Best Thrutopian Podcasts (2025)

1
Radical Change: Building a Parallel Economy with Peter Kemp of Citizen Coin 1:20:14

4d ago1:20:14

1:20:14

We are living through a time between stories—where the old economic narratives of scarcity, extraction, and separation are crumbling, and a new one is seeking to be born. At the heart of this transition is the question: What do we truly value, and how do we express that value in ways that nourish life? Imagine a society where every act of care, con…

1
Beyond Zero Sum: Rehumanising our Conflicts with Carm Aufderheide of NorthStar Training Solutions 1:35:41

11d ago1:35:41

1:35:41

All flourishing is mutual, that's a given. And yet the schisms in our culture, the tribal divides and limbic hijack seem to grow deeper and more powerful by the day. It doesn't have to be like this. We do have the tools of connection, of genuine listening, of offering trust to gain trust and offering respect to gain respect, we just need to know ho…

1
Red Pill/Blue Pill, Green Pill/True Pill – Creating a Media Commons with Debs Grayson of Opus Independents 1:24:28

18d ago1:24:28

1:24:28

Our legacy - or status quo - media is owned and run by billionaires for billionaires and the stories they promote are the ones that will keep us all in line. How do we shift the global narrative towards a future of mutual flourishing? It is axiomatic of this podcast that stories – the good and the bad – are what got us to where we are. We are a sto…

1
How to Save the World - tipping points of social diffusion with Katie Patrick of Hello World Labs 1:18:42

24d ago1:18:42

1:18:42

'If you're not changing the numbers, you're not changing the world.' So says this week's guest, Katie Patrick. Katie Patrick is a Silicon Valley based environmental engineer, climate action designer, and author of How to Save the World: How to Make Changing the World the Greatest Game We've Ever Played, now taught in Harvard University’s graduate p…

1
Bonus: Thoughts from the Edge - If the current system is not fit for purpose, what's our core response? 35:02

29d ago35:02

35:02

Suppose we accept that the current system is not broken - it is doing what it was always designed to do - which is to shovel wealth and power from the many to the few at a human scale and from the more-than-human world to the industrial/technical maw of predatory capitalism at an ecological scale. This is a death cult and it is in its death throes,…

1
Wellbeing: It’s about wholeness, not happiness - with Dr Mark Fabian, author of Beyond Happy 1:48:00

1M ago1:48:00

1:48:00

We grow up thinking we want to be happy (or at least, not-sad). But happiness isn't enough. What we need is wellbeing, and as Dr Mark Fabian quotes in the dedication to his book, Beyond Happy, "Wellbeing is about wholeness, not happiness, and wholeness is so much more demanding than happiness.' So what is wholeness, and what does it demand of us? A…

1
A Longing for Belonging: Shifting the Cultural Paradigm with Looby Macnamara and Leona Johnson 1:23:58

1M ago1:23:58

1:23:58

If we are in the midst of the Great Derangement (thank you Amitav Ghosh), what tools do we have to help us shape a system that is actually fit for purpose? Who are our elders and what can they teach us? How do we learn to listen to our heart's (and hearts') desire and shape the communities of place, passion and purpose that will allow us to emerge …

1
Now Then! Building networks of citizen power with James Lock of Opus in Sheffield 1:14:32

2M ago1:14:32

1:14:32

We all know the current system of predatory capitalism is not fit for purpose. We don't (yet) all agree on how to fix it, but for sure, no problem is solved from the mindset that created it. So how do we begin to compost the debris of the failing system to grow something constructive, generative, connected communities that can act as a bridge from …

1
Be More Hawk! Being the courage to follow what's right with Rachel Musson of ThoughtBox Education 1:13:58

2M ago1:13:58

1:13:58

The old systems are no longer fit for purpose. What does an education system look like that's fit for the twenty-first century - where we put self care, people care, earth care at the heart of what we do? This week's guest, Rachel Musson, has made it her life's work to fashion ways of learning for all ages that put this Triple Wellbeing principle i…

