Last Born In The Wilderness

Jerry Brown is the co-author of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity. He and his wife and co-author Julie Brown began their journey into the psychedelic history of early Christianity after noticing telling depictions of psychedelic mushrooms on display in the frescoes and architecture of the many chapels and cathedrals that exist across Europe. Jerry tells the story of how he and Julie first made this baffling discovery, and explains why it had not been documented and researched until very recently. We examine the possible role psychedelics would have played in the early centuries of Christianity, and more broadly, the origins of religion itself, and how our own personal experiences have opened our minds to this subject. What does it mean for there to be these depictions of psychedelic mushroom in early Christian art? How does this subject and research fit into the broader "psychedelic renaissance"? Jerry and I discuss this and much more in this episode. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/jerry-brown // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Dr. Kevin Trenberth is a Distinguished Senior Scientist in the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. In this interview, Dr. Trenberth explains the effect anthropogenic climate change is having on our weather systems, regarding the catastrophic record-breaking flooding in Houston this month, as well as the Category 5 Hurricane Irma that wrecked havoc on Florida and the Florida Keys. This summer, tens of millions of people across Asia have been displaced due to massive flooding, and practically the entire Pacific Northwest of North America has been on fire. Regarding the flooding in Houston, what has been the response from the Trump Administration? What actions have been taken to adapt to the rapidly changing climate system, resulting in more extreme weather? We get into this and more. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/kevin-trenberth // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Spencer Sunshine is a researcher, journalist, activist, and political consultant regarding far-right movements. We discuss the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a collection of various loosely affiliated white nationalist groups, along with elements of the so-called "Alt-Right," attempted to produce a cohesive platform to unite under. Spencer was on the ground in Charlottesville, and he elaborates on what took place during the Unite the Right rally, as well as its counter-protest, which he was a part of. Spencer puts the events in Charlottesville and its fallout in context, elaborating on the points brought up in his recent piece, Has the "Alt-Right" Met Its Gettysburg?, published in Truthout. Spencer also goes over the much maligned and misunderstood antifa, or antifascist movement, and provides much-needed context on what the movement really is and does as a movement. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/spencer-sunshine // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Stuart Pimm is Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, and is a world leader in the study of present day extinctions and what can be done to prevent them. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct, how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction, and the management consequences of this research. His commitment to the interface between science and policy has led to his testimony to both House and Senate Committees on the re-authorization of the Endangered Species Act. He has worked and taught in Africa for nearly 20 years on elephants, and most recently lions through National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, but always on topics that relate to the conservation of wildlife and the ecosystems on which they depend. Other research areas include the Everglades of Florida and the tropical forests in South America, especially the Atlantic Coast forest of Brazil and the northern Andes—two of the world's "hotspots" for threatened species. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/stuart-pimm // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Rhyd Wildermuth is co-founder and managing editor of Gods&Radicals, a nonprofit pagan anticapitalist publication. Rhyd identifies as a Pagan and an anarchist, and as we go over in this episode, those are not mutually exclusive terms. Rhyd gives a description as to why Paganism, in the Americanized sense, has lost touch with its radical anticapitalist roots, and through his work and writings, Rhyd is attempting to provide a much-needed reinterpretation of what it means to be Pagan in these tumultuous, crisis-laden times. Rhyd left America behind to spend his remaining days in Europe, where he currently resides. We discuss his expatriation, the recent events in Charlottesville and its fallout, and how anarchists and anticapitalists of all stripes and creeds have work to do preparing and adapting to the accelerating collapse of capitalism and the American Empire. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/rhyd-wildermuth // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Jeremy Lent, author of The Pattering Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning, and founder and president of the Liology Institute. The premise of The Patterning Instinct is that culture shapes values, and values shape history. Through this exploration, Jeremy examined various cultures and societies and determined the underlying premises of their cultural stories and metaphors, and how that informs how the collective patterns meaning onto the world and their place within it. We discussed the ways, through our understanding of humanity's pattering instinct, how our culture and society can begin to adopt more holistic understandings and relationships with our fellow human beings and life on this planet. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/jeremy-lent // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

The guest on this episode answers the question: Why do we tend to have so many issues with our teeth and jaws? How many of us have had teeth pulled, such as our wisdom teeth, and have had braces that align our crooked teeth? If we look at other mammals, we don't see these issues at all. We can even look to our closest relatives, the chimp and the bonobo, and we see that there are very few issues that arise in the development of their teeth and jaws. To figure this out, I spoke with Peter Ungar, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Environmental Dynamics Program at the University of Arkansas, and author of Evolution's Bite: A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins. Peter has spent years studying the Hadza of Tanzania, the last traditional small band foragers in Africa. He has spent most of his career studying the remains and diets of our prehistoric ancestors. It turns out our diets play a significant role in how our jaws develop, and as a result, how our teeth grow in. There are evolutionary reasons why our jaws develop the way they do. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/peter-ungar // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Darcia Narvaez is a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, where she studies flourishing and compassionate moral development and ecological attachment in children and adults. She is the author or editor of dozens of books, chapters and articles. Her recent book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, won the William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association and from the American Education Research Association’s Moral Development and Education SIG. She writes a popular blog for Psychology Today, Moral Landscapes. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/darcia-narvaez // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Perri Gardner, instructor of Political Science at the College of Southern Idaho, speaks with me about the US political system and government in the age of Trump. We discuss the cognitive dissonance political leaders have regarding Big Government vs. Limited Government, the decline and disintegration of the Great American Experiment, the recent British election, and the "Oh, shit" moment. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/perri-gardner // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This episode features a conversation with Danielle Billing, teacher at the Idaho School of the Deaf and Blind. At first, we begin discussing our love for pets, and our revulsion regarding the breeding practices of dogs, the anthropomorphizing of animals, and then the conversation moves into our education system and teaching in our contemporary society. Eventually, we get to the crux of the conversation: What is work? How does it serve us to work in our modern economy? What is branding, and how does that fit into our contemporary work in the age of social media? // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/danielle-billing-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast