THE SPACESHIP EARTH PODCAST

Originally released in June 2022, I’m rebroadcasting for Earth Day Episode 60 with Dr Stephan Harding - Holistic Scientist, Deep Ecologist, Author and Co-founder of Schumacher College who was mentored by the scientist James Lovelock - responsible for the Gaia Theory Hypothesis.Earth Day began in 1970 the year before I was born, and here we are 54 years later experiencing the accelerated unravelling of our Earth’s System, essentially from a perception problem, a relationship problem, a separation crisis.Capitalist Modernity has failed to understand or accept that the Earth is alive, an ongoing complex, mysterious entanglement of intelligent living relationships which have created the conditions for life to emerge, including human life.This is Gaia. A way of seeing the Earth that humans throughout the majority of our time as a species on this planet have always known.The Earth and all life on it is sentient, animate and sacred.Decades of destructive and extractive ways of being in relationship with the Earth means we’re facing into the consequences of that in profound ways now, how quickly can we wake up at scale and re-learn to see the Earth as alive ?What Stephan would call Gaian consciousness…“So lets call it a Gaian consciousness. It’s gradually taking root inside people, people are waking-up to it more and more. But it’s slow. Waking up is far slower than the rate of destruction. And what we need now is the rate of waking-up to overtake the rate of destruction. And the waking-up has got to happen on a massive scale. But I don’t know how that is going to happen.The positive side is that cultural revolutions can happen very quickly. Revolutions in consciousness can happen very quickly. This one has got to happen quicker than any other, and happen fast and on a global scale. And it has got to transcend national boundaries, political boundaries, all the sorts of boundaries that we humans have erected between ourselves, gender boundaries, all those boundaries they have got to fall down. And we all have to unify to protect our very own planet, for her own sake and our sake and the sake of all beings. Is that going to happen?”In this episode we explore- Who is Gaia and what’s her history? - James Lovelock independent scientist, mentor and Gaia Theory Hypothesis- From the scientific study of the Muntjac Deer to the deep connection of the wholeness of nature- We are not just thinkers. We’re equally, feelers, sensors and intuitors- We’re inherently animistic with a spiritual connection to nature. And we can still value science- A cultural revolution needs to happen quicker than any other time, for the sake of all life- Gaia Alchemy. Why put alchemy with science? - Healing a crisis of meaning and the Azoth of Philosophy- Valuing the psyche over the ego. Do we invent ideas or do we receive them?- Finding your Gaia placeI hope you enjoy this conversation. Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Something a bit different this week from the deeper more than human dive we’ve been on in the last few episodes.I’m in conversation with Matthew Barr of Adventure Sport Podcast Looking SidewaysMatt has released nearly 250 episodes on his podcast with some of the biggest, humblest and most interesting names in Surfing, Snowboarding, Skateboarding and related pursuits.Many of the conversations Matt hosts explore the big challenges of our time through the lens of these sports, experiences and communities.Aside from being a fan of the pod I wanted to get Matt on for a few reasons:* I’m a life long trail runner and a keen surfer  - both of these pursuits have kept my awe for the living Earth alive and my humility in check - as a little human-being on a vast, powerful, complex, intelligent more than human planet .* I’m always curious about adventure sport and the obvious relationship with our living Earth that offers potential not just for connection, but protection, activism, regeneration and stewarding from within these communities, if they could be more widely mobilised.* I really appreciate how Matt digs into the multiple tensions and issues we are facing today from climate and ecological breakdown, to structural racism, to gender rights and much more - he explores them, through the stories of some amazing humans that he hosts.* Like this podcast tries to do, Matt creates space to explore the complexities, nuance and difficult things we must all learn to face into, the uncomfortable conversations we need to learn to welcome if we’re to find ways through these crazy times into more peaceful, co-operative ways of being, between humans and all life on this Earth.* Podcasting can be an extraordinary medium for learning and unlearning which is what keeps me going with this podcast and what I learn in this conversation drives Matt to continue with his.We explore:* The need for more spaces for true dialogue to help us move through the stuck binary, divisiveness of modern culture and media.* How so many tensions are often based on poor information and limited understanding, especially when it comes to our relationship with a complex living planet.* The elephant in the room when it comes to the meta crisis - ‘the spell of Capitalism’ - and our collective inability to imagine anything different.* The impacts of a deeply commoditised, extractive and often entitled culture on our personal sense of responsibility to look beyond ‘nature as transaction’, and act as stewards, protectors and active participants in change.* ‘The Announcement’ - a 3 part audio documentary that Matt is creating with Patagonia based on their recent decision to ‘convert all the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth - the Earth.’