Accidental Gods

We are not going back.  But how do we go forward now in a world where the old norms are under assault by people who move fast and break everything? How do we find a place of balance and compassion - for ourselves, each other and the More than Human world - so that we can move forward in a way that isn’t just a replaying of the old binaries? Our world changed irrevocably with the results of the US election on the 5th of November.  On this podcast, we talk a lot about total systemic change and now that change is happening in front of our eyes.   Clearly, there is no going back from here.  So how do we who care deeply about a flourishing future - who wish there to be a survival of complex life in all its amazing creativity - navigate this new landscape? How do we embrace the polarities and dichotomies of an unpredictable world so that we can embrace the infinite complexity - and unknowability - of the future? This week's guest is someone who has devoted her life to exploring the paradox at the heart of our existence. I first met Andrea Hiott through her 'Love and Philosophy' podcast which has become part of my essential listening list.  From the outset, Andrea struck me as someone whose way of viewing life is, if not unique, then definitely exceptional and well worth exploring. As you'll hear, she is someone who throws herself into learning: she can talk with authority on everything from philosophy and phenomenology to neuroscience and ecology and  as we speak, she's completing her doctorate, which is called Ecological Orientation.  She's an author of various books, including Thinking Small, The long, strange trip of the Volkswagen Beetle, and has long worked on issues of motoring and mobility as a consultant, writer, and ghostwriter.  She has appeared in films and TV shows, such as The Bug and Cars that Changed the World.  She's been on a whole variety of other podcasts, and has worked extensively for museums, artists, collectors, and agencies. She is also developing the philosophical framework of Waymaking and the practice of Navigability and I have never in my life spoken with someone who has evolved their own philosophy to the extent that they can talk about it in depth and in detail and make so much sense.  There's a YouTube where Andrea does exactly this - I've put a link in the show notes. On top of all this, she is founder of the private educational consulting platform, Making Ways and pours her energy into collaborating with other thinkers and creators at the intersection of multiple different philosophical, cognitive and ecological landscapes, so that she can create a deeper, more emergent understanding of the world we live in. We booked this conversation over six months ago and we were not particularly hinging it around the US election.  But we recorded this one week to the day after the vote that has so completely changed our world so it would have been impossible not to reflect on this. Andrea is a US citizen, currently living in Europe, so she has a particular set of perspectives - and a capacity to see beyond the polarities that feels particularly useful now.   I felt a lot calmer after this conversation than I did going into it and that wasn't all about the pony with colic that put our recording back by a day.  So in the hope that this helps you, too, to deepen into this moment of absolute change, https://www.andreahiott.net/https://making-ways.ck.page/profilehttps://www.youtube.com/@waymaking23https://www.youtube.com/@DesirableUnknownhttps://www.facebook.com/TheBugMovieThinking Small Book

How do we all respond to the seismic events of the US election?  Specifically, how do those of us over 50 respond? (and how would the younger generations like us to respond)? This is the question of now. It would be hard to discuss anything else, but my guest this week is uniquely placed to address these questions.  As you'll hear, John Izzo was once an ordained Minister in a Presbyterian Church. Now, he's a bestselling author, speaker, and thought leader focused on social responsibility.  He's a Board Member of the Elders Action Network and the Elders Climate Action group and one of the co-hosts of a podcast called The Way Forward Regenerative Podcast which is expressly aimed at people over 50 who want to explore what it means to be an elder.  I met John on that podcast back in the summer and was so impressed with his approach to things. John is a deeply thoughtful, deeply spiritual person who takes his time to look at things from all angles.  He's dedicated his entire career to helping individuals and organisations discover purpose and foster meaningful change. He is absolutely committed to exploring the role of elders in creating a regenerative future.  And we need this now, more than ever. Originally we had scheduled this week's guest for a recording on the 4th of November.  Clearly this wasn't going to be as constructive as a conversation held in the wake of the election, whatever the outcome. And so we rescheduled and spoke together on Thursday 7th, which gave us time to process the results and speak more directly to a future that is unknowable, but not entirely unpredictable.  How do we feel?  What world do we want to create? How best can we bring alive a flame of hope from the ashes of the old system?  These are our questions - a starting point, not an end point and no doubt this conversation will continue for the rest of our lives.  This is our truth for now. John's website https://drjohnizzo.comJohn's books https://drjohnizzo.com/books/Elders Action Network https://eldersaction.org/Elders Action Network on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EldersActionNetwork/Elders Action Network on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMAJFT3jmRlQHnM4p6Rrh7g&ved=2ahUKEwjF-Iq3ubuJAxXRVkEAHZtzH98QFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3JK2afgUEPwxIJz-tO0ZRMElders Climate Action https://actionnetwork.org/groups/elders-climate-actionThe Way Forward Regenerative Conversations podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-way-forward-regenerative-conversations/id1651941803

