THE SPACESHIP EARTH PODCAST

Right then, this is our final episode of this year.But first up to say a big hearty thank you to all who have listened, shared and supported the podcast this year.To all the guests who’ve joined the rambling - respect for your time, wisdom and open-ness.And to my podcast crew who help make this a reality - Charlie Shread, Seemah Nahome-Burgess and Fin Burgess.And a massive shout out to those who subscribe with a monthly payment to this project.So to Episode 113…My guest, Sam Crosby, is an oral storyteller and myth-informed guide whose work braids together story, psyche, ancestry, eldership and the living Earth.This episode was recorded around the fire at Ghost Wood Down - two men sitting in the half-light, speaking honestly about what it is to search for meaning in a world that feels increasingly senseless.Across two hours we wandered, wondered, and returned again and again to the mythic ground beneath our feet - the place modernity keeps trying to concrete over.But there were core themes and patterns we were carrying throughout:1. Myth as orientation, not entertainmentMyth isn’t a story about long ago - it’s a technology for staying human in ambiguous, unraveling times. We kept returning to myth as a compass when the rational mind fails.2. Eldership vs.“Oldership”A core wound: we’ve lost the adults who know how to hold the whole. Modernity extends lifespans but not wisdom.Sam goes deep into the distinction between age and elderhood - and the hunger for guidance that can hold complexity without collapsing into certainty.3. The mythic roots of the AI momentWhat if the crisis with AI is not technological — it is mythic.Humanity is generating intelligence way faster than it is generating wisdom. Our conversation suggests AI as a kind of mirror, revealing our disconnection from story, meaning and long arcs of time.4. The crisis beneath the crisis: meaninglessnessWhat makes these times unbearable is not the data - it’s the absence of orientation. Sam repeatedly speaks to the human need for story, ritual and shared containers of meaning.5. Rites of Passage & thresholdsOne of our deepest shared passions: Cultures that lack thresholds create perpetual adolescence.This is why the absence of elders is so severe — there is no one to midwife beginnings or endings.6. Stories as living beingsSam treats stories as alive, with their own agency. This shifts storytelling from performance to participation - a relational act where story chooses the teller and carrier.7. The danger of speed & the loss of the underworldModernity has flattened the vertical dimensions of being -no descent, no soul work, no underworld, no mysteries. We point toward slowness, ambiguity, and unknowing as necessary conditions for true wisdom to spread.Sam is a wonderful human who speaks beautifully with great humility, courage, and imagination, and is doing really extraordinary work, especially the project on rekindling cultures of eldership, which we speak to at length here and I link to in the show notes below.LINKSam’s workEldership ManifestoInto the Dark from Becomin Crew- Register by 9th January Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

This is a short share about a winter learning journey we are hosting for the 4th year- Into the DarkIt begins on the evening of 20th January 2026, registration is open until 9th January.Into the dark invites us to enter a container over five weeks, to co-create our orientation and intentionality for the year ahead in community - human and more-than-human.It's a deep, gentle, experiential  journey.  Creating space for connection, contemplation and creative practice,  exploring parts of ourselves and the Earth, and ways of knowing that modernity doesn't allow us to attend to. Its an invitation to actively reject the urge to accelerate into productivity and growth as the year begins .To dwell instead with attention and intention in this darker, slower time.Unfolding over 3 consecutive weeks, peaking with a threshold walk, a self paced, powerful ancient ritual on land near you with a follow up incorporation session a week later.A time to plant vital seeds for the year ahead.As the light begins to return.Into the dark is guided by Dan Burgess, Ally Kingston and Mark Sears.Full details and how to register via link  Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, a scientist and conservationist from the Peruvian Amazon, discusses the vital role of rivers in biodiversity and indigenous culture. Meg Avon, a creative activist, highlights her relationship with urban rivers and the political act of swimming. Sound artist Louise Romain shares her exploration of ecosystems through audio, emphasizing the impact of listening on marine life. Together, they stress the importance of local stewardship and innovative ways to connect communities with their rivers.

What if music isn’t just entertainment, but a remembering?A returning.A way back into the felt sense of being part of nature, not apart from nature.In this intuitive, playful, open and wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with Sophia Shnapp - an impact producer working with organisations like EarthPercent - the Music Industry’s Climate and Nature Foundation alongside the Wisdom Keepers Delegation and Futr Earth.Sophia works at the intersection of culture, music and systemic change but that doesn’t quite capture the essence of how she moves.She’s a pollinator.A bridge-being.A shape-shifter between worlds:From the dancefloor and the woodland, through policy rooms and prayer circles, within the music industry and the more-than-human world.Sophia is a proper Earthling,  culture lover and movement maker  She’s guided by deep purpose, and the power of music to awaken hearts, spark change, and remind us we all belong to this great big living Spaceship we call Earth.This was an insightful, honest, creative conversation that often led to us to riffing imaginatively on what could be and I really respect Sophia’s willingness to dance with complexity, nuance and contradiction.We spoke about music as something that wakes us up again, not just emotionally but somatically, in the body:How a bassline can regulate a room.How a melody can remind us we still have a heart.How a festival, a choir, or a dancefloor becomes a temporary village - teaching us something about belonging we didn’t know we were missing.Together, we explore:🌬️ Music as a gateway into feeling, intuition and interconnection.🌿 Nature as origin story - how childhoods shaped by land root the work we do today.🎧 Culture as systems change - what happens when artists, activists and elders collaborate.🔥 Fear, endings and uncertainty - and how feeling is not weakness but medicine.🌀 Rites of passage & the 4 Ds - dance, drums, deprivation, and the “drug” of altered states✨ Imagination as infrastructure - how new worlds begin inside conversations like thisSophia asked:What if music is one of the ways the Earth is trying to get our attention back?That question has stayed with me.Sometimes conversations I have on this podcast are like doorways and this one felt like that - a shared stepping-through into a wider field of possibility.It opened up space for imagining what could be and that in my opinion is vital exploration for these times.It’s an episode that wanders beautifully - honest, mischievous, open-hearted.I really enjoyed this one, I hope you do too if you give it a listen.And if you do please let us know what it brings up for you.And please give it a share to someone else who might appreciate it.This is how we grow together, through reciprocity and entanglement.Becoming Crew on Spaceship Earth.LINKSSophia Shnapp InstagramEarth PercentWisdom Keepers DelegationInto the Dark - 5 Week Winter Learning Journey from Becoming Crew Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Mark De'Lisser, a poet and nature-based mentor, joins to discuss modern masculinity, blending strength with vulnerability. He shares insights on grief as a pathway to healing, emphasizing the importance of feeling and connecting with one another. The conversation touches on the power of creativity in survival, the impact of community on mental health, and the significance of rites of passage for young men. Mark also reads from his debut poetry collection, 'Ashes to the Breeze,' highlighting themes of renewal and the beauty found in decay.

How can we learn to dance with complexity, contradiction, grief, beauty, uncertainty, horror and surprise without abandoning the dance-floor ?Dancing feels like an interesting invitational metaphor to me for these timesIt invites us into the body and out of our stuck heads.It invites us into presence and relationship with life in the moment,To be present with our bodies, with each other, with other life formsIt’s movement, spontaneity, flow, expression, vibe, response,Response-ability.Dancing is aliveness.And we need alive-ness.To break the numbness.So on that, I offer a new Earth Sessions mix: AutumnismFor this season of letting go.An hour of tunes, that have been moving me of late and that capture for me the feels of this season - the endings, the abundance, the darkness, the joy, the mystery.I hope they move you in some way.Tracklisting hereAnd if you struggle with dancing, it could well be our deep patriarchal programming - you know the voice - ‘I can’t dance’I offer some words I heard a wise man once say about letting yourself go on the dancefloor…‘No one’s looking at you and no one gives a f**k’So stay awake to what is happening, what is ending, what needs to end and tend to what needs to begin.Look around you, find the thing that speaks to you, find the others and get stuck in.Love and care at the centre.And try to stay curious with the trouble, the discomfort.Do not abandon the dance-floorREPEAT: Do not leave the dance-floor of life.As Nena and WestBam said…‘We are the future, that’s the pastWe are the moment built to lastWe are the up, that’s the downWe wear the newschool engine crown’ Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

🎧 Listening InvitationWhat does it mean to practice democracy not just with people, but with rivers, forests, mountains, and the more-than-human world?In this episode, I’m in conversation with Shrishtee Bajpai—researcher, activist, and writer working on earthy governance, interspecies justice, and radical alternatives to dominant systems.Shrishtee’s work emerges from her deep relationship with the river she grew up alongside in North India—one of the most polluted rivers in the world. That grief and love have shaped her life’s path: exploring how communities can co-create governance with rivers, mountains, and forests, and what it means to truly listen to the more-than-human world.We speak about:* 🌊 Collapse and continuity: why collapse is not just arriving but has long been lived in the Global South.* 🐝 Earthy governance: how communities take decisions in dialogue with forests, deities, bees, and rivers.* 🌳 Radical democracy: power rooted in place, not just parliaments.* 💔 Absurdities of modernity: the schizophrenia of cultures that worship rivers as goddesses while polluting them.* 👂 The invitation: how we might awaken our collective capacity to listen to the more-than-human world.Shrishtee reminds us: democracy is not only about human voices—it’s about rivers, mountains, winds, and creatures who have always spoken, if only we slow down to hear. Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

What does it mean to live—and act—when the dominant stories of our time are collapsing?This conversation with Jon Alexander was recorded in July on the land at Ghostwood Down, just before he set out on an overnight solo.It is raw, intimate, unplanned—full of the wild energy of two men wrestling with collapse and possibility in equal measure.Jon, author of Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything Is All of Us, co-founder of the New Citizenship Project, and long-time mischief-maker of beautiful change, has spent years helping communities and movements remember that all of us are smarter than any of us. But in this fire-side exchange, the themes stretch beyond politics or strategy.We talk of:🌑 The collapse of the “consumer story” and the dangerous rise of authoritarian certainty🌱 The emergent “citizen story” rooted in participation, connection, and response-ability⚡ Dancing with panic, grief, and rage without leaving the dance floor🌳 Ceremony, community, and even oaks as companions in uncertain times🔥 How to become fully available—to the work, to the world, to each otherIt’s an honest, vulnerable exploration of how to stay human, relational, and creative amid breakdown. And it feels even more urgent now, as violence, oppression and absurdity intensify around us.LinksJon AlexanderOvernight Community Solo Autumn Equinox Weekend Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Betsy Perluss, an esteemed elder and wilderness guide, shares her wisdom on reconnecting with nature and ourselves. She discusses the transformative power of solo time on the land and deep listening in circles. Betsy explores the significance of dreams and the mystery of life, emphasizing practices that cultivate presence and connection. With years of experience, she highlights the importance of nurturing relationships with the Earth, offering insights on personal growth and emotional resilience through nature-centered reflections.

In this enlightening conversation, Matt Smith, co-founder and CEO of Hometree charity, shares his journey as a surfer turned land-restorer. He discusses the vital connection between communities and nature, the challenge of encouraging farmers to embrace tree planting, and the emotional struggles between economic incentives and ecological health. Matt also emphasizes the cultural aspects of regeneration and the role of storytellers in reconnecting people with the land, exploring how love can drive reforestation efforts amidst modern challenges.