Accidental Gods

What can you do if you want to be a gentle, careful, strategic activist? The kind who catalyses change in empathic ways, who strives to understand people in power and who uses the magic of hand-crafts to connect at the level where (r)evolution happens?  Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective does exactly this and empowers others to join her.At the age of three years old, Sarah Corbett occupied social housing to keep it standing (it's still up), and from then on, was a committed activist at the local, national and international level, first with her parents, and then later, as part of wider activist movements.  But as an introvert, and a deep strategic thinker, she wanted to make change in ways that were gentle, but powerful,  harnessing the power of connection, rather than outrage and confrontation. Founder the Craftivist Collective, she has spend the past fifteen years empowering crafts-people around the world to harness the power of their creativity, their clear intent, and their capacity to connect with lawmakers at all levels from the C-Suite of major retailers to MPs and civil servants - finding their humanity, and becoming a critical friend rather than another source of outraged triggers.Sarah’s work has helped change government laws, business policies as well as hearts and minds through her unique ‘Gentle Protest’ methodology. She works across the arts sector, charity sector and academia, as well as with unusual allies to reach people nervous of activism in an attractive and empowering way. Corbett regularly gives talks, events and happenings around the world. Her book “How To Be A Craftivist: the art of gentle protest” is now available in paperback. Her talk ‘Activism Needs Introverts’ was chosen as a TED Talk of the Day and has over a million views. In this episode, she talks us through from the beginnings of the Craftivist Collective with a letter to an MP embroidered on a handkerchief, to the summer-long campaign of the Canary Craftivists, focusing on the goals and ideals that bring people together from grandmothers to grand daughters, to seasoned WI campaigners, to first time activists finding a voice for their climate concern that doesn't involve banners, chants and confrontation with the security forces.  Craftivist Collective Websitehttps://craftivist-collective.comBecome a Patronhttps://craftivist-collective.com/adopt-a-craftivistSarah's Manualhttps://unbound.com/books/craftivist/Pre-Order Sarah's new book https://unbound.com/books/craftivist-collective-handbook/

What's our economy for? Does it have to keep growing at the expense of all we hold dear; the things that make life worth living? Or can we re-imagine a new way of doing things that would value what matters most to us, and keep people and planet healthy? Yannick Beaudoin is Director-General for Ontario and Northern Canada with the David Suzuki Foundation and Director for Innovation and forOntario with the Wellbeing Economies Alliance for Canada and the Sovereign Indigenous Nations.  He brings a ‘new economics for transition’ lens to the organisation to enable the transformation of Canada towards social and ecological sustainability.  He has a background in marine geology, was former Chief Scientist with GRID-Arendal, a United Nations Environment Programme collaborating centre - and has a Masters from Schumacher college in Economics for Transition. We talk with him this week in his role in the Wellbeing Economies Alliance for Canada - and as part of the greater Alliance, which incorporates nations as far apart as Scotland and New Zealand, and organisations across the globe.  David brings his sense of scope and place and humanity to the huge questions of today: What's our economy for? And if it's not fit for purpose, how can we shift the system to something which would bring people and planet into balance and harmony. David Suzuki Foundation: https://davidsuzuki.orgWellbeing Economies Alliancehttps://weall.org/Weall Canadahttps://weallcanada.org/Theory Uhttps://www.toolshero.com/leadership/theory-u-scharmer/Three Horizons Modelhttps://resources.h3uni.org/tutorial/three-horizons/Thrutopiahttps://thrutopia.life

Thrutopia is open to everyone who tells stories in whatever form.  But if you're in the early stages of your writing journey and want some support, these are Manda's Ten Key Pointers to writing well: a basic Writing Apprenticeship in an hour!The Thrutopia Masterclass is designed to help us all generate the ideas, the frames and the stories we'll need to take us through to a future we'd be proud to leave to the generations that follow us.   If you've ever wanted to tell stories, it's for you. It's an ideas generator, a narrative incubator and a dissemination guide.  What is isn't, is a basic writing course.  This isn't a basic writing course, either - but it's a selection of things that I feel really matter if you're going to write, the basics for creating your own writing apprenticeship. If it's useful, let me know. If you want more depth in any particular area, let me know. If you want another one, ranging more widely, let me know... Thrutopia Masterclass: https://thrutopia.life 

