Shows
Lifeworlds34. Black Mountains College: Rethinking Education for Our TimesToday’s episode explores a simple but urgent question: is our education system still fit for the world we’re entering? Climate disruption, AI, and uncertainty demand new forms of education fit for complexity and change.A rich lineage of alternative and experimental education has been evolving for decades, seeking to make learning more holistic, place-based, creative, and ecologically grounded. The focus of today’s conversation is one of those institutions: Black Mountains College in Wales. BMC is building a university model explicitly designed for a warming world, where nature is often the classroom and curriculum blends ecolog...
2026-02-0258 min
LifeworldsPoetry | Fruitful Darkness with RilkeThis Lifeworlds episode is a devotional journey into the work of Rainer Maria Rilke, the lyrical German poet of thresholds and embracing transformations.Through readings of his most luminous poems and writings, we explore how Rilke guides us deliciously in reconciling suffering and turmoil with tremendous beauty. It’s an offering for anyone standing in the in-between, for those moving through sublimation, and longing for those secret, dazzling encounters with primal life forces. Rilke’s words are an invitation in. To move towards. His poems are prayers…. “to go out into our hearts as onto...
2025-10-2617 min
Lifeworlds33. Empatheatre: Social Sculpture & Feeling Across WorldsIn this episode, we explore the role of theatre and empathy in transforming worldviews. Dr. Dylan McGarry is one of the founders of Empatheatre, a South African theatre-making company and methodology that turns research and storytelling into living social sculpture. Their plays create what they call amphitheatres for empathy - spaces where art, ritual, and dialogue help people listen across difference, from mining conflicts to ocean governance to human-wildlife coexistence.Empatheatre’s productions have brought together communities, policymakers, and activists that rarely meet, showing how imagination can transform civic life. The process of creating the plays generates pr...
2025-10-161h 17
Next Economy Now: For the Benefit of All LifeNature as the Foundation of the Global Economy (with Alexa Firmenich)What if your work could be more about deep, cultural, spiritual, and educational work than financial gain? In this conversation with Alexa Firmenich, founder of Naia Trust and host of the Lifeworlds Podcast, we explore how to balance returns with impact and tradition with transformation in the investment industry. She explains that 100% of global GDP is dependent on nature, and if we’re not supporting nature, we’re not supporting the economy. For full show notes, visit: https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/alexa-firmenich/Early bird registration is now open for the spring 2026 cohort of The Next...
2025-07-1546 min
Lifeworlds32. Depth Psychology and Soul Initiation – with Bill Plotkin from Animas Valley InstituteIn this episode, I sit down with Bill Plotkin, founder of Animas Valley Institute. Over the past 40 years, Bill has developed intricate, nature-based models of human development and education that challenge dominant psychological frameworks and invite us into a maturation process rooted in wholeness, wildness, and the more-than-human world.We explore their three major maps of a person’s “soul-centric journey” and cover topics including:Why most modern humans remain developmentally stuck in early adolescenceThe 8-stage Soulcentric Developmental Wheel and how it mirrors nature’s rhythmsThe four cardinal facets of the psyche, and the inner protectors that dis...
2025-07-111h 14
Lifeworlds31. Holistic Landscape Restoration and Inspirational Returns – with Willem Ferwerda from CommonlandAlmost 40% of Earth’s land is degraded, meaning that the natural cycles that sustain biodiversity, water, food, and livelihoods are breaking down. This degradation is an ecological crisis, and, it also lies at the root of massive social breakdown, displacement, and conflict. And it’s accelerating.In this episode, I speak with Dutch ecologist and entrepreneur Willem Ferwerda, founder of Commonland, one of the leading global initiatives tackling land degradation via large-scale holistic landscape restoration. Their work spans over 20 countries, with projects restoring millions of hectares from South Africa to Spain, Australia to the Netherlands. We get...
2025-07-021h 08
The Kainos PodcastLeviathan: Full DocumentaryTo help us make more films like this, and to gain access to the full interviews with ‘Leviathan’ guests, our ‘Sensemaking Companion’ and an extensive archive, become a Kainos subscriber for just $6 a month. Synopsis Why is social trust breaking down, and how do we find it again? This is the question at the heart of Leviathan. Directed and produced by Alexander Beiner, it draws on sociology, myth, psychology, economics and systems theory to delve into the deep code of culture and make sense of the times we live in. It’s a journey that invites th...
2025-06-261h 20
LifeworldsFrom Orbit to Intimacy | Beyond the Overview EffectWhat if the next shift in planetary consciousness didn’t come from looking back at Earth from space, but from listening deeply to the voices already here? In this thought piece I propose the “inworlding effect” as the overview effect of our time: one where developments in science, technology, law, and many other disciplines are revealing our entangled presence within a multispecies world.Medium Article LinkEpisode Website Link Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-06-1016 min
Lifeworlds30. Grief, Song and Ceremonies of Mourning - with Alexandra “ahlay” BlakeyToday we’re joined by artist, musician and communal grief ritual facilitator Alexandra “ahlay” Blakey to speak about the cultural forgetting of communal mourning, the sacred role of professional mourners, and the re-emergence of grief ceremonies as necessary spaces of remembrance, healing and repair.Ahlay brings her experience weaving song, body, and ritual into collective spaces where grief is given breath and movement, and we explore the history of grief practices across cultures, the political power of public mourning, and how grief can soften the heart and stitch community back together. We explore what to expect in a c...
2025-05-201h 05
Lifeworlds29. Carbon and the Grammar of Life - with Paul HawkenIn this episode we’re joined by the renowned environmentalist, activist and author Paul Hawken to explore the lifeworld of carbon and its role as a vital agent in the story of life.Paul speaks about the dysfunctions in Western language on how we speak about climate and nature, and why metaphors of war, control, and fixing actually perpetuate the very mindset that created the crises in the first place. We explore common traps we fall into, and how to recarbonize, to bring life back and restore relationality in how we think, feel, and act.
