[BONUS] The Turn of the Year (or A Solstice Celebration) w/ Manda Scott and Nathalie Nahai

Dec 30, 2025

Join Nathalie Nahai, a behavior science expert exploring psychology in the digital age, and Manda Scott, a novelist and shamanic practitioner, as they reflect on a transformative year. They delve into the challenges and joys of AI, the importance of storytelling for cultural regeneration, and their hopes for a brighter future. Manda shares insights on inner work and systemic change, while Nathalie discusses fostering community connection through rituals. Together, they ponder how to choose kindness over bitterness in these uncertain times.

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INSIGHT

Choosing Kindness Over Bitterness

Della frames a central life choice as whether to become bitter or to turn toward life with kindness.
She commits to practicing kindness to emotions, relationships, and work as a deliberate orientation.

ANECDOTE

Monastery Singing Reopened Her Voice

Nathalie attended Plum Village and experienced deep reconnection through communal chanting and song.
The practice released grief and joy and led her to start recording an album to reclaim her musical voice.

INSIGHT

Spiritual Grounding As Systemic Seed

Manda describes growing spiritual and animist communities that share baseline assumptions and accelerate deeper system-change conversations.
She sees people committing to service to life and inner work as essential for cultural transformation.

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Happy Holidays! In this annual tradition, Della is joined by two fellow podcast hosts to reflect on insights and questions from the past year and share visions for the year ahead. They discuss how to not get stuck in embitterment, concerns and questions about AI, and where they are currently finding hope in these dark times.

Manda Scott is a novelist, smallholder, and host of the Accidental Gods podcast, which showcases individuals and organizations at the emerging edge of our world to set the foundation for a future we'd be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. Manda's latest novel, Any Human Power, is out now and available here.

Nathalie Nahai is a behavior science advisor, author and host of the podcast The Hive, which focuses on psychology, technology, and human behavior. Nathalie is the author of Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and is also the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon, a project that offers curated gastronomical gatherings that explore how we can thrive in times of turbulence and change.

One of Della's offerings in the new year is a course she designed about how to cultivate regenerative livelihoods. She created this course with insights that she has found most helpful in bringing Upstream theories and ideas into people's lives as a Right Livelihood coach. Whether you are in a livelihood transition, want to be in community with others trying to find meaningful work, or you just want to know more about work as a vehicle for post capitalist systems change, this course is a great fit. It includes live sessions, engaging module materials and activities including Upstream episodes, and a lively discussion forum to bring the material to life. Click here to learn more and to register and use "FRIENDS-20" for 20% off the course fee.

Thank you to the Accidental Gods team for editing this episode.

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