Accidental Gods

How different would our world be if we understood how our minds - and feelings - worked?  How would our workplaces change if everyone was doing their best to understand how everyone else experienced the world? Dr Rachel Lilley describes how shifting our perspectives changes everything - from work to home to government. Rachel combines extensive  academic research with  many years practical  experience  working  with  teams and senior leaders  to offer unique and practical  insights  into attention, emotions, consciousness and decision making.  She has particular expertise in behaviour change related to sustainability, climate change and community engagement as well as extensive academic and personal experience of using mindfulness to develop self and other awareness and gain insight.In today's podcast, we discuss the basis behind her PhD thesis, which explored the practical results of teaching mindfulness to civil servants in the Welsh Government and how this impacted on the ability to deliver results particularly related to climate change actions.  The core of this: that people learned how their own minds worked - and so began to understand how others' minds work, that not all minds are the same, and not all thought processes follow the same lines - is transformative in our lives, our workplaces and our ability to respond to the current planetary crisis.   Rachel explains the basis of her work and its results so far- as well as the potential for extending it further. Rachel Lilley Predicting Mind website - https://predictingmind.comLisa Feldman Barret: How Emotions are Made - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/How-Emotions-Are-Made-by-Lisa-Feldman-Barrett-author/9781509837526George Lakoff Metaphors we Live By: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Metaphors-We-Live-By-by-George-Lakoff-author-Mark-Johnson-author/9780226468013Podcast: Sam Harris talking to Anil Seth: https://samharris.org/subscriber-extras/113-consciousness-and-the-self/

Everybody NowClimate Emergency and Sacred Duty  We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how our biosphere is changing, about grief and hope in an age of social collapse and mass extinction, and about taking action against all the odds.On 19th October 2020, Everybody Now is being released by podcasters all over the world as a collective call for awareness, grief and loving action.  With contributions from: Dr. Gail Bradbrook - scientist and co-founder of Extinction RebellionProf. Kevin Anderson - Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of ManchesterDámaris Albuquerque - works with agricultural communities in NicaraguaDr. Rowan Williams - theologian and poet, and a former Archbishop of CanterburyPádraig Ó Tuama - poet, theologian and conflict mediatorRachel Mander - environmental activist with Hope for the FutureJohn Swales - priest and activist, and part of a community for marginalised peopleZena Kazeme - Persian-Iraqi poet who draws on her experiences as a former refugee to create poetry that explores themes of exile, home, war and heritageFlo Brady - singer and theatre makerHannah Malcolm - Anglican ordinand, climate writer and organiserAlastair McIntosh - writer, academic and land rights activistDavid Benjamin Blower - musician, poet and podcaster Funding and Production:  This podcast was crowdfunded by a handful of good souls, and produced by Tim Nash and David Benjamin Blower Permissions: The song Happily by Flo Brady is used with permission.The song The Soil, from We Really Existed and We Really Did This by David Benjamin Blower, used with permission.The Poem The Tree of Knowledge by Pádraig Ó Tuama used with permission.The Poem Atlas by Zena Kazeme used with permission.The Poem What is Man? by Rowan Williams from the book The Other Mountain, used with permission from Carcanet Press.

Kindness costs nothing and it enhances our lives and those around us. And yet our world is full of random acts of unkindness.  How can we change this? How can we extend the boundaries of faith and spirituality to bring the best of ourselves to a world in crisis.  This week, podcaster, musician, writer, theologian – and deep spiritual activist – David Blower talks about Christianity and kindness and the climate crisis. David Benjamin Blower is a radical Christian theologian, a musician, a writer, and a podcaster. He is co-host of NOMAD podcast which describes itself as 'Stumbling through the post-Christendom wilderness looking for signs of hope". His first book Kingdom vs Empire is 'an explosive manifesto for politicised faith in 21st Century Britain.'In this deep dive into the nature of faith, we explore spirituality, belief, tribalism - and the narratives we spin ourselves of where we are and where we could be. David's Website davidbenjaminblower.comDavid's Music benjaminblower.bandcamp.com/musicNomad podcast - Elizabeth Oldfield episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nomad-podcast/id301419170?i=1000493995562Nomad podcast - Elaine Heath episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nomad-podcast/id301419170?i=1000422414384Climate PodBoom - https://pdst.fm/e/media.transistor.fm/1f96c344/de91b51d.mp3

What if the Ocean were a living thing, in the way that the earth breathes as Gaia? The Maori say that if the Ocean is healthy, so, too, will the people be healthy.  And we are not healthy - nor is the Ocean. But we are intimately linked and Glenn Edney, Ocean Deep Ecologist explains how - and what we can do to heal ourselves and the waters of the Earth. Glenn Edney is a Deep Ecologist, an Ocean explorer, diver, sailor, an activist for the living Ocean - and a deeply thoughtful visionary, following in the footsteps of his hero, Jacques Cousteau. He's the author of three books, the most recent, published in 2016, is 'The Ocean is Alive'.  He wrote this as his way to help those of us more land bound to understand that, like Gaia, the Ocean is a living entity with its own hyper-complex physiology - that everything from the chemical composition of the water, through the lives of the plankton and microbiomes to the majesty - and super consciousness - of the great whales, is part of a single Being.  The detail of how the Ocean lives and breathes is fascinating and glorious, but it's the stories of connection, heart-to-heart, with the living elements of the Ocean that stay with us long after we've put the book down. In the podcast, Glenn shares his complete connection with the Ocean - and the ways we can - and must - open to this magnificent part of our planet. “Mena kei te hauora te moana ka pera ano te hauora o te iwi” If the ocean is healthy so too will the people be healthy  - Maori sayingThe Ocean is Alive: book link:  https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Ocean-Is-Alive-by-Glenn-Edney-author/9780473352608High and Deep Sea Photos by Glenn: https://www.synchronicityearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Synchronicity-Earth-High-Deep-Seas-Insight.pdf

How would our world feel if our local, regional and national politics really listened to all the people, really brought together diverse views, and knew how to listen deeply to whatever was said? How would we be if our politics brought out the best in all of us, and worked for the living planet?  We talk to Trust The People, a new movement to bring this about - globally.  Trust The People is a movement of community builders open to everyone sharing deliberative democratic tools to support local communities dealing with global crises.   In this episode, Mags Mulowska, an activist with TTP, explores how our current system is broken, and the ways we can change it so that everyone has choice and a voice, so that everyone's voice is heard and communities build around a sense of place and of purpose.   She describes the courses run by TTP and some of the ways they have led to flourishing outcomes in diverse local communities.  And we discuss the May local elections in the UK and how people can join a movement of independent candidates dedicated to bringing radical inclusivity, deep listening and trust to the local process. Trust the People: https://www.trustthepeople.earthIsabel Hardman "Why we Get the Wrong Politicians" 

What if we could see the nature of the stories that drive us, how would we be?  Would we be able to change them?  And what would we want in their place?  This week, Alnoor Ladha, mystic, visionary, activist and regenerative farmer explores the four ways to change the world.Alnoor Ladha's  work focuses on the intersection of political organizing, systems thinking and narrative work. He was the co-founder and Executive Director of The Rules (TR), a global network of activists, organizers, designers, coders, researchers, writers and others focused on changing the rules that create inequality, poverty and climate change. TR started in 2012 as a time-bound project and an experiment in anarchist organizational design, exploring new ways of how to work, play and make trouble together. Alnoor comes from a Sufi lineage and explores/writes about the intersection between politics and spirituality in troubled times. He is also a co-founder of Tierra Valiente, a post- capitalist community in northern Costa Rica.In this week's podcast, we discuss his ideas of Capitalism, memes and mind viruses - notably the idea of the Wetiko - and what the antidotes might be.  We explore the nature of subjective reality and the narratives that promote capitalism. We explore the need for mystical anarchism, the means by which we might transcend subject/object duality, cultivating relationality and cultivating a sense of connection to the web of life.  The Rules: https://therules.org/author/alnoor/Tierra Valiente: https://www.braveearth.comSeeing Wetiko: on capitalism, mind viruses and antidotes: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/seeing-wetiko-on-capitalism-mind-viruses-and-antidotes-for-a-world-in-transition/What could possibly go right: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-10-20/what-could-possibly-go-right-episode-19-alnoor-ladha/

What if we had a way to draw carbon out of the air, heal our ecosystems and feed the world?  We do: It's called Regenerative Agriculture and the understanding of how we do this is key to a flourishing future.  But we need to listen to the land first, as Navona Gallegos describes in this new Accidental Gods podcast. Navona Gallegos is an ecologist and farmer working to transition desert back into grassland in the arid Southwest of Turtle Island. She works and educates on the intersection of clean water, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrition: soil. Navona's passion is decolonization and she sees building soil as the keystone that allows us to step into right relation with our surrounding ecologies, access more of our innate capacities, and create a culture that truly meets our needs.  Her insight into the spiritual connection with the land is a breath of fresh air, giving us ways to connect that are healing for us as well as the earth. Links: Dr Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web: https://www.soilfoodweb.com

An end-of-year round up of the best fiction and non-fiction books - and podcasts - of 2020.  All are my opinion and this is only a tiny selection of the really good stuff out there - but it's good.  Enjoy!  We have to stop consuming stuff... but we never stop imbibing ideas. So here are some to choose from - all links to Blackwells. For obvious reasons. Non-Fiction 'From what is to what if' by Rob HopkinsThe Trembling Warrior and others by Gill Coombs'The Best of Times, the Worst of Times' by Paul Behrens'How to Be More Pirate' by Alex Barker'Doughnut Economics' by Kate Raworth (also Doughnut Economics Action Lab) 'Less is More' by Jason Hickel'The Ocean is Alive' by Glenn Edney'The Tao of Revolution' by Chris TaylorFiction: 'This is How You Lose The Time War' by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone'The Border Keeper' by Kerstin Hall 'Slough House' by Mick Herron'Agent Running in the Field' by John le Carré'Attack Surface' by Cory Doctorow'Call Down the Hawk' by Maggie Stiefvater'The Timekeeper' by Tara Sim'In Other Lands' by Sarah Rees Brennan'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' by Alix E Harrow'The Left Handed Booksellers of London' by Garth Nix.'A Deadly Education' by Naomi Novak'Fallible Justice' by Laura Laakso'Poison in Paris' by Robert Wilton'The Last Protector' by Andrew Taylor'The Angel of the Crows' by Katherine AddisonPodcasts: Upstream hosted by Della DuncanThe Hive hosted by Nathalie NahaiThe Sustainable Futures Report by Anthony Day A New and Ancient Story by Charles Eisenstein'Your Undivided Attention' by Tristan Harris'Regenerative Agriculture Podcast' by John KempfFarm Gate hosted by Ffinlo Costain'Equiosity' by Alex Kurland'Horses For Future' by Alex KurlandDrinking from the Toilet by Hannah BranniganLink to Dreaming the Year Awake