2025-04-221h 03
Sue's Healthy Minutes with Sue Becker | The Bread Beckers165: Is White Rice Better Than Brown Rice?In this episode, Sue Becker uncovers the surprising truth about rice—exploring whether white rice is truly better than brown. She breaks down the key differences and exposes what really happens during the rice enrichment process. And like Sue, we might just be shocked by what we learn! LISTEN NOW and SUBSCRIBE to this podcast here or from any podcasting platform such as, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Alexa, Siri, or anywhere podcasts are played. Rice sold at Bread Beckers - https://www.breadbeckers.com/store/pc/Rice-c52.htm Source Citing - ht...
2025-04-1415 min
Lifeworlds28. Whale Dreaming & Ocean Songlines - with WHAIAIn this episode, we journey into the vibrational worlds of sound, ancestry, and deep listening with Whaia, a Ngāti Kahungunu woman of Māori descent and First Nations sonic weaver and multi-instrumentalist.Raised between the salt of the Pacific and the red dust of the Australian desert, Whaia’s voice carries ancient songlines, blending traditional Māori instruments, crystalline singing bowls, and her original mother tongue, the language of Te Rā, the Sun. We explore her work singing with whales, reclaiming cultural instruments once left silent in museums, and remembering the sacred oceanic highways navigated by her Po...
2025-04-031h 19
LifeworldsPoetry | The World Thinks in PoetryIn a remote cabin in Vancouver Island in 2019, far away, I sat by the shore. I listened. I re-read poetry. I swam with jellyfish. I ate bright salmon berries and raw samphire. I gazed around and listened to the songs of the land. This piece of writing is a result of my days there. Full poem on Lifeworlds Website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2025-03-2607 min
Lifeworlds27. The Ecology Of Health - with Dr. Mackenzie HallWhere does your body end and the Earth begin? In this episode, we explore the real and poetic parallels between human health and planetary health, and how nature’s language moves in our bodies. Joining me is Dr. Mackenzie Hall, a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine, who helps us trace the Earth’s vital systems through the lens of humans as ecological systems.We ask:How could one imagine the Earth’s vital organs as reflected in human anatomy?How does the Earth balance and health and detoxify, and how might t...
2025-03-181h 12
LifeworldsSoulfire Sessions II: with David McConvilleDavid McConville is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher who explores how technology shapes our perspectives of Earth—from local places to our cosmic context. Our conversation examines how worldviews influence infrastructure, using Los Angeles as a case study. We explore the paradigm of "living infrastructure," discussing how David's studio Spherical collaborates with communities and organizations to develop mapping and co-design tools. Even if you’re not in LA, this episode offers valuable insights into how communities can work together to create resilient infrastructure systems that honor their unique cultural needs and local environments.
2025-02-181h 02
LifeworldsFrom Your Host: Season’s Reflections and Q&AIn this episode, I share some reflections on Season 2, before diving into our first listener-guided Q&A! You’ll be hearing from fellow listeners who enquired on topics like: Earth-centered governance De-extinction Alternative economies Language and stories about nature Which lifeworld I’d inhabit Green tech and individual agencyWhat is the purpose of humans?Thank you to everyone who sent in these thought-provoking questions.Episode WebsiteLifeworlds resource pageFaith in NatureEarth Law CenterZoopsTreaty of Finsbury ParkAlexa's When We Carved SpiralsIan McGilchristColossalBritt WrayVenemous LumpsuckerMultitudes FoundationPlanetary BoundariesRegeneration.orgDrawdownFlock TogetherGood NatureForest BathingLast Child AliveRegeneratorsBio LeadershipCapital Inst...
2025-01-281h 10
Lifeworlds26. Speculative Designs & Embodied Imaginations - with SuperfluxWhat if you could inhabit the future? In this episode, we dive into the work of Superflux, the visionary design studio turning imagination into tangible worlds. From multispecies banquets and rewilded ecological sanctuaries to mythic friezes that re-enchant cityscapes, co-founder Anab Jain shares how embodied experiences can transform how we see — and shape — the world. Join us as we explore speculative design, active hope, and the power of imagination to move us beyond ecological breakdown and into interspecies thriving. A celebration of wonder, possibility, and the art of asking: "What if?" Episode Website LinkSh...
2024-12-171h 11
Synergos Cultivate the Soul: Stories of Purpose-Driven PhilanthropyWorking with Capital On Behalf of Nature with Alexa Firmenich, Founder, Naia TrustAlexa Firmenich is an investor, consultant and facilitator focused on climate and biodiversity. She is the founder of Naia Trust, an animist investment vehicle that supports early stage nature-based solutions, scientific research and new economic models. She is also senior advisor at the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, and was co-director of its initiative SEED that is developing the world's most holistic measure of biodiversity with the goal to steer financial and political decision-makers to crystallise the value of nature into the global economy. Parallel to this work Alexa is trained as a group facilitator in leadership development and ecologic...
2024-12-1030 min
LifeworldsPractice | Body CompassThis is my take on ancient and intuitive sensory experience that taps into the innate intelligence of the human body, a blend of body compass, Zen Beginner's Mind, a shamanic medicine walk and Goethean science. The practice asks you to find a place in the natural landscape where you could walk undisturbed for some time, and have an encounter with an element of nature. A true act of lifeworld-ing! I guide you through a short introduction and the instructions. Attached on the website page is a link to the full instructions in PDF...
2024-10-0214 min
LifeworldsShare Your Questions for Season 3Calling all Lifeworlds listeners! We're finally doing our first-ever Q&A episode, and we want you to be part of it. Over the past two years, we've been secretly hoarding all the brilliant questions and thoughts you've sent our way, and now it's time to get them out of the inbox and into the limelight. Got something you’re wanting to ask our host, Alexa Firmenich? Now’s your chance to share whatever’s on your mind. Whether it's a burning question, a cheeky comment, or a heartfelt story, we want to hear it all. Y...
