Vanessa Andreotti, a Brazilian academic and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, passionately discusses how modernity is akin to an 'adolescent' civilization. She advocates for Indigenous wisdom to guide humanity through crises, asserting that the West often waits until catastrophe strikes to take action. Vanessa explores the emotional processing necessary for communal healing and emphasizes the importance of 'black belt aunties' in navigating resilience. Their conversation blends reflections on loss and hope, inviting listeners to celebrate human connections even amidst chaos.

Martha Beck, an international bestselling author and renowned life coach, discusses her upcoming book on anxiety and its transformative potential. She shares personal anecdotes and insights, emphasizing how anxiety can lead to creativity and purpose. Listeners learn tangible techniques to manage anxiety through movement, music, and creative expression. Martha highlights the importance of self-compassion and connection to nature as tools for healing. Their lively conversation inspires finding joy in sensory experiences and using fears as catalysts for personal growth.

Indy Johar, the innovative founder of Dark Matter Labs and a Professor of Planetary Civics, shares his insights on urgent global challenges. He discusses the alarming potential for societal collapse and the foundational shifts needed to redefine our relationship with the planet. With a focus on community and interconnectedness, he urges transformative actions to avert crises. Johar emphasizes the critical role of sustainable practices and resilience in creating a hopeful future, encouraging a conscious evolution towards a planetary civilization.

Lyndsey Stonebridge, a Professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham, explores the unsettling echoes of Hannah Arendt's work in today’s political climate. She delves into Arendt’s insights on totalitarianism, connecting them to contemporary figures like Trump. The conversation touches on the loneliness of false belonging and the impact of social media. Stonebridge emphasizes the power of thought and the importance of love, resilience, and curiosity as tools for navigating societal challenges.

Luke Kemp (historical collapse expert; associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) has studied past civilisations and mapped out a picture of how long they tend to last before they collapse, what tends to tip them and what (if anything) can be done to stall their demise. Luke works alongside Lord Martin Rees and Yuval Noah Harari, is an honorary lecturer in environmental policy at the Australian National University and his collapse insights have been covered by the BBC, the New York Times and the New Yorker. His first book, 'Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse' will be published in June 2025. In this episode I get Luke to provide a bit of a 101 on how civilisations do indeed decline and perish and to update us on the latest theories on how and whether ours might make it through. The answer is surprising.SHOW NOTESHere’s Luke’s original report on complex civilisation’s lifespans.Keep up to date with Luke's work hereA few past Wild guests are referenced by Luke. You can catch the episode on Moloch with Liv Boeree here, the interview with Adam Mastroianni here and my chat with Nate Hagens hereThe first chapter of my book serialisation – about hope – is available to everyone hereAnd here are the two chapters that I reference at the end--If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on InstagramIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of “Ask Me Anything” questions about the minutiae of writing about - and having to live through - collapse. I try to cover most of these kinds of questions as we work through the book Serialisation process, but a few get left behind. And so this week’s Wild episode covers these off.You are welcome to join the 55,000 subscribers who are following the book, chapter by chapter, week by week, here. You’ll be invited to upgrade (sorry to have to use such commercial language) to a paid subscription…this helps me to be able to dedicate most of my working week to writing said book. But don’t feel obligated. You can stay a free subscriber and read these first few chapters here and a preview of every other one!SHOW NOTESHere’s where you can start reading the first chapter of the Book SerialisationAnd here’s the link to subscribe to my Substack newsletterWant to ask me your own question…post it here--If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prof. Joel Pearson (Neuroscientist; AI and cognition scientist) returns to Wild, this time to discuss whether free will is an illusion. In our last chat (about intuition) the subject was raised and Joel promised to come back to discuss it further, particularly in the context of AI, algorithms, the rise of totalitarianism and our agency in systems collapse. Joel is the founder and Director of Future Minds Lab which applies neuroscience findings to art, AI, media, advertising and various philosophical quandaries. He’s also a National Health and Medical Research Council fellow and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He developed the first scientific test to measure intuition and wrote The Intuition Toolkit. In this conversation, we also cover the science of manifesting!SHOW NOTESI mention the chapter on Blame and the very robust discussion the Substack community had around it. You can join this hereHere’s the previous episode where Joel talks about the scientific proof of intuitionGet Joel’s book The Intuition Toolkit: The New Science of Knowing What without Knowing WhyFollow Joel on his Future Minds Lab Substack I previously had willpower expert Roy Baumeister on Wild to talk about how the female orgasm shapes the world! --If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christiana Figueres (the woman behind the Paris Agreement) is possibly the best-known official in the global climate change movement. The former Costa Rican diplomat and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2010-2016), managed to bring together 195 nations to sign the historical 2015 agreement that set the “1.5C” target/warning. She wrote The Future We Choose, cohosts the Outrage + Optimism podcast, has a moth, a wasp and an orchid named after her, and has won countless international awards for her work. In this episode, we challenge each other on whether hope and optimism are still useful given we’ve passed the 1.5C threshold in February, whether the Paris Agreement is still viable almost 10 years on and the viability of the green energy transition. We don’t agree on a number of points, but we come together on what keeps us in the “fight” …love. Listen to the end with this one.SHOW NOTESThe work of rare earth minerals expert Olivia Lazard and energy futurist Nate Hagens supports the energy points I make in this episode. This international team of researchers and this team working out of France show fossil fuels will become net-energy negative in the future. We are spending more energy to get less energy than before—our net energy is  “plummeting”.The world’s consumption of fossil fuels climbed to a record high last year according to the University of Exeter's Global Carbon Project and NASA. A Finnish Geological Survey finds that “global reserves are not large enough to supply enough metals to build the renewable non-fossil fuels industrial system”.According to a study on societal tipping points, a peak and fall in global oil production would bring down the entire financial and trade system like a house of cards.This chapter of my book outlines the argument in detail.And here are the first two chapters of my book, that outline my position on hope v truth.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this insightful conversation, Elizabeth Oldfield, a British coach, author, and broadcaster, explores themes of resilience and spirituality. She reflects on accessing the sacred amid a turbulent world and the moral loneliness many face today. Together, they navigate grief related to climate change, the transformative power of community, and the journey of women in their 40s seeking purpose. Elizabeth emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort for deeper connections and how love can guide us through life's challenges.

Nika Kovač is a controversial Slovenian activist and Obama scholar, known for her dynamic role as the founding director of The Research Institute of 8th March. In this lively conversation, she discusses her successful campaigns against water privatization and political media influence. Nika reveals her ambitious goal for free and accessible abortion throughout the EU, sparked by the Roe v. Wade overturn. She emphasizes the importance of collective action and community support in advocating for reproductive rights, inspiring listeners to engage in the movement.