The RegenNarration

This is an excerpt from episode 96 featuring the last 25 minutes or so of my conversation with the legendary environmentalist, activist, entrepreneur and author, Paul Hawken, plus a brilliant preview performance of The Regeneration Song! This really felt like a crescendo of sorts, as we neared the end of a conversation that delved deep over a few hours. The main episode that went out Monday is an edited version. The middle hour or so will be out next, as a special Extra this Monday. For now, if you want to start with a snapshot, or would just like to hear the end again (like I did), this excerpt is for you.We pick up our conversation where Paul comments on stories being the only thing that change us. We go on to talk about the incredible online tools that have launched with the book, some brilliant stories where politics is being transformed, and what that and other stories in Regeneration tell us about how big change happens via the small. We all count in this. We go out with why Paul feels optimistic about what could be a ‘shocking’ few years ahead.Title slide: Paul Hawken (supplied).Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.Preview Performance of We Can Change the World (The Regeneration Song), by AY Young & Jonathan Russell of The Head & The Heart.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode (with a series of links in the show notes), ‘Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation’.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This feels like a pivotal moment. Four years ago, legendary environmentalist, activist, entrepreneur and author, Paul Hawken, compiled the best-selling book Drawdown, a comprehensive plan for reversing global warming. That book changed the world in many ways. And his new one, the sequel to Drawdown, is creating another big wave. It’s called Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation, and just one week out, it’s already #6 in the New York Times best-seller list. Regeneration is billed as the first book to describe the burgeoning regeneration movement spreading rapidly around the world. And like Drawdown, it doesn’t end at the book. The not-for-profit Regeneration organisation is developing an extraordinary set of online guides and resources, teaching materials and media productions to assist our efforts, whoever and wherever we are. If Drawdown was what-could-be-done, Regeneration is how-to-get-it-done. And that’s in a context where we’re still going backwards in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, our health, and other critical crises. And, most people in the world remain disengaged. So how do we change this? How do we, as this one generation, engage the majority of humanity and fundamentally shift our collective course? More on Drawdown:Drawdown was a NYT bestseller, is published in 14 languages, has been used by heads of state, is part of the curriculum on every grade level from 4th grade to MIT graduate school, and is placed in a New Zealand hotel chain alongside the Gideon Bible. Drawdown named the goal. Before the book was published, the goal and word were not mentioned in climate literature. The term drawdown is now in generic use, employed and referred to thousands of times a day, and the book’s conclusions became the “bible” for over a trillion dollars of funds managed by numerous financial institutions.This conversation was recorded online with Anthony in the Kimberley and Paul at home in California on 30 September 2021 (Australian time), with thanks to the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation.Title slide: Regeneration book cover.Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. Tune with the intro is by Jeremiah Johnson.We Can Change the World (The Regeneration Song), by AY Young & Jonathan Russell of The Head & The Heart.Find more:A special extra to this episode, where we deep-dive into some of the key themes of Regeneration.Regeneration, the not-for-profit organisation, inc. NEXUS & how to get hold of the book. Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Community-owned media is a vital part of regeneration, and this is all the more true for First Nations communities. It’s a well-documented leverage point for attaining massive benefits for local and regional communities - which of course, ultimately, means all of us. The award-winning Larrkardi Radio in Derby, far north Western Australia, is a brilliant and resurgent case-in-point. With a 5-pronged boab out front, and a local, regional, national and now even global reach growing within.Leon, Owen, Bekah, Sunimah and the crew are an inspiration. They’re engaging diverse communities, building understanding and opportunity, recording local artists and ancient Songlines, generating their own stories and systems, and amplifying some of the game-changing stuff happening here. Whether it’s with health outcomes, the vital success of the youth centre, or sparking the local women’s footy league that has since spread like wildfire across the Kimberley (and will feature on an ABC documentary soon). And if you’re wondering how much that matters, listen in.As with so much we hear on this podcast, the team at Larrkardi are finding that what they do is bubbling up everywhere. A First Nations media movement gathers pace, helping to bring people alive, and communities and a country together.Join us in the new podcast room at 6DBY Larrkardi Radio - your deadly Derby Station. Leon Khan is the trail blazing Indigenous health worker and coach of the Derby Tigers footy club, recruited to manage the station and unexpectedly finding a calling. And Owen Burns (or OJ) is the young guy who hated moving to Derby as a kid, but found his home there as a broadcaster from the age of 11.This conversation was recorded at the station on 24 August 2021.Title slide: Larrkardi Radio in Derby (pic: Anthony James). See the episode web page for more photos.Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The tune accompanying the introduction is by Jeremiah Johnson.Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:Stream 6DBY Larrkardi Radio from Derby, Western Australia  Follow The Conversation podcast, produced at 6DBY, available on Spotify They’ve also just launched their YouTube channel First Nations Media Australia IndigiTube And there’ll be a community screening of The Serpent’s Tale, directed by my previous guest Mark Jones, iSend us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is an excerpt from episode 94 featuring the last 20 minutes or so of my conversation with award-winning Australian film-maker, Mark Jones. We pick up our conversation with perhaps the biggest question I had for Mark: on the back of his charting stories of cultural transformation and survival through enormous climactic and other shifts, can we do it again? And of course, how? The answer, inevitably, is far from a straight line, but it is instructive. And forms the backbone of his epic film currently in production, Stories in Stone.Title slide: Roebuck Bay in Broome (pic: Anthony James).Music:Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode 94, ‘Stories in Stone: What the ancients are telling us, with award-winning film-maker Mark Jones’.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Mark Jones is a crocodile handling, campaign building, award-winning Australian film-maker. He has been living and working extensively in the Kimberley for nearly 30 years, since unexpectedly becoming a novice camera operator with revered adventure film maker Malcolm Douglas. Mark develops stories and films with deep underlying messages that reflect this very special part of the world, and its increasingly important part in where we go from here as a society and civilisation. And all that is coming out in both his films and activism to profound effect.Mark has helped lead one of the most formative and successful campaigns in Australian history. And he’s collaborated with some of the greats in Australian film and television, also producing for some of the larger international TV broadcasters including the BBC, and NHK in Japan. The WA State Library will archive his collection in 2022. Most recently, Mark directed The Serpent’s Tale, the spectacular half-hour film produced in collaboration with the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council, that Anne Poelina and I talked about in episode 84. Now he’s onto making the epic and vital Stories in Stone, collaborating with other previous guests on this podcast like Lynne Kelly (ep 92) and Albert Wiggan (ep 34). It’s the culmination of a life’s work to date, on what science and traditional knowledge are showing us, about the messages left by our ancient ancestors for future generations. This is the first in a series of episodes on-location in the Kimberley – a region often described as one of the last great remaining wildernesses left on the planet. To the Original people, as the Stories in Stone blurb puts it, it’s seen as ‘Country’, a vast Cultural landscape where story, song, geography and art meld into an epic story with no beginning… and no end.This conversation was recorded by the mud flats of Roebuck Bay in Broome, on 2 August 2021.Title slide: Mark Jones (supplied). You can see a selection of spectacular photographs by Mark on the episode website.Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The tune accompanying the introduction is by Jeremiah Johnson.Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:Mark Jones' website The Serpent’s Tale trailer (stay tuned to the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council for more on the launch of the film on the festival circuit soon – and note there’ll be a community screening in Derby, Western Australia on 9 October 2021).Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is an excerpt from episodes 92 and 93, parts 1 and 2 of Songlines: Combining the most powerful knowledge systems ever known. We pick up the conversation with Lynne Kelly, as she shares some of the incredible stories of how schools and universities have been embedding her work (think law and medicine degrees with students memorising 88 constellations!). Then she runs us through how it works, how this has transformed her understanding of Indigenous cultures and Country, and how this is just scratching the surface of Songlines, and what it could mean for all of us right now.In the back half of this excerpt, we pick up with Margo Neale sharing some of the transformative decade-long journey bringing the Songlines exhibition to life. We go on to talk about some of the nature of Songlines, where everything has a place, and why the elders are trying to help all people feel they are part of this story. As Margo puts it, no one can live anywhere if you only know your stories of the last 250 years.Title slide: cover of the pictorial companion to the exhibition, by Margo Neale.Music:By Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversations in the main episodes, ‘Songlines: Combining the most powerful knowledge systems ever known’ – Part 1 and Part 2 wherever you get your podcasts (you’ll see some photos on those episode websites too).Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This extra to episode 93 features more of Margo Neale, co-curator of the extraordinary exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, and co-author of the best-selling book Songlines: The power and the promise. Margo and I decided to keep rolling with our conversation at some length. I found it to be profound and wonderful stuff, so I wanted to share it all with you. We start here with the transformative effect the exhibition has had on her. And how it has affected the communities who led it. We go on to chat about how Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Songlines embrace technology – but don’t lose themselves in it. The tech is harnessed to rehumanise, not dehumanise. And this kicks off a whole other conversation about Songlines - involving some incredible stories of wayfinding, Tyson Yunkaporta’s railing against the myth of primitivity, and Margo’s dancing troupe of the 60s.Title slide: Artwork from the post by Margo, featuring some great photos, on how the communities were central to the success of Songlines.Music:By Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:You can hear the main episode with Margo, ‘Songlines: Combining the most powerful knowledge systems ever known, Part 2’.