Dumbo Feather Podcast

Legendary Hollywood screenwriting teacher Joan Scheckel shares her insights about the true value of meaningful storytelling. Joan has refined a creative process called The Technique – a deep storytelling discipline so deep and profound, you dare not do it if you're not 100 per cent committed to your craft. Joan has worked on hundreds of films: from Little Miss Sunshine to Whale Rider to Transparent. Talking with Joan, we are in the presence of a true master.

This week's conversation is between Berry and Canadian culture activist Stephen Jenkinson. His work is really hard to classify. You may have read his conversation with Pierz Newton-John in issue 54 of Dumbo Feather magazine. Stephen has worked extensively with people who are dying, and their families. He's worked in medical care, agriculture, and he's also a canoe builder and sculptor. Stephen's the author of Come of Age and Die Wise. He travels the world performing the Nights of Grief and Mystery Tour, coming to Australia in late 2023.

This is episode 2 of our mini-series with Nate Hagens, where he and Berry explore the role of energy in our lives and in our economies, and how our short-term thinking around energy in the past two centuries in particular is bringing and will continue to bring huge implications. They wrestle with our collective behaviours and thinking, and unpack some of the adaptive solutions and opportunities available for us to work with the circumstances we are in. You can dive deeper into the work of Nate Hagens through his podcast and programs, “The Great Simplification". You can also explore more in our work over at smallgiants.com.au

Gabor Mate is a Hungarian-Canadian physician who specialises in addiction and childhood development. His most recent book, a must read, is The Myth of Normal, all about trauma, illness and healing in a toxic culture. We apologise for the rough audio in this chat, but hope you'll still be able to take in many of the gems it harbours.

Introducing our new mini-series with Dumbo Feather favourite, Nate Hagens! You may remember our conversation with Nate from a couple of episodes back, where he gave us a big picture overview of the various interlocking crises of this moment, or what he calls "the human predicament." We are going deeper into this with a mini-series that unpacks a range of issues and asks the question, "What can our collective future look like?" In this episode, Berry and Nate explore the topic of human behaviour, and why that is critical to addressing many of the systemic challenges we face. If you haven't listened to our first chat with Nate, go back now to The Good Society #1.

Dr Julia Kim is the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. Long time readers and listeners of Dumbo Feather will be familiar with the GNH framework, which many organisations, cities and communities around the world have implemented to shape a more sustainable and holistic vision of their success. Julia shares more on that and why Bhutan is such a rich place for leadership exploration in this chat with Small Giants Academy head of programs, Tamsin Jones. You can learn more about the Gross National Happiness Centre over at gnhcentrebhutan.org Join Small Giants Academy on an Impact Safari to Bhutan in 2023. Visit impactsafari.com for more

It's the brilliant, joyful and wise Esther Perel! Esther is the foremost expert on human relationships and sexuality right now on the planet, and author of the New York Times bestseller Mating in Captivity, which shook the ground beneath us with the concept of erotic intelligence. She is a cultural force & global icon, creator of two outstanding podcasts series: Where Should We Begin, which takes us into the therapy room as she counsels real couples through their conflicts, and How's Work? about the invisible forces that shape workplace dynamics. Esther joined us for an intimate event in Melbourne in November 2022 to launch her new game, Where Should we Begin, and her chat with our editor-in-chief Berry was a celebration of everything that brings us alive.

In this episode, Kirsty chats with Frances Haugen, the woman who leaked internal documents that demonstrated a lack of empathy and care from Facebook executives about the impact that its products were having, particularly on young women and girls. Facebook has since changed its name to Meta, but its suite of products is the same: Facebook, instagram and WhatsApp are visited by billions of people globally, every day. Frances is a big thinker: she wants to be part of the story that changes the narrative around social media to a more inclusive, positive digital environment for everyone. If you want to know more about her plans for social media that's good for humanity, head to franceshaugen.com

For the past couple of months, we've been exploring what the good society is all about, how we can create systems and communities that support people and planet to thrive. On this episode, we have a slightly different take on the topic. Dumbo Feather's editor Kirsty de Garis is speaking with someone who had made her way into just about every kitchen in Australia with her gorgeous cookbooks – Hetty McKinnon. Hetty is a Chinese-Australian cook who established Arthur Street Kitchen in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2011, and not long after released her first cook book, Community, which shared the much-loved vegetable recipes she was serving. Since then, many a fine cook books have followed, including her most recent: Tenderheart, a book about vegetables and unbreakable family bonds. Hetty spoke with Kirsty in September 2022.

Hi friends! This is our third episode in our Good Society series, where we unpack the current systems we live, work and play within and ask how they can do better and be better for people and planet. This week, Berry talks with Oliver Burkeman, a long-time columnist for The Guardian, where he wrote a column about productivity that ultimately lead to his latest book, 4000 Weeks - Time Management for Mortals. First, Oliver says, we need to accept that we can't do everything. Given that reality, what truly great options should we say no to - and grieve - while simultaneously building a good life?

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 things that we know aren't good for us or the world. Dan serves as a Professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University and is one of the faculty members on the Small Giants Academy Mastery of Business and Empathy. Some of his books include Predictably Irrational, Dollars and Sense and the Honest Truth about Dishonesty. You can also read our conversation with him in issue 55 of Dumbo Feather magazine, Creating the Next Economy. Learn more about Dan's work over at danariely.com.

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 brings in world leaders on these subjects to unpack how everything fits together, and where we go from here.   Nate spoke with Berry about sense-making and the systems science underpinning many of the crises we currently face, and we loved it so much that we're bringing him back for more! Stay tuned for Berry's series with Nate which will go deeper into many more of the issues they chat about in his episode.

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 more goodness like this in print.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 released soon.

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

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

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.

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.

Spiritual teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee reads one of his writings for Dumbo Feather, titled, “A Letter to My Granddaughter.” Llewellyn is a writer and teacher based in Northern California whose work focuses on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition.

In this episode, we get to know Pat McCabe, a Navaho mother, grandmother, artist and ceremonial leader who has been deeply immersed in indigenous, land-based ways of living. Having grown up in a multicultural neighbourhood in California, she is also accustomed to the realities of the industrialised world. It makes her an invaluable bridge-builder and cross-cultural communicator, and a powerful voice for the transformation needed to deal with our ecological and social crises. In this conversation for Issue 63 of Dumbo Feather magazine, Pat speaks with our friend and founder of Local Futures, Helena Norberg-Hodge.

Hey there! In this episode we share an interview we did back in 2017 with Tim Winton, one of Australia's most beloved and prolific writers. At the time, Tim was on a publicity tour for his collection of non-fiction essays, The Boy Behind the Curtain, which, among many things, explores class. In this chat with Dumbo Feather interviewer Myke Bartlett, Tim shares some of his insights on Australia's changing socio-economic landscape, and how he has confronted snobbery to open himself up to many different kinds of perspectives and ways of living.

This week on the podcast we have Dr Tim Dean – author of "How We Became Human, and Why We Need to Change," a book about how our evolved moral minds are out of step with the modern world. Tim has a Doctorate in philosophy from the University of New South Wales on the evolution of morality and has expertise in ethics, philosophy of biology and critical thinking. This chat with Berry spans some of the big ideas and questions around his most recent inquiry into human morality. If you'd like to spend three hours with Tim Dean exploring the philosophy of human morality, join him and the Small Giants Academy for the Future of Morality masterclass on Tuesday December 7, 2021 from 6-8pm eastern daylight savings time via Zoom. Grab your tickets at smallgiants.com.au or head over to @smallgiants on Instagram.

We have just launched issue 68 of Dumbo Feather magazine – themed “Treasured Spaces,” and one of the conversations we had for that was with author and TV presenter Holly Ringland. We came to know Holly through the ABC series, Back to Nature, in which she and actor Aaron Pedersen travel through vast, awe-inspiring Australian landscapes hearing the stories of the land. In this chat, Holly speaks with Dumbo Feather editor Nathan Scolaro about her experiences making the show, and the importance of treating our selves as treasured spaces. Holly's first novel is The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, about a young girl with an abusive farther who is taught the language of Australian flowers by her grandmother to say the things that are too hard to speak. The book has become an international bestseller, and is currently being adapted into a television series produced by and starring Sigourney Weaver. Tune into the ABC's stunning six-part series Back to Nature on ABC iView. For more stories and conversations like this one, get yourself a copy of our Treasured Spaces issue from your local bookshop or retailer, or over at our website dumbofeather.com

Welcome to our third and final instalment of the Dumbo Feather music mini-series. Our guest is a very good friend, someone we've had in the mag before and worked a lot with over the years, Dr Catherine Crock. Catherine's a paediatrician at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, and 20 years ago, she founded a remarkable foundation and program called Hush – which brings musicians into hospital environments to compose music that will reduce anxiety and stress for patients and their family and friends. Catherine's work has evolved to look at and transform the culture of healthcare to one that is centred around kindness and empathy. In this conversation, she talk with Dumbo Feather editor Nathan Scolaro about the Hush legacy, and shares some of her favourite pieces from an extraordinary 19 albums. You can learn more about Hush and shop for some of the albums over at hugh.org.au, and sign up for Gathering of Kindness at gatheringofkindness.org

This episode we're bringing back an old favourite, a conversation we recorded in 2018 with psychotherapist Esther Perel who has changed the way we think about love, connection and sex. Her books, Ted Talks and podcast “Where Should We Begin” have all become international sensations as she focuses on relational intelligence, and often brings us inside the therapy room to explore intimacy and eroticism and where those parts of ourselves become stuck. In this chat with Berry, Esther explores why modern relationships are more complex and nuanced than ever. It was recorded for our Love issue of Dumbo Feather magazine, which you can kind find over at our website, dumbofeather.com.

This week's chat is led by our good friend Helena Norberg-Hodge, champion of all things localising. She is joined by none other than Johann Hari, the Swiss-British journalist behind the smash hit book Lost Connections, which uncovers the real causes behind depression and the unexpected solutions, some of which land right in Helena's work – connecting with community. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Patagonia.

Much-loved Dumbo Feather friend Hugh Mackay joins us on the podcast this week, sharing the insights, research and thinking behind his latest book "The Kindness Revolution." Hugh spoke with us as part of an interactive Small Giants Academy conversation event in July, hosted by our head of programming, Eleanor Gammell. Thanks to Australian Ethical for partnering with us on this episode.

In May 2021, we ran our first four-week Storytelling for Change Course at Small Giants Academy. Each Wednesday, 15 participants would gather in the Zoom room to talk about how story shapes our individual lives and the cultures we are part of. We learned skills for finessing our stories and were joined by some of our much-loved Dumbo Feather storytellers, including Padraig O Tuama, Lydia Fairhall and Danielle Caruana. Across the course, participants were tasked with composing a story from their life, which they then shared in the final week. We were all blown away by each other's heartfelt, creative, hilarious sharings, and felt the magic of being intertwined in one another's stories. In this episode, three participants from the course have very generously recorded their stories for you all to hear. First up we have Lizi Hamer reading “The Car Ride” followed by Hermione Stewart reading “Love Survives” and finally Ben Duke with “The Blue Lagoon.” Ben Duke is a performer and choreographer and the artistic director of the U.K. based dance theatre company Lost Dog. You can check out more of his work over at lostdogdance.co.uk. And Lizi Hamer is an author and storyhunter and Regional Creative Director at Octagon. You can check out more of her work over at lizihamer.com

Welcome to episode 2 of our music mini-series on the Dumbo Feather podcast, where we're sharing readings, conversations and most importantly music to celebrate our latest issue of Dumbo Feather magazine. In this episode, we're bringing you a reading by Melbourne-based recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey. Genevieve creates poetic, sensual worlds in a variety of contexts – from the stage to the garden to the radio. During the ups and downs of 2020, Genevieve created the album Bower. In the following reading she shares what that experience was like for her and others within the arts community here in Australia. Genevieve has generously shared some of the music from Bower to accompany her reading, which has been magnificently producer by sound engineer Jim Atkin. The order of music is as follows: Lou Bennett Baiyan Woka arr Erkki Veltheim Erkki Veltheim Nocturne over blue ruins Johann Jakob Froberger Lamentation faite sur la mort très douloureuse de Sa Majesté Impériale, Ferdinand III Andrea Keller I Surrender Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey A Mutual Support for Precarious Times Bree van Reyk threaded in amongst the infinite threading

Meet Jade Miles from Black Barn Farm! Black Barn is a regenerative, intentional orchard and nursery that operates on permaculture principles. They run farm tours and workshops, and promote homesteading within the rhythms of the seasons.  Jade recently released a beautiful book called Futuresteading: Live Like Tomorrow Matter which is full of practical skills, recipes and rituals for connecting with your environment and community, and embracing a simpler, steadier way of being. Jade shares her story and passion for building localised food systems with our publisher Berry.

Lydia Fairhall reads her essay from Issue 64 of Dumbo Feather magazine titled "On Healing."

