The Life Itself Podcast

In this conversation, Rufus interviews Zak about his early learning journey, exploring the corruption of graduate education, the sacredness of measurement for ancient man & what kind of new wise agency is needed amidst existential risk and all pervasive information warfare.Listen above or watch the episode here:About the episode:In their second interview, Rufus explores Dr. Zak Stein's formative experiences of education, music and standardised testing. They explore the sacred and esoteric history of measurement in the pre-modern world compared with today. Zak Shares on what he learned conducting research into the all-pervasive landscape of propaganda and information warfare for the Consilience Project. They close exploring the possibility of 'a new archetype of wise agency' which, unlike previous monastic wisdom traditions, is deeply responsive and engaged with worldly agency, politics, power and strategy.This conversation supports the recent book First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come. See detailed notes on the book and our summary here.Chapters00:00 Zak's Early Education Experience 09:46 Zak's Journey Through Jazz Musicians 14:33 Ken Wilber and Developmental Psychology 17:44 The Creation of Lectica & Entering Harvard Without a GPA 24:02 What Happened to Developmental Psychology at Harvard? 28:00 The Academy Is Broken & the Frame of Institutional Decay 31:47 Government and Industry Cannibalize Graduate Education 39:29 The Problem of Metrication & Civilizational Collapse 45:35 The Magic of Measurement for Ancient Man & Measurement as a Sacred Act 58:18 Consilience Project's Findings on Psychological Warfare 1:01:00 Rufus: Culture War, Printing Press, and the Modern Age 1:03:45 Information War Erodes the Possibility of Truth 1:20:00 How Can a Second Renaissance Counter Propaganda Culture? 1:22:45 The “Long Game” of Wisdom in the Past vs. the Need for Active Engagement in the Metacrisis 1:24:12 The New Archetype of “Wise Agency”1:32:00 How Do We Use Power Wisely? About Zak SteinDr. Zachary Stein is co-founder of the Civilizational Research Institute, the Center for World Philosophy and Religion and Lectica, Inc, and is a widely sought after and award winning speaker. Zak is a leading authority on the future of education and contemporary issues in human development. He was trained at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and education, and now works in fields related to the mitigation of global catastrophic risk. Dr. Stein is the author of several books and many peer-reviewed papers, including most recently First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come, by Zak Stein, Marc Gafni and