2024-10-0102 min
Lifeworlds25. The Connected Wild: Earth’s Internet of Animals - with Dr. Martin WikelskiThroughout history, many cultures have observed and interpreted animal behavior to predict events and read the landscapes around them. The multispecies lives of our planet weave an astonishing network of information across the face of the globe, a web of knowledge compromised of thousands of creatures communicating with each other, across species, and with their environments. How we listen in on this collective intelligence? Today’s guest Martin Wikelski is director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS) - a project which has been dubbed as ‘the...
2024-09-241h 03
Lifeworlds24. Guardians of the Earth: The Rise of Ecocide Law - with Pella ThielCould the destruction of nature become considered as serious a crime as that of genocide? How does the structure of law shape a civilisation’s norms, behaviors and overarching story?Today we’ll be discussing international Ecocide law, a massively growing movement that wants to embed the notion of ‘ecocide’ crime at the highest levels of law - at the International Criminal Court in The Hague - and create a powerful deterrent for the further damage to ecosystems and people globally. Our guest is Pella Thiel, a maverick ecologist, farmer, author and who has co-f...
2024-08-2755 min
Lifeworlds23. Wild Avatars: Nature in Virtual Reality - with Marshmallow Laser FeastHave you ever wondered what it would be like to breathe yourself into your own body? To flow with the out-breath of trees into your own fractaling lungs, to dance ribbonlike into an ancient ceiba’s vasculature, to stitch an ecosystem together as a mycelium highways sparkling with energy? In this episode we explore the transformational potential of virtual reality through the work of Marshmallow Laser Feast, an artist collective that has emerged as a leading VR creators in the last decade. They exhibited internationally from London to New York, Melbourne to Seoul, their work included in...
2024-08-071h 08
Lifeworlds22. Zen Buddhism and the Soul of Lifeworlding - with Brother Spirit and Sister True Dedication / Plum VillageToday’s episode brings us into the heart and philosophy of Zen Buddhism, as practiced by the Plum Village monastic community that was founded in 1982 by the Vietnamese peace activist, monk, poet, and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Today it has grown into Europe’s largest Buddhist monastery, with over 200 resident monks and nuns, and known as one of the most actively engaged Buddhist communities offering insight on the modern world, and on the climate and ecological crises.We’ve spoken on the show about fragmented consciousness, a mind that sees parts and not the whole. Meditation and ot...
2024-06-041h 25
LifeworldsPoetry | A Sunset with Mary OliverWoven together loosely by my narrative, this special episode traces through a selection of five dazzling poems from the Pulitzer-prize winning poet Mary Oliver; bringing us into giddy relationship with the natural world -- with geese and grasshoppers and miracles and scars and existential queries on what makes life worth living. Mary's sharp and gentle perception of nature, her ability to communicate its messages with such simple and profound language, is at once both balm and flame for the soul. “Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the...
2024-05-2615 min
Lifeworlds21. The Science of Plant Intelligence & Neurobiology - with Paco CalvoAre plants conscious? Do they experience forms of cognition and intelligence that go beyond patterned and hard-wired evolutionary behaviors? Do intelligence and consciousness really require a brain and central nervous system? Or should we consider intelligence on Earth to be less brain-bound, perhaps not even residing in the individual self, but rather in an enmeshment within an ecosystem? A swarm intelligence, a networked mind, distributed, adaptive, like a murmuration of starlings in the setting sun. And how would we even begin to start answering these questions empirically?Today it is my explicit intention to change the way...
2024-04-021h 08
LifeworldsSoulfire Sessions I: with Daniel SchmachtenbergerSoulfire Sessions have come to Lifeworlds! These occasional special episodes will be our take on the good old concept of a fireside chat. Intimate, philosophical, challenging, sometimes zany, always insightful, these are discussions with visionaries who don’t often get the airtime to speak about their deeper ways of being and feeling – and what lights their souls on fire.In this first session I speak with my dear friend Daniel Schmachtenberger, a social philosopher and founding director of the Civilisation Research Institute. Daniel has a particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, artificial intelligence, civil...
2024-03-1957 min
Lifeworlds20. Seeds: The Life Keepers - with Milka Chepkorir KutoSeeds. Memory keepers. Speckled time travellers. Capsules of deep, earth wisdom. To control seeds is to control life. To be a seed is to hold the genetic code of turning starlight into matter, of morphing your body into soft green tips that tremble in the wind and drink fire. There is a deep co-evolutionary relationship that exists in your bones, between humans, land, ecology, and seeds.And we are losing them. An absence of flourishing seed systems directly correlates with a loss of cultural identity for thousands of communities around the world. Life for rural communities...
2024-03-1259 min
Team BlickkontaktAlexa FirmenichAlexa Firmenich offers a profound insight into the necessity of aligning human systems with ecological systems to foster a regenerative future. Alexa, deeply influenced by Dzogchen Buddhism, emphasizes the importance of dissolving the ego to harmonize with nature, viewing herself as part of the wider ecological system rather than a separate entity. Her professional journey is a testament to this philosophy, with her work spanning the development of holistic measures for biodiversity at ETH Zurich, managing a nature-centric investment portfolio, and initiating "Life Worlds" podcast to explore human relationships with the non-human world.Alexa challenges the current anthropocentric approach to...
2024-03-051h 00
LifeworldsSound Journey | Music of the WatersThis musical journey has been produced for Lifeworlds by the vocal artist Moncaya. It is a sonic ode to the waters of the Earth and the rivers that flow, and a deep and loving conversation between two dear friends.Moncaya is a singer-songwriter and composer whose namesake derives from the mountain that rises in a vast dry plain in Northern Spain, her homeland; a mecca for the Iberian Celts and generations of healers, witches, and spiritual practioners. In this musical journey, she has woven our words with the sounds of the Rio Magdalena, a powerful estuary...
2024-02-1933 min
The Great Simplification with Nate HagensAlexa Firmenich: "Biodiversity, Beauty, and Being"On this episode, Nate is joined by Alexa Firmenich, whose work spans biodiversity advocacy, ESG investing, wilderness excursion facilitating, and podcasting/creative writing. Together, they philosophize on the importance of developing a connection to nature and understanding the - often overlooked - but critical function of biodiversity to the climate and other natural systems. Alexa also delves into her thinking about new economic and cultural models on human systems that could work within the biosphere. How can acknowledging our individual roles as a part of the Earth's larger system give us a new perspective on what it means to...
