Growing a Public Chorus for Change: reshaping democracy with Alex Lockwood of the Humanity Project

“Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.”

— Oscar Auliq Ice - quoted on Savimbo website

In this pivotal episode, we journey with Drea Burbank from the depths of a fundamentalist Mormon cult to the rainforests of the Colombian Amazon. Drea's life story, chronicled in her book "Shaman Gurl" (linked in the show notes), is a testament to human resilience and the quest for truth. From her escape over the mountains, through the fiery trials of being a firefighter, to her awakening during medical school, Drea's path has been anything but conventional.

Now, as a co-founder of Savimbo, Drea is part of an extraordinary mission: to introduce a human rights code for nature. With the support of 60 indigenous leaders from across the globe, she is leading the charge to bring legislation to the UN that enshrines the rights of nature into law. This episode is an urgent call to recognize the voice of nature and the indigenous custodians who have preserved 30% of the planet's intact land and 80% of its biodiversity.

Drea's conversation is a revelation of the indigenous perspective on ecotourism, cultural competency, and the necessity of a post-colonial lifestyle. She shares the transformative impact of ecotourism training programs and the importance of creating safe spaces for spiritual awakening in a world that often suppresses regrowth. As she and her colleagues prepare to share their vision with the world through a series of powerful videos, we invite you to become bridges for this crucial movement. Follow Savimbo across social media platforms, amplify the voices of these indigenous leaders, and help turn the tide towards a future where the rights of nature are not just recognized but revered.

For those who are ready to be part of this monumental shift, to stand with the guardians of our planet's remaining wilderness, this episode is an essential listen. Join us as we explore the profound connections between human healing and planetary health, where the fight for nature's rights is a fight for our collective future.

We were speaking on a starlink and we lost the connection several times so I apologise in advance for any glitches in the conversation, but this was solid gold and I wasn't going to let minor issues of technology get in the way of your hearing it. Enjoy!

In this week's episode of Accidental Gods, we dive into the visionary world of economic transformation with Emily Harris of Dark Matter Labs. Emily, a chartered accountant with an MA in regenerative economics, is not your average number cruncher. She's at the forefront of reimagining our financial systems, exploring the intersection of technology, governance, and the natural world. 

Join us as Emily unveils the bold concept of life-enabling economics (LEE) and the radical aspiration of establishing bioregional banks — a system where money is no longer a mere transactional tool but a means to foster a thriving web of life. From the Findhorn watershed initiative to the Sheffield River Don project, Emily details practical steps towards making these ideas a reality, including the creation of relationship registers and multivalent currencies like 'river coins'.

The conversation also touches on the challenges of aligning current political and economic systems with these pioneering concepts. Emily shares insights into the Net Zero Cities team's efforts, working with 112 mission cities to forge climate city contracts and policy labs that embody a mission-oriented methodology. 

This episode is a call to action for all listeners to engage with these transformative ideas. If you're inspired by the potential of a future where financial systems are in harmony with ecological and social well-being, then tune in, offer your thoughts, and be part of the change. Emily's work is a testament to the power of collective imagination and the tangible steps we can take towards a regenerative economy.

For those ready to delve deeper into the mechanics of these groundbreaking ideas, visit the show notes for links to the thought-provoking blogs and learn how you can contribute to this evolutionary journey. Accidental Gods is the platform where we explore the edges of possibility — and this episode is a beacon of hope for a world in dire need of economic renaissance.

As I say at the top of the conversation, these are amongst the most interesting concepts I've ever read - and I spend my life exploring this field. I'd like to read you the opening paragraph of the Concept paper: 

"Instead of focusing on labour, property, individual or democratic rights, this vision seeks to unfurl the full potential of a

growing planetary consciousness. It is an expression of practical realism embedded in a deep respect for all

manifestations of life; past, present, human, more-than-human, the sacred and the machine. This economy

seeks to move beyond the everyday codes of property, labour, capital and private contracts and break free

from the constrictive dance of socio-political isms. It offers an unbounded understanding of agency, inviting

the full range of adjacent possibilities, thus refuting the exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few."

and then a few paragraphs down, 

"At its core, this is a provocation of the heart. An invitation to cultivate lives of profound collaboration, dignity,

psychological and physical freedom. It is a framework meshed in human embodied experience that critically

includes machine and non-human systems, integrating them into the same expansive beyond-paradigm of

inter-becoming."

The two papers are in the show notes and they're definitely worth reading. In the meantime, this conversation moved even beyond these into whole new areas that, once again with DML, breached the boundaries of my thinking - in a good way.  

Dark Matter Labs https://darkmatterlabs.org/
Life Ennobling Economics Position Paper https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EiU8MQ3JKtuCJIUTrxkl2Fzx0xWBiWDu/view
Life Ennobling Economics Concept White Paper https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hNpgVEyYiERE0Jj3gczUfK9ki9GmrFRm/view
Blog on BioRegional Banks Part 1: https://provocations.darkmatterlabs.org/towards-multivalent-currencies-bioregional-monetary-stewardship-and-a-distributed-global-reserve-dac459dc844e
Blog on BioRegional Banks Part 2: https://provocations.darkmatterlabs.org/towards-multivalent-currencies-bioregional-monetary-stewardship-and-a-distributed-global-reserve-38ed3849395f
Blog on BioRegional Banks Part 3: https://provocations.darkmatterlabs.org/towards-multivalent-currencies-bioregional-monetary-stewardship-and-a-distributed-global-reserve-951ca09dd76d
Blog on BioRegional Banks Part 4:

The Swedish Cornerstone prototype was co-developed with Linnéa Rönnquist with the support of Samhällskontraktet

Emily Harris in Episode #176 https://accidentalgods.life/bridging-from-the-necessary-to-the-possible-with-emily-harris-of-dark-matter-labs/
Indy Johar Episode #205 https://accidentalgods.life/becoming-intentional-gods-claiming-the-future-with-indy-johar-of-the-dark-matter-labs/

In this week's episode we delve into the intricate world of dung beetles and their critical role in regenerative farming with the passionate and knowledgeable Claire Whittle, the Regenerative Vet. Claire's journey from a conventional large animal practitioner to a fervent advocate for farming in harmony with nature is not only inspiring but also a testament to the profound impact one species can have on the environment.

With her vivid and captivating storytelling, Claire brings to life the bustling ecosystem that thrives within a simple cowpat, highlighting the crucial work of dung beetles in nutrient cycling, reducing greenhouse gases, and supporting biodiversity. This conversation is a call to action for farmers, vets, and anyone interested in sustainable agriculture to reconsider the way we interact with the land and its inhabitants.

Whether you're managing vast farmlands or nurturing a small garden, this episode is a treasure trove of insights on how we can all contribute to a healthier planet by stepping into our role as a positive keystone species. So, grab your headphones and prepare to be charmed by the unsung heroes of the pasture, as we explore the significance of these tiny earth-movers in shaping a regenerative future.

Dung Beetles for Farmers https://www.dungbeetlesforfarmers.co.uk/
Claire on Instagram https://instagram.com/dr_DoWhittle/
Claire's Regen Vet on Instagram https://instagram.com/RegenerativeVet
Claire at Kingshay https://www.kingshay.com/advice/meet-the-consultants-2/claire-whittle/

This week, I spoke with James Plunkett, a man who has spent his career at the intersection of policy and social change. From the halls of Number Ten to the charity sector's front lines, James's unique perspective has birthed a book that critically examines what's wrong with our society and offers tangible fixes. Together, we dissect our societal challenges, from outdated institutions to the technology of gods, and discuss structured ways to mend a fractured system.

James has spent his entire career thinking laterally about the complicated relationships between individuals and the state, with a particular focus on digital transformation and public policy, from the social innovation agency Nesta to the charity Citizens Advice and before that roles at 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, and the Resolution Foundation think tank.

James combines a deep understanding of social issues with an appreciation of how change is playing out not in the ivory tower, but in the reality of people’s lives. As a result of all these insights, he's written an optimistic book, 'End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken and How we fix it.'  that explores how we can reform the state to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

As you'll hear, he didn't think of this as a hopeful book when he began - it was more of a response to seeing the ways the old system of the 20th century was not keeping up with the new world. How we have, in EO WIlson's words, 'Paleolithic emotions, Mediaeval Institutions and the Technology of gods' and this isn't necessarily a good combination to face the meta-crisis. But James did come out with hope for the future and structured ways our current system could make these happen. Accidental Gods often inhabits a world where the current system is broken beyond repair and the only answer is to create a new one and help people shift into it. So this was fascinating, enlivening conversation with someone who has lived and worked in the heart of the superorganism and can see ways through to a world where the human and more than human worlds flourish.

James's book https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/james-plunkett/end-state/9781398702202/
James on Twitter https://twitter.com/jamestplunkett
James on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/jamestplunkett.bsky.social
James on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plunkett-a1472827/
James on Medium https://medium.com/@jamestplunkett

We don't have a democracy, we have a kleptocracy that elevates to positions of power those amongst us who are most comfortable with leaning into their inner Dark Triad of Psychopathy, Narcissism and basic low cunning.  Then, when they get there, we're surprised that they go on to wreak havoc with all that we believe to be good and right and beautiful. 

Doing the same thing time after time is the very definition of insanity - clearly we need a new way of connecting, of communicating, of articulating our needs and wants that give us a sense of connection, agency and sufficiency, that bring out the best of us, not our own inner dark triads. We need a new means of governance that works from the ground up and works for a thriving future for the human and more-than human world. 

This week's guest is absolutely immersed in the questions of how we transform our governance. More than this, he is immersed in actually making it happen. Alex Lockwood was a Senior Lecturer in Professional and Creative Writing at Sunderland University and he practiced what he taught - because he's also the author of a novel, The Chernobyl Privileges and a non-fiction memoir, The Pig in Thin Air.

More recently, he was actively involved in Animal Rebellion, a kindred organisation to Extinction Rebellion and then that evolved into becoming a founder member of The Humanity Project, an astonishing, life-affirming, inspiring collective movement for change. At the times when the news about climactic tipping points and the loss of sulphur particles and the impact of el Nino combines with the horrors of political destruction around the world, it's really good to remember there are highly motivated, highly intelligent people getting together to create visions for change that will work and to which we will all look forward. This podcast rekindled my belief in a future that can work. I hope it does the same for you.

Humanity Project https://humanityproject.uk/
Hard Art Festival in Manchester "The Fête of Britain" https://hardart.metalabel.com/ha002/
Global Assembly https://globalassembly.org/
Lee Jasper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Jasper
Clare Farrell  https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/61534/1/extinction-rebellion-xr-co-founder-clare-farrell-prison-hsbc-windows-smash
Alex on Twitter https://twitter.com/alexlockwood
Alex on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lockwood-narrative-leadership/

How does each of us find our sovereignty, our sense of what it is to have agency and be alive in the world, and align this with the part in all of us that is anchored in compassion, connection and empathy?  How, in short, do we encounter and encourage our own sovereign feminine?

Dr Maggie Ostara is a long-time friend of the podcast - she was with us in episode 116 when we talked about finding our purpose in the world: What's mine to do, what's yours to do and what's ours to do together?  I've put a link to this in the show notes in case you want to go back and listen.  Since then, Maggie has written the international Amazon best-seller: Feminine Sovereignty: Eight Pillars for Regenerating Ourselves and Our World.  It was published towards the end of last year and I've been wanting to talk to Maggie ever since.  

Her book is absolutely of our time and for our time: it's courageous and hard-hitting in terms of its dissection of where we are, but it's full of compassion and wisdom and embodied exercises that you can do as you go along.  And as you'll hear in the podcast, in 2024 she’ll be offering the Feminine Sovereignty Explorers Club and the Feminine Sovereignty Leadership Incubator based in the principles of the 8 Pillars.  She’s a certified Human Design and Quantum Human Design Specialist, Level 4, a certified Radiant Body Yoga Instructor, and a certified Clarity Breathwork Practitioner. She supports her global audience through her thriving YouTube channel and works with clients 1:1 and in groups.

So this is a perfect sequel to Nina Simons last week - yet again, we are talking about ways of finding the god within - and engaging outwards with the world. 

Maggie's previous Accidental Gods episode #116 https://accidentalgods.life/daring-to-risk/
Where to buy the book and/or get the first 50 pages for free FeminineSovereigntyBook.com Where to find out about the Feminine Sovereignty Explorers Club FeminineSovereigntyBook.com/explorersclub

Where to find out more about the Feminine Sovereignty Leadership Incubator FeminineSovereigntyBook.com/incubator
Where to find out more about Human Design SovereigntybyDesign.com and YouTube.com/maggieostaraphd

Susan Harper, Master Teacher of Continuum ContinuumMontage.com Where to find Maggie on Facebook Facebook.com/maggiesaleostara

Where to find Maggie on Instagram Intstagram.com/SovereigntybyDesign

"Consciousness creates matter,

Language Creates Reality,

Ritual creates relationship' - Oscar Miro-Quesada  quoted by Nina Simons in her book ’Nature, Culture and the Sacred’ 

One of the extraordinary privileges of hosting a podcast like this is that I get to talk to some of my heroes, to ask questions, to have a conversation about the things that really matter.  This week's guest is one of these.  Nina Simons is an author, a leader - and we'll hear how that word was imposed on her and then she learned to embody it, she's a visionary in the deepest sense, and I would say, in a world that is crying out for the wisdom of elders, she is an elder, a wisdom-bearer, someone who has brought deep humility and authenticity to the whole of her life.  In more outward terms, in 1990, she co-founded Bioneers, which started off as a conference and has grown into one of the foremost trailblazers of the movement for a whole and healed earth. On the website it says 'We act as a fertile hub of social and scientific  innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges.' 

Nina is also a writer. She's a co-author of 'MoonRise: the Power of Women Leading from the Heart' and then more recently, she wrote Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership, which is the kind of book that opens new doors, it's got the crackle of authenticity and the deep wisdom of someone who really does listen, to the earth, to other elders, to her own body, who has the capacity to walk the earth, asking, 'what wants to come through me?' without presuming to know the answer and then the integrity to write what comes.  And what came in that particular walk was this: "This is no time for small talk. This is a time for mythmaking. This is a time for epic poetry. This is a time to tell the tales that will become our compass for the days ahead. " So, with this as our guiding light, please enjoy the conversation. 

Nina's website https://www.ninasimons.com/
Bioneer's website https://bioneers.org/
Nature Culture and the Sacred (Introduction is available for Free Download here) https://bioneers.org/ncs/
Bioneers Learning https://www.bioneerslearning.org/
Bioneers You Tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@bioneers
Nina on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ninasimonsauthor
Nina on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-simons/
Nina on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/1ninasimons/
The Burning Times Film https://youtu.be/34ow_kNnoro

Those of you who've followed the podcast for any length of time know that I feel our capacity to connect across long distances, to share ideas in real time, is one of the things that has shifted our culture from being complex to super-complex, or hyper-complex, or whatever adjective we want to create that intimates a massive increase in the complexity of our communications and our actions. One key part of this is the evolution of blockchain, particularly in its Ethereum incarnation. Most of us know blockchain, if we know it at all, as the core of Bitcoin, but it's progressed far beyond this in the last decade, not only in the core technology, but in the thinking around it. Once, a libertarian playground, there is now a whole infrastructure of interconnected mycelial webs of progressive, regenerative communities who are building on and with Ethereum. I know this can often feel as if it's not part of our world - and it isn't an integral part - yet - in the way mobile phone technology is, or Zoom, or using a banking app, or a meditation app, or measuring your blood glucose in real time... but it's going to be a part of things in the same way these are soon. In the same way mobile phones became indispensable, I think some of the experiments in smart contracts and ways of hooking up currencies are going to become integral to our lives. And even if I'm wrong, there are a few certainties: The old paradigm is crumbling; the superorganism has to be dismantled; we do need to learn to live more regeneratively, connected more deeply to ourselves, each other and the web of life. 

And it's this connection that inspires our guest today. Josh Dàvila is host of one of my must-listen podcasts, Blockchain Socialist, where he, often joined by Primavera de Filipi hold fascinating, deep, thoughtful conversations that take me right to the edge of my understanding so that I have to listen to each episode three or four times to really get to grips with the ideas. Josh is also an author. His book 'Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It' is essential reading for anyone who's remotely interested in this space. Like Diana Finch in last week's episode, he has the capacity to take mindbendingly complex ideas and render them straightforward and even obvious - and in Josh's case, he's rendering social concepts of how our culture is run and how we can change it, in parallel to the evolution of blockchain, the nature of Ethereum and what can be done with it. And then he and Primavera are right in the middle of a whole host of conversations about the concept of Coordi-Nations - which are what I would have called communities of passion and purpose, as opposed to communities of place (though there's nothing to stop a community of passion and purpose arising in a specific geographic location. In the end, I think that's likely to happen). But we're getting ahead of ourselves: If I'm right that 2024 is the year when the tipping points become obvious even in the mainstream, then we need the ideas that will shift us out of business as usual and into new ways of being. Josh and his co-thinkers are having those ideas and I dearly wanted to share some of them on the podcast. So here we go.

Josh's Website https://theblockchainsocialist.com/
Blockchain Radicals book https://theblockchainsocialist.com/blockchain-radicals-book-announcement/
in the UK here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/blockchain-radicals-building-beyond-capitalism-josh-davila/7441624?ean=9781914420856
Josh on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theblockchainsocialist
Check back here for the Audio book after February 6th

BlockchainGov.eu https://blockchaingov.eu/

Primavera De Filipe and Jessy Kate Co-ordi-Nations Blog  https://jessykate.medium.com/coordi-nations-a-new-institutional-structure-for-global-cooperation-3ef38d6e2cfa

Rojava https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rojava_conflict

Happy New Year.  It feels to me as if this year, the journey is going to be one of continual change and of challenge - that 2024 will be the year when it is impossible for anyone to pretend that the life we knew, the life we grew up believing would go on indefinitely - is going to continue. The old order is dying, but if we're to absolute collapse on a global scale (because clearly it's happening locally all over the world, usually pushed by the governments of people who are statistically most likely to be listening to this podcast) -but if we're going to avert absolute breakdown everywhere, then we need to dismantle the super-organism of the markets. Markets, globalisation, the entire neo-liberal model of free trade that was neither free nor liberal, nor particularly new... these are the common thread that perpetuates the world we know. Yes, we have to change our political systems, our power generation, our food systems..... all of these are core, but it's the markets and our concepts of value and money - the core of capitalism that keep the whole show on the road. 

One way or another, they are going - either there's a crash and nothing... or we succeed in managing a degrowth curve to a much simpler system that is not just less extractive, it's regenerative - it repairs some of the desperate harm we've done in recent times. 

So I want this podcast really to begin to look at how we could shape this downward slope - to play with ideas that could take use forward into something different - to begin to build narratives, stories, mythologies, collective heroic journeys of how we as a culture could affect the change that we need. Yes, the super-organism feels as if it has a life of its own, but it is composed of individuals and if we all change our behaviour, our expectations, our understanding of what's good and what isn't - then it will change. 

I still believe this is possible and I'm definitely working towards this. As is our guest this week. Diana Finch has worked in senior leadership roles in a variety of socially and environmentally focused non-profit organisations since 2001. Through this work, she became convinced that our economic system is the root cause behind the environmental and social challenges the non-profit sector is trying to address. She started to become interested in the field of new economics, and was thrilled to join the Bristol Pound team as Managing Director in 2018. She continued to be a director until the organisation was wound up in 2023. The experience helped her develop an understanding of the problems with our existing economic system, creating a determination to share what she has learned by writing a book called 'Value Beyond Money: an exploration of the Bristol Pound and the building blocks for an alternative economic system' The book is not out until September, but it I was privileged to read it early and was so struck by Diana's capacity to lay out clearly the various different ways we have begun to see money and the alternative systems that people are trying - the Bristol Pound was an astonishing endeavour and the story of how it came about and why it ended are remarkable in and of itself. But it's the ideas that come after - why did it not work and what could we do now - what could help us shift from exactly where we are, to where we need to be - these are the solid gold. We did talk for a long time. If necessary, we'll split this into two bits. I'm not sure if we're going to need to, so... we'll see.   In the meantime, enjoy the ideas of how we could be different - and then if you know of anyone who could fund this, please do let us know. 

PreOrder Diana's book https://crowdbound.org/product/value-beyond-money/
The Bristol Pound legacy homepage https://www.bristolpoundlegacy.info/

Holochain https://www.holochain.org/
Art Brock Metacurrency https://www.artbrock.com/metacurrency/resources
Bradford Citizen Coin https://bradford.citizencoin.uk/
Mark Fisher Ghosts of my Life https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ghosts-of-my-life-writings-on-depression-hauntology-and-lost-futures-mark-fisher/517207?ean=9781780992266
Mark Fisher Capitalis Realism - Is there No Alternative https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/capitalist-realism-new-edition-is-there-no-alternative-mark-fisher/7313424?ean=9781803414300

Confessions of an Economic Hitman Short Animated Version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYtb5zatgMg

New Economics Foundation https://neweconomics.org/
Positive Money https://positivemoney.org/

Reference books

Less is More: How Degrowth can save the world by Jason Hickel https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/less-is-more-how-degrowth-will-save-the-world-jason-hickel/364774
Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/doughnut-economics-seven-ways-to-think-like-a-21st-century-economist-kate-raworth/

Welcome to the second part of our conversation - if you haven't listened to the first part, please do so - it's here [LINK]

and

 Simon has very kindly agreed to come back to join our Cutting Edge gathering on Sunday 19th March at 7pm UK time. He'll be with us for an hour during which you'll have a chance to ask him the questions that matter to you - all the things I don't think to ask - and then we'll have another hour together to explore ways each of us can ground what we're learning in our own lives. So you can sign up for this at accidentalgods.life - go to the Gatherings page. I've also put a link in the show notes. And while we're talking about Gatherings, there's still space on Dreaming Your Death Awake on Sunday 7th January.  This is our chance really to delve deeply into the year just gone, and look ahead at how we want to shape our attention and intention for the year that's coming. After all the  outward connection of the holiday season, this is a time to go inwards, to be kind to ourselves, to explore all that we can be and want to be. This, too, is part of our Accidental Gods tradition and we have people who've come year after year to give themselves the gift of time and space and the company of people who share the journey.  So please do come along, we would love to share this time with you.  I've put a link in the show notes and it's also on the website accidentalgods.life under the 'Gatherings' tab. 

Prometheus Project Link:

Episode 172 https://accidentalgods.life/transforming-industry-to-create-a-genuine-green-revolution/
Episode 175 https://accidentalgods.life/drawing-humanity-out-of-the-cave-with-dr-simon-michaux/
Episode 183 https://accidentalgods.life/lifeboats-and-volcanoes-part-3-of-our-series-with-simon-michaux/
Episode 184 https://accidentalgods.life/bonus-reality-check-less-quantity-more-quality-in-a-future-that-will-work-part-4-with-simon-michaux/

Cutting Edge - come and meet Simon - ask him your questions - and we'll gather afterwards to see how we can apply all we're learning in our own lives https://accidentalgods.life/the-logistical-realities-of-our-world/