The SpaceShip Earth - Episode 16 - Fridays for Future School Climate Strike Live from Bristol

It’s been a year since the last Earth Sessions mix. I finally got it together to record this. Mixed live in my garden studio while humanity continues to implode. Violence, suffering and despair spilling over on this Earth. These last few weeks have been overwhelming. But I remember today the power of music and dancing as one way to move the body and mind through dark times Heart vibes, to connect to a deeper source within and to unite into new ways of being. This mix signals the crossing of a threshold into darker mysterious times, towards winter. To acknowledge the Celtic festival of Samhain (a few days ago) pronounced Sow (as in Cow)Inn A time for dropping into mystery, decay, shedding, breaking down, letting go and composting. Going dark and in deep in preparation for seeding new life. Love in cycles. This is an offering for this moment. It’s deep, dark, trippy, fairly pumping, emotional. Play in the dark, loudly. For running, dancing, crying and moving through darker times. Respect to all the producers featured in this mix. Thank you for your beautiful sonic offerings. Full tracklist on site

This episode has been created to honour ‘The Remix’ - our recent 3 month experiential (un)learning adventure for story rebels hosted by becoming crew. The Remix set out to explore the power of cultural stories in these times, and not in a shiny, universal, human-centered way. It was an invitation into a deep, creative, relational inquiry  - exploring the cultural stories we live by while at the same time re-entangling ourselves back into the vast web of life  - the world we have not made. An intentional space to explore the intelligence, interconnectedness, kinship and mystery of life on this Earth and how that might shape and inform our creative practices, projects, the stories we carry and our ways of being in these times of great unravelling. 37 crew from 8 countries participated, guided by Dan Burgess and fellow guides Evva Semenowicz, Mark Sears, Mark De'Lisser,  and Kamara Venner. We were joined along the way by 7 guest teachers, Bayo Akomolafe, Paddy Loughman, Phoebe Tickell, Felipe Viveros, Jay Griffiths, Easkey Britton and Sophie Strand. Together we weaved a peer supported action learning community, cultivating deep entanglement practices with the more than human world in the places we call home,  participating in creative challenges and experiments while considering - How might our stories help to seed and grow life-sustaining cultures ? This episode is an audio artefact of the journey, it weaves contributions from all our guests, guides and participants, it is a memory bank for us, to remember the wisdom, connections and learning we received. We recommend headphones for this one. Full show notes via https://www.thespaceship.earth/podcast

Episode 75 is a reflective ramble in the woods from me your podcast host Dan Burgess. There are no guests (apart from wind, trees, a buzzard and a pigeon) The episode marks an end to this season of recordings and also to the format of conversations this year. And brings a pause in episodes until early Autumn. For me this episode was a chance to honour some shifts, reflect deeply, and to try and speak from my heart intelligence. So this is a spontaneous, personal honest, open, vulnerable, meandering, reflective share. And some of my opinions on this moment in time. Firstly where I find myself with my own inquiring, work and the context we find ourselves in at this moment as climate breakdown becomes seemingly impossible to ignore. How I am deepening my own learning, practices and offerings through deeper relational intentionality with the more than human world, including the impact of a recent Vision Quest I completed and participation as a co-learner in a new 18 month learning journey exploring ‘Kincentric Leadership’. And how all this is shaping the future of the podcast, the work I offer to others and the work of Becoming Crew. Finally I wanted to reflect on my key takeouts and learnings from the podcast conversations with my amazing guests this year and why they feel important and really useful for these times we are facing into. I also share what next for the podcast in the Autumn (loads) and from Becoming Crew. To be honest I recorded this episode for me, but I hope you find something in it for you, let us know, we’d love to hear from you. A big thanks to all the guests, contributors and our crew for making this podcast happen and to all our beautiful listeners for supporting us.

This episode contains two short audio essays from Christina Williams, a writer exploring the pathways that can connect us more deeply with the more-than-human world. She is passionate about complexity, systems change, and how narrative shifts can drive movements for change. Christina took part in The Remix 2023, our Stories for Life themed learning journey from Becoming Crew. She is based in Amsterdam. https://newfutures.substack.com/ https://stories.life/ https://www.becomingcrew.com/

This episode is a basecamp crew conversation between Dan and fellow Becoming Crew guides Evva Semenowicz and Mark Sears. It speaks to this moment in time, where planetary boundaries are being crossed, Earth system tipping points are approaching, climate and ecological breakdown is being experienced all over western societies and yet the culture of denial, divisiveness and inaction is still dominant in government, media, and corporates. What is true and what is real ? What will it take for more people with influence to step fully into this moment and begin to step into service to life on our home planet, for a sense of collective action to spread ? We speak especially to the inaction in organisations and business, beyond their own agendas, why are orgs still so passive when it comes to responding to these crises, when the very conditions that enable their businesses to function are unravelling fast. We unpack ‘What’s Yours to Do?’ - a new one day offer from Becoming Crew to support organisations to begin to step into this new reality and cultivate courage for their own unique forms of activism and participation towards halting the destruction of our living Earth and accelerate the shift towards life-sustaining cultures. Recorded in a meadow in Somerset at sunset on a very dry June day the conversation picks up from our last session in Episode 63 in January, reflects on the launch of The Remix - (un)learning adventure for story rebels and then into this moment and what is being called for from business and organisations and our offer of What’s Yours to Do ? https://www.becomingcrew.com/1day

How might we make a habit of moving into uncomfortable spaces to begin cultivating new ways of being? What stories would the living world share if they had a seat at the table? What does a business in service to planet Earth look like? How might business unite behind forms of activism that can benefit the whole of society ? Matt Hocking is an extraordinary force of nature, a generous and humble being who has dedicated himself to serving our planet. As a designer, curator and connector he has channelled his energy into the creation of forward thinking, ecologically inspired, design agency Leap; developing Goodfest, a gathering for creative change makers in Cornwall, and as an ambassador for BCorp, encouraging more creative businesses to join the movement. Matt is a galvanising individual, a catalyst for interesting journeys and an advocate for challenging our settled concepts of 'sustainabilty'. In a little pocket of ancient woodland in Bath, Smallcombe Woods, Dan invites Matt in the company of two ancient oaks, surrounded by the aroma of wild garlic and the pitter patter of rain drops to delve into an exploration of Matt’s service to planet Earth and their common threads of inquiry. The conversation weaves many threads A reflection on the state of Britain’s natural world as a result of an ingrained colonial destructive and separation logic. The importance of a sharing economy beyond material things Appreciation for Goodfest, in creating a space where youth wisdom sits alongside elder wisdom. Bringing the voices of the living world into our discussions on climate action, The dance of perfect imperfection along the journey to new, creative imaginings How businesses can take courageous action towards systemic change.

This offering comes from Becoming Crew Guide Mark Sears. It is an ancient myth from the Inuit tradition. It emerged from the back of the cave following our first session of our learning adventure The Remix and a provocation from Bayo Akomolafe. He invited us to consider the possibility of shapeshifting and the idea that it is only through strange encounters beyond our comprehension that new stories might emerge. This is a short tale, but a deep one and it begs the question - 'what have we sent into exile that we might need to reclaim right now in our culture where we find ourselves as lonely hunters at the doorway of our huts.' As you listen perhaps you might want to ask yourself, where do you find yourself in the story?

What if the health of the wild waters of the Earth are a reflection of human health? What if restoring our relationship with the wild waters on this earth was a way to restore and heal our own health ? How might moving into a more intentional relationship with water within us and around us help us through these times of fear, grief and complexity? How might cultivating practices and rituals with water today begin to catalyse cultural shifts towards a return of the sacredness between humans and the waters on this Earth? Easkey Britton is a surfer, scientist, academic, social ecologist, activist, writer and artist who has dedicated her life to exploring connection with the ocean and wild waters of this Earth and understanding our human relationship with water as watery beings. This is Easkey’s third time on the podcast and this episode is in honour of her new book Ebb and Flow, Connect with the Patterns and Power of Water. An essential book for this moment, as we are beginning to understand through witnessing the health of the rivers and ocean around us - what we do to the wild waters of this Earth ultimately we do to ourselves. Packed with wisdom and practices to restore health to ourselves and the wild waters around us, Easkey has weaved together insight and intelligence from her own deep experiences and those of wisdom keepers, water guardians, scientists, activists and indigenous scholars from all over Spaceship Earth. This conversation riffs on a number of threads in the book. This is an Ocean Mic episode in collaboration with Finisterre Play-out track ‘Landscape’ by East Forest and Peter Broderick

Welcome to this first Stories for Life minisode from The SpaceShip Earth Podcast. The intention with these mini episodes is to serve up short form sonic offerings - poems, stories, readings, meditations and musical gifts. These offerings will either be riffing on 'love stories', helping us relate to ourselves, to each other and to this more than human world that we inhabit in more entangled, mysterious, interconnected and life sustaining ways. Or drawing our attention to 'horror stories' in our modern cultures that through their deeply ingrained pervasiveness keep us trapped in the destructive and divisive story of separation. This first offering comes from writer and poet Mike Benson, a poem entitled - GDP: seems kind of Gross.

Love Ssega is a musician, songwriter and performing artist . He is weaving a beautifully diverse path collaborating across different art forms, whilst also speaking up for complex environmental, social and educational issues. The original frontman-songwriter of Grammy-winning Clean Bandit, he is currently Artist In Residence for Royal Festival Hall’s Philharmonia Orchestra. London-born, his music blends a mix of New Wave, 80s Hip-Hop, African polyrhythms and NYC Disco into smart, modern Pop and has been played all over the world. In this conversation Dan invites Ssega to explore the question ‘What does it mean to be a music artist in a time of climate, ecological and social crisis’ ? And they journey through some of his amazing projects riffing on many threads. Ssega is weaving extraordinary magic through his actions and artistry - exploring climate justice, social and racial justice, air pollution, social housing issues and so much more through music, performance, collaboration and co-creation with communities, galleries, poets, orchestras, and more. Please do check out Ssega’s abundant music and creative projects, you won’t be disappointed. And please comment and share if this episode speaks to you. Links, show notes and tracklist via https://www.thespaceship.earth/podcast/2023/5/12/episode-68-love-ssega-finding-another-way