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Like our previous guest, Lynne Kelly, in part 1 of this series on Songlines, Margo Neale is a pioneer. Margo is of Aboriginal & Irish descent, from the Kulin nation with Gumbayngirr clan connections. And she’s the lead curator of the extraordinary exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, that has made such an incredible mark on Australia, and is about start its high-profile world tour. At the same time, the First Knowledges book series Margo is bringing together has started with an instant best-seller - Songlines: The Power & the Promise, which Margo co-wrote with Lynne. The second book in the series, on design, is out now, and the following one (by Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe) steps straight into the thick of what’s become known in Australia as ‘The Dark Emu debate’ (triggered by Pascoe’s book). That’s the pointy end of our reckoning with our still largely unconscious Western colonial worldview. And it’s doing it in a way that might just help us finally transcend entrenched feuds, and reveal to more of us the enormous benefits on offer in combining our respective knowledge systems - the most powerful knowledge systems ever known.This is the nub of Margo and Lynne’s pioneering work. There’s something missing in our reconciliation processes, they say, and by extension with our understanding of how to be fully human in the world, intrinsic to regenerating country as the source of all life.Margo Neale is Head of the National Museum of Australia’s Indigenous Knowledges Curatorial Centre. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Australian National University’s Centre for Indigenous History. In addition to former fame as a touring go-go dancer!This chat was recorded at Kimberley Cottages & its Windjana Wellness Centre on 23 August 2021, with Margo at home near Braidwood NSW.Title slide: Margo Neale (source). Find more photos on the episode website.Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.Closing tune by Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:Tune into the Extra to this episode with MargoAnd to Part 1 of this series with Lynne KellyMargo Neale Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Lynne Kelly is now often referred to as The Memory Whisperer. Amidst great personal trial and self-doubt, she stumbled on a series of insights that are revolutionising Western understandings of ancient knowledge systems. And with the likewise brilliant Indigenous woman Professor Margo Neale, they are showing how the combination of Western knowledge systems with reinvigorated ancient ones, is where the deep promise lies for enabling the regeneration of life on this planet.Late Night Live is one of Australia’s longest running radio programs on the ABC. It’s hosted by an Australian legend across media, film, the arts, and now even regenerative agriculture, with his wife Patrice Newell. His name is Phil Adams. And late last year, I was gripped by an interview he conducted with Lynne and Margo on release of their book, Songlines: The Power and The Promise. That in turn, stemmed from the Indigenous-led exhibition taking the country, and soon the world, by storm – Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters. Phil said of that exhibition that he’s never seen anything of comparable quality anywhere on earth. Margo Neale was the lead curator of that exhibition, alongside the Indigenous communities involved. It was this chat with Phil Adams that also alerted me to the exhibition opening in Perth soon after. We managed to get along just before heading north, and have joined Phil’s chorus. I’ve since read the book by Margo and Lynne, and been blown away. Phil wished they’d allocated an hour to this on his program. Well, let’s enact that wish here. And then some. We’ll speak with Margo in part 2 of this Songlines series. Today, we feature my conversation with Lynne, on how her transformed life is now helping bridge non-Indigenous understanding of the most powerful knowledge system ever known. And how her personal practice of it has transformed her life – from becoming a national memory championship title holder, to learning languages at will, well into her 60s. And that’s just scratching the surface of Songlines, and what it could mean for all of us right now.This conversation was recorded online (from inside the store room of the Exmouth Yacht Club – thanks Cathy & Denise!) on 8 July 2021, with Lynne speaking from her home in Castlemaine, Victoria. Please do jump on board as a subscribing patron of the podcast, via the new Patreon page, become part of a wonderful community of supportive listeners, and help keep this podcast going!Title slide: Lynne Kelly (supplied).See the episode website for a few photos related to this conversation.Music:Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Closing tune by Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

The Patreon page for The RegenNarration is now live! And from here, the podcast goes weekly, with some brewing plans that I hope you might support. It’s actually been a pretty long and deeply felt process to get to this point. So I wanted to share some of that journey with you here – some of why I’m doing this, where it’s come from, and what’s coming on next. For those who just want to cut to the chase and become one of the first subscribing patrons of The RegenNarration, you’ll find the link below.  And thank you!As I mentioned last week, since starting this podcast four years ago, listenership has doubled and even tripled year on year. There are now thousands of listeners to each episode. Plus those on a couple of radio stations picking up the podcast. And with that has come the wonderful support of 20 donors – 10 of whom have committed to treasured monthly support, and a few to extremely generous gifts. Thanks to you, this podcast has been able to make it this far, and you’ve shown me that a listener-supported model for this podcast is possible.With much gratitude to those listeners who’ve been gently at me to do this, the Patreon page for The RegenNarration offers another way you can support the podcast. And a way, it seems, that many people enjoy supporting podcasts. I hope you’ll find it that way here too. My hope is that the Patreon page will offer a way for a broader base of listeners to support the podcast, at whatever level you can, to sure up its viability, enable it to keep going, and to enable more of us to connect with each other too.As for going weekly with the podcast, there are just so many terrific stories I feel like we could do with hearing more of right now. I’ve also been feeling increasingly that we still need to sway the balance out there - more in favour of the ‘news’ we really need, rather than the news we still tend to get.If that sounds like something worth backing in, please do jump on board as a subscribing patron, become part of a wonderful community of supporting listeners, and help keep the podcast going!Music:Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!