It occurs to me that we are now at an inflection point in the WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich and - notionally - Democratic) culture that has been so successful in destroying the ecosphere. A significant number of us now see what has been obvious to a minority for some time: that the system is not broken - it is doing what it was always designed to do: which is to maintain power in the hands of a few white men. What we know now, is that the system is not fit for purpose - IF that purpose is the survival of complex life on this planet, if it is the flourishing of the human and More-than-Human worlds in an indivisible web of life. We need a new system - and this realisation has landed not with the people who solve their problems with violent insurrection (see Jan 6th 2021) but with people whose primary driving aim is to find ways to connect and consiliate, to create coherence with compassion, to find courage and confidence and creative curiosity. And so this is our goal now - there is no point waiting for the side we favour to win in a broken system.   - We need a whole new system predicated on new and better values.   - We need to find our connectedness.  - At a bone-deep level, in the core of our tissues and the vast expanses of our individual and collective awareness, we need to remember our place in the Web of Life and work only from this.  - We need to start building something entirely different that does not rely on the structures of the broken system, even as it crumbles (or is dismantled) around us. This is our challenge.  Facing it will require everything we've got, but the old system is a self-terminating algorithm and we can all see the route to chaos and extinction now. If we're going to pull through and find that flourishing world we can bequeath with pride to future generations, nothing else matters now. Nothing. Find what's yours to do and do with all your heart.  Build imaginal islands with friends, colleagues and co-evolutionaries of the human and More than Human world.  Build narratives based on the heart-focused values that are our birth-right.Above all else, do whatever you can to connect to the More than Human world  - to the Web of Life  in all its awe-inspiring wonder, its majesty and beauty  - and ask 'What do you want of me?'  Listen to the answer, however it comes.And then do it.

If you're over 40, the world you grew up believing in no longer exists.  The younger generation approaches the polycrisis with open eyes, striving to find and nurture resilience, to listen to the whispers of synchronicity and let it lead them - and us - to a world that works for all life. Today, we're talking to Elliot Riley. Elliot is an educator, permaculture designer and practitioner working to bring wellbeing, reforestation and perennial food production into schools. Elliot graduated during the pandemic. When he left school, he was planning to join the paratroops, but after what he describes as a 'Thunderbolt moment', he shifted tack and, despite not having the grades, was able to get a place to study history at the New College of Humanities.  One pandemic and a degree later, he realised that mainstream education struggles to equip us for the challenges of a changing world. After two years upstream, studying Trauma-Informed Education and permaculture in the Dominican Republic, Elliot returned to his hometown, where he now works at The Saint Leonard’s Academy, leading a wellbeing programme called Future Growth, which supports students whilst transforming the community’s waste into a regenerative food forest. Through an initiative called OFFSET, Elliot’s working to spread the mission further.Elliot's Patreon Page for OFFSET https://www.patreon.com/offsetfoodforests/about/Elliot's instagram account for OFFSET food forest: https://www.instagram.com/offset_food_forests/The One World Orchestra's first single https://open.spotify.com/album/62UZvSNV1gtBXdqLQLdfrw?si=WIdwzar_RvivoA-P3dBiAThe Human Hive https://www.thehumanhive.org/our-storyVaughan Wilkins and links to his PhD thesis on the Zoochosis of humanity https://www.vaughanwilkins.com/thesis  Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/enrol/