How do we make the case for a fully ecological farming system, that can feed all of us, while restoring the bio-sphere and providing affordable, nutritious food. How can we become a good keystone species - and what does that mean.  This second episode with Chris Smaje, explores his new book, 'Saying No to a Farm Free Future: The Case for an Ecological Food System and against Manufactured Foods.' Chris was last a guest on the podcast in the spring of this year (2023), in episode 166, in which we explored his book 'A Small Farm Future' - what it meant, how he came to write it, and what a Small Farm Future might look and feel like. At the time, we veered toward the topic of the Eco-Modernist manifesto and in particular their concept that 'Precision Fermentation' is necessary to feed the world's population - and would enable us to dispense with farming, which they regard as the author of all the world's ills. Chris said then that he was writing something that would address this more directly and suggested he come back when it was ready.And now his new book is ready, and he has come back to talk about it.  The book absolutely does what it says on the tin, and does it well. Chris has a background in academia and his capacity for critical thinking shines through the text as he examines the good and the bad of the Eco-Modernist agenda, and in particular the new kid on the Eco-Modernist block, George Monbiot and his latest tract, Regenesis. He really dives deeply into the assertions that are made, takes them apart and shows the (many) places where they don't stack up. At the end, he makes a heartfelt, grounded, and I think rather beautiful plea for us to rediscover our human place as a good keystone species, instead of feeling we have to wall ourselves up in concrete boxes eating manufactured food. Chris's Book: Saying NO to a Farm Free Future https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/saying-no-to-a-farm-free-future-the-case-for-an-ecological-food-system-and-against-manufactured-foods-chris-smaje/7448082?ean=9781915294166Chris’s website smallfarmfuture.org.uk  Chris's blog https://chrissmaje.com/blog/Chris on Twitter https://twitter.com/csmajePrevious Accidental Gods episode https://accidentalgods.life/living-in-a-post-carbon-post-capital-post-urban-world/Tyson Yunkaporta Sand Talk https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sand-talk-how-indigenous-thinking-can-save-the-world-tyson-yunkaporta/3904066?ean=9781925773996

We are the Accidental Gods.  We didn't plan to be the ones to hold the god-like power to destroy most of the life on this planet, but here we are, at a place where one single species - ours - has the capacity to do just this. The routes to Armageddon seem to be increasing all the time, but they all have one thing in common: they're predicated on our absolute disconnection from the web of life. It is a central tenet of this podcast that, for most of our evolutionary history, humanity has existed as an integral part of this web - and that we were aware of our connectedness. Quite how we lost this is open to question and I doubt if we'll ever find concrete answers: certainly I don't think speculation is worth a lot of emotional or intellectual bandwidth - because what really matters - what can and, I think, should, take up most of our energy in whatever time we have left - is finding ways to heal the rift, to re-connect us to the living web so that we can ask of it, 'What do you want of me?' and respond to the answers in real time. If you've listened to this podcast much, you've heard me say this once or twice before. Possibly more often. If you're a part of the wider Accidental Gods community and come along to our monthly Intention Intensives, then you've heard me say it Every. Single. Time. we meet. (!) So, yes, finding ways to do this at scale is something of an obsession. I think it's the only way we're going to get through, and that if we can achieve it. we'll have made a significant shift in the evolution of our consciousness - our wisdom (the bit that AI will never be able to emulate). But one of the things from which I have steered quite clear is the field of psychedelics. There are a lot of reasons for this and we explore some of them in the podcast we're about to hear because I have found someone whose opinion I trust implicitly, who has direct experience of the use of psychedelics in a number of fields and whose integrity feels strong. Dr Rosalind Watts is a clinical psychologist who was the former Clinical Lead of the 'psilocybin for depression' trial at Imperial College, London. She also gave a ground-breaking TEDx talk in 2017, in which she opened up the results of that first trial to her peers and to the world. Since then, though, she has written a Medium post in which she points out some of the pitfalls of that trial, and opens up the concept that if we use psychedelics indiscriminately in a toxic culture, they are as likely to amplify the toxicity as they are to heal. Having realised this, and experienced some of the harm that plant medicines can do if not held within a supportive framework, Ros has gone on to found ACER Integration, a twelve month online course with monthly modules built around connections to and with trees - designed explicitly to create the supportive culture people need to integrate their experiences. So - if you're expecting us to talk about all the multi-coloured wonders of psychedelics, then forget it, that's not what this podcast is about. It's about understanding the systemic nature of mental health, of cultural experience and of the ways plant spirits can act to change this. It's inspiring and it's a call to action, as well as a profoundly important health warning as we approach the brink of yet another tipping point. ACER Integration: https://acerintegration.com/Ros on Medium: https://medium.com/@DrRosalindWatts/can-magic-mushrooms-unlock-depression-what-ive-learned-in-the-5-years-since-my-tedx-talk-767c83963134Ros on Newsnight https://headtopics.com/uk/psilocybin-calls-to-ease-restrictions-on-magic-mushroom-drug-39313183Ros on Twitter https://twitter.com/drrosalindwattsRos on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rosalind-watts/Ros Paper on Psychedelic link to Biophilia https://www.mdpi.com/2813-1851/2/2/12ACER integration on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/acer-integration/Psypan https://www.psypanglobal.org/ DoubleBlind paper https://doubleblindmag.com/colonialism-by-another-name/Film - Psychedelic Chronicles https://psychedelicchronicles.earth/Ros's TEDx talk https://youtu.be/8kfGaVAXeMYThe Hive w Camila Moreno https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-hive-podcast/id1387510537?i=1000612916498

It's the summer solstice, the longest day and the shortest night. What matters now in our world is that we reconnect with the rhythms of the living web. This meditation is designed to help you connect to the rising sun on this day of longest light.This version of the summer solstice meditation has periods of silence in which you can explore your own feelings and observe the focus of your awareness.  As with all meditations, please find a safe, quiet place where you can be completely undisturbed for the duration of the meditation - and a short while afterwards. 

It's the summer solstice, the longest day and the shortest night. What matters now in our world is that we reconnect with the rhythms of the living web. This meditation is designed to help you connect to the rising sun on this day of longest light.This version of meditation has birdsong overlaid so there is no silence.  As with all meditations, please find a safe, quiet place where you can be completely undisturbed for the duration of the meditation - and a short while afterwards. 

At the halfway point of the year, Manda looks back on what's been on the podcast, forward at (some of) what's to come, thoughts on where we're at as a world, and explores the books and podcasts that have stood out in the past six months. Non fiction  A People’s Green New Deal by Max Ajl https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-people-s-green-new-deal-max-ajl/5731783?ean=9780745341750Building Tomorrow by Paddy Le Fluffy https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Building-Tomorrow-by-Paddy-Le-Flufy/9781739345204Spinning Out By Charlie Herzog Young https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Spinning-Out-by-Charlie-Hertzog-Young/9781804440315Saying No to a Farm Free Future by Chris Smaje https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/saying-no-to-a-farm-free-future-the-case-for-an-ecological-food-system-and-against-manufactured-foods-chris-smaje/7448082?ean=9781915294166Two Lights by James Roberts https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/two-lights-james-roberts/7366651?ean=9781912836178Post-Capitalist Philanthropy: Healing Wealth in a time of collapse by Alnoor Ladha and Lynn Murphy: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Post-Capitalist-Philanthropy-by-Alnoor-Ladha-Lynn-Murphy/9798986531007 Fiction Black Water Sister by Zen Cho https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/black-water-sister-zen-cho/6464196?ean=9781509800018The Grief Nurse – Angie Spoto https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-grief-nurse-angie-spoto/7230526?ean=9781914518171Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/now-she-is-witch-a-witch-story-unlike-any-other-from-the-author-of-the-gracekeepers-kirsty-logan/7387771?ean=9781529116113Habitat Man by DA Baden https://www.dabaden.com/habitat-man/The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-First-Fifteen-Lives-of-Harry-August-by-Claire-North/9780356502588Frankie Boyle, Meantime https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/meantime-frankie-boyle/6521254?ean=9781399801157Podcasts Bankless Episode w Eliezer Yudkowsky https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/bankless/id1499409058?i=1000600575387Planet Critical – particularly the episode w Alastair Campbell https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/planet-critical/id1545009586?i=1000615243292David Bollier’s Frontiers of Commoning, particularly the episode with Alnoor Ladha and Lynn Murphy https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/frontiers-of-commoning-with-david-bollier/id1501085005?i=1000615201925Your Undivided Attention https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/your-undivided-attention/id1460030305The Great Simplification https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens/id1604218333

Sometimes the synchronicity of this podcast leaves me very happy. About six months ago, I was thinking that I wanted to talk to someone who really lived at the interface between science and spirituality, where I could begin to sand down some of the rough edges of my own thinking. And that afternoon, I discovered that the 2nd edition of Professor Ursula Goodenough's book 'The Sacred Depths of Nature' was due to be published in the first half of this year. So we set up a podcast and then it turned out that my calendar management was haywire and I'd booked it for the day after teaching one of the most challenging of the shamanic dreaming courses. Normally I'd give myself several days to come back to something approaching consensus reality. You may think I don't spend a lot of time in CR as it is, and you'd be right, but there are degrees of my untethering and the day after a dreaming course is not my most tethered. But in the end, it was magical - really good to re-read Ursula's book in the evening and then have a quiet day reflecting and exploring things that snagged my attention. And so here we are: Ursula is a Professor of Biology Emerita at Washington University. She has discussed religious naturalism in essays, college classes, and as part of blogs and television and radio productions. She participated in conversations with the Dalai Lama sponsored by the Mind and Life Institute. She is author of the book, “The Sacred Depths of Nature” which, examines cosmology, evolution, and cell biology, celebrates the mystery and wonder of being alive, and suggests that this orientation might serve as the basis for “planetary ethic” that draws from both science and religion. And on the basis of this concept, in 2014, Ursula was part of the founding of the Religious Naturalists Association. And now comes the second, updated, edition, that looks into epigenetics and pandemics and generally updates both the science and the moving reflections that each scientific section evokes. It's beautiful, thoughtful, and inspiring. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass said of it, “At once expansive and intimate, empirical and immanent, analytical and intuitive, material and spiritual, science and poetry get to dance joyfully together in these pages.” What better encouragement would we need to explore more deeply with the author? So People of the Podcast, please welcome Professor Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depths of NatureIn 2023, Ursula was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Sacred Depths of Nature http://sacreddepthsofnature.com/Order Ursula's book here http://sacreddepthsofnature.com/order-book/Religious Naturalist Association https://religious-naturalist-association.org/welcome/National Academy of Sciences  https://source.wustl.edu/2023/05/goodenough-mckinnon-elected-to-national-academy-of-sciences/Terence Deacon - The Symbolic Species https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/733691.The_Symbolic_SpeciesBitch by Lucy Cooke https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bitch-a-revolutionary-guide-to-sex-evolution-and-the-female-animal-lucy-cooke/6532317?ean=9781804990919

This is the fourth of our ongoing series with Dr Simon Michaux.  As ever, we ranged far and wide, but this time within the remit of 'what does the world look like in 2050 if we make good choices now?'   Specifically, how do we construct and power our civilisation beyond the emergence of the new system.  And yes, that's impossible to predict exactly, but it's not overly hard to make some basic observations - that we'll have phased out fossil fuels; that we'll reduce our inputs and outputs; that we'll live more simple, but higher quality lives.  Specifically, we narrowed down on possible energy sources, and Simon proposed something which has been known for decades, but not put into practice, once again, with his trademark data to support his thesis.  This one is genuinely hopeful - though of course we’ll have to completely rearrange our entire value system to put the living biosphere (current and future) ahead of profit - but we do know this...  Enjoy!Confessions of an Economic Hitman - Animated Short version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYtb5zatgMgNaomi Klein Shock Doctrine https://naomiklein.org/the-shock-doctrine/

This week's guest is fast becoming a friend of the Podcast. In the first part of what is now an ongoing series, Dr Simon Michaux outlined for us the nature of the materials crisis - the fact that there is simply not enough stuff, not enough copper or cobalt or lithium to continue to manufacture at the levels we have been - and there's not even enough to make the renewable (or, as Nate Hagens would call them, rebuildable) technology to replace the fossil fuel power we're going to have to stop using. If you haven't listened to these two, please do, because lot of this conversation is predicated on that one, and on our second podcast where we looked at Michaux's hierarchy of needs and really delved into power generation in more depth. I had planned that we'd look more at the remaining five of Simon's hierarchy of needs in this conversation, but - like most of these podcasts - the plan went out of the window when I asked how he was doing and it was clear that he'd been having some really interesting conversations. And so we went with this - because it seems to me that if the people who get it are multiplying, then it's useful for us to know this - we can support the narratives that unpick the 'business as usual' dynamics and begin to look forward to what will work.  That's the core of this podcast - what can we do, how can we do it - and how can we ensure that enough people get this to create a global movement. We had to cut off faster than we'd like, so there will be (at least) a podcast four!Simon Michaux Podcast 1 https://accidentalgods.life/transforming-industry-to-create-a-genuine-green-revolution/Simon Michaux Podcast 2 https://accidentalgods.life/drawing-humanity-out-of-the-cave-with-dr-simon-michaux/Gail Tverberg 'Our Infinite World: https://ourfiniteworld.com/William Rees: https://www.postcarbon.org/our-people/william-rees/GOES REPORT http://goesfoundation.com/news/posts/2021/june/plastic-and-toxic-chemical-induced-ocean-acidification-is-causing-a-plankton-crisis-and-will-devastate-humanity-in-the-next-25-years/

As you'll know by now, one of our core motivators in creating this podcast was the realisation that the 'democratic' systems of the world are largely broken and are not a useful way to affect change. I used to be a political activist. I thought I'd given all that up, but today's conversation has definitely re-awakened my political instincts because today I'm talking with two of the people who set up South Devon Primary: a group committed to changing the political system in the UK. So the first thing to say for those of you who live elsewhere is that this episode is focused on the need for change in the Westminster Parliament. But the issues are worldwide and whatever your political system, it could probably do with being shaken up. We need to share best practice across the globe and what Simon Oldridge, Anthea Simmons and Ben Long have created feels like a template that could be replicated not just throughout the UK but across the world.   The principles are basic and while it's not going to take us to full democracy in one giant leap, it's definitely a step in the right direction.  If adopted around the nation (and the world) it could see us move away from the politics of hatred, fear and resentment to something a great deal more generative. To look at these three in more depth and so understand where they're coming from: Simon Oldridge was an accountant with Ernst and Young and then CEO of a manufacturing company. More recently, his awareness of the climate and ecological crisis has led him to engage with a group endeavouring to put forward a Climate and Ecology Bill to the UK parliament (he talks about this in the podcast) and to set up the South Devon Primary campaign which you'll hear about in much more depth. Anthea Simmons is Editor in Chief of the progressive online paper, West Country Voices, speaker for Devon for Europe and author of a number of books, including one for young climate activists. Before that, rather like Simon, she worked in financial asset management. She's a passionate advocate for the South Devon Primary and invented the Democracy Meter, which you're also hear about in the conversation. Ben Long is an author and educator and currently helps his partner run her ceramics business in Devon. He didn't join us on the podcast - partly because I think two extra voices is enough to contend with - but he's a core part of the work of South Devon Primary. And that work is practical, active, really intelligently targeted and if it were taken up around the country, could do more, I think, to shape the outcome of the next general election than anything else I've found.  Listen, enjoy - and then make this happen as near to wherever you live as you can. South Devon Primary Website https://www.southdevonprimary.org/Zero Hour https://www.zerohour.ukAnthea Simmons on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/antheasimmons/West Country Voices on Twitter https://twitter.com/WCountryVoicesSimon Oldridge on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-oldridge-17207a206/Simon on Twitter https://twitter.com/SiOldridgeSouth Devon Primary on Twitter https://twitter.com/SDevonPrimaryBen Long on Twitter: https://twitter.com/benwhlongSimon - Twitter thread w Local MP  https://twitter.com/SiOldridge/status/1641713280967213056

If you've listened to this podcast at all recently, you'll know that I'm in the editing phase of the new book - the phase where we 'carve it into tiny pieces, throw significant chunks of it in the recycling (because words are never wasted and text storage is basically free) and rebuild the rest into something shinier, sharper and generally more succinct.' And I'm telling you this because this week's guest is a fellow writer who knows what it's like to stare at a blank page until your forehead bleeds - but in this case, she's also an academic psychologist who has the data to back up the value of Thrutopian writing. Dr Denise Baden is a Professor of Sustainable Practice at the University of Southampton, and she says, that 'working in sustainability and climate change, the more you know the scarier it is. Like the sun, you can’t look too closely at it, but face to one side, you make your way, because in fact, it’s easy to put everything right. All the solutions are right here, they just have to catch on. Walking lightly and mindfully upon the earth is so doable. I started writing as therapy, with green solutions as the main ingredient, stories to soothe my soul. Then my characters and their stories took over centre stage, leaving the green solutions to season the stew.'Denise is one of those people who sees a problem and starts creating real world solution. in 2018, she set up the series of free Green Stories writing competitions to inspire writers to create positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like, and to tell stories that showcase solutions, not just problems because her data show that's what we need. In the process she continued to research what works in terms of fiction and climate communication - as a result of which, she has written a novel, Habitat Man, and she compiled an anthology of short stories  called No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet. which she had ready by COP27 so there was a copy for every delegate to read. Magnificently, she is on the Forbes list of Climate Leaders: https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2023/03/19/68-climate-leaders-changing-the-film-and-tv-industry/Denise Website https://www.dabaden.com/Green Stories website https://www.greenstories.org.uk/  NEXT NOVEL PRIZE DEADLINE IS 26th JUNEDenise on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DABadenauthorDenise publications and academic record https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5wzjrb/professor-denise-badenSustainable HairCare project: https://ecohairandbeauty.com/Details of the project with Bafta and Albert  https://www.greenstories.org.uk/climatecharacters/Key hashtags are #ClimateCHaracters and #HotOrNot. The survey is here (please go an complete it!)  bit.ly/433n71wThe images were designed by  https://www.rubberrepublic.com/ (check out their website – the first and third especially are hilarious and the one about the old XR protestor is incredibly moving. Thrutopia website https://thrutopia.lifeBooks mentioned by other authorsCarbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4935015-the-carbon-diaries-2015The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-ministry-for-the-future-kim-stanley-robinson/2164043