A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World

Callie is a scavenger-gatherer, hunter, wilderness therapy guide, ancestral skills teacher and goat herder who lives nomadically following the seasons and wild food. Chris Ryan co-hosts this episode with me and we discuss everything from Callie's recent appearance on the TV show Alone, her upbringing & close relationship with loss and death, how she transforms grief into gratitude and a commitment to honoring herself and the earth, and the practical and symbolic beauty of goats and how they can help get us back to a more regenerative relationship with the planet. Find Callie at Caprakhan.com and on Instagram @caprakhan Callie's Book Recommendation: Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Tending the Wild by M. Kat Anderson Songs featured: Solo by Oh Wonder and No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat & book club just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Leah has a BA in social justice and is working on her doctorate in clinical depth psychology where she plans to write her dissertation on white shamanism. Leah and I speak about what it means to import the sacred, spiritual practices of other cultures into a Western context and how we can get stuck in the trap of spiritual bypassing. We also talk about how all of this relates to power, narcissism, social media, psychedelics and therapy. Lastly, we discuss the nuanced and complex nature of defining and reacting to "abuse", the dangers of cancel culture and the importance of moving from victimhood into empowerment.  Find Leah on Instagram at @creme.de.la.bean and her white shaman alter-ego Steve at @stevetheshaman Leah's Book Recommendation: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts Song featured: Buildings and Bridges by Ani DiFranco How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat & book club just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Justin and I look at the world in very similar ways. Maybe it’s because we were both raised by a gay dad, or because we both had to navigate challenging early childhood dynamics, or because we both have Dutch heritage. Either way, for as long as we can both remember, we’ve always approached the world with a great deal of curiosity and skepticism. Justin worked in the fire department for his entire adult life and just recently retired. He shares vulnerably about what his 23 years of experience has taught him about humanity and the systems we depend on. We discuss everything from navigating our sexual identity to processing severe trauma to the crisis of loneliness to the multitude of ways our culture fails the people who need our support the most. Justin is one of the most vulnerable and courageous men I know. I’m honored to be his friend and grateful to help share his story.  Find Justin on Instagram @justinotherman Justin's Book Recommendations: The War on Art by Steven Pressfield and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig Songs featured: "Bones" by DeYarmond Edison and "Lairs" by Gregory Alan Isakov Click here to see the Feelings Wheel Justin mentioned How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat & book club just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Sarah Kerr is a death doula and ritual healing practitioner, helping people navigate literal and symbolic death through cross-cultural shamanic healing and nature-based spirituality. We speak about dark nights of the soul as initiatory experiences, rituals for letting go, the cyclical nature of the soul’s journey and how processing personal grief is of service to the larger whole.  Find Sarah at soulpassages.ca Sarah's Book Recommendation: World as Lover, World as Self by Joanna Macey and Dark Night, Early Dawn by Christopher Bache Songs featured: "Semolina" by Slow Meadow and "Kol Nidre" by Max Bruch How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat & book club just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

In this engaging discussion, Joseph R. Lee, a Jungian analyst, and co-host of "This Jungian Life," along with fellow analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart, dive into the profound legacy of Carl Jung. They explore themes like individuation, authenticity, and the quest for personal meaning in today’s tumultuous world. The conversation also touches on the transformative power of trauma, the significance of dreams, and how astrology can aid in personal growth. Listeners are encouraged to embrace their journeys towards deeper self-awareness and community connection.

Diana Rodgers, RD, LDN is a “real food” Licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist living on a working organic farm in New England. She’s an author and host of The Sustainable Dish Podcast. She's currently working on a new book and film project, Sacred Cow, exploring the important role of animals in our food system. Diana and I discuss how and why meat is imperative to a stable ecosystem, a healthy diet and necessary to address a long list of environmental issues. We talk soil, death, the religious history behind why Americans have come to view meat as "bad" and how to spread truth and enact meaningful change when it feels like everything is working against you. Find Diana at sustainabledish.com and sacredcow.info Click here to pre-order Sacred Cow. Diana's Book Recommendation: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Songs featured: "Walk Away" by Xavier Rudd and "The Gardener" by Holly Arrowsmith How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Jenny is a certified astrologer, holds a B.A. in Classical Philology and has studied ancient civilizations and languages for over 25 years. She also has a PhD in Modern Languages and Literatures and is one of my closest friends and mentors. Jenny and I speak about locating and embracing personal filters as it relates to language, heritage and spirituality in order to find our life's unique lesson plan. We also discuss our own personal mother wounds and how we're working through them, our skepticisms about some forms of astrology and how trauma can and should be used as a tool for finding the truest expression of ourselves and our "purpose" in this lifetime.  Find Jenny at amaltheaastrology.com Jenny's Book Recommendation: No Friend by the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani Poems Jenny read: An unpublished translation of an untitled poem by Nobel Prize winner George Seferis, translated from the Modern Greek by Jenny & the poems “Day” and “Night” by Jawdat Fakhreddine translated by Huda Fakhreddine and Jayson Iwen from the book Lighthouse for the Drowning. Songs featured: "Dreamland" by Glass Animals and "Moment of Surrender" by Nick Mulvey How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Kelsey is a veterinarian, former art student and badass hoola hooper. To be honest, we spend the entire first half of this podcast recounting a rattlesnake bite Kelsey got within a day of me meeting her (where she had to be flown out of a remote canyon we were in via helicopter), but for the rest of the show we discuss her experience growing up on large, remote cattle ranches, her inspiration for becoming a large animal veterinarian and how she plans to use her expertise to assist in endangered species awareness, conservation and reproduction. We also discuss our mutual love of the outdoors and how vital it is, especially in these times, to spend time outside in nature.   Find Kelsey on Instagram - @kelseamountain   Kelsey's Book Recommendation: Cathedral of the Wild by Boyd Varty   Songs featured: "Long Time Coming" by Leela James and "Drover" by Bill Callahan   Learn more about chart I spoke about in my intro in regard to mapping our roles in a social change ecosystem here - https://buildingmovement.org/our-work/movement-building/solidarity-is/   How to support the show:   Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!   Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!   Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Very excited to bring this conversation with my brother to the podcast. Micah is currently working at The Happiness Research Institute developing an alternative to GDP that focuses on happiness, well-being and quality of life instead of profit. We discuss what happiness means, how it's measured and how it might be implemented. We also discuss the current state of the world and how our upbringing has informed our worldview. From living in different countries for most of our adult lives, to what it was like to be siblings, to being raised in an unconventional household, we both share our insights on how we're each trying to live authentic, individuated lives in a culture and a world that pressures us to conform.    Find out more about Micah's work at The Happiness Research Institute here and find his music on Spotify under Meeka Kates.   Micah's Book Recommendations: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez   Songs featured: "I Saved The World Today" by Eurythmics and "Closure" by Meeka Kates   How to support the show:   Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!   Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!   Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Mark Epstein, M.D. is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City and the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy. Mark discusses the ways in which trauma weaves its way through the story and life of the Buddha, the difference between discipline and control and how narratives and feelings intersect and why both are useful. We also chat about the importance of integrating pain and grief into our lives and the fallacy of thinking that things ever "return to normal".    Find out more about Mark at markepsteinmd.com and on Facebook.   Mark's Book Recommendations: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and the 6 volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard.   Songs featured: "Eyes Closed and Traveling" by Peter Broderick and "Tiny Apocalypse" by David Byrne   How to support the show:   Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!   Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!   Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to Dirt Road Dispatch at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe