Accidental Gods

Dr John Collins worked for the UK's Central Electricity Generating Board in the days when such things were nationalised industries. His PhD involved creating a real-time dosimeter for workers in nuclear plants so they didn't have to wait 2 weeks to learn the results of the film-based dosimeters that were in use. In doing so, he saved the CEGB considerable amounts of money - and, mere importantly,  saved the lives and health of the men and women who worked there. Thus began a lifetime working at the leading edge of business where innovation meets ethics and morality so that now, he is the Ethics and Responsible Innovation Advisor at Machine Intelligence Garage and on the Ethics Advisory Board at Digital Catapult. He's writing a book called 'A History of the Future in Seven Words.' With all this, he's an ideal person to open up the worlds of business, innovation and technology. In a wide-ranging, sparky, fun conversation, we explore what might make AI safe, how a future might look with sustainable business, whether 1.5 is 'still alive' and if that's even a useful metric - and how much power does it take to post an Instagram picture compared to making a plastic bottle (spoiler alert: it's the same power and the same CO2 generated - assuming both use the same power source and *if* the image is stored for 100 years... which the way we're going, might not happen. But still... ). John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnlcollins/Digital Catapult https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/

Rupert Read is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, but he is also a Green party activist, and a prolific speaker, media spokesperson and author advocating for a wholehearted, whole-culture response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency. A long-term friend of the podcast, Rupert joins us today to talk about his new book: 'Do You Want to Know the Truth: The Surprising Rewards of Climate Honesty' and to announce the launch of a new movement, the Moderate Flank, which aims to bring together a moderate majority of people who care deeply about anthropogenic climate change, but don't want to engage in polarising actions.  In this deeply honest, raw episode, Rupert makes a passionate case for an anti-polarising movement which can engage people from all walks of life and furnish them with the tools for change that will help us to adapt to the coming changes - and to ensure that politically, economically, culturally, we create a more just, equitable - and regenerative - society that we can leave to the generations that come after us. Rupert's new book https://249897.e-junkie.com/product/1756224/Do-you-want-to-know-the-truth3F-The-surprising-rewards-of-climate-honestyRupert's Website https://rupertread.net/Rupert's SubStack: https://rupertread.substack.com/Rupert on Twitter https://twitter.com/GreenRupertReadModerate Flank: https://moderateflank.org 

As we do each year, we've curated a list of the Accidental Gods' favourite podcast and books of 2022.  Enjoy!Podcasts Nate Hagens The Great Simplification - fourth of four (so far) with Daniel Schmachtenbergerhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens/id1604218333?i=1000583952697The Sustainable Food Trust episode with Dr Michael Antoniouhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sustainable-food-trust-podcast/id1511133906?i=1000559083233/Global Governance Futures with Jacqueline McGladehttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/global-governance-futures-imperfect-utopias-or-bust/id1548522280?i=1000544342241ITS BLOODY COMPLICATED by Compass - Episode with Byron Fay of Climate 200https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/its-bloody-complicated-a-compass-podcast/id1502390267?i=1000582130469Catherine Weetman Circular Economy Podcast Catherine musing on sustainabilty https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/circular-economy-podcast/id1465879853?i=1000583550758Catherine with Simon Hombersely of Xampla https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/circular-economy-podcast/id1465879853?i=1000582020564The rest is politics w Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart - episode w Mark Drakefordhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-politics/id1611374685?i=1000579634739Non-Fiction Books The Club on the Edge of Town - Alan Lane https://salamanderstreet.com/product/the-club-on-the-edge-of-town-paperback/Flourish - Sarah Ichioka and Michael Pawlynhttps://www.triarchypress.net/flourish.htmlhttps://www.flourish-book.comA People's Green New Deal - Max Ajlhttps://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341750/a-peoples-green-new-deal/Our Farming Life - Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baerhttps://chelseagreen.co.uk/book/our-wild-farming-life/(also A Dairy Story - David and Wilma Finlay of The Ethical Dairy)https://www.theethicaldairy.co.uk/cheese-shop/dairy-storyLouis Weinstock: How the World is Making our Children Mad and What to Do about ithttps://louisweinstock.com/how-the-world-is-making-our-children-mad-and-what-to-do-about-it/https://www.naominovik.com/2022/09/published-today-the-golden-enclaves/The Barn at the End of the World by Mary Rose O'Reilley The Apprenticeship of a Quaker Buddhist Shepherdhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Barn-End-World-Apprenticeship-Buddhist/dp/1571312544Novels The Kingdoms - Natasha Pulley https://natashapulley.co.uk/books/ and https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-kingdoms/9781526623119Tuyo - Rachel Neumeier https://www.rachelneumeier.com/writing/tuyo/Kingdom of Silence Jonathan Grimwood (also Jack Grimwood and Jon Courtenay Grimwood) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Silence-Jonathan-Grimwood-ebook/dp/B086R544MD/Naomi Novik - The Golden Enclaves - Lesson 3 in the Scholomance Trilogyhttps://www.naominovik.com/2022/09/published-today-the-golden-enclaves/The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell (also The Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell) BUNNY McGARRYhttps://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-stranger-times-the-stranger-times-1/9780552177344https://whitehairedirishman.comalso Kevin Hearn Ink and Sigil series https://kevinhearne.com/books/ink-sigil/

In a world that feels as if all the certainties are breaking down, how can we build the communities of place and of purpose that will give us the resilience to bridge from the old structures to the new? Exploring deeply practical ways to build community with Charlie Fisher.   Charlie Fisher is a co-founder and director of the Co-operative Architecture Practice, Transition by Design. He's a researcher and urban-instigator working on regenerative land use approaches and more collaborative forms of city-making driven by the belief that to unlock collective imagination for equitable societies we must remove structural barriers that are preventing people from connecting with one another.His role over the past decade has been to build capacities within land-based organisations, primarily around urban affordable housing and mechanisms for holding land in the commons. He writes about, and runs workshops on, group dynamics, decision-making, housing finance, incorporation approaches, legal structures, stakeholder mapping, business planning, and visioning. In 2020, he was developing the Oxygen Fund, a £5m revolving equity fund with the Oxfordshire Growth Deal, which led him to explore how regenerative land use can be supported through Distributed Co-operative Organisations (DisCOs🕺) and web3 Regenerative Finance (ReFi) projects. He is in the core team of regenerative blockchain-based property developer Oasa, a Swiss Association, which bought its first piece of land in 2021 at Traditional Dream Factory in Portugal. In building this ecosystem together, he is the interface between various thematic working ‘circles’ and has led the design of our sociocratic coordination system. He is an adviser to the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation, and in 2023 he’ll be running a cohort-based course, Unearthing Common Ground, with 50 land trusts globally and 50 regenerative web3 projects to support exchange between traditional land trust projects and web3 practitioners. In this conversation, we open up the key question of building communities: what does it take to create the connections between people that make communities work? What questions matter and how do we know which things we can leave till later?  How do we move from consensus to consent so that things move forward at the speed we need as our material supply chains falter? How can we engage the best in human creativity to build communities that will have the flexibility, heart and coherence to survive?  Charlie is deeply embedded in so many of these questions, and finding ways through that work in the real world.   With any luck at all, we'll be moving onto a 2nd conversation when a couple more of our hundred day segments have passed - so if you have questions, let me know. Charlie's super site https://charliefisher.super.site/Transition by Design https://transitionbydesign.org/Community Land Trust network https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/Garden City Principles https://tcpa.org.uk/garden-city-principles/Nabeel Hamdi: Small change: Intelligent Practice and Practising intelligence https://uk.bookshop.org/books/intelligent-practice-and-practising-intelligence/9781844070053https://www.gov.uk/government/news/garden-communities-set-to-flourish-across-englandLILAC in Leeds http://www.lilac.coop/Oasa Earth (which incorporates the Traditional Dream Factory in Portugal) https://oasa.earth/

We know our climate is in crisis and that time is running out. But we also know that screaming at people to wake up is not working.  What if we gave ourselves permission to tell the truth - and the skills to do it with humour and compassion so that we didn't trigger the resistances of fear?  This Episode, we explore stand-up and improv in sustainable communications with Belina Raffy.Belina Raffy, Empress and Improvisation guide,  is the director of Maffick Ltd & Applied Improvisation and Thrivability thought-leader, Thrivable World Quest co-founder and global captain.She used to work in London and New York as an Executive for one of the largest global financial institutions, in 13 years, she saw many people struggle with burn-out.  She studied improvisation to find out: 1) how these skills help individuals respond to the unexpected, and navigate ambiguity 2) how it can transform our organizations as a whole. She encourages people to explore what happens when we consciously align our work with how nature and people thrive. She believes that our ability to improvise gives us a choice about how to respond to life’s challenges. Improvisation helps us develop our creative thinking skills in service of a happier life, and play a vital part in our response to our complex, dynamic world. It is her passion to spread these mindsets and practices and support others discover the power of improvisation.In this sparkling, thought-provoking episode, we explore the differences between stand-up and improv, and how the structures of either and both can allow us to reach past the tribal screaming of our time, to a more gentle, compassionate, connected way of reaching each other.  Humour reaches the places that charts, data and stats never will - and Belina has years of experience in creating spaces where people can find what matters most to them, and share it in ways that make us laugh - and care.Belina's website https://www.maffick.com/Belina at Wisdom Together https://www.wisdomtogether.com/belina-raffy-maffick-ltd/Belina's book https://www.maffick.com/#the-bookBelina on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi1EGkh_vzgUpcoming courses1-hour online ‘Compassionate Climate Comedy’ on 7 NovAnd next 7-week Sustainable Stand Up course starts 19 JanDetails at https://www.sustainablestandup.com/#coursesInga Foundation http://www.ingafoundation.org/Red Cross Disaster Risk Reduction  https://climatecentre.live/courses/participate/ The Frontier Development Lab https://frontierdevelopmentlab.org/ and https://fdleurope.org/ .

In a world where our 'democracy' is manifestly not fit for purpose, how can we turn the brief, bright fireworks of political sanity into floodlights of progressive values, of liquid democracy that leads to an equitable, regenerative culture?  With Neal Lawson of the progressive campaign group, Compass. Neal Lawson was brought up in an activist household and joined the Labour party at sixteen.  After university, he worked for the Transport and General Workers' Union and then was a speech writer for Gordon Brown during the New Labour years.  He has been helping to lead the political campaign group, Compass, since its formation in 2003. He is more focused than ever on how to make big transformative change happen. He works on strategy, relationships, funding and fronting Compass. He writes for The Guardian,[9] the New Statesman[10] and OpenDemocracy[11] about equality, democracy and the future of the left, and appears on TV and radio as a political commentator. He was the author of All Consuming (Penguin, 2009), which analysed the social cost of consumerism. Lawson's writing has been heavily influenced by the late Polish Marxist sociologist Zygmunt Bauman who described him as  “one of the most insightful and inventive minds on the British political stage”.Compass itself is a home for those who want to build and be a part of a Good Society; one where equality, sustainability and democracy are not mere aspirations, but a living reality. We are founded on the belief that no single issue, organisation or political party can make a Good Society a reality by themselves so we have to work together to make it happen. Compass is a place where people come together to create the visions, alliances and actions to be the change we wish to see in the world.In this episode, we explore the recent history of politics in the UK and then open more deeply into the routes by which our manifestly broken political system could be transformed into something that will - in Neal's words - transform the brief flaring fireworks of hope into floodlights that can transform our nation, and the world.  Compass https://www.compassonline.org.uk/campaigns/winasone/Compass 45 Degrees paper https://www.compassonline.org.uk/publications/45o-change-transforming-society-from-below-and-above/What is Quadratic Voting? https://towardsdatascience.com/what-is-quadratic-voting-4f81805d5a06It's Bloody Complicated podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/its-bloody-complicated-a-compass-podcast/id1502390267Book: Four Thousand Weeks https://uk.bookshop.org/books/four-thousand-weeks-the-smash-hit-sunday-times-bestseller-that-will-change-your-life-9781784704001/9781784704001

What happens when we realise we're trying to be something we're not?  For Roz Savage, this led to a transformation that took her from Management Consultant to the first woman to row solo across the world's 3 big oceans. Now she devotes her life to the healing of the planet.Dr Roz Savage MBE is an Ocean Rower, Author, Speaker, Lecturer, Sustainability Advocate. Her feats have been described by Sir Richard Branson as “Heroic, epic, inspiring, historic.” Best known as the first (and so far only) woman to row solo across the world’s “Big Three” oceans - the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian - Roz inspires us to think again about what is possible, and encourages us to step up fully into the potential of our highest selves.She combines her self-taught life skills with principles from neuroscience, psychology, personal development and leadership theory, to inspire people around the world. In 2010 she was named Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic. In 2012 she was a World Fellow at Yale. In 2013 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to fundraising and the environment. In 2017 she took up a position at Yale, lecturing on Courage in Theory and Practice.She's author of four books, the most recent of which, The Ocean in a Drop, is published in November 2022.  She's a committed and vibrant speaker whose experiences have reached audiences across the world with her example of the potential for transformation that lies within all of us.  In our conversation, we delved into her experience of the oceans - what led her to throw in her job and take instead to the high seas - and then how she is using the self-knowledge she gained then, the emotional, mental and spiritual transformation that arose, to bring change to the world around us.  We explore politics and economics and theories of change that bring us to the cutting edge of what is possible. Roz's website https://www.rozsavage.com/about/Ross book  https://www.rozsavage.com/author/Naomi Klein Shock Doctrine https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-shock-doctrine-the-rise-of-disaster-capitalism/9780141024530Elinor Ostrom https://www.ecosia.org/search?method=index&q=elinor+ostrom+governing+the+commonsRebecca Solnit http://www.rebeccasolnit.net/book/a-paradise-built-in-hell/Three Horizons Framework for Future Thinking: https://h3uni.org/tutorial/three-horizons/Daniel Schmachtenberger 'strange attractors' https://civilizationemerging.com/about/Fediverse https://www.fediverse.to/

