
LIMINAL NEWS with Daniel Pinchbeck
Host Daniel Pinchbeck explores ecology, politics, spirituality, technology, and social change. This podcast looks at our current world and proposes new ideas and solution-oriented approaches to the problems facing us.
Daniel is the author of "Breaking Open The Head," "2012 The Return of Quetzalcoatl", "How Soon Is Now?", and "When Plants Dream". He is the founder of The Liminal Institute, offering online courses, discussion groups, eBooks, audiobooks, and more!
www.liminal.news
Latest episodes

Apr 29, 2025 • 52min
Sarah Wilson | The Rise Of Sovereign Individuals
Sarah invited me to join a livestream on her Substack back on 3.7.25 to chat about my article "The Rise of Sovereign Individuals". Sarah Wilson is a multi-New York Times and Amazon bestselling author, social philosopher, international keynote speaker, minimalist and philanthropist. She edited Cosmopolitan magazine Australia at 29, founded the global I Quit Sugar movement, hosted the most-watched TV series in the nation’s history – Masterchef Australia – and wrote the bestseller First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, which Mark Manson described as “the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read.” Her most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, won the US Gold Nautilus Prize, and she has ranked in the top 200 most influential authors in the world (two years in a row). Sarah leads dynamic, global conversations about modern philosophy, creativity, existential risk and climate change via her keynote speaking, Wild podcast, and her Substack and social communities (of 550,000 subscribers). She lives nomadically, but is based between Paris and Sydney, is a compulsive hiker and adventurer. "The Rise of Sovereign Individuals" - Substack Post from Daniel Pinchbeck: Sarah Wilson Official Site: https://www.sarahwilson.com/ Sarah Wilson on Substack: https://sarahwilson.substack.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast

Apr 29, 2025 • 1h 9min
Live With Starhawk | (Substack Live 4/21/25)
I had a chance to talk with Starhawk about a wide range of topics on a Substack Livestream on 4/21/25. Hope you enjoy! Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism. She is the author or co-author of thirteen books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess and the ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, and its sequel City of Refuge. Her most recent non-fiction book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, on group dynamics, power, conflict and communications. Starhawk founded Earth Activist Training, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirituality and with a focus on activism. She travels internationally, lecturing and teaching on earth-based spirituality, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism. Starhawk Official Site: https://starhawk.org/ Starhawk on Substack: https://starhawk.substack.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast #starhawk

Apr 29, 2025 • 1h 38min
Jamie Wheal | Bad Faith Techno-Jesus & The War For America
Jamie Wheal, founder of The Flow Genome Project and author of 'Recapture the Rapture', dives into Silicon Valley's intriguing shift towards Christianity, noting a mix of sincerity and opportunism. He discusses the complexities of modern masculinity, linking it to rising right-wing ideologies. The conversation also tackles the merging of technology and spirituality, the dangers of misinformation, and the need for honest political discourse. Wheal emphasizes a path towards inclusivity and healing to address the turbulent socio-political landscape.

Mar 15, 2025 • 2h 19min
Brett Scott | Cryptocracy And Its Discontents (Substack Live 3/5/25)
A recording of a Substack LIvestream on 3/5/25 Brett Scott is a campaigner, monetary anthropologist and former broker. He is the author of The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money and Cloudmoney: Why the War on Cash Endangers Our Freedom. Brett has appeared in a wide range of TV shows, radio broadcasts and documentaries, including BBC World News and Sky News. He has written extensively on financial reform, digital finance, alternative currency, blockchain technology and the cashless society for publications like the Guardian, New Scientist, Huffington Post, Wired Magazine and CNN.com, and also publishes the Altered States of Monetary Consciousness newsletter on Substack. Excerpt from our discussion: “One of the things I'm interested in right now in terms of the underlying ideologies or the seeming inconsistencies between them is something I was calling in my last piece, "fractal libertarianism." Again, I'm still unsure about this, but if you look at the underlying image in a libertarian worldview—which is a native cosmology in capitalism anyway—it’s of the solo islands, right? Each man is an island. This is the division that Margaret Thatcher put out: "There is no society, there are only individual men and women." Buy 'Cloud Money: Cash, Cards, Crypto, and War for Our Wallets" Subscribe to Brett’s Substack Newsletter: https://brettscott.substack.com/ ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #brettscott #cloudmoney #crypto #cryptocurrency #cash #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast

Mar 2, 2025 • 1h 28min
Nafeez Ahmed | Crisis As Opportunity (Substack Livestream 3/1/25)
Nafeez Ahmed, a systems change expert and founder of the Age of Transformation newsletter, dives into the intersection of technology, politics, and ecology. He critiques the rise of technocracy and the climate change denial that accompanies it, urging grassroots movements against centralized power. The discussion explores financial systems, advocating for decentralized solutions to ecological crises. Ahmed emphasizes personal agency in driving change while navigating the sociopolitical landscape shaped by powerful ideologies, calling for a collective reimagining of democracy and hope.