2024-01-241h 44The Great Simplification with Nate HagensAlexa Firmenich: "Biodiversity, Beauty, and Being"On this episode, Nate is joined by Alexa Firmenich, whose work spans biodiversity advocacy, ESG investing, wilderness excursion facilitating, and podcasting/creative writing. Together, they philosophize on the importance of developing a connection to nature and understanding the - often overlooked - but critical function of biodiversity to the climate and other natural systems. Alexa also delves into her thinking about new economic and cultural models on human systems that could work within the biosphere. How can acknowledging our individual roles as a part of the Earth's larger system give us a new perspective on what it means to...
2024-01-241h 44
Lifeworlds19. Conservation Photography and Beauty Activism – with Cristina “Mitty” MittermeierAudacious, spunky, courageous, defiant, sensitive, compassionate, fierce… These are just some of the words that I feel radiating from the formidable spirit and woman that is Cristina “Mitty” Mittermeier. Hailed as one of the most influential conservation photographers of our time, this Mexican national has dedicated her entire life to protecting the world's oceans - and through her work, has inspired millions of people to do the same. Cristina was one of the first pioneers in the concept and field of conservation photography. Once told to sit down and be quiet early on in her career when sh...
2023-12-1954 min
Lifeworlds18. Satellites, Data and Earth Observation: Signal from Noise – with Dan HammerHow can satellite data and computation fundamentally shift how we understand our place on a changing Earth, and amongst other species? Can we use all that newfound knowledge, transparency, and intelligent data architecture to become better stewards? Allowing the earth to behold itself and its own lifeworld in a whole new way… And what are the ethical implications of having the power of such oversight? In whose hands? Today our guest is Dan Hammer, Managing Partner at Ode, a data and design agency for the environment, and prior chief data scientist at the World Resources Institute, where he...
2023-11-0955 min
LifeworldsMeditation | The Cosmos in Your FoodA guided meditation to bring you into a state of communion and intimacy with the Earth through the daily, sacred act of eating. Many ancient traditions have their ways of giving thanks to our connection with food and the planet’s bounteous harvest. Here, I have been inspired by the Zen Buddhist lineage of Plum Village, and the tenderness and beauty of bringing in all of life through every bite.I recommend you do it as you are about to enjoy a special meal… (Audio: New Earth - Beautiful Koshi Wind...
2023-11-0712 min
I by IMDThe Interview: Environmental philanthropist Alexa FirmenichAlexa Firmenich is one of a new wave of philanthropists seeking to transform the way societies operate through purpose-led, professional interventions. In this interview, Peter Vogel explores how philanthropy has shifted from traditional charitable giving to a bolder vision. -------------Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here.Discover IMD's leadership programmes here.
2023-10-2411 min
Lifeworlds17. Tales of the Arctic Deep – with Sylvia Earle, Johan Rockström and Taylor GriffithA special three part episode recorded onboard a Climate and Oceans expedition in the Norwegian Arctic. We’ll hear about the dark mysteries of the deepest realms of the ocean from “Her Deepness” herself, Dr. Sylvia Earle (possibly the most admired and loved oceanographer of the last century). Followed by the latest Planetary Boundaries Earth science from Johan Rockstrom, and the role of ocean storytelling and immersive art installations from Taylor Griffith. Together, their voices weave a tale of the predicament and possibility of the Arctic and high seas; how to sense the lifeworlds of all the creatu...
2023-10-121h 55
Lifeworlds16. Climate Grief, Eco-anxiety, and Loving a World in Turmoil – with Britt WrayA necessary and beautiful episode on the emotional terrain of climate grief, loss, sadness, anxiety, and all the ways we can cope either maladaptively or adaptively to this challenging moment in time.This is an intimate conversation that makes the case for allowing ourselves to ‘feel it all’. Because from the depth of feeling comes the power of action, hope, resilience and community. If we ignore the reality of this mental health crisis, we are turning our backs on the potential that can emerge on the other side of initiation. We discuss different frameworks for processing climate anxi...
2023-09-131h 10
LifeworldsMyth | Remembrance & Initiation of the SoulAn essential part of living into different lifeworlds resides in the mythic realm – the currents of poetry, mysticism and story that stream in the archetypal world below the world. Today I bring you a myth, from Darren Silver, rite of passage and vision quest guide; it is a myth that has laid dormant for many years and is finally here to be told. On the surface it’s a story of twins, of a brother and a sister, and of their initiation. There is magical surrealism here, and mythic beings, ancient and enduring laws of reciprocity, of the...
2023-07-1134 min
Lifeworlds15. Re-Weaving Landscapes: Wildlife Crossings & Designing for Nature as the Client The roads on which we drive are unlikely to strike us as an exciting source of design innovation or interspecies dialogue. And yet, some of the most fascinating experiments and living laboratories are taking place around the world in how humans can build structures of hope and creativity for other species to flourish, despite having their habitats sliced in half by concrete veins. Earth is a fluid organism and needs connected landscapes like a canvas upon which to paint its life. Roads, on the other hand, are the single most destructive element in the process of h...
2023-06-271h 10
Lifeworlds14. Musicians of the Planet: On Making Interspecies Songs – with David RothenbergA clarinet plugged into an underwater hydrophone, playing with liquid humpback whale songs below the surface. A huddled group of musicians under a night-time forest in Berlin, singing with nightingales. A 17-year swarm of cicadas alighting upon a sole jazz musician. These are the scenographies that David Rothenberg provokes with his interspecies music compilations, asking us, why should we only play music with other humans and not improvise along with the original musicians of the planet herself? For human music and song emerged from a world that sings, hums, beats, chirps, and human translations of these sounds h...
