The Wisdom & Action Podcast

This month on the podcast we’re hearing from TV presenter Osher Günsberg. Most well-known for telling other people’s stories—through his hosting gigs on The Bachelor and Australian Idol—Osher is now sharing his own life experiences, detailing what it’s like to live with mental illness in his raw and real book, Back After the Break. In this episode, recorded live for an event with our friends from The School of Life, Osher chats with Sian Prior on the theme of vulnerability—exploring social anxiety, why the first thing he does in the morning is write a gratitude list, and the importance of being his whole self in front of his family.If you or anyone you know needs support, or wants to learn more about anxiety and depression, please contact any of the following: Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36. Lifeline on 13 11 14. MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978. Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.Show notes: This edited conversation was produced by our digital editor Lizzie and the music you hear is by Dennis Liu. Stay tuned for our next conversation—or hear it first by subscribing to the Dumbo Feather podcast on your favourite pod channel. For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide.Read more about Osher’s book, Back After the Break, here: https://www.harpercollins.com/9781460710241/back-after-the-break/Find our more about Sian and her book, Shy: A Memoir here: https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/shyFor more from The School of Life, visit their website here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/Read more and purchase a digital copy of Issue 57 of Dumbo Feather, Healing Ourselves, here: https://www.dumbofeather.com/product/issue-57/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our conversation this month is with someone who has been hugely influential to us — Parker Palmer, a writer who works at the intersection of activism, social change and spirituality. Three decades ago, Parker helped establish the Centre for Courage and Renewal, which runs programs for people to come together in community and learn to lead from within. Here, Parker and Dumbo Feather editor Nathan talk about everything from eldership in the modern age to the importance of showing up in the world as your true self. Their conversation—centred around Parker’s new book, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old—is a timely one, recorded just weeks before Parker’s 80th birthday. Show notes: Parker’s latest book is On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old can be found here: https://onthebrinkofeverything.com/ You can read our first interview with Parker in issue 44 of Dumbo Feather magazine, or see more of his work on our website. This podcast was produced by Lizzie Marton and the music you hear is by Dennis Liu. For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe at Dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For over thirty years, childbirth educator, birth attendant and counsellor Rhea Dempsey has been helping women to feel more empowered and better prepared when navigating childbirth. This month on the podcast, she chats with Dumbo Feather friend and host of the All Being Well podcast, Kayla Robertson about everything from why our attitudes towards birth have changed so dramatically since the ‘80s to how we can help create better birthing options for mothers and babies. We hope you find their conversation as fascinating as we did.Show notes: Enter the 2018 Dumbo Feather Reader Survey here: https://dumbofeather.typeform.com/to/InJ1AF Read more about Rhea on her site: http://www.birthingwisdom.com.au/about-rhea-dempsey/ Rhea’s conversation with our publisher and editor-in-chief, Berry Liberman can be found here: https://www.dumbofeather.com/conversations/rhea-dempsey/ You can listen to Kayla’s podcast—All Being Well—and find out more about her here: https://www.allbeingwell.com.au/ This edited conversation was produced by our digital editor Lizzie and the music you hear is by Dennis Liu. For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on the podcast we’re a sharing a piece of spoken word storytelling by New Zealand-born writer and occupational therapist, Kirsten Taylor. Throughout this episode, Kirsten explores the changing relationship she’s had with her body from a young person to now. Our editor Nathan Scolaro first heard this story told live at The Weekly Service, a secular gathering in Melbourne where people share stories, contemplate ideas and engage in conversation—he was captivated by Kirsten’s story from the moment she began, hanging on every word. We published the piece in the healing issue of Dumbo Feather and because it works as beautifully on the ear as it does on the eye, we invited Kirsten to Dumbo Feather HQ to re-tell it for our podcast listeners.Show notes: To find out more about the Weekly Service head to their site here: http://theweeklyservice.org/To enter Dumbo Feather’s $1000 travel pack competition thanks to our friends from Patagonia and Bellroy, head to dumbofeather.com/winThe music you hear is by Dennis Liu. This podcast was produced by Lizzie Marton.For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In front of a live audience, for an event by our friends at The School of Life, Nigella Lawson and Hugh Mackay chat about everything from why cooking for others is one of the most significant ways we can show people we take them seriously, to the role of food and self-care, to why the first thing Nigella bought when she moved into her new home was a table. It’s a beautiful ode to the role of food in our lives—how it can bring us all closer together, and ultimately help us to find belonging.Show notes:Thank you very much Nigella, Hugh and our friends at the School of Life for allowing us to record this conversation.Nigella’s book, At My