Dumbo Feather Podcast

We’ve got episode two of our Good Society Series, where we’re unpacking the current systems we live, work and play within, and ask how they can be better for people and planet.What does it mean for us to thrive within our planetary bounds? What structures are getting in the way of that? Throughout this series, we look at who we want to be as a society & how we can use our heads, hearts and hands to get there.In this episode, Berry sits down with professor Dan Ariely, one of the world’s leading thinkers in behavioural economics. Dan’s a founding member of the Centre for Advanced Hindsight, which does all kinds of fascinating empirical research into human behaviour – particularly when it comes to money, health and the planet – and uses it to tackle complex socio-economic problems.Dan is particularly interested in irrationality, and how it is present in so much of the everyday decisions we make. He believes that with the right structures and systems in place, we can eliminate some of the opportunity to do th

We are excited to share the first in our 6-part series on the The Good Society, where we’re unpacking the current systems we live, work and play within, and ask how they can do better and be better for people and planet.What does it mean for us to thrive with another within our planetary bounds? What structures are currently getting in the way of that? What are the stories we need to be telling to get there?Throughout this series, we look at who we need and want to be as a society, and how we can use our heads, hearts and hands to get there.  First cab of the ranks is the brilliant Nate Hagens, a speaker, educator & thought leader from the US, who tackles the big picture issues facing human society and our planet.Nate is Director of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future – an organisation focussed on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition.His podcast The Great Simplification, like much of his work, explores money, energy, the economy, and the environment – and bri

You might have noticed a recent run of incredible female leaders on the show – well, they keep coming! This episode Berry sits with one of the world’s leading teachers of mindfulness meditation – Sylvia Boorstein. Sylvia is one of the people who literally brought buddhism to the West in the 1970s, and like many of them is Jewish. She is a mother, a grandmother, a psychotherapist, and a founding teacher of Spirit Rock, a world-renowned Buddhist meditation centre in Woodacre, California. The titles of Sylvia’s books are telling of her good humour and simple wisdom, among them including “Happiness is an inside job,” Road Sage, It’s Easier than you think, “That’s funny, You Don’t look Buddhist,” and our favourite, “Don’t just do something, sit there.” It was an honour for us to have this time with Sylvia, and to hear her reflections and hopes in the latter stages of her life.Sylvia will feature in our upcoming issue of Dumbo Feather magazine, if you’re not already a subscriber, go to dumbofeather.com and soak up

Gayle is co-founder of Melbourne-based Global Leadership Foundation, and she works with boards and senior leaders all over the world in raising emotional health, building resilience, and transforming leaders and organisations. Gayle is one of our guest facilitators on the Small Giants Academy Mastery of Business and Empathy program, which is currently open for 2023 expressions of interest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kemi Nekvapil is one of Australia’s leading coaches for female executives and entrepreneurs, as well as an author and a highly sought-after international speaker.Her latest book is Power: a woman’s guide to living and leading without apology, and in this chat with our editor Kirsty, she talks about some of the stories and ideas behind writing it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Wheal is the founder of the Flow Genome Project and an expert in the neurophysiology of human performance. His latest book is "Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That's Lost Its Mind."In this conversation with Berry, he posits solutions for the crisis of meaning many of us face today, and guides us towards a new (old) frontier that he calls "Meaning 3.0". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In celebration of Issue 70 of Dumbo Feather magazine, all about a Meaningful Life, Berry sat down with one of the greatest living thinkers of our time: Professor A C Grayling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re sharing a conversation we had with waste queen Veena Sahajwalla as part of Vivid Festival 2022. Veena is a trailblazer in the field of recycling science. She heads up the SMaRT Centre at UNSW, and among her epic scientific breakthroughs include perfecting a technique that brings together waste tyres and waste plastic in the production of steel, and waste textiles and waste glass in the manufacturing of ceramics. We love Veena's story and ability to offer very practical solutions to the waste crisis. Her work leads us away from the current take-make-waste industrial towards more circular economies. Big thanks to Vivid for hosting this conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our much-loved contributor Lydia Fairhall sits down with a hero of hers, the Worimi storyteller, Paul Callaghan. Paul is an author and consultant who specialises in leadership development and wellbeing. In his mid-30s, he encountered a period of depression, after realising the success he had been striving for didn’t match up with his internal measure. Drawing on a variety of tools, including Indigenous teachings, he was able to navigate his way to a truer, more whole embodiment of himself. In 2022, Paul released a book with his friend Uncle Paul Gordon, entitled, The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change your Life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Garrett is a member of one of Australia's most successful bands, Midnight Oil. He’s also served as environment minister in the Rudd-Labor government, and been a long-time advocate and campaigner on a range of issues, including human rights and climate change. In this chat with contributor Myke Bartlett, he talked about the role of culture and the arts in enacting change, and how we can infuse our systems with integrity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roman Krznaric is an internationally renowned public philosopher who writes about the power of ideas to change society. Born in Sydney, he now lives in Oxford with his kids and wife Kate Raworth, who many of you will know as the designer and thinker behind Donut Economics. Roman is the founder of the world’s first Empathy Museum and Research Fellow of the Long Now Foundation, a long-term cultural institution promoting “slower/better” thinking. Roman’s most recent book is The Good Ancestor, which calmly calls for a reorientation towards the future, inviting us to consider the legacy we leave, for the benefit of our far-off descendants. He spoke with our contributor Sarah Darmody in September 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Sawin is unlocking the power of multi-solving for people and planet. A student of biology, she became fascinated with the interconnectedness of all things, in a world that is often ready to simplify and seperate. Climate change sat at the heart of those connections, leading her on a path to activism and the co-founding of Climate Interactive, a group that uses system dynamics — an approach to understand the behaviour of complex systems — to drive meaningful and equitable climate action. This year, Elizabeth has moved on to a new role as director of the Multisolving Institute, which focuses on solutions that address the climate emergency while also improving health, well-being, equity, and economic vitality. Elizabeth developed the idea of ‘multisolving’ to help people see and create conditions for these win-win-win solutions. Earlier this year, she spoke with our contributor Myke Bartlett for our systems change of issue of Dumbo Feather magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor

We join American biologist and writer David Haskell on a sonic journey, back to the first sounds made on Earth.David's latest book is "Sounds Wild and Broken," a lyrical exploration of the diverse sounds of our planet and the perils that sonic diversity now faces. It’s an exquisite lens through which to think about our relationships with the living world, and how we can enter more fully into a conversation that is always waiting for us. David is a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South in Tennessee, and author of the widely-acclaimed book "The Song of Trees."He spoke with Nathan in March 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re revisiting some of the spirit and empowered thinking that emerged from the chaos of 2020, with a conversation we had at the time with the deputy lord mayor of Sydney, Jess Scully. Jess is an extraordinary young councillor who is helping bring more voices to the political table, while creating pathways to reclaim public spaces, address housing problems, and enable more resilient and connected cities and communities. Jess is also an arts curator and writer, a passionate advocate for the role of creativity in our lives. At the time we caught up with her, she had just released her first book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.It’s a wonderful conversation that spans her experiences in politics, advocating for more participatory forms of democracy, her vision for our cities, as well as what was coming for her at the time as young mum four months into the pandemic. Jess is chatting with our programming manager at Small Giants Academy, Eleanor Gammell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p

This is part two of our conversation with social philosopher and thought leader, Daniel Schmachtenberger. If you haven’t listened to part one, go back and do that, as it lays all the groundwork for what he and Berry explore in this episode.If you like what you hear, then grab a copy of our systems change issue of Dumbo Feather magazine, with Daniel on the cover, over at dumbofeather.com or your local newsagent or retail store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got an epic conversation with one of the most sophisticated thinkers on the planet today, the social philosopher Daniel Schmachtenberger. Berry spoke with Daniel for our systems change issue of the magazine, a special edition for this crucial moment in history, which comes out March 24. Daniel is co-founder of Civilization Emerging and The Consilience project, and has a particular focus in his work on existential threats to humanity, and the importance of collective sensemaking. He’s able to illustrate the three-dimensional, and intersectional realities of the problems we find ourselves in right now – from war to climate change to social upheavel - and suggest that we have not reached the limits of our cognitive capacity to solve for them. He is inspiring many, including us, to look clearly at this moment before it’s too late. Because this was a humdinger of a chat, which will require you to pause, process and rewind in many parts, we’ve split the conversation into two episodes - the second to be releas

Maree Lowes is best known as the actress and storyteller behind dirtgirl, from the acclaimed children’s television series dirtgirlworld. She uses video, words and action to advocate for people & planet, moving in the pursuit of reciprocity with each other & our non-human kin. Maree has evolved beyond the screen to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with families, farmers and First Nations communities, championing regenerative thinking and modes of regenerative agriculture. This is how she came to be Dr Bronner's first Australian Ambassador.Maree has so much to say about how we can live in loving relationship with the planet. Here we talk about regenerative thinking, and Maree gives her tips on cultivating resilience in uncertain times - cue "psychological flexibility".The keep up with Maree's work & messages of the communities she amplifies, you can follow her on Instagram at @mareelowes To watch Maree as dirtgirl, head to iView and search Get Grubby TV or dirtgirlworld Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva

On this episode, we have unlearner, uneducator Manish Jain. Manish is deeply committed to regenerating our diverse local knowledge systems and cultural imaginations. He is one of the leading voices on the planet for “de-schooling” our lives and co-founded some of the most innovative educational experiments in the world, including the Swaraj University, India's first university dedicated to regenerating local cultures, economies and ecologies. The interview was held by Alex Jensen from Local Futures, and was part of our Localisation issue of Dumbo Feather magazine.You can learn more about Local Futures and more incredible people involved in the localising movement, Like Manish, over at localfutures.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a lecture from one of the wisest and most masterful storytellers of our time, the Canadian teacher, writer and culture activist, Stephen Jenkinson.Stephen is a former palliative care specialist who has written two internationally acclaimed books, Die Wise: A manifesto for sanity and soul, and Come of Age, the case for elderhood in a time of trouble.He is also a farmer, and co-founder of Orphan Wisdom, a teaching house for the skills of deep living and making human culture. This lecture was recorded live in April 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robyn Davidson is best known as ‘the camel lady’—a reference to her journey as a young woman crossing the Australian desert with four camels and her dog in 1977. Today, Robyn feels like a different person, yet there’s one quality that has remained a constant in her life: her ability to adapt to change.In 2017, Robyn sat down in front of a live audience with our publisher, Berry Liberman, to talk about adaptability—and how to embrace the flux that is ever present in our lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.