2023-06-061h 01
Lifeworlds13. The Sounds of Life: Bioacoustics, A.I. and Ethics – with Karen BakkerThe world around us is constantly vibrating with sounds we cannot hear. This magical soundscape evades our senses, tempts us by its elusive presence and beckons us to look deeper. Our ability to listen in is rapidly evolving. Over the last decades, scientists have begun installing digital listening devices in nearly every ecosystem. This process of deciphering what nature is saying is called “bioacoustics” and “ecoacoustics”. Massive advances in both hardware and artificial intelligence are permitting us to go where no artificial ear has gone before. Recent breakthroughs unveil that many more species are speaking in ways...
2023-05-231h 01
LifeworldsMeditation | Deep TimeThis is a meditation I wrote and recorded to plunge us through epochs of cosmic time, through the tremendous evolutionary processes that preceded us, became us, and are us. It grants us invaluable context on the great tales of life whose memories are held in our bones. This is our origin and lineage. I hope you find yourself nourished and moved by the experience. This script is inspired by and takes language from the deep time practices of Joanna Macy and the Deep Time Walk of Stephan Harding and colleagues, along with s...
2023-05-0421 min
Lifeworlds12. The Art of Tracking & Wild Bison - with Toni RomaniThis episode weaves live narrative, interview and descriptions on Romanian bison, wild forest adventures, and the lost ancient art and science of tracking. Tracking is an ancient sensorial and survival strategy that our nomadic ancestors cultivated as state of profound observation. It led to the development of many innate abilities of the human mind and indeed, tracking is so ingrained in our very cells that it is synonymous with being human. There is a movement today to revitalise tracking into a new modern profession, into a science that can help to monitor the impact of...
2023-04-2551 min
Lifeworlds11. The Inner Lives and Cultural Worlds of Animals – with Carl SafinaCarl Safina is an ecologist, author, conservationist, and animal translator whose body of work probes how free-living animals experience life. His books Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel and Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace have won numerous awards. Audubon named Carl Safina among its “100 Notable Conservationists of the 20th Century.” Carl uncovers the rich truth that many species and animals have entire cultures, traditions, familial stories, and individual quests, that all are part of this symbiotic tapestry of tales that we call “nature”. He travels alongside the sweeping wingspans...
2023-04-041h 00
In Conversation with Nathalie Nahai105. On Valuing Nature: Biocomplexity, Belonging & Animist Investment / Alexa FirmenichFor the first episode of the season, I have the pleasure of interviewing Alexa Firmenich - an investor, consultant and facilitator on the climate crisis, whose life’s work centres on dissolving the boundaries that divide human beings from other forms of life, and enabling nature to express its fullest creativity.
Focused on developing strategies that repair our planet’s ecologies, Alexa’s work experience spans from political science and leadership development to corporate sustainability analysis, journalism, eco-cultural projects in emerging markets, land-based conservation initiatives and climate communication.
She is currently co-director of SEED, a new initiative housed inside the Crowth...
2023-03-191h 06
LifeworldsSeason 1 | Your Host's Reflections & Resolutions!My 2023 Reflections and Resolutions from Season One! I created this podcast to explore how people can learn to inhabit the world from multiple perspectives, with the ultimate goal of being able to feel the Earth’s body as our own body. In this episode, I start the year and tie the bow on the closing of Season One, by looking back over our twenty or so conversations and harvesting the rich learnings and patterns that emerged across the show. There are three consistent topics I unearthed:The challenge of how we integrate others int...
2023-01-1126 min
LifeworldsPoem | Being HumanEver since I watched Naima Penniman (from the duet Climbing Poetree) recount her poem in this bewitching video, I’ve returned time and time again to these words, to the simplicity, playfulness, and sheer beauty of her message.For me this poem is medicine. It reminds me of all the silly and wondrous things we human get caught inside of, and then we can wonder, how do other beings on Earth live their experiences of doubt, fear, joys, sorrows… What can we learn from them? Does it really have to be all so complicated after all?
2022-12-0905 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Nature as Mentor - with Jon YoungJon Young brings us into the ancient practice of nature connection mentoring. He describes how mentoring is a virtually extinct craft, and yet occupies critical importance in building the sensory awareness and neurology of young children. We delve into his rich tales of living among the San bushmen of Southern Africa, the role of wildlife tracking and bird language, insights on building ropes with the universe, and a turkey called Pete.For over 40 years, Jon young has been a deep nature connection mentor, wildlife tracker, peacemaker, author, workshop leader, and storyteller. A pioneer in the Western...
2022-11-291h 02
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Nature as Mentor - with Darren SilverYou may not yet know what a “vision quest” or a rite of passage is. But these traditions are as ancient as our bones. No matter whom your ancestors were, I would wager that if you travel the family branchings back far enough, you would discover that they too engaged in these ritual processes that tethered them into deeper connection with the earth’s forces.Darren Silver is a rite of passage guide, nature-connected coach, ceremonialist, and educator. For two decades he has been working with ritual, wilderness living skills and guiding transformational experiences into land. A gift...
2022-11-2948 min
Lifeworlds10. Nature as Mentor: Wilderness Rites and TrackingWith Darren Silver & Jon Young.You’ve heard from many voices in previous episodes on how they’ve learned to listen deeply to the world around them. Today, as a fitting closure, we’re going to get into the HOW of all of this, so that you can embark on your own journey.Our two guests are wildlife trackers, wilderness guides, animal language experts and nature connection mentors. What they’ll share is that lifeworlding starts in the body, with core skills that were central to human cultures across time. These are ways of being...
2022-11-2941 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Urban Ecologies - with John ThackaraJohn Thackara is a writer, curator and professor who develops design agendas for ecological restoration, urban-rural reconnection, and multi-species design.He curated the celebrated Doors of Perception conference for 20 years, first in Amsterdam and later across India; he was commissioner of the UK social innovation biennial Dott 07, and the French design biennial City Eco Lab; and in 2019, he curated the Urban-Rural expo in Shanghai. His last book was How To Thrive In the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today.Here we discuss...Why more information about the climate crisis just won’t cu...