It's our Birthday... and it's the December Solstice, the time of transition and potential transformation .  In honour of which, we are crafting a new tradition: a PodBoom shared with Della Duncan of UPSTREAM podcast and Nathalie Nahai of THE HIVE.   So, it's our Birthday - and it's that time of year when every pundit endeavours to look back at the year just gone and ahead to the one that is coming. And we thought we'd like to establish a parallel tradition, where we bring together our favourite podcasting-friends and explore the ways we think.  So we set up a structure that will be repeatable in future years... where we give each other gifts of a book, podcast or something else that has brought us real insight, and then we explore each other's existential questions.  And we have fun. So that you can have fun too. Della Duncan is a  Renegade Economist who hosts the UPSTREAM podcast challenging traditional economic thinking and uplifting stories of sustainable, just, and equitable economic systems-change around the world. Della is also a Right Livelihood Coach, a Senior Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute in the London School of Economics, the Course Development Manager of Fritjof Capra’s Capra Course on the Systems View of Life, and an Alternative Economics Consultant.Nathalie Nahai is host of THE HIVE podcast.   Nathalie is an international speaker and author of the best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion, which has been translated into seven languages.Her work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics and the psychology of online behaviour, and clients include Google, Accenture, Unilever and Harvard Business Review, among others.Nathalie gives keynotes, workshops and webinars on the psychological dynamics behind evolving consumer behaviours, teaching people how to ethically apply behavioural science principles to enhance their website, content marketing, product design and customer experience.A member of the BIMA Human Insights Council, she also hosts The Hive Podcast, Seeking The Self and several Guardian podcasts, and contributes to national publications, television (BBC, Sky, CNN), and radio (BBC Radio 4) on the impact of technology in our lives.From Nathalie:BooksBraiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall KimmererWomen Who Run with the Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola EstésFoxfire Wolfskin - Sharon BlackieThe Abundant Earth - Eileen CristPodcast: Eco Civ Podcast From Della: BooksThe Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype - Clarissa Pinkola EstésBuilding Bridges, Not Walking on Backs: A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for COVID-19 - Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself  - Richard WolffPodcast: Upstream Conversations that I mentioned From Manda: BooksEnglish Pastoral - James Rebanks Less is More - Jason HickelSlow Horses - Mick Herron 

How can we make learning a genuinely transformational experience? One that's fun, and inspiring and that teaches us HOW to think, not WHAT to think? Rachel Musson had given her life to asking this question and ThoughtBox is her answer. Suppose we all learned three things at school: empathy, critical thinking and systems thinking... imagine how different the world would be. Suppose we learned how to think clearly, how to communicate, how to understand our own feelings and express them without feeling the need to trash other people just because we were hurt, or angry. Rachel Musson, founder and educational director of ThoughtBox, a radical, new co-learning programme speaks of her journey to create the system, and how it's working - in over a thousand schools and fifty four nations across the world.   Rachel believes in co-learning: no more lesson plans, but a classroom of peers who take the core of a topic and build on it together.  The result is a flexible learning environment where everyone thrives, where each individual is given space and encouragement to grow to be the best of themselves. Imagine a world where this is possible. Where it is happening. Where it is growing... About Rachel Rachel Musson is a teacher, trainer, writer and thought-leader onsustainable education and wellbeing in schools.Working for 13 years as a Secondary English teacher, Rachel has taughtstudents and trained teachers in schools across the world including the UK,Ireland, Australia, Nepal and Tanzania. She is the Founding Director ofThoughtBox Education – a social enterprise fostering triple wellbeing byhelping young people deepen relationships with themselves, society and thenatural world. She is the pioneer behind Changing Climates: a free climatechange curriculum currently being used in 1500+ schools across 56 countries.Rachel is currently working with industry leaders on education reform policyand standing as an international thought-leader on climate-change educationand triple-wellbeing in schools.ThoughtBox: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.comThoughtBox Community Network: www.thoughtboxeducation.com/communityNew free membership for global educators: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.com/teaching-for-a-better-worldFreedom to Think:  Blog on the new anti-capitalist ban in UK schools: https://www.thoughtboxeducation.com/blog/freedom-to-think