Shows
Novitas PodcastBreaking Up with Car CultureOur culture is pretty obsessed with cars—not just as machines, but as personal necessities for getting from point A to point B. But it hasn’t always been that way. For most of history, people got around just fine by walking, biking, or using public transit. It wasn’t until the 1970s, when urban sprawl really took off, that suburbs started cutting people off from city centres and made cars feel essential. Even just a decade ago, there was barely any focus on building infrastructure for people to walk or bike to work, school, or the grocery store.T...2025-04-1826 min
Novitas PodcastThe Magic of MakingToo often, we’re told that our individual actions are too small to make a difference in the face of global challenges like climate collapse and late-stage capitalism. While there's truth to this, I believe we are still called to individual action to participate in what Joanna Macy calls “the Great Turning”—a shift toward a more just and sustainable world.At first glance, the impact of individual actions may not seem significant. One person is unlikely to stop big oil from drilling, or to enact policies like universal basic income. On a global scale, it can feel as...2024-12-0228 min
Novitas PodcastArt Outside of CapitalismThe role of art in our culture and society is a complex topic, to be sure. Likewise, the topic of personal creativity and the desire to create art is multifaceted. If I have learned anything over the recent years, the creative process and consumption of art are critical pieces to post-capitalist living, and here’s why:Art is both cathartic and exploratory. It helps us collectively process strong emotions but also acts as a conduit for cultural change. Art helps us grieve; it helps us think; it helps us understand. In other words, art is important....2024-11-1238 min
Novitas PodcastNatural Learning and Nature ConnectionWhen I started writing this blog years ago, I wrote a lot about the education system. As an unschooling parent of two boys who don’t fit well in a classroom space, I have had to do a lot of learning about what it means to learn. Some part of this journey have been very hard, but some has been really easy.For me, forest school just makes sense. We all agree that kids thrive when they spend time outside in nature, and I firmly believe in mentorship as an alternative to formal teaching. Outdoor education has be...2024-10-2137 min
Novitas PodcastAnti-capitalist Existence in a Capitalist SystemWhat does it mean to thrive as someone who is opposed to capitalism but still has to exist in a capitalist system?This question is one that my friend and colleague, Helen Tremethick, has spent a lot of time thinking about. Helen is a business coach, writer, and entrepreneur who GETS IT. Most of her clients share the same story: they don’t want to play the game, they don’t want to take other people's money, and they don’t know how to help their business grow without compromising their personal beliefs.Helen’s insight...2024-09-3044 min
Novitas PodcastBeyond the Garden: Permaculture as a Way of LifeLike many people, I learned about permaculture as an approach to help me understand how to grow food in a more sustainable way. But Liz’s approach goes way beyond the garden. Liz Postlethwaite is a community artist and permaculture designer who has blended her love of both to create a unique course teaching permaculture principles to artists and creatives. As Liz explains, permaculture is all about creating regenerative systems, and the tools and framework provided by permaculture are applicable to different areas of modern life.Join me for a wonderful conversation with Liz learning ab...2024-09-1135 min
Novitas PodcastGrassroots Community Support During the Current Housing CrisisIn this episode of the podcast, I chat with Meghan Sheffield, a friend and co-conspirator living in Cobourg, Ontario. For the first issue of the Novitas magazine, Meghan shared an intimate and beautiful article about her experience working with her community to support a growing unhoused population in her hometown.Meghan and I talk about a lot in this episode: grassroots versus agency support, de-stigmatizing what it means to be unsheltered, unpacking her experience providing on-the-group support, the impact of the rising costs of living on the current homelessness crisis, and more. We mentioned a...2024-08-3041 min
Novitas PodcastDisability Justice and Art in a Post Capitalist WorldMaria Epp is an artist, a mother, and an advocate for those struggling with disability, both visible and invisible. Maria shares her art and writing online, also lending her energy to her local community in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her journey has been one that many white settlers can relate to on Turtle Island: uncovering the legacy of genocide and oppression, understanding what it means to practice active anti-racism, and using this knowledge to reconnect to community in a time of hyper individualism that doesn’t always make space for disabled folks.Maria’s art in not only...2024-08-0830 min
Novitas PodcastProject Knotwork: Merging community and education through project based self-directed learningLane Clark is an unschooling parent living in Marquette, Michigan where she and two friends started a very cool micro school called Project Knotwork. In this episode of the podcast, Lane shares her experience building out a community space that was designed specifically for self-directed project-based learning but in a unique way brings together community members, the arts, education, and a hardcore DIY attitude. You can find out more about Project Knotwork at https://www.knotworkstudio.com or on Instagram @projectknotwork.Lane also shared her experience in the first issue of Novitas Magazine and you can read...2024-07-1847 min
Novitas PodcastIntroducing NovitasWelcome to the first episode of Novitas Podcast! My partner Shay and I dive in talking about our journey over the last few years exploring systems of oppression, capitalism, and share the story the led to the beginning of this project.You can find out more about the magazine at https://www.novitasmag.com. There are a dozen or so copies still available if you’d like to order one.You can support the project and podcast by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack. If you have a person or project who yo...2024-07-0721 min