2022-11-1555 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Urban Ecologies - with Gavin Van HornWhere does the city begin? How do animals disrupt our associations of what cities are? What even is urban wilderness?Gavin Van Horn, Executive Editor of the Center for Humans and Nature, and author of the books The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds and Animal Encounters In The Chicago Wilderness, is here to disrupt long-held notions that cities are just concrete masses devoid of other life.Gavin shares his tales from the city of Chicago, stories of brave citizens who transformed their neighbourhoods and rewove a social fabric with...
2022-11-1546 min
Lifeworlds9. Urban Ecologies: Where’s Nature in the City?With Gavin Van Horn & John Thackara.How can people living in urban settings engage with a teeming animal world – right on their doorsteps? Can we design cities from the perspective and the lifeworlds of other species? And by the way, where does the city even begin? How can animals disrupt our associations of what cities are? Gavin Van Horn is the Executive Editor of the Center for Humans and Nature Press, and is the author of City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness and The Way of Coyote. His story teaches a p...
2022-11-1552 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Multi-species Entanglements - with Dr June HarrowerSpecializing in multi-species entanglements under climate change, Dr Juniper Harrower works at the intersection of ecology, art, activism and policy. She uses science methods and a multimedia art practice to investigate human influence on ecological systems, while seeking solutions that protect at-risk species and promote environmental justice. A founding member of the international arts collective The Algae Society Bioart Design Lab, she also founded the environmental arts production company SymbioArtlab. Harrower is the director of the art+science initiative at UC Santa Cruz where she also teaches art. In this episode we discuss...
2022-11-0144 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Multi-species Entanglements - with BeeWisdomHow do bees bridge people with nature? What is it like to be seduced by the sounds and smells of the hive? To be touched by a bee? In this conversation with two master beekeepers, we delve into the beauty of working with bees and the broken belief systems and malpractices of the beekeeping industry (spoiler: this involves things like sugar feeding, ‘honey production pressure’, prevention of the swarm, and much more…). They also illuminate why we should rephrase the saying of ‘save the bees’ to a much wider and generative narrative of co-creation. Sandira...
2022-11-0153 min
Lifeworlds8. Multi-species Entanglements, or, How We Become Rapt in Other LivesWith BeeWisdom & Dr June Harrower.Today on lifeworlds, we’re going to spend some time with the humming, buzzing, delectable nectar of the bees. Sandira Belia and Annelieke van der Sluijs are beekeepers and co-founders of Bee Wisdom, a platform where beekeepers and bee lovers can learn how to work synergistically with bees.They’re here to unveil the mysterious, inner lives of the bee world. These days, many conversations about bees focus on their collapse, which can obscure and take us further away from the magic and mysteries of the bees. Could we i...
2022-11-0144 min
LifeworldsBedtime Story | Extinction is LonelinessI wrote this piece in a 6am flurry of sunrise inspiration, the words pouncing through me, stirred by a combination of books I’d been reading on plant science and deep evolutionary history (thank you, Stephen Harrod Buhner and Thomas Halliday).All too often we read headlines about extinction or climate change, and it can be difficult to relate. Difficult for emotions to flow and process. I think we need to bring these notions intimately home, into the utterly personal, into the first-person experience of what it’s like to lose something forever. I wrote this piec...
2022-10-3009 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Ecocentric Law - with Abhayraj NaikToday I’m joined by Abhayraj Naik, a lawyer and activist-academic who teaches interdisciplinary courses on climate, environment, justice, law, policy, and research methods in universities across India. We discuss the trajectory of the Rights of Nature in India, and how this legal approach differentiates itself from other forms of environmental law. Abhayraj shares why the Rights of Nature can catalyse entirely new world views on the human relationship to nature, and the thrilling, often philosophical, new sets of questions they unleash (who gets to speak on behalf of nature? How might one cross examine nature?). ...
2022-10-1848 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Ecocentric Law — with Dr John Borrows & Lindsay BorrowsThe wonderful father-daughter duo of Dr John Borrows and Lindsay Borrows explore questions such as: Is law a noun or a verb? How can we read the archive of the law that is written upon the Earth? What exactly is indigenous law, and how can it serve to revitalise colonial law? John Borrows has transformed Canada’s understanding of how indigenous and non-indigenous law can co-exist and created the world's first dual Indigenous law program at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. His publications include Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law and Drawing Out Law. H...
2022-10-1858 min
Lifeworlds7. Ecocentric Law: The Rights of Nature and Natural LawWith Dr John Borrows, Lindsay Borrows & Abhayraj Naik. This week we’re traveling from British Columbia to Bangalore, exploring two different legal systems that are revolutionizing the very foundations of our global system of law. In transforming how we advocate and litigate on behalf of nature, these approaches require legal professionals to develop a whole new series of skills and sensibilities which revolve around translating the lifeworlds of other beings. The wonderful daughter-father duo of Lindsay and John Borrows will talk about indigenous law systems in Canada. They are both lawyers and members of...
2022-10-1839 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Designs For Life - with Herb HammondHerb’s career in British Columbia has centered on forestry, land based communities and natural systems. From his work as a conventional forester he went all the way to launching an embodied learning forestry school and The Silva Forest Foundation, which he ran with his wife for 30 years. They developed over 25 nature-based plans across Canada, and around the world, upending ways that large landscape management was done by communities.In our conversation, we speak about the role of intuition and heart based thinking in developing nature-directed communities, how you get everyone on board, and the differences in...
2022-09-2743 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Designs For Life - with Dr Tara MartinI had the delightful honor of meeting Tara Martin when I lived on Vancouver Island. We canoed out to a tiny Salish Sea sand island and shared a delicious sunset picnic among old growth forests. I love Tara because she is a rare breed of scientist that can seamlessly blend rigorous data science and ecological analysis with deep intuition and cultural insight.In this interview, we cover the basics of conservation decision science and “priority threat management” - a field she is pioneering - and how it can help policymakers prioritise complex conservation decisions. We discuss her...