What do we do when the world isn't working for us? When our every fibre rages against the machine and our place in it?   Maggie Ostara talks about her own path from a high-flying academic career, through to a life of clear purpose and contribution that has authenticity, integrity and power.  Maggie Ostara, PhD left her job as the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Columbia University when she realised she’s not meant to work for anyone else. Twenty five years later at the height of of the pandemic, she created the Eight Pillars of Feminine Sovereignty and the six Feminine Sovereign Archetypes and then organised and hosted the online Women Evolving Our World Conference (and upcoming podcast).She is committed to helping people from all walks of life to connect deeply with the flow of life, to listen to the inner wisdom of their own bodies, and to find their own empowerment, authority, agency and resilience. Maggie says: “Now is the time for those of us who’ve been clearing our out-dated belief systems and building our skills and wisdom in the energetic and emotional realms to step forward and take our place among the leaders of today. For too many years, those who claim leadership in our world have valued profit and personal gain over the well-being of the majority of the human world, not to mention all the other beings with whom we share this planet. We are transforming and upgrading what it means to be a leader in alignment with the More Life principle: more life to all and less to none. I invite you to take the next step forward -- whether that’s simply in your own life, or in your family, community, neighbourhood or in your work in the world – shining out your values, your radiance, your compassion and your vision of the world you want to live in. Together we truly can make a difference!”Maggie has a thriving YouTube channel, teaches online courses, works with clients individually and in groups, provides business consulting, and particularly loves guiding Change Agents expand their body of work  and its influence globally. She lives in occupied Pomo territory in Northern California with her non-binary 20 year old and her black feline familiar. In this episode, we explore what it takes to let go of the restrictions of the conventional world, and listen to the quiet urgings of the inner voice that pushes us to be other than our conditioning or society's expectations.  With clarity and courage, she charts a course to a sense of self-compassion, self-awareness and connection to the flow of life that brings clarity to her life's purpose - and then shares the core of what she does in a way that makes it universally accessible.   At the end, she offers a gift to Accidental Gods listeners, so that you, too, can share what the learning she offers. Gift package from Maggiehttps://womenevolvingourworld.com/accidentalgods/SovereigntybyDesign.comOstaraExperience.com

How can we use the leading edge of design thinking to create climate activism that really works? Dave Johnson is a lawyer, teacher, writer and design thinker who is bringing his breadth of understanding to bear on the climate and ecological emergency.   Dave Johnson began his career as a trial lawyer in the courtrooms of Miami. After a decade, he came to Stanford to study design, tech and environmental law. He has worked for several Silicon Valley companies, with an increasing focus on teaching, first at Stanford Law School and then the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design at Stanford (a/k/a the d.school). His most recent articles are Design for Legal Systems, to be published by the Singapore Academy of Law, Mar/Apr 2021, and  Designing Online Mediation: Does “Just Add Tech” Undermine Mediation’s Ownmost Aim?, published in 2019 by FGV Direito, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Dave is currently working on a book entitled: Climate Activism by Design, bringing design principles to bear on citizen activists responding to corporate and governmental inaction on this immediate, existential crisis facing all of humanity. In this episode, we discuss the foundations of his book - how a trial lawyer shifted to design principles and thence to the design concepts behind climate activism: what it is and how to frame it such that we can find the best possible modes of action as the emergency becomes ever greater.  Dave's website and blog https://climate-activist.com/designing-a-greenprint-elements-for-a-personal-eco-philosophy/Battle for Seattle - wikihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Seattle_WTO_protestsFreya Mathews bookshttp://www.freyamathews.net/books