Feb 22, 2025 • 1h 6min
Marianne Williamson | Responding To Our Current Moment (Substack Livestream 2/21/25)
A recording of a joint Substack LIvestream on 2/21/25 “America's decline is not solely Trump's doing. Rather, this is the inevitable consequences of decades of Western economic and military dominance built on short-term exploitation, corruption, and global predation. Trump's role is to mask this systemic unraveling with populist rhetoric while enabling the true power holders, the transnational, financial, and corporate elite, or what Bolsen calls the anational owners and controllers of global financial capital, to consolidate their wealth, power, and control as America is hollowed out and broken.” Marianne's Official Website IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariannewilliamson FB: https://www.facebook.com/williamsonmarianne Substack: https://substack.com/@mariannewilliamson ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #mariannewilliamson #trump #fascism #liminalnews

Feb 14, 2025 • 1h 1min
Ashanti Kunene | Life As Initiation
Daniel and Ashanti will be hosting an upcoming seminar presented by The Elevator, a global consciousness incubator and think tank, where Ashanti is the Executive Director. You can sign up to receive more information (including access to reduced price or early bird tickets) at www.liminal.news Ashanti Kunene is a South African storyteller, strategist, and art activist dedicated to decolonial education, social justice, and regenerative leadership. Born into South Africa’s born-free generation—those born after Nelson Mandela’s release—she has navigated the complex intersections of race, privilege, and cultural identity in a post-apartheid society. She has worked in the UN and other organizations, using narrative power to shift cultural consciousness and drive systemic change, and has been a speaker at global forums on youth leadership, climate justice, and African spirituality. With a background in anthropology and political science, Ashanti brings a unique perspective that blends indigenous wisdom, social activism, and spiritual awakening. She is passionate about Ubuntu—the African philosophy of interconnectedness—and sees the current global crises as part of a profound initiation process, requiring a radical shift in consciousness and action. Her work challenges Western paradigms of leadership and progress, advocating for community-driven, regenerative solutions that honor both ancestral wisdom and future pathways. The Elevator Official Website Ashanti Kunene: Official Website ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast #ubuntu #consciousness

Jan 18, 2025 • 1h 17min
Jay Michaelson | A Jewish Psychedelic Buddhist Tells All!
Would the full deregulation of psychedelics be a good thing? In today’s podcast, author Jay Michaelson and I discuss the rapidly evolving legal and cultural landscape of psychedelics, including their potential fast-tracking under the new Trump/Musk/RFK regime. Will deregulation — long a goal of advocates — make it more difficult to responsibly integrate these powerful substances into society? We also explore broader societal concerns, such as the erosion of democracy, systemic inequality, and the tension between technological advancement and cultural decay. I hope you enjoy it! Michaelson is the author of ten books, including The Secret That Is Not A Secret and the National Jewish Book Award-winning The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth. He is the Field Scholar at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality and will be a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in Spring 2025. He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought, a JD from Yale, among other degrees. He clerked for Judge Merrick Garland. As a journalist, his work explores the intersections of politics, religion, and ethics, appearing in Rolling Stone, The Forward, and his Substack, Both/And. He was also the Supreme Court columnist for The Daily Beast. Michaelson blends Jewish, Buddhist, and secular mindfulness traditions, frequently teaching at universities, companies, and religious institutions. Jay Michaelson: Official Website ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast #psychedelics

Jan 7, 2025 • 1h 11min
Laura Loomer | Should Elon Musk Be King Of America?
Recently, investigative journalist and MAGA mainstay Laura Loomer was "deplatformed" on Twitter/X by Elon Musk, for comments about the H1B visas. Loomer describes herself as a "free speech absolutist" whose book, Loomered, chronicles how she was previously censored and banned by tech platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and even UberEats. For many Leftists, this seemed a big "I told you so" moment: it was obvious to many on the Left that Trump was an opportunist whose alliegiance lies with the billionaire class. For Loomer and other MAGA members, there is a dawning sense of betrayal and perhaps the beginning of class consciousness, as it becomes clear that Trump's alignment with Musk could lead to a system of technocratic control without the free speech and support of American workers they were anticipating. The rift between the MAGA base and the tech billionaires who joined the campaign recently could be a bump in the road or a portent of more serious ruptures to come. https://x.com/LauraLoomer ================================== Please subscribe to the LIminal News Substack Newsletter! https://substack.com/@danielpinchbeck Please buy my books! https://tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv Please join my online seminars and community at THE LIMINAL INSTITUTE: www.liminal.news Instagram: @danielpinchbeck Official Website: www.pinchbeck.io/ #danielpinchbeck #liminalnews #podcast #lauraloomer #populism #elonmusk #technocracy #monarchy

Dec 28, 2024 • 1h 12min
Brett Scott | The Seductive Emptiness Of Bitcoin
Brett Scott, author of "Cloud Money" and writer for the Altered States of Monetary Consciousness newsletter, discusses the dizzying ride of Bitcoin. He unpacks its evolution from an experimental currency to a powerhouse influenced by speculation and political narratives. The conversation critically addresses Bitcoin's speculative nature, its societal implications, and the contradictions between wealth concentration and economic alternatives. Scott also explores future possibilities, questioning whether the hype surrounding Bitcoin is sustainable in the long run.