1
Miraculous Carbon: Celebrating the Book of Life, Death and Potential with author Paul Hawken 1:22:37

2M ago1:22:37

1:22:37

How do we step past the magical thinking of the elites that says we can either use AI to 'Solve for Climate' - or just ignore the entire climate and ecological emergency completely? This week's guest, Paul Hawken, has been at the forefront of intelligent responses to the entire meta-crisis for decades. He has been profiled or written in hundreds of…

1
Authentically human: celebrating the magic of life with Mark McCartney of the 'What is a Good Life' podcast 1:19:37

2M ago1:19:37

1:19:37

In these turbulent times, what values most strongly underpin our humanity and how can we nurture our relationships with all parts of ourselves, with ourselves and other people and with ourselves and the web of life? This week's guest is another podcaster. Mark McCartney is host of the 'What is a Good Life' podcast, which is now into well over 100 e…

1
Seeing the Bigger Picture: psychedelics and sense-making with Alexander Beiner of Kainos 58:41

2M ago58:41

58:41

How do we shed the shackles of modernity and step into a new set of stories that could help us grow into the fullness of our potential? Alexander Beiner is one of a small band of people in our culture who is shaping the cutting edge of possibility, crafting new ideas of who we are, at the deepest levels of our Self and out into the widest view of o…

1
Becoming Spiritual Warriors: exploring a politics of radical Compassion with Jamie Bristow 1:38:01

3M ago1:38:01

1:38:01

In a world of turmoil where the only certainty is uncertainty, what happens if we who yearn for a future we'd be proud to leave behind began really to speak the quiet part out loud? What happens if we acknowledge the meaning crisis of our culture and state clearly that we need a world based on Love: on the raw, wild, wonder of life itself? And what…

1
Kin-centric Rewilding 2 - Bonus - continuation of the conversation with Daniel Firth Griffith 54:04

3M ago54:04

54:04

Daniel remains one of the few people I know who is originally of the Trauma Culture but is living absolutely integral to his land - and we couldn't keep our conversation confined to 60 minutes. So we broke at an appropriate point and came back. This is the second part - please do listen to the first if you've only just found us - we literally pause…

1
Kin-centric Rewilding - restoring relationship to the land and ourselves with Daniel Firth Griffith, author of StagTine 1:42:15

3M ago1:42:15

1:42:15

By now we know that we need to connect to the More than Human world. We know we need to grow into adulthood and elder hood. We know we need to move from a Trauma Culture to an Initiation Culture. But knowing these things is not the same as living them as a reality. To get here, we need waymakers, people of huge heart and raw courage to walk away fr…

1
Find the Others! Beyond the Death of Democracy lies Citizen Power - with Jon Alexander of the Citizen Collective 1:17:01

3M ago1:17:01

1:17:01

Democracy is breaking around us in real time and a small percentage of those in power would like us to become - at best - obedient subjects in a world dedicated to the destruction of ecosystems and the annihilation of compassion, empathy and all that makes us thrive. Clearly, we are better than this. So how can we harness the astonishing wonder of …

1
Dr. Samra Zafar on Breaking Old Patterns to Transform Your Future 1:09:24

3M ago1:09:24

1:09:24

Internationally renowned speaker and physician Dr. Samra Zafar speaks with Tess about her new book Unconditional: Break Through Past Limits to Transform Your Future, which explores breaking free from old conditioning and embracing self-acceptance. She shares her journey from an abusive marriage to building a better life, emphasizing the importance …

1
Of Schoolishness, Space and Emergence into vibrant systems: a joint podcast with Tim Logan of Future Learning Design 1:23:53

3M ago1:23:53

1:23:53

If what our culture most urgently needs is for a critical mass of us to grow into adults and then elders, how can we help our young people to step beyond the artificial boundaries of our old, rigid system into a world where they are fully connected to all parts of themselves, each other and the web of life. How, in effect, can we create an educatio…

1
Living through the Death of Democracy: Manda's thoughts on love, liberty and the continued existence of complex life on earth 40:23

4M ago40:23

40:23

We are living through the death of democracy and the onset of Techno-Feudalism. But this is not a time when linear systems can hold and feudalism was nothing if not linear. So how can we be part of a transformative process that will let us lay the foundations for a future we'd be proud to leave behind? Usually, on Accidental Gods, we talk to guests…