How can we improve our health, reduce the costs to the NHS by 50%, restore soil biodiversity, reduce flooding, reverse ecosystem decline and draw carbon down from the atmosphere into the earth's crust?  Regenerative Farming does all of these and more - and Patrick Holden of the Sustainable Food Trust is at the heart of a movement to spread the word around the world.  After studying biodynamic agriculture at Emerson College, he established a mixed community farm in Wales in 1973, producing at various times: wheat for flour production sold locally, carrots and milk from an 85 cow Ayrshire dairy herd, now made into a single farm cheddar style cheese.He was the founding chairman of British Organic Farmers in 1982, before joining the Soil Association, where he worked for nearly 20 years and during which time the organisation led the development of organic standards and the market for organic foods.His advocacy for a major global transition to more sustainable food systems now entails international travel and regular broadcasts and talks at public events.He is Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005.Patrick is passionate about the application of Nature’s principles of Harmony to food and farming, which is explored in the SFT’s latest initiative, The Harmony Project.In this episode, Patrick talks about the work of the Sustainable Food Trust in building a commons-based trust network which can co-create a global farm metric to assess farms around the world for their environmental impact in all ways.  With this, farms can really begin to assess their own impact, and political institutions across the world can begin to rewards farms and farmers for restoring our land to the extraordinary fertility and abundance that we used to take for granted.  Links Sustainable Food Trust https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/Patrick's Farm: https://holdenfarmdairy.co.uk/Patrick's Farm on social media:  https://www.instagram.com/hafodcheese/https://www.facebook.com/Holden-Farm-Dairy-100227754976198/https://twitter.com/hafodcheese

How can we shape our culture to be one where everyone thrives?  How can we write our new stories where everyone is heroic?  How can we connect to the world of spirit in ways that include everyone? With Tamsin Omond, climate activist, strategist, organiser and author of DO/Earth. Since dropping banners against Heathrow Airport's third runway from the roof of the Houses of Parliament, Tamsin has consistently shifted public conversation on the climate and ecological emergency.They have organised a number of high profile protests, co-founded a Suffragette inspired environmental campaign - Climate Rush, coordinated (the successful) Save England's Forests coalition, founded a CIC - The Momentum Project - that mobilises the community surrounding London City Airport, led global corporate campaigns as Head of Global Campaigns at Lush Cosmetics and been a founding member of Extinction Rebellion.In 2021 Tamsin stood for co-leadership of the Green Party of England and Wales. They are also active in queer uprising; a theatre maker and the author of two books - RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist and Do Earth: Healing Strategies for Humankind.In this episode, we explore the nature of activism and how it is evolving; how to create community from the ground up, based on Tamsin's experiences in East London, amongst others, and how we can shape a world where the transactional, zero-sum nature of our current system is no longer the driving force. Links: Tamsin's Website: https://www.tamsinomond.com/Tamsin's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/how_we_re_going_to_solve_climate_change_tamsin_omondThe Artist's Way: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Artists-Way-by-Julia-Cameron-author/9781788164290SEEDS: https://joinseeds.earth/