* This is also a conversation from two ‘Gen-X’ middle-aged white men about the pursuit of the podcasting medium, the role for longer form content, the challenges of pervasive technology and social media platforms on our attention, and how to be of service in these unravelling times.As Matt put it:“We were both born in the analogue era and we’ll die in the AI era”.I hope you enjoy, please share if you do and let us know how this lands for you in the commentsLinksLooking Sideways WebsiteLooking Sideways SubstackInstagramPatagonia Announcement Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I’m in conversation with Natasha Lythgoe, Vision Quest guide, retreat leader and mentor, who’s work and approach has been profoundly shaped by her life as an artist and through her buddhist practice.Natasha works with mind, body, psyche/soul and mystery, sharing the skills that have been shared with her over the last twenty five years of practice.I’ve been following Natasha’s work since we trained together as nature guides on Chris Salisbury’s inaugural Call of the Wild program 11 years ago and was excited to invite her onto the podcast this year.This is a conversation which explores the messy work of integration or incorporation as Natasha prefers.It’s about the work we must all do if we’re serious about paradigm shifts, letting go of destructive behaviours that no longer serve us,  and becoming the change we seek, especially following rites of passage, threshold work or peak experience.This is a conversation which invites us to explore different intelligences within us and around us.Especially our own body intelligence, learning its language and clock which defies the very paradigms of extractivism and capitalism.We explore* Natasha’s journey as an artist, her buddhist practice and her connection back to the land and a wilder intelligence.* How do we begin to trust the messy, wild , aliveness inside us and around us in contrast to the linear, rational, limited ways of ‘making sense’ in modernity.* How to learn to trust different ways of knowing to help us navigate these times. Ways which are not always comfortable and clear.* Somatics and the body - this episode is a bit different, in that it features a very spontaneous co-created somatic practice which Natasha offered me as we were in mid conversation.So I invite you to follow along when Natasha guides the body intelligence practice - see it as a playful sensory exploration. Christina Figures said recently:“Systemic transformation is deeply personal. “I think this episode is touching on that.It invites us into the uncomfortable, messy and I’d suggest most beautiful work, which doesn’t fit neatly into the commercialisation of  peak experience, spiritual transformation and purpose/leadership work.Learning to lean into your authentic purpose, with a process and journey which is often being guided by wilder, unpredictable, more feral, more than human life forces. Which I think is really the invitation of becoming crew.As Bayo Akomolafe once said to me:“May your road be rough “I hope you enjoy this conversation._________________________________________________We are planning an On-Land Wilderness Solo with Natasha and Becoming Crew guides with ongoing incorporation 20-22nd of September.If you’d like to register interest mail us: hello@becomingcrew.comLinksThe Art of RewildingNatasha Lythgoe InstagramBecoming Crew - The RemixPlay Out TrackWill Flisk - Long Pig Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I’m in conversation with Vision Quest guide David Wendl-Berry.David trained as a wilderness guide in the 1980’s at the School of Lost Borders in California, under the guidance of Steven Foster and Meredith Little – pioneers who first brought the Vision Quest into Western culture. David brought this Vision Quest approach back to the UK and has been guiding people through this powerful process for 32 years on these lands. This approach to Vision Quest involves:Several months of preparation. 10 days out on a wild landscape. 4 days and 4 nights of those alone, fasting.2 days of returning and story sharing with a community of fellow questers and guides And one year of integration or ‘cooking’ as David calls it.In July 2023 David and his fellow guide Jen Gold guided me through my first Vision Quest.The experience for me was wild, profound, challenging, mysterious and is definitely still ‘cooking’ 9 months on.The Vision Quest is a rites of passage that was completely missing from my life. The tragic absence of rites of passage in our culture of modernity, along with the deeply troubled times we are facing into, compelled me to sit down and record a conversation with David. This episode is I think an intriguing sharing of David’s fascinating story of how he came to dedicate his entire life to guiding people through this extraordinary journey of Vision Quest. And full of insights and learnings from supporting hundreds and hundreds of people from all walks of life through this rites of passage.This is beautiful and vital work for these times for sure. And David has served and given so much to this practice on these Islands. “For over three decades David Wendl-Berry has been at the wildest edge of rites-of-passage work in the U.K. No one else working today has the breadth of experience and profound wisdom David holds in this area. His heart and canniness cut through all racial and social barriers; his humour and guts have helped facilitate hundreds of men and women through this delicate process of soul-awakening. This man is a national treasure and hugely gifted.”Martin Shaw- Mythologist, storyteller and author We explore:The context we find ourselves in today and how much of this mess was predicted 30 years ago by the Medicine Men David encountered.David’s journey into Vision Quest following a chance meeting in the 1980’s with Sun Bear, a Native American Medicine Man which ended up changing his life direction.His first Vision Quest experience.His journey from apprentice to guide.Surrendering yourself to the ‘Spirit of the Quest’, to trust that the ‘medicine’ you really need is not up to you.Rites of passage, becoming adult and finding our true place in serving the wider communities of life.I really hope you enjoy this episode.Let us know in the comments what it brings up for you.And please share it to someone else if it speaks to you.