1
HeartFood - Healing our communities with Food grown on Regenerative Farms with Erin Martin of FreshRxOK 1:12:03

4M ago1:12:03

1:12:03

What happens when people with chronic, unstable diabetes eat food grown in local, regenerative farms? Erin Martin talks to the Accidental Gods podcast about the dramatic and spectacular improvements in health her group FreshRxOK saw in Oklahoma when they instigated a 'Food as Medicine' programme, offering real food with good nutrient density to dia…

1
Radical Creativity: creating a Global Council of Women with Jenny Grettve of EIT Culture and Creativity 1:16:56

4M ago1:16:56

1:16:56

How can we bring wisdom to those with power and power to those with wisdom? If we were to step into elder hood and bring the best of ourselves to the table, could we create governance structures that would help to heal our cultural divides, create equity and guide is wisely through the coming crisis? Jenny Grettve believes we can and has set up a g…

1
Author Laura Munson on Opening to Awe 1:03:12

4M ago1:03:12

1:03:12

Bestselling author Laura Munson talks with Tess Callahan about her new book, THE WILD WHY: STORIES AND TEACHINGS TO UNCOVER YOUR WONDER, which she describes as a "teaching memoir" designed for people who think they are not creative. She discusses the value of intuition and wonder both in the writing life and everyday living. She offers tips for man…

1
The Phoenix Always Rises: Evolving into the Future Human with Prof Chris Bache, Author of LSD and the Mind of the Universe 1:24:31

4M ago1:24:31

1:24:31

This podcast is predicated on the belief that if we all work together, we can still lay the foundations for a future we'd be proud to leave as our legacy. And it's becoming increasingly obvious that this is now urgent; that we need to let go of the assumptions we'd made about career paths or future constructs and give ourselves wholeheartedly to th…

1
Democracy Rising: Making 2025 the year we recover from Peak Polarisation with Audrey Tang, Ambassador at Large for a safer, kinder world 1:43:09

4M ago1:43:09

1:43:09

Is it possible that 2024 might have been the year of 'Peak polarisation' around the world and that from hereon in humanity might grow less divided, not more; that we might use technology and social media wisely to bring the best of ourselves to the table, becoming the best we can be in service to life? Audrey Tang certainly thinks so in this wide-d…

1
Heart of Oak: Talking Druidry, Spirituality and the nature of Magic in the MetaCrisis with Philip Carr-Gomm 1:31:59

5M ago1:31:59

1:31:59

Druidry is the indigenous spirituality of the islands of Britain, but how does is live in the contemporary world? What are the values and practices that make it so suited to the inflexion point of the moment? Why - and how - does it mesh so well with other, more spiritual traditions? And how does the practice of Will, the honing of intent, create t…

1
Seven Generations Perspective Meditation for December 2024 25:46

5M ago25:46

25:46

Traditionally, we have offered a meditation for the solstice - and these are available in the links below. This meditation aims to offer a long-wide-deep perspective on our place as conscious nodes in the web of life - the journey that brought us here and the places humanity may go. Please give yourself plenty of time both to experience the journey…

1
Solstice Cheer: Three Friends uphold a Podcasting Tradition with Della Duncan, Nathalie Nahai and Manda Scott 1:28:58

5M ago1:28:58

1:28:58

This is the fifth year of our traditional Winter Solstice podcast gathering in which Nathalie Nahai of 'In Conversation with Nathalie Nahai, Della Duncan of The Upstream Podcast and I sit around our virtual dark-nights fire to reflect on the podcasting year just gone and explore what has changed for us since the last time we three met in one place.…

1
Must Read, Must Listen, Must View: Manda's favourite books, podcasts and videos this Winter Season 28:32

5M ago28:32

28:32

It's that time of year - when all we really want is to curl up and reflect, go inside, become the potential that will arise in the unfolding spring. If you want things to listen to or watch or read as you head into the long-nights, then these are (some of) the things that have caught my attention this year. Enjoy! Books: Non-Fiction Hospicing Moder…