Greetings friends! This is the first of three music episodes of the Dumbo Feather podcast, a mini-series we've put together to celebrate our music issue of the magazine, which you can get over at our website dumbofeather.com or at speciality newsagents and retailers. For the next three months, we're going to spotlight some of the musicians featured in the pages of the issue and bring their stories and music to you ears. We've got two musical powerhouses for you in this episode. Indigenous opera singer, contemporary songwriter and performer Jess Hitchcock, and piano virtuoso, composer and local Fitzroy jazz player Monique diMattina. Thanks to our partners Bank Australia for helping us bring this mini-series to life. If you're looking to put your money somewhere that's having a positive impact on people and planet, then get yourself over to Bank Australia. Bankaust.com.au

Today we're sharing the recording from the launch event of our truth issue of Dumo Feather - it's a conversation between two familiar voices on the podcast – author and activist, Sarah Wilson, and publisher of Dumbo Feather Berry Liberman. We are very sorry about the poor audio quality. The event was recorded live in Sydney and streamed over Zoom, hence the sound didn't come out so great. But, the conversation is so insightful and useful for anyone grappling with the divisiveness and mistruths of this moment, we really wanted to put it out there. The event took place in March this year. Big thanks to our partners Nature Footwear for sponsoring the episode.

Hello! Today we are sharing a conversation between two extraordinary women who have both featured in the pages of our magazine, Claire Dunn and Ella Noah Bancroft. Both are passionate rewilding facilitators, leading their communities into deeper relationship with the natural world, them selves and others. Claire has just released her second book, Rewilding the Urban Soul, which we'll be hearing more about in an episode down the track. Here, she is getting us acquainted with Ella's mission. Ella is a Bundjalong woman based in the Northern Rivers who writes stories and poems, leads workshops, has a podcast, and for several years has been running the Returning, an annual event that provides a place for all women to relearn the way of their past. We love the intersections in Ella's work. As well as rewilding, she is thinking deep and wide about decolonisation, the rise of the feminine, belonging, sexuality and movement. Thanks to The Cape for sponsoring this episode!

In anticipation of our music issue of Dumbo Feather, we're sharing an oldie but a goodie with you all. It's our chat with Aussie music legend Xavier Rudd, which took place a few year's back. Xavier is a folk, blues artist and multi-instrumentalist, whose songs speak to the heart of many environmental and social issues. He's speaking here with another familiar voice, songwriter and Dumbo Feather friend, Lydia Fairhall.

In this episode we hear from Fiona Armstrong, Executive Director of the Climate and Health Alliance. These legends exist to highlight the health impacts of climate change, believing that if the health sector leads on climate advocacy, then decision-makers and the public will act, because we the community care about health and trusts health voices. Earlier this year, The Climate and Health Alliance released a fascinating study titled “Australia in 2030” which presents narrative scenarios of 5 possible futures for our country. Fiona talks about those scenarios, as well as her work in climate and health advocacy, with Dumbo Feather contributor, Myke Bartlett. Thanks to Bank Australia for sponsoring this episode.

One of the things we love at Dumbo Feather is learning about new models of success which we can implement in our communities and nations to ensure more prosperity across the board - for people and planet, not just the top one percent.  A trailblazer in this work is Kate Raworth, an economist for the University of Oxford who devised the doughnut economic model, which defines the social and environmental boundaries we must live within in order to thrive. If you haven’t come across this work already, we suggest you press pause now and familiarise yourself with the doughnut - there’s plenty about it online. And then dive into this scintillating chat with Kate, which was recorded mid-2020 as part of our Small Giants Academy Next Economy series. The conversation was facilitated by our publisher Berry Liberman.  Also, check out the work of Regen Melbourne and their localised take on Kate’s work. The Melbourne Donought is being used to chat a more regenerative future for the city. You can learn more about it at regen.melbourne. This episode was produced on the lands of the Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations - we acknowledge the traditional owners, and elders past and present.

In this conversation, we hear from one of the seminal writers in tree communication, Peter Wohlleben, who’s book “The Hidden Life of Trees” revolutionised our understanding of how trees nurture and talk to each other. The international bestseller draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to reveal the ways in which trees are like human families and communities, supporting the young ones as they grow, sharing nutrients to those who are sick or struggling, even warning each other of impending danger. The masterpiece was recently made into a documentary film, screened here in Australia by our friends at Transitions Film Festival. As part of that screening, Peter was interviewed by another friend of ours Sarah Wilson, who’s recent book “This One Wild and Precious Life” is, among many things, an ode to hiking and being in forests.

Two years ago, our publisher Berry Liberman sat down with Worimi singer-songwriter Lydia Fairhall for one of the richest and most joyful inquiries of our inner and outer landscapes. Since then, Lydia has become a mentor and friend, whose wise counsel has expanded so much of our thinking and work. The conversation featured in our commemorative 60th edition of Dumbo Feather, titled "Belonging."