2022-09-2754 min
Lifeworlds6. Designs For Life: Priority Threat Management and Nature-Based PlansWith Dr Tara Martin & Herb Hammond. Today we are joined by Dr. Tara Martin and Herb Hammond, who have pioneered fascinating methods in developing large-scale maps and management plans for biodiverse, high-priority conservation landscapes. What really sets them apart is their ability to integrate both cutting edge Western science and indigenous worldviews, a synthesis called "two-eyed seeing." In these interviews, they debunk the misguided idea that separating humans from nature is the best way to restore and manage ecosystems, and show instead how human touch is vital in tending to the land. T...
2022-09-2750 min
LifeworldsMeditation | Deep EcologyWithout being awake in our bodies We can’t feel how our bodies belong to this earth Feel the touch of the world upon you. This one I will keep brief, and allow the practice to speak for itself. Find a quiet place where you will be undisturbed for half an hour. If you can be outdoors, that’s even better. And settle in, allow yourself to be guided and drift into deep connection with the forces of our home planet.Recorded in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica -- than...
2022-09-2024 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] The Indigenous View - with Joe Martin (Tutakwisnapšiƛ)This is a beautiful conversation with Joe Martin, who is also known by his traditional name Tutakwisnapšiƛ. We speak about his work as a master canoe and totem pole carver, and role as an elder in his community. Joe is a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation living in Tofino, Vancouver Island, and has carved over seventy canoes made from ancient trees. He has sparked a revitalization of this ancient art form in his own community and among neighboring nations in the Pacific Northwest. In our talk, Joe describes how indigenous totem po...
2022-09-1352 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] The Indigenous View - with Tyson YunkaportaA delightful yarn with Tyson Yunkporta, Aboriginal scholar, founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University in Melbourne, and author of Sand Talk. Tyson is a member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, Australia. On this episode we discuss: How their systems lab aggregates data and knowledge through indigenous sense-making protocols “Avatar Depression” syndrome and how the West may begin to remember its own aboriginal knowledge How giving names to nature can either kill, or create kinship The role of ceremony in maintaining energy flows.. And why ceremony isn’t always such a...
2022-09-1357 min
Lifeworlds5. The Indigenous View: Protocols, Ceremony and Totem PolesWith Tyson Yunkaporta & Joe Martin (Tutakwisnapšiƛ). Today we’re joined by two master indigenous scholars and artists, who will be laying down clues from their ancestral cultures on how to interpret and read the laws of the land. Our first conversation is what he likes to call a yarn, with Tyson Yunkporta, Aboriginal scholar, founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University in Melbourne, and member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, Australia. Tyson is the author of the book Sand Talk which was wildly successful, and I reck...
2022-09-1345 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Money: In Service of Nature? - with Eric SmithEric Smith has spent his career working at the intersection of economics and nature.Most recently he was the director of the venture capital vehicle Neglected Climate Opportunities (NCO) at the Grantham Environmental Trust, where he co-led over 40 direct investments in start-ups across all stages that can remove carbon and GHG at scale.He was previously with SJF Ventures and worked for BlackRock on climate finance, and currently is Founder/CEO of Edacious, a company working to differentiate food quality and connect the dots between soil and human health.Eric...
2022-08-3058 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Money: In Service of Nature? - with Lorenzo de RosensweigLorenzo de Rosenzweig is what you might call an “OG” (original gangster) of the conservation finance world.An engineer and marine biologist by training, for 25 years he was president of a $170 million endowment conservation trust fund - the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature - and for over 17 years he was chairman of the Mesoamerican Reef Fund. During his tenure in both institutions he led resource mobilization efforts that raised close to $410 million. He’s a member of the board of the Conservation Finance Alliance Executive Committee, the World Environment Center, The Healthy Reefs Initiative, and se...
2022-08-3055 min
Lifeworlds4. Money: In Service of Nature?With Lorenzo de Rosensweig & Eric Smith.This week we’re asking whether it’s possible to support the lifeworlds of nature with the very same tools that have caused them harm. We’ll be joined by Lorenzo de Rosenzweig, who has headed Latin America’s largest nature conservation trusts for over three decades. And Eric Smith, from the Grantham Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund and Edacious, will talk about venture capital investing in nature based solutions.I’m interested in this topic because I invest capital in projects that regenerate nature through my vehicle Ground Effe...
2022-08-3055 min
LifeworldsSong | Mushroom Dance“An improvisation with the natural vibrations of a certain place and time – via plant bioelectricity, latent electromagnetic radiation, and even the earth’s resonant hum…” Tarun Nayar, musician and biologist, captures the song of a mushroom’s bioelectricity, using the movement of water inside fungi and plants as electrical resistance. Like human skin, a mushroom skin possesses electrical properties which can be transposed into sound.For more plant music, check out his page and full album.let’s protect wild places ✨listen to plant ragas 🌱🎶Lifeworlds Page Hosted on Acast. Se...
2022-08-2724 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] The Inner Lives of Fungi - with Sophie StrandWoodchucks and bald eagles. Fungal fermentation. Compost heaps. Animism. Deviant animal sex. Disability. Jesus and Dionysus. Fungi, microbes, and the divine feminine critique.It’s never a dull conversation with the brilliant and freewheeling articulate writer, poet and philosopher Sophie Strand.Kick back and enjoy the ride. Episode Website Link: lifeworld.earth/episodes/fungisophiestrand Show Links:Fungi: Lifeworlds Resource PageSophie Strand WebsiteSophie’s Substack Article: The Animate EverythingArticle: Mentorship with the More than Human WorldArticle: Melt Divine Feminine into Divine AnimacyLook out f...
2022-08-161h 02
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] The Inner Lives of Fungi - with Giuliana FurciIntroducing Giuliana Furci. The woman who has been chosen by the fungi. The mother who is in love with the mould that grows on lemons. The founder and CEO of the Fungi Foundation, a Harvard University Associate, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy (!), and Co-Chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee.We travel through the day in the life of a fungi; how moving beyond plant and animal-centric language transforms our perception of the world; what it’s like to be on a bone-chilling fungal expedition in Patagonia; what the fungi can teach us...