-------------------------------------------------------If you’re interested in a guided overnight Wilderness Solo with ongoing integration from Becoming Crew, we are now planning for September in the UK.Please mail us: hello@becomingcrew.com--------------------------------------------------------Links:David Wendl-Berry Website The Remix 6 month action learning course from Becoming CrewSchool of Lost Borders Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I’m in conversation with Sam Lee.Sam is a Mercury Music Award nominated folk singer, storyteller, song collector, climate and nature activist, conservationist, community builder and all round purveyor of life-centric vibes.Oh and he sings with Nightingales too.Sam is an inspiring and humble human, weaving so many beautiful threads through his work in service to life on this planet.His 4th album ‘Songdreaming’ is about to be released, which is the catalyst of this conversation.This is a vital, honest, open, expansive and playful conversation which I loved hosting.We explore:* Living, creating, working, participating and trying to stay well in decaying and collapsing systems.* Good mischief and (h)edge living as an antidote to a constructed world that makes less and less sense.* The interconnectedness of the collapse in nature, species decline and the separation and severing of our modern culture from place, story and land based communities.* The potential for music and song as connectors, portals and maps to a living world full of story and intelligence in these times.* Song collecting, keeping intergenerational stories alive and the power of folk song to connect us back and forwards to the places, landscapes and living world around us.* Living in the entanglement of grief, love, loss, despair, joy and possibility of these times.* The emergence of the album ‘Songdreaming’ and its rootedness in nature and a world that is alive.The episode features music from the new album.(details and links in show notes)I loved this conversation with Sam, I hope you will too.Support Sam's music and performances if you can, you are in for a treat.(via links in show notes)Let us know in the comments what it brings up for you.And please share it to someone else if it speaks to you. Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to this first full episode kicking off 2024. After a ramble from me reflecting on our break and the podcast intentions for this year - I’m in conversation with Dr Rosalind Watts someone who I think personifies the story of becoming crew on Spaceship Earth in 2024. Ros is a clinical psychologist by trade, a mother and lover of our living world. Her work as the clinical lead for Imperial College London's Psilocybin trials has made her one of the most prominent voices and minds in the field of psychedelic research. She has been named as one of the 50 most influential people in psychedelics as well as one of the top women shaping the future of psychedelics. What sets Ros apart is her focus on integration, harm reduction and inclusion in the psychedelic space. And the tools and structures that she's been building to cultivate connectedness after psychedelic experiences in communities of practice - are finding inspiration for their design from the natural world. Her key learning has been that safe and effective use of psychedelics requires substantial integration support within communities of practice. Crews, basically.Ros co-founded the UK's first psychedelic integration community, ACER, which stands for Accept, Connect, Embody, Restore, where participants follow a year long process in community to connect more deeply to self, others and the natural world. This is not an episode about psychedelics. Ros has shared her journey into psychedelics in detail on other podcasts. Psychedelics are showing extraordinary benefits in guided therapies in supporting humans through a whole spectrum of traumas and suffering (as plant medicines have done for millenia) - but, when we come through therapy we are ejected back into what is if we’re honest, a profoundly unwell culture."It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."Jiddu KrishnamurtiSo maybe a question worth exploring is how do cultures heal themselves?And this is the work Ros is dedicating her time and life to.We spent time exploring this moment in time the beginning of 2024, the context we find ourselves in, how her learnings from years of research are shaping the direction of her work this year with particular attention on communities, place based psychedelic and healing infrastructure and trees, lots of talk about the wisdom of trees.This is a conversation about:The potential in human communities to care for each other, To create spaces for connection and healing,Acceptance of our individual diversity and suffering Deepening our relationships with the more that human world.Not as a nice to have but as an essential part of weaving life-centric cultures of place.Cultures with strong resilient roots, able to face into the troubles and challenges coming down the line as the structures, systems and stories of modernity unravel.I loved this conversation with Ros, I hope you will too. Let us know in the comments what it brings up for you. And please share it to someone else if it speaks to you.LinksAcer Integration Website @DrRosalindWatts@acerintegration Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

In this very short episode, I set out some news on the future of The Spaceship Earth Podcast which I’ve been hosting since 2018.The podcast and the writing here has always been offered in the spirit of the gift, self-funded.However in 2024 we need to find ways to support the time and costs involved in recording and releasing these offerings, as we up our schedule to two episodes a month and publish more writing and community offerings here on Substack.We are living in extraordinary times and mainstream media is becoming more and more limiting as we look for sense and meaning in these unravelling times.We need spaces for conversations which go deeper, which ask different questions of these times, which explore other possibilities, which don’t claim to have answers for everything, and encourage and cultivate imagination, humility, connection, participation and community.We will be bringing you brilliant guests, conversations and ideas from the leading edges of regenerative change, folks growing life-centric cultures, humans upholding the spirit of ‘becoming crew’ through their actions, work, humanity and creativity.These stories and conversations can help inspire us to explore new ways of thinking, being, relating and organising on Spaceship Earth, to live more beautifully and peacefully with ourselves, each other and with nature - our more than human family.We are moving the podcast hosting over to Substack to help support this and also to encourage more community, dialogue and connection around episodes and ideas.But in the spirit of becoming crew - WE NEED YOU.To help support the ongoing costs.For the monthly price of about one pint of beer in a British pub or two takeaway coffees you can help make this happen.And to share your thoughts here on episodes and topics if we inspire them.To spread the word on what we’re doing if you’re getting something from it.It’s the spirit of reciprocity.And its’s how life actually works on Spaceship Earth.With much appreciation and gratitudePeace and OutDanSupport and subscribe:https://becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe#thespaceshipearthpodcast #becomingcrew Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

It’s been a year since the last Earth Sessions mix.I finally got it together to record this.Mixed live in my garden studio while humanity continues to implode.Violence, suffering and despair spilling over on this Earth.These last few weeks have been overwhelming.But I remember today the power of music and dancing as one way to move the body and mind through dark timesHeart vibes, to connect to a deeper source within and to unite into new ways of being.This mix signals the crossing of a threshold into darker mysterious times, towards winter.To acknowledge the Celtic festival of Samhain (a few days ago) pronounced Sow (as in Cow)InnA time for dropping into mystery, decay, shedding, breaking down, letting go and composting.Going dark and in deep in preparation for seeding new life.Love in cycles.This is an offering for this moment.It’s deep, dark, trippy, fairly pumping, emotional.Play in the dark, loudly. For running, dancing, crying and moving through darker times.Respect to all the producers featured in this mix. Thank you for your beautiful sonic offerings.Full tracklist on site Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe

Explore the power of cultural stories, the significance of narratives, and the importance of connecting to ancestors and land. Discover the misunderstood goddess of nemesis and indigenous ways of knowing. Experience the rhythms of the earth during the summer solstice and let go of old stories. Acknowledge the power of stories in shaping communities and cultures.

Episode 75 is a reflective ramble in the woods from me your podcast host Dan Burgess.There are no guests (apart from wind, trees, a buzzard and a pigeon)The episode marks an end to this season of recordings and also to the format of conversations this year.And brings a pause in episodes until early Autumn.For me this episode was a chance to honour some shifts, reflect deeply, and to try and speak from my heart intelligence. So this is a spontaneous, personal honest, open, vulnerable, meandering, reflective share. And some of my opinions on this moment in time.Firstly where I find myself with my own inquiring, work and the context we find ourselves in at this moment as climate breakdown becomes seemingly impossible to ignore. How I am deepening my own learning, practices and offerings through deeper relational intentionality with the more than human world, including the impact of a recent Vision Quest I completed and participation as a co-learner in a new 18 month learning journey exploring ‘Kincentric Leadership’.And how all this is shaping the future of the podcast, the work I offer to others and the work of Becoming Crew.Finally I wanted to reflect on my key takeouts and learnings from the podcast conversations with my amazing guests this year and why they feel important and really useful for these times we are facing into.I also share what next for the podcast in the Autumn (loads) and from Becoming Crew.To be honest I recorded this episode for me, but I hope you find something in it for you, let us know, we’d love to hear from you.A big thanks to all the guests, contributors and our crew for making this podcast happen and to all our beautiful listeners for supporting us. Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe