existential questions. And we have fun. So that you can have fun too. Della Duncan is a Renegade Economist who hosts the UPSTREAM podcast challenging traditional economic thinking and uplifting stories of sustainable, just, and equitable economic systems-change around the world. Della is also a Right Livelihood Coach, a Senior Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute in the London School of Economics, the Course Development Manager of Fritjof Capra’s Capra Course on the Systems View of Life, and an Alternative Economics Consultant. Nathalie Nahai is host of THE HIVE podcast. Nathalie is an international speaker and author of the best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion, which has been translated into seven languages. Her work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics and the psychology of online behaviour, and clients include Google, Accenture, Unilever and Harvard Business Review, among others. Nathalie gives keynotes, workshops and webinars on the psychological dynamics behind evolving consumer behaviours, teaching people how to ethically apply behavioural science principles to enhance their website, content marketing, product design and customer experience. A member of the BIMA Human Insights Council, she also hosts The Hive Podcast, Seeking The Self and several Guardian podcasts, and contributes to national publications, television (BBC, Sky, CNN), and radio (BBC Radio 4) on the impact of technology in our lives. From Nathalie: Books Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer Women Who Run with the Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola Estés Foxfire Wolfskin - Sharon Blackie The Abundant Earth - Eileen Crist Podcast: Eco Civ Podcast From Della: Books The Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype - Clarissa Pinkola Estés Building Bridges, Not Walking on Backs: A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for COVID-19 - Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself - Richard Wolff Podcast: Upstream Conversations that I mentioned From Manda: Books English Pastoral - James Rebanks Less is More - Jason Hickel Slow Horses - Mick Herron
Dec 16, 2020 · 1 hr 2 min
Living to Learn: transforming education with Rachel Musson of ThoughtBox
How can we make learning a genuinely transformational experience? One that's fun, and inspiring and that teaches us HOW to think, not WHAT to think? Rachel Musson had given her life to asking this question and ThoughtBox is her answer. Suppose we all learned three things at school: empathy, critical thinking and systems thinking... imagine how different the world would be. Suppose we learned how to think clearly, how to communicate, how to understand our own feelings and express them without feeling the need to trash other people just because we were hurt, or angry. Rachel Musson, founder and educational director of ThoughtBox, a radical, new co-learning programme speaks of her journey to create the system, and how it's working - in over a thousand schools and fifty four nations across the world. Rachel believes in co-learning: no more lesson plans, but a classroom of peers who take the core of a topic and build on it together. The result is a flexible learning environment where everyone thrives, where each individual is given space and encouragement to grow to be the best of themselves. Imagine a world where this is possible. Where it is happening. Where it is growing... About Rachel Rachel Musson is a teacher, trainer, writer and thought-leader on sustainable education and wellbeing in schools. Working for 13 years as a Secondary English teacher, Rachel has taught students and trained teachers in schools across the world including the UK, Ireland, Australia, Nepal and Tanzania. She is the Founding Director of ThoughtBox Education – a social enterprise fostering triple wellbeing by helping young people deepen relationships with themselves, society and the natural world. She is the pioneer behind Changing Climates: a free climate change curriculum currently being used in 1500+ schools across 56 countries. Rachel is currently working with industry leaders on education reform policy and standing as an international thought-leader on climate-change education and triple-wellbeing in schools. ThoughtBox: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.com ThoughtBox Community Network: www.thoughtboxeducation.com/community New free membership for global educators: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.com/teaching-for-a-better-world Freedom to Think: Blog on the new anti-capitalist ban in UK schools: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.com/blog/freedom-to-think
Dec 9, 2020 · 59 min
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Responding to Climate Change with Dr Paul Behrens
How bad are things really? Is it too late to avert the climate and ecological catastrophe? And if not, how do we pull ourselves back from the brink? Exploring answers with Paul Behrens, author of 'The Best of Times, The Worst of Times'. We live on the edge of change - the facts can be terrifying, but the creative potential of our times is inspiring and just as jaw-dropping as the horrors of the reality we inhabit. Paul Behrens is Assistant Professor of Energy and Environmental Change at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He has advised governments and his work on climate change has appeared in leading scientific journals, as well as on the BBC, in the New York Times and Scientific American. He's got a clear, un-sensational view of the way things are - and how we can bring ourselves back from the brink. In our conversation, we explore the realities and the possibilities - and where we might go from here. Pauls Book: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Best-of-Times-The-Worst-of-Times-by-Paul-Behrens-author/9781911648093
Dec 2, 2020 · 1 hr 1 min
Breaking the Rules to save the world: How to be More Pirate, with Alex Barker