Table can be found here: https://www.nigella.com/books/at-my-tableHugh’s book, Australia Reimagined can be found here: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781743534823/This edited conversation was produced by our digital editor Lizzie Marton. The music you hear is by Dennis Liu. Stay tuned for our next conversation—or hear it first by subscribing to the Dumbo Feather podcast on your favourite pod channel. For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month we’re bringing you a special episode of the Dumbo Feather Podcast, inspired by Issue 56 of Dumbo Feather—Embracing the Wild. We teamed up with New York based sound recordist, Matthew Mikkelsen, to take you inside one of the world’s last remaining natural amphitheatres—Olympic National Park in Washington State. We recommend you find a quiet place to listen to this one, to fully immerse yourself in the magic that Matthew has recorded. Show notes: Big thank you to Matthew Mikkelsen for his extraordinary work on this episode. You can read more about Matthew here: https://www.beinghear.com/team/ This show was produced by Matthew Mikkelsen and Nathan Scolaro. This episode is part of the Dumbo Feather wilding campaign. For more on the wild, purchase Issue 56 of Dumbo Feather here: https://www.dumbofeather.com/product/issue-56/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month we’re bringing you a live conversation with Issue 56 profilee, the legendary Bob Brown. For decades, Bob has inspired generations of Australians to feel a deep reverence for the environment—and campaign to protect it. In this episode, Bob talks with our editor, Nathan Scolaro, about his latest efforts to save the Tarkine, a wilderness region in north west Tasmania, and how embracing music, the arts and self-care is central to empowered activism. Show notes:This edited conversation was produced by our digital editor, Lizzie Marton. The music you hear is by Dennis Liu. Join Patagonia and the Bob Brown Foundation in telling the Tasmanian government to nominate takayna / Tarkine for World Heritage protection, by signing their petition here: https://www.change.org/p/premier-will-hodgman-support-world-heritage-protection-for-takayna-tarkineFind the Drew Dellinger poem Bob references here: https://drewdellinger.org/pages/poetry/961/hieroglyphic-stairwayRead more about the Bob Brown Foundation here: http://www.bobbrown.org.au/You can purchase Issue 56 of Dumbo Feather, Embracing the Wild, here: https://www.dumbofeather.com/product/issue-56/For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the podcast this month is New York based illustrator, Mari Andrew. Mari’s captivating, relatable portrayals of her personal life and the world around her have made her an Instagram sensation, drawing a following of nearly one million people. Throughout this conversation, recorded live for our sister company, The School of Life, Mari chats with Dumbo Feather contributor Sarah Darmody and unpacks six guiding themes that have helped her navigate growing up, including resilience, authenticity and healing. Their chat is full of beautiful, tender moments and reveals. We hope you love it as much as we do.Show notes:Thank you to The School of Life Australia for hosting this lovely event. Mari’s new book is called Am I There Yet: The Loop-de-loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood.You can check our Mari's illustrations on her Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/bymariandrew/This edited conversation was produced by Lizzie Marton and the music you hear is by Dennis Liu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helena Norberg-Hodge joins our publisher Berry Liberman on the podcast this month. As a young woman in 1975, Helena was invited to join a film crew travelling to Ladakh, a remote region on the Tibetan plateau, just as it was opening up to tourism and other Western influences. She talks to Berry about the heartbreaking changes she witnessed during that time, and challenges conventional ideas we may have around progress and development. Above all, Helena advocates for an economy centered around community and the importance of carrying ancient wisdom into our future.Show notes: You can read more about Helena, and seven other incredible humans bringing about the next economy, including banker Muhammad Yunus and radical economist Kate Raworth, in issue 55 of Dumbo Feather magazine. https://www.dumbofeather.com/product/issue-55/You can also read more about Helena’s experience in Ladak in her book, Ancient Futures. https://www.penguin.com.au/books/ancient-futures-9780712606561 This edited conversation was produced by our digital editor Lizzie Marton. The music you hear is by Dennis Liu. For more conversations with extraordinary people, subscribe to Dumbo Feather at dumbofeather.com. We deliver worldwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featured on the podcast this month is our very dear friend, Hugh Mackay. Hugh has been examining how we live for six decades, so he's got some pretty great insights into what makes a good life. In this live event run by our friends at The School of Life, Hugh shares wisdom about how we can become a more compassionate and less anxious society, by looking at and working within our local neighbourhoods and communities. Show Notes: Thank you to The School of Life for letting us share these wonderful words with our podcast community. This podcast was produced by Beth Gibson. Music is by Dennis Liu. You can read more about Hugh’s new book, Australia Reimagined, by visiting: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781743534823/ And you can find out more about The School of Life, by visiting their website here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/ For more conversations with extraordinary people, why not head to our site, it’s dumbofeather.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.