1
The Power of (good) Food with Nick Weir of the Open Food Network 1:18:33

5M ago1:18:33

1:18:33

Clearly we're at an inflection point in the history of humanity. Our experiment with a notional democracy is failing and either we find something that actually works, or we sink into autocracy. And given that the current global flavour of autocracy is in deep denial of the climate and ecological catastrophe that's currently underway, then that's a …

1
Avoiding Burn Out, Fall Out, Drop Out (and Freak Out): Practical Routes to a whole, healed future with Dan McTiernan of Earthbound 1:16:35

5M ago1:16:35

1:16:35

How do we become the change we need to see in the world? What are the actual, practical steps to grounding, connecting and resonating with the world? We're on the brink of cataclysmic change. Knowing this, we have choices: we can either fold into despair, terror, rage…whatever rises up in us as we watch the whole biosphere hurtle towards irrevocabl…

1
Adaptation is Here: Launching the TrAd (Transformative Adaptation) Book with Rupert Read and Morgan Philips 1:06:23

5M ago1:06:23

1:06:23

We're teetering on the brink of ecosystem and cultural collapse. How do we adapt and transform to the changing realities? This week sees the launch of a new book: Transformative Adaptation: Another world is still just possible. The main editors and contributors are friend of the podcast, author, activist and co-founder of the Climate Majority Proje…

1
Novelist Manda Scott on Thrutopian Fiction and Creating a Roadmap for the Future 1:07:29

6M ago1:07:29

1:07:29

Award-winning novelist, teacher, and podcaster Manda Scott talks with Tess Callahan about her shamanic spiritual practice, her new Thrutopian novel ANY HUMAN POWER, and her highly acclaimed podcast Accidental Gods. Tess and Manda discuss dreams, visions, and the liminal states between waking, sleeping, life, and death. Manda encourages writers to c…

1
Holding the Paradox: Navigating a changing world with Andrea Hiott of Making Ways 1:08:22

6M ago1:08:22

1:08:22

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 worl…

1
Being the Best Ancestors we can - with Dr John Izzo of the Elders Action Network 1:20:53

6M ago1:20:53

1:20:53

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…

1
Bonus: The System is Dead. Long Live the (new) System! Thoughts on the US election and the self-terminating algorithm 11:38

6M ago11:38

11:38

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 …

1
Sculptor/Poet Don Freas on Taking Creative Leaps 1:08:04

6M ago1:08:04

1:08:04

Join sculptor/poet Don Freas, author of In-Between: Creativity Set Free and Swallowing the World: New and Selected Poems, in a rich exploration of the relationship between meditation and creativity. Don takes us on a deep dive into the “material meditation” of making art. “When you look back,” he says, “your own accrued shape appears in the spaces …

1
Turning waste into wellbeing, wildlife, food and forests: Bringing permaculture to schools with Elliot Riley 1:05:07

6M ago1:05:07

1:05:07

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, …

1
Having your C.A.K.E. (Compassion, Awareness, Knowledge, Empathy) and sharing what you learn - with Andrew Hale of Dog Centered Care 1:31:55

6M ago1:31:55

1:31:55

How does an understanding of what makes dogs tick, help us to understand ourselves and our place in the world? What does it take to feel safe - as a human, or as a dog (or cat, or horse, or... anything)? And how can we help ourselves and each other find regulation in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous)? Andrew Hale is a Certif…

1
Novelist/Essayist Mar'ce Merrell on Daring Yourself in Life and on the Page 1:19:20

7M ago1:19:20

1:19:20

Join novelist, essayist, and canoe adventurer Mar’ce Merrell as she unpacks her spiritual and creative toolbox, sharing how she uses meditation to move through stuck places in life and on the page. Mar’ce describes some of her extraordinary life-and-death moments in the canoe, how she learned to work with water and not against it, and how her life …

1
Rethink, Repair, Rebuild – with Natalie Bennett, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales 1:04:59

7M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

How can we achieve total systemic change? And are there politicians anywhere who are ready to make it happen (in a way that supports the continuation of complex life on this planet, not the scorched-earth destruction of the right)? The short answer is that yes, there are people deeply embedded in politics who know how dire things are and that we ne…