What if businesses existed not to price-gouge consumers and destroy the planet, but to be part of a pathway to a flourishing future?  What if the end-of-year reports were not expensive exercises in greenwash, but were actually truthful - and useful.  With B.Lorraine Smith, creator of Matereality.B. Lorraine Smith is a writer, speaker, corporate mischievist, and generally curious student of life. She changes minds (most often her own), casting a dubious eye on the line between work and play. She holds a vision of a future where all industry is a force for healing and any exceptions compost themselves into history. She has been working towards this vision with global companies since 2004, bringing together activists, executives and thought-leaders.  she shares what she finds as she goes along, telling as much truth as she can figure out how to spell. (Or, in the case of Matereality, how to respell.)Originally from Toronto, Canada, she spent a decade based in New York City and recently relocated to Montreal, all the better to explore the banks of the St. Lawrence River (whom she calls Lia).She runs ultra-long distances on urban trails, spins and knits her own original designs, and holds doggedly to the belief that our senses of connectedness and curiosity are our best assets. She is an independent consultant whose purpose is to contribute to the shift to a regenerative economy, one where society thrives within a healthy biosphere. Her areas of expertise inform each other – as a writer, consultant, ultramarathoner, textile artisan and sojourner.  She describes her approach as “spore-based,” taking a cue from nature about how to evolve and spread important ideas. Lorraine has consulted for leading change-agents and large companies, informing strategy and stakeholder dialogue to shift us to a regenerative economy. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences on sustainability and corporate innovation.She speaks fluent French and Portuguese, as well as conversational German and Spanish. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Lorraine has lived in Australia, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand and New York City. She currently calls Montréal home.In this episode, following on from our conversation with Jennifer Hinton 2 episodes ago, we delve deeply into the concepts that underpin Lorraine's idea of 'Matereality' - what it is, and how her experience as a 'sustainability consultant' to some of the world's largest companies has led her to a new way of assessing the impact a business actually has on the planet and people it is, in theory, designed to serve. What would the world be like if corporations actually decided to benefit people and planet?  Actually. Not their share holders or the vulture capitalists? With grace, humility and endless humour, Lorraine describes her journey and her conclusions of how we could re-shape the business world in time to change the trajectory towards global melt-down.  This is an episode full of ideas at the corporate level, that we can nonetheless bring into our own lives. We all live in the corporate world. Even if we don't talk at C-Suite level, we are the glue that holds everything together - and we can change the ways we interact with the corporate Masters of the Universe.  Lorraine's website https://www.blorrainesmith.com/materealityWebsite    https://www.blorrainesmith.comYouTube  Lorraine's Channel Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/BLorraineSmith/ Twitter   @BLorraineSmithInstagram blorrainesmithLinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lorraine-smith-155a875/Medium https://blorrainesmith.medium.com/dear-mr-hagedorn-b9e5e1c7672d

What will it take to restore balance in our world? How can we repair our devastated environments, and secure future generations' survival? And what's they key to unlock the mindset shift to enable truly regenerative transformation?   With Sarah Ichioka, co-author of 'Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency'.Sarah Ichioka is co-author with Michael Pawlyn of 'Flourish' a rich, inspiring book that outlines key paradigm shifts for this time of planetary emergency.  Looking deeply into the web of life, Flourish proposes a bold, imaginative - and do-able - set of regenerative principles to transform how we design, make and manage our buildings and our communities. Sarah is an urbanist, curator, writer and podcast host.  Connecting cities, culture and ecology, she has been recognised as a World Cities Summit Young Leader, and one of the Global Public Interest Design 100.  She is founding director of the Singapore-based strategic consultancy 'Desire Lines' and is co-author, with Michael Pawlyn, of the book 'Flourish' and co-host with Michael of the Flourish podcast. In this expansive, incisive conversation, Sarah expands on the five paradigms she and Michael identified that are holding us back in the old 'business as usual' frame and the ways we can shift our world-view to new ways of thinking, being - and designing our lives.  Drawing on the work of foundational thinkers like Freya Matthews, Donella Meadows, Janine Benyus and Ronan Krznaric, plus existing communities such as the Los Angeles Eco Village, Sarah shows us that the ideas and actions are already in place, we just need to build them bigger, proving that, as Willam Gibson has said, the future is here, it's just unevenly distributed. Flourish book: https://www.flourish-book.comFlourish podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/flourish-systems-change/id1602779076Donella Meadows Leverage Points: https://donellameadows.org/a-visual-approach-to-leverage-points/Freya Matthews: http://www.freyamathews.netJay Griffiths 'Pip Pip': http://jaygriffiths.com/books/pip-pip/Ronan Krznaric 'The Good Ancestor' :https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-good-ancestor-how-to-think-long-term-in-a-short-term-world/9780753554517Deep Time Walk App: https://www.deeptimewalk.org/kit/app/Los Angeles Eco-Village: https://laecovillage.orgBuilt Environment Declares: https://builtenvironmentdeclares.comArchitects Climate Action Network: https://www.architectscan.org

We live in a world run by profiteers: the rush to make money destroys people and planet with equal disregard. But how would the world look if all businesses existed to promote wellbeing in all its forms? How could we make this work? Re-imagining our relationship to profit with Dr Jennifer Hinton of Lund University, Sweden.Dr. Jennifer Hinton is a systems researcher and activist in the field of sustainable economy. Her work focuses on how societies relate to profit and how this relationship affects global sustainability challenges. Her relationship-to-profit theory uses systems thinking and institutional economics to explain how key aspects of business and markets drive social and ecological sustainability outcomes. She started developing this theory in the book How on Earth, which outlines a conceptual model of a not-for-profit market economy – the Not-for-Profit World model. She holds a double PhD in Economics and Sustainability Science. As an activist, she collaborates with civil society organizations, businesses, and policy makers to transform the economy so that it can work for everyone within the ecological limits of the planet. She is a researcher at Lund University and a senior research fellow at the Schumacher Institute.In this episode, we explore the natuer of the various Growth vs Degrowth/postgrowth paradigms and how the shift to not-for-profit businesses worldwide could signal a shift to the end of profiteering and a change in the focus of humanity. If we're not simply driving for more profit for shareholders and bigger bonuses for the C-suite, then what can we be for? Can businesses pivot to a world where they actually exist to further the welfare of people and planet?  What would that look like and how would it work? This is one of the keys to a flourishing future. If businesses continue to push for sales growth/profits growth at all costs, then we're finished.  If they can begin to turn the extraordinary creativity that has seen their profits soar, to something worthwhile…then anything is possible.Envisioning a not for profit future: Paper https://nonprofitquarterly.org/envisioning-a-not-for-profit-world-for-a-sustainable-future/Jennifer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-hinton-758a544/Paper: Fit for Purpose: https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/2231/Paper: A Not for Profit Economy for a Regenerative Sustainable World: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359043036_A_Not-For-Profit_Economy_for_a_Regenerative_Sustainable_WorldPaper: Five Key Dimensions of Post Growth Business: Putting the Pieces Together: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351610225_Five_Key_Dimensions_of_Post-Growth_Business_Putting_the_Pieces_TogetherPaper: Relationship to Profit A Theory of Business Markets and Profit for Social Ecological Economics https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348742711_Relationship-to-Profit_A_Theory_of_Business_Markets_and_Profit_for_Social_Ecological_EconomicsGlas Cymru: https://corporate.dwrcymru.com/en/about-us/company-structure/glas-cymruBRAC: http://www.brac.netMyuma: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-myuma-group/about/Book: How on Earth: Flourishing in a Not for Profit World: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.01398Jennifer on Twitter: @HintojenTim Jackson Prosperity without Growth: https://timjackson.org.uk/ecological-economics/pwg/Patagonia going Not For Profit: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/14/patagonias-billionaire-owner-gives-away-company-to-fight-climate-crisis-yvon-chouinard