How can we take the radical, renegade, rule-breaking, revolutionary ideals of the golden age of Pirates and transmute them to gold in our world? Alex Barker, author of 'How to be More Pirate' lays out the maps to the treasure of change. The concept of radical, renegade, revolutionary insurgency based on the model created in the Golden Age of Pirates was given wings by Sam Conniff's best selling book, BE MORE PIRATE. In the wake of its success, Sam needed to find ways to help the many people the book inspired. And for that he needed help. Enter Alex Barker, Primary Pirate, visionary, breaker of rules and maker of gatherings on and offline. Alex and Sam between them have steered Pirate groups from industries as far apart as car manufacturing (Mercedes), Social Media Mega-Giants (Google) and nationally owned health care providers (the UK's NHS). But we can go deeper than simply breaking the old, fossilised structures of industries... we can change the entire system. Because, as Sam says, 'problems will not be fixed by fixing the problems... what's really needed is an overhaul of the engine that's causing the problems. In other words, the business model.' And, as Alex says, 'I want to see many more new crews forming outside of formal structures, so that while the old models fall, new ones are already emerging.' Accidental Gods seeks to be part of that emerging eco-system of new ways of being. And to get there, we need new ways of thinking - and ways we can each break out of the moulds that have cast us. Alex Barker offers a map to the treasure of change. Follow us! The book: https://www.bemorepirate.com/the-book The Workshops: https://www.bemorepirate.com/the-workshop Rethink Humanity Paper: https://www.rethinkx.com/humanity As we said at the end of the podcast, Mike Raven and Ross Thornley of AQAI have kindly agreed to let Accidental Gods subscribers and members access their Adaptability Quotient test. The link is here: DISCOUNT CODE FOR AQAI: https://app.aqai.io/signup/aqme?discount_code=ACCGODS
Nov 25, 2020 · 54 min
Spiritual Activism, Raw Courage and Being the Change: Sophie Miller of the Red Rebel Brigade
In the midst of nonviolent direct action, is a red thread, holding the liminal space between the old and the new, between action and re-action, between hope and extinction. The Red Rebel Brigade is a distinctive feature of XR Actions and here we have a glimpse from the inside. More at Red is the colour of our life blood. It joins us to the land and all the web of life. It was chosen as the original colour of the silent life-dancers of Extinction Rebellion as an explicit symbol of this life blood - and although other colours have been used, notably black for oil and blue for the sea - the feature of a red line of silent individuals threading between police and activists has become a key component of XR Actions across the world. For those not involved in the Red Rebel Brigades, their presence can feel transformative. To understand better the deep, shamanic connection with the land and the sensing-into-spirit that is an integral part of Red Rebel actions, we interviewed Sophie Miller, founder of the Cornish Red Rebels in the UK and key activist in many other actions over the past eighteen months. Anyone who is interested in becoming part of the world wide movement of Red Rebels can find out more on their web page: http://redrebelbrigade.com
Nov 18, 2020 · 57 min
Codes for a Healthy Earth: New rules for a flourishing world with Shelley Ostroff
Greta Thunberg says that ‘We cannot save the planet by playing by the rules, so the rules have to be changed’. This is self-evidently true, but that leaves us with the question of what rules could we create that we could all live by. Polly Higgins has the Earth Protector law, but Shelley Ostroff has gone one step further with her Codes for a Healthy Earth and the World Water law. Together, these rules spell out our connection with the More than Human world, and leave us with agency, initiative, and a sense of genuine flourishing. Shelley Ostroff (PhD) is a planetary activist, leadership consultant, social architect, mystic and writer. She is the founder of www.togetherincreation.org, www.7days-of-rest.org, www.codes.earth and other initiatives dedicated to the healing and replenishment of the planet and all its inhabitants. Concerned by the suffering and devastation humans cause each other, other species and the planet, she dedicated herself to exploring whole-system systems dynamics and integrative healing wisdom from diverse disciplines and traditions. She has worked with people from all walks of life, from different sectors of society and across continents as a therapist, consultant, mentor, and creative partner in cultivating individual, collective and whole-system wellness. Through ongoing research and practice, she has developed a unique holistic approach to human and whole-system healing and transformation that includes evolving blueprints for a new form of holistic health-oriented global Eco-Governance. Links: Codes for a Healthy Earth https://www.codes.earth Together in Creation: www.togetherincreation.org Seven Days of Rest https://www.7days-of-rest.org/ Accidental Gods: https://accidentalgods.life/
Nov 11, 2020 · 1 hr 7 min
Adapting Business:Transforming our systems, careers -and the landscape of business with Mike Raven of AQai
How do we shift the narratives of business so that it becomes part of the solution, not the core of the problem? Mike Raven of AQAI explores the ways business can adapt - and become part of a genuinely regenerative future. Mike is a Radical collaborator, rapid researcher, speaker, facilitator and entrepreneur. He's a holistic business graduate and practitioner. He's a qualified Naturopath, who has studied at Schumacher College and been a UN Global Goals Ambassador. He's co-Founder of LEAPS - which accelerates Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals using design-style sprints. And most recently, he's co-Founder of AQai, whose mission is to improve humanity's adaptability at speed and scale, to help ensure no one gets left behind, in the fastest period of change we, or any human, has ever experienced in this, and the next decade. Above all, he is a Husband, Son, Brother, Friend, former digital nomad and passionate Futurist. Links: Decoding AQ: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/decoding-aq-adaptability-confidence-with-ross-thornley/id1517421415 AQAI.io: https://www.aqai.io The Squiggly Career: https://www.thesquigglycareer.com Global Goals. www.globalgoals.org Holocracy" www.holocracy.org Remote Year: www.remoteyear.com Biology of Belief: https://www.brucelipton.com/books/biology-of-belief