Báyò Akómoláfé

Báyò Akómoláfé  is an author, celebrated speaker, teacher, and self-styled trans-public intellectual whose vocation goes beyond justice and speaking truth to power to opening up other spaces of power-with. In this episode of The Emerald, Báyò joins Josh for a deep-dive discussion into how the Western psychological vision shapes modernity, and the need to expand into alternative stories of what 'being' means. Says Báyò: "Psychology is complicit in the creation of Western modernity. It is not a thing apart. Its disciplinarity, its history, and its legacies are tied up with the industrialization, commodification, the manufacturing, the replication and the reproduction of the human subject. How we think about what it means to be human, what it means to have agency, what it means to think, who has cognition, who doesn't have cognition — all of this is tied in with the historicity of psychology." Using animate tradition as a foundation, Josh and Báyò explore Norse and Polynesian trickster myths, trauma discourse and Puritanism, and pay homage to the gods of in between spaces as they explode open a vision of being, bodies, and sentience that is vast, wild, and porous. Support the show

Báyò Akómoláfé and Indy Johar engage in a conversation about the objective nature of self and the world around us. They discuss the aliveness of the world, the agency and intelligence of our entangled minds, and the need to move beyond constraining ideas of order, power, and control. They explore the deep-rooted problems of identity and ownership, the impact of the Enlightenment era, and the role of blackness in societal boundaries. The chapter also emphasizes the need to embrace complexity, analog experiences, and biological connections to reclaim our humanity.

How are the crises of our times crises of being, crises of becoming? Ayana is joined by returning guest Dr. Báyò Akómoláfé. Ayana and Báyò dance together through questions of crisis, identity, and rupture. As we attempt to break from the monoculture that cements us as citizen subjects of empire, Báyò suggests that we need an ontological mutiny. Pointing out the possibilities of a more generous and spacious politics, Báyò calls listeners’ attention to the duplicity of safety. Perhaps the things from which we recoil contain promise. As we try to stabilize, cracks will emerge, and Báyò invites us to nurture each other  through the ruptures. How might we descend to the crises of our times, and embrace the decay and compost that modernity has come to detest?  Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea and Kyah, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Founder of The Emergence Network and host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. For an extended version of this episode join us on Patreon at patreon.com/forthewild.Music by Julio Kintu (Chloe Utley), Jahnavi Veronica, Leyla McCalla, and Los Hombres Calientes. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.Support the show

Author and public intellectual Báyò Akómoláfé discusses stepping out of human-centric views, creating a new language for neurodiversity, and exploring 'hushes' that disrupt narratives. They reflect on diverse cultural backgrounds, interdisciplinary studies, and the beauty of elusive ideas. Embracing opacity in narratives and challenging completion in storytelling are key themes, along with the concept of 'Hushism' and the liberating experience of swimming in the sea.

Paul Hawken, a renowned environmentalist and author, teams up with philosopher Báyò Akómoláfé, exploring profound thoughts on climate and connection. They challenge conventional views, emphasizing that carbon is not a villain but a vital element of life. Discussions unveil the limitations of solutionism and highlight the importance of relational approaches. They advocate for addressing root causes over mere fixes, and emphasize care and relational agency, urging listeners to embrace uncertainty and a new politics of emergence.