We live on stories. We thrive on visions of futures we want - or terrify ourselves with those we definitely don't.  But when it comes to our own near-term future, we don't have the stories that tell us how we got it right.  So we need to write them - Urgently!  One of the things that sets us apart from other species (as far as we know) is that we are forever building futures in our heads. Whenever we embark on something new: a relationship, a job, a project, a house move…it's fired and inspired by the stories we tell ourselves of how we'll feel, how others will engage with us, how our lives will be different - and often better.  The futures might not pan out as we think, but we got ourselves where we need to be by our ability to shape ideas of a different reality. And yet when we're confronted by the greatest, deepest emergency our species has ever known and while we have plenty of dystopic stories of how bad it could be (think HandMaid's tale, or The Road, or even Don't Look Up), and a few utopias set in other worlds or other times or other realities, what we don't have is a big - vast  - body of work showing how we could get to somewhere we'd all want to go: somewhere that future generations would look back and say of us, 'Yes, it was hard, but they did everything they could, they all pulled together, they created a vision of a flourishing world and we're building on the foundations they left us.'  We need urgently to craft these stories: heroic journeys (or possibly post-heroic journeys) of how the world could be in the near term if we get it right, whatever that means. We need accurate, believable road maps of how to get from here to there. 'Here be Dragons' and big scary lines on the map doesn't cut it any more: we have to imagine things better.  And it's hard. We need a whole lot of research of the things that are happening now in a whole range of fields from politics and economics to food and farming through business, work, the future of cities, education, technology, social media... and we need to explore how to stitch the ideas together into workable narratives that will draw people with them, even if they're bombarded by the 'business as usual' stories of our media.  We need to give our media new stories to tell, that they will believe and want to share. And finally, we need the insights from industry professionals in publishing, film, TV, theatre… to help us get our new stories in front of the most possible people. So this is Thrutopia Masterclass. It's an Ideas Generator, a Narrative Incubator and a Dissemination Guide.  It's a Think Tank and a community, a writing masterclass like nothing you've ever seen before.  Come and join us!  https://thrutopia.life. Or just share the link to this mini bonus podcast…https://thrutopia.life

In a world where governments are failing on all levels, can regenerative business be the change we need to see in the world?  Can the new wave of meaningful work create the sense of coherence and community and connectedness to the earth that we need to take us forward?  Nathalie Nahai is host of The Hive podcast, author of two books, international speaker and consultant with businesses big and small. Her clients have included Unilever, Google, Accenture and Harvard Business Review, among many others. Her most recent book,  'Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and  the Psychology of Brand Resilience', opens up worlds of business where profit is not the only motive, where psychological safety, meaning and solidarity are core business values and businesses are learning to walk their talk. In a world where government is failing so completely to address the many crises of our time, we spent an hour discussing whether business can fill that gap, and if so, how?  When it is such a huge part of our lives, when the entire neoliberal model seems to be predicated on a cycle of wage-slavery followed by meaningless consumption, can work bring us back to balance with ourselves, each other and the ecosystems of which we are an integral part? Links: Nathalie's website: https://www.nathalienahai.com/Business Unusual: https://wordery.com/business-unusual-nathalie-nahai-9781398602212/Values Map: https://thevaluesmap.com/B Corps UK: https://bcorporation.uk/B Corps EU: https://bcorporation.eu/B Corps Global (US) : https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us

What is the nature of being and belonging in the current world? How can we honour the rite of passage that is happening, and let go of the old ways, let them die to the past, live in the liminal space of unknowing, and step into a future that emerges from the best of who we are?   Isla McLeod is a celebrant, ritualist, walker-between-the-worlds and deep connector to spirit.  She says of herself: "I am a creator of ceremonies, ritual designer, transformational healer and companion at the thresholds. Inspired by nature, forged by my longing, devoted to remembering. Lover of moss, mushrooms, trees, wild swimming and moonlight.It is my deepest wish to inspire and support a remembrance of what is sacred in our lives and guide people back home to the natural world. To create and hold space for others to journey within and recognise their innate creativity, wisdom and the unique medicine they bring to life. Through offering a container for transformation, held with the deepest love and respect, I hope to help others access those forgotten treasures that are their gifts to share with the world." In this episode, we explore her journey through depression and addiction, to deep, grounded earth-connection - to a place where she holds rituals for others, ushering in new love and new life, or helping people to die with meaning and connection.  She unfolds the peaks and troughs of a journey that has seen her spent a year in a Buddhist retreat, two years in a yurt connecting with the cycles of the seasons and the lunar months, and now, working with and on the land, to help usher in the new emergent reality.    This is a deeply connected, connecting episode.  If you're exploring the ways you can connect with the Web of Life in a way that feels meaningful, Isla's journey is rich with experience and insight. Isla's Website: https://islamacleod.com/