1
Screenwriter/Novelist Alan Watt on Writing as a Desire to Evolve 50:22

7M ago50:22

50:22

Novelist, screenwriter, and founder of LA Writers' Lab Alan Watt talks with host Tess Callahan about his creative process, meditation, and the meaning he finds in teaching. He discusses the writing of his award winning novel Diamond Dogs and his many popular books on writing. Watt asserts that the desire to write is connected to the desire to evolv…

1
The Lama, the Oath and the Web of Treasure Vases - with Cynthia Jurs, author of 'Summoned by the Earth' 1:16:55

7M ago1:16:55

1:16:55

We know we need to shift from our Trauma Culture to a resilient, connected Initiation Culture where we can open our heart-minds to the Web of Life, ask 'What do you Want of Me?' and respond to the answers in realtime, with flexibility, authenticity and a grounded awareness of our place in the huge complex system of the More than Human World. Knowin…

1
Living Well in a Tiny House with Rachel Butler and Maddy Longhurst of Bristol Tiny House Community 1:11:26

7M ago1:11:26

1:11:26

Our two guests this week are deeply embedded in the creation of Tiny Homes as a way for us meet the needs of all within the bounds of the living planet. Both are living absolutely at that sharp, bright edge of inter-becoming from which our more flourishing future will emerge. Rachel Butler is the founder of Tiny House Community Bristol, Chair of Br…

1
Of Reindeer, Donkeys and the verb that is Water. Stories of climate-healing with Judith Schwartz, author of The Reindeer Chronicles 1:12:30

7M ago1:12:30

1:12:30

How do we move beyond our myopic focus on carbon/CO2 as the index of our harms to the world? What can we do to heal the whole biosphere? And what role is played by water-as-verb, forest-as-verb, ocean-as-verb? This week's guest is an environmental journalist and author who has answers to all of these questions - and more. Judith Schwartz is an auth…

1
Building an Economics of Happiness: How - and why - our Future must be Local with Helena Norberg Hodge of Local Futures 1:25:58

8M ago1:25:58

1:25:58

How do we build the local futures we all know we need? What does it actually take to become a good enough ancestor? Or even the best ancestor we can be? Our guest this week, Helena Norberg-Hodge, has given her life to exploring the answers, and helping birth them into being. Helena Norberg-Hodge is one of the Elders of our culture. She's a linguist…

1
Autumn Equinox meditation 2024 16:50

8M ago16:50

16:50

Here is an Autumn Equinox Meditation to help set you up for the shift from the long days to the long nights. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, there's a Spring Equinox Meditation here.By Accidental Gods

1
Thoughts at the Autumn Equinox 2024 - how, what, when, where and why 21:51

8M ago21:51

21:51

This is our regular September bonus episode - a brief look at where we're at - how I (Manda) see things just now as we head deeper into the moment of transformation.By Accidental Gods

1
Forking the Future: building routes to viable change with Tim Frenneaux of Pivot 1:09:06

8M ago1:09:06

1:09:06

My first guest after the summer break is Tim Frenneaux, whom I first met in his role as Source for the Piʌot project which is a thoroughly engaging and inspiring new concept, that he describes as a people-powered movement for regenerative transformation. As you'll hear, Tim really understands what it is to live - to dance - at the inter-becoming ed…

1
Stop killing the planet! Shaping International law so it's on the side of Life – with JoJo Mehta of Stop Ecocide International 1:22:47

8M ago1:22:47

1:22:47

Can our national and international legal systems be harnessed in service of life, to put the brakes on the worst excesses of capitalism and slow the annihilation of our eco-sphere? Stop Ecocide International exists explicitly to make this happen and this week, we talk to Jojo Mehta, co-founder and Executive Director of the movement. If we're going …

1
The Manic Fire Monkeys Do It Again (and Again): Exploring the wonder of human evolution with Dr Shane Simonsen 1:43:07

8M ago1:43:07

1:43:07

The climate emergency is impacting our entire eco-sphere. Plants are at the core of every food chain but we have no idea how fast they can adapt to changes that are taking place in decades where once they took Millenia. Which is where human ingenuity and intervention could be game-changing. If we put our minds to it, could we help plants to evolve …

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