Forest of Thought

43. In search of the sacred // PER INGVAR HAUKELAND

How do we find ways of connecting to that which is sacred to us? Can we learn to listen for that which brings us into attunement with our deepest selves and the living w

42. How myth, folklore and place help us find our calling in the second half of life // SHARON BLACKIE

How can myth and folklore help us find our way in the second half of life? What can we learn from the places we inhabit, and the stories that are rooted in the land? Dr.

41. In between worlds – on creating cultures of care after birth // OPOKUA BRITTON CAVACO

The arrival of a new baby entails an opening between the worlds. It’s a liminal in–between space, where life is vulnerable until the baby has fully arrived and the window

40. LIVE: Is a river alive? On enlivenment, animism and nature's rights // ROBERT MACFARLANE & PELLA THIEL

What does it mean to say that a river is alive? And if a river is alive, could it have legal rights that protect it from abuse and exploitation? What kinds of practices c

39. Birth as a rite of passage // KRISTINA TURNER

Birth can be difficult to talk about, because it's so complex and paradoxical. It can be beautiful and traumatic, often at the same time; it’s intensely personal and high

38. How we honor our nervous systems and cultivate pleasure as a pathway towards health // KIMBERLY ANN JOHNSON

What healing could be made possible if we began to work in ways that honoured our nervous systems? How could pleasure be a pathway to health? How can we have more true in

37. Embracing our cyclical nature // JENNY KOOS [Blood Mysteries pt. 1]

From menarche until menopause, women have a rhythmical companion, whose presence or absence tells us something about our bodies. The menstrual cycle is considered by many

REPRISE: Imaginations of Control // ANDY STIRLING

A favorite conversation from the archives, with particular relevance for upcoming episodes! When our societies are faced with challenges we often call on science to provi

36. Thinking with plants – on Hildegard of Bingen’s ecological theology // MICHAEL MARDER

What can we learn from plants?  In Western thinking, plants have usually been seen as the most lowly beings, fixed in one place and without capacity for thinking. But ma

35. Walking for peace and learning with head, heart & hands // SATISH KUMAR

If you’d prefer to watch the episode, it is available here on Youtube.  In 1962 , a young man named Satish Kumar set out with his friend Prabakhar Menon on a pilgrimage

34. The subtle art of listening // KERI FACER

As we are faced with multiplying crises, we often rush into trying to fix the world through words and busy action. What if an adequate response is to simply listen? What

33. “Our crisis is an aesthetic crisis” – on art, education and ecology // JAN VAN BOECKEL

What could art making and aesthetics mean to us in these difficult times? Can we justify going off to paint or to spend time in nature when there is so much destruction g

32. God as the poet of the world – on Whitehead's process philosophy // MATTHEW DAVID SEGALL

I was born into a world where many of the things that are most important to me, like art, beauty, relationships, embodied experience, love, and the sacred, are not really

31. On building community – across the divides and beyond the doom // ASHLEY FITZGERALD

Is it possible to look clear-eyed at the enormous challenges we’re facing today, and still do something practical and creative in the face of that? What happens when we e

30. Survival of the beautiful // DAVID ROTHENBERG

Why is there so much beauty in the natural world? What can we learn from jamming with the more-than-human? Join interspecies musician David Rothenberg and myself as we ex

29. Patterns of Meaning // JEREMY LENT

What are the underlying patterns of thought that have led our civilization into its current crises? And how might we begin to tell a different story, one that would allow

28. LIVE: Becoming human - the search for soul in turbulent times // MIKAEL KURKIALA

Many cultures maintain that we are not born human but that we may become fully human through cultivation and care. Could it be that our destructive tendencies are not bec

27. LIVE: Living an embodied life and crafting the Way // CAROLINE ROSS

Caroline Ross has spent decades being immersed in Daoism, art, crafting and foraging (and spent 10 years touring with her rock band). Today, her practice weaves these div

26. LIVE: Cultivating the human in an era of intelligent machines // JEREMY NAYDLER

Forest of Thought episodes are back! And over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing three public conversations that were recorded 2023-2024 as part of a series of events exp

25. On language, landscapes and mending the world // SARAH THOMAS

In this episode I speak to writer and filmmaker Sarah Thomas. Her memoir, The Raven’s Nest, is a meditation on her time spent in Iceland, and explores how identity and la