From What If to What Next

This episode of 'From What If to What Next' focuses on Utopianism, on our ability to imagine better futures. This is such an amazing conversation with two people who know more about Utopias than the rest of us. Alex Zamalin's work first came to my attention through his book 'Black Utopia', which I hugely recommend, and which introduced me to so many great ideas and thinkers. And more recently, Gregory Claeys' book 'Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life after Consumerism', was similarly impactful, opening many new doors in my mind. To bring them together for a conversation? A dream come true. I hope you enjoy it. And I look forward to the podcasts of 2023 and where they might take us.

It's time for our Christmas special. We wanted to leave 2022 on a high, with a hugely inspirational story of imagination in action, of imagination going big, one that will leave your mind fizzing with possibility. Recently, Camden Council in London became the first UK local authority to offer Imagination Activist training to its staff. 32 people took part over 8 weeks in a course designed to expand their imaginations and to make them ambassadors for the imagination within the organisation. It was a huge success. In this podcast we speak to Phoebe Tickell, of Moral Imaginations, who designed and taught the course, and Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council, to find out more. We explore what if every organisation did the same? I hope you're going to love this. As always, do let me know what you think.

The advertising industry is one of the key things driving the levels of consumption that are pushing us towards climate breakdown. But there are people within the advertising industry who are trying to push things in a different direction. In this episode, we speak to Lisa Merrick-Lawless of Purpose Distruptors, and strategy director and writer Michael Hines, to enter into a future in which the advertising sector has stepped up as a key driver in the change we need to see. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts... In the podcast a couple of things are mentioned, the first is the Purpose Disruptors 'Advertised Emissions' report, and the second is their 'Good Life 2030 Documentary'.

This is not a podcast that shies away from the big and important What If questions, and today we're reaching out for one of the big ones of our time. Homelessness is one of scourges of our times, and is on the rise. But is it unavoidable and inevitable, or is it just the result of a series of decisions that could just as easily be made differently? Our two amazing guests, Ana Rausch and Sam Tsemberis, are doing incredible work, which is already showing great results, using the 'Housing First' model. By the end of this podcast, you'll not only believe we can eradicate homelessness, but you'll also know how we can do that.

You're in for such a treat. Today's episode is about beavers, and what the future would look like if we allowed them to reshape the world in the way they are so incredibly good at. During the summer I went to Cornwall and fell in love with beavers, which inspired this episode. My two guests are Chris Jones, whose farm I visited to see the beavers, and Eva Bishop, whose work with the Beaver Trust is about promoting their wider re-introduction. This is such a beautiful conversation, and I challenge you not to also fall in love with beavers by the end of this episode.   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Today's episode was recorded live at the BTS Centre's Convocation 2022, an online event with the theme of 'Imagination and Collective Liberation for a Climate-Changed World'. It was recorded before a live (online) audience.   This was an event which set out to explore “what it means to nourish our imaginations toward a world of joyful possibility and embodied hope, while also holding space for the difficult realities we are facing”.  We fitted right in.   We were joined by Dr. Keisha E. McKenzie, Senior Vice President for Programs at Auburn Seminary, and Shanon Shah, Director of Faith for the Climate and Senior Deputy Editor of Critical Muslim. This was such a delightful discussion, and my deepest thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially Nicole Diroff and everyone at BTS. As always, I'd love to hear what you think of this episode and the issues it raises....   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

This week's episode is such a treat. Over the summer I devoured Ekow Eshun's amazing book 'In the Black Fantastic', the catalogue of the exhibition of the same name at the Hayward Gallery which, sadly, I didn't get to see. But even just the book was an incredible feast for the imagination, as was his concept of the Black Fantastic. If you enjoyed our podcast on Afrofuturism, you're going to love this one. It was such an honour to chat with Ekow, and I think you are really going to enjoy this journey into the Black Fantastic. As always, do let me know what you think!   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

I think you are really going to enjoy this one. My reading over the summer holidays was Shayda Kafai’s brilliant book ‘Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid’ (which I notice in the podcast I call 'Crip Wisdom' - sorry!), and as soon as I finished it I knew I had to ask Shayda to come onto the podcast to discuss her ideas. I asked her who her dream fellow guest would be, and she suggested Zena Sharman, author of The Care We Dream Of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health. And so this episode was born. And what a delightful, deep and amazing discussion we had. You’re going to love it. Do let me know what you think, I hope this episode provokes a lot of discussion and reflection.   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Just 1% of the population own half the land in England, and citizens have a Right to Roam over only 8% of its surface. This deliberate exclusion has many bad side effects, not least its impact on our collective imagination. But it's only like this because some people imagined it like this. What if we were to reimagine this arrangement so that, like in Scotland, our Right to Roam actually enabled us to, er, roam?   For this episode I'm joined by Kate Swade of Shared Assets and Guy Shrubsole, campaigner and author of 'Who Owns England?' and 'The Lost Rainforests of Britain'. I loved this conversation. Do let me know what you think...   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Today’s podcast is something a little different. We’re departing from our usual format a little to spend some time in deeper conversation with one of the great guardians of the collective imagination, Cyril Dion.   If you’ve ever seen the film ‘Demain’ (‘Tomorrow’), or his more recent film ‘Animal’, you’ll know him, and his amazing work. He’s also a poet, a collaborator with musicians, a writer, a journalist and much more. And his current work is focused on the need to tell positive stories about the future.   Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.