2022-08-1657 min
Lifeworlds3. The Inner Lives of Fungi - Expeditions, Advocacy and PoeticsWith Giuliana Furci & Sophie Strand.Oh, the fungi! Without them we’d have no plants, no trees, no chocolate, no beer, yogurt, baked bread – all the good things! Yet despite their burgeoning popularity, science has barely scratched the surface of mapping and understanding the hidden world of fungi.The more we learn, the more these ecosystem architects warp our minds of what we think is possible. They digest toxic radiochemical waste. Their mycelium networks with plant roots are the planet’s ecological stock exchanges. They stitch together ecosystems, sequester carbon, drive global nutrient cycles...
2022-08-1645 min
LifeworldsPoem | Sometimes a Wild GodFollowing the episodes on rewilding, I wanted to drive the message of wildness home with this spellbinding poem by Tom Hirons. It gives me chills every time I listen to it, remembering all the animals, all the chthonic forces, that we refuse to let in, the wild madness we long and thirst for, the shuddering pact we’ve made with this world before we were born.Read the poem on: https://www.lifeworld.earth/episodes/poemwildgodPhoto credit: Francesco Sambo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2022-08-1005 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Rewilding - with Kris TompkinsKristine Tompkins is an American conservationist who is the president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation, and former CEO of Patagonia.For nearly thirty years, along with her late husband Doug Tompkins, she has been protecting and restoring wild beauty and biodiversity by creating national parks, restoring wildlife, inspiring activism and economic vitality across 14.7 million acres of parklands in Chile and Argentina.Kris is Chair of National Geographic Society’s Last Wild Places campaign, the first conservationist to be awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and the United Nations’ Global Patron for Protected Areas.
2022-08-021h 04
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Rewilding - with Derek GowWith his hilariously sharp-witted, no-nonsense approach and radiating descriptions of nature’s landscapes, Derek Gow is a force to contend with.He’s been one of the most vocal actors in the reintroduction of missing keystone species in England such as the beaver, the water vole and the white stork, butting heads with obnoxious lobbyists and government officials. He is currently rewilding his 300-acre farm on the Devon/Cornwall border where the Eurasian lynx, wild boar and harvest mice make home.Our conversation ranges from the obstacles that prevent society in re-introducing critical spec...
2022-08-0255 min
Lifeworlds2. Rewilding – The Return of Exuberant LandscapesWith Derek Gow & Kris Tompkins.The rewilding movement is currently sweeping across the world’s landscapes, restoring ecologies and species, re-naturalising rivers and forests.Our two guests are trailblazers in this space – first we hear from Kristine Tompkins, ex-CEO of Patagonia who, together with her late husband Doug Tompkins, have protected over 14 million acres of wildlands and national parks across Latin America, along with over 30 million acres of marine areas. Kristine is Chair of the National Geographic Society’s Last Wild Places campaign and was the first conservationist to be awarded the Carnegie Medal...
2022-08-0249 min
LifeworldsPractice | Sensing PlaceThis is the first of the Lifeworlds ‘bonus’ episodes, designed to help us tune in somatically to the living world. We need to be grounding our connection to other lifeworlds into our very bodies for them to become lasting and real. Here we discover how to access these states through things like mindfulness, art, wilderness practices and poetry.Today's exercise is about understanding the ground we stand on. The place that we call home. After a brief introduction, I present a series of prompts for you to do in your own time, over several weeks and mont...
2022-07-2811 min
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Unexpected Agricultures – with Michael AblemanMichael Ableman is a farmer, author, photographer and urban food systems activist. Michael has been farming organically since the early 1970s and is considered one of the pioneers of the organic farming and urban agriculture movements.He founded North America’s largest urban farm in downtown Vancouver, that employs people who are experiencing long term addiction and mental illness. Michael lives on his farm on Salt Spring Island, which I can only describe as the most glorious farm I have ever visited.His story will inspire you to get dirt under your nails, to...
2022-07-191h 03
Lifeworlds[Full Interview] Unexpected Agricultures – with Lyla June JohnstonLyla June Johnston is an Indigenous public speaker, artist, poet, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. She blends her studies in human ecology at Stanford University, graduate work in Native American Pedagogy at the University of New Mexico, and the indigenous worldview she grew up with.Lyla and I got together to discuss her brilliant PhD research on Indigenous Food Systems Revitalization. In this interview we discuss what 6000-year-old clam gardens in the Pacific Northwest, buffalo prairies, kelp forests, hemlock boughs, and herring eggs all have in co...
2022-07-191h 06
Lifeworlds1. Unexpected Agricultures – The Human in the Food WebWith Lyla June Johnston & Michael Ableman. We’re going to kick off the season by getting our feet down in the soil to talk about agriculture! Our two guests present a compelling vision of how agricultural systems offer humans a deeper sense of purpose that goes beyond the provisioning of food.This is because farmers and producers often spend their days immersed in the lifeworlds of the land — in the delicate stalks of green, the humming of pollinators, the beating of bird feathers and the pungent smells of sprouting crops. Their survival depends on t...
2022-07-1948 minLifeworldsTrailerWelcome to Lifeworlds - a podcast series that explores how to orient your life around nature. Join me on this intimate journey into the eyes and minds of other species; learn from our guests how they’re living deeply in relationship with ecologies; be electrified by the possibilities of partnering with nature and the beauty it can bring to your life. Episodes launch fortnightly from 19th July, with meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between.There's also a website brimming with resources at lifeworld.earth.Music: The Ris...
2022-07-0803 min
LUAN Emotional MuseumLearning to locate ourselves in ecology, the positive outlook with Alexa FirmenichThis episode is about learning to locate ourselves in ecology, a concept that goes by the name of animism.
Alexa advocates that the role of human beings is restoring life, and she’ll share historical examples and profound ecology principles to prove it. We’ll answer some questions about our bioregion, and she’ll help us learn to talk and think about climate change in a positive and valuable way.
We’ll touch upon the role of poetry, beauty, magic, and myth in our ecological mindset.
We’ll explore questions about bioregion and the role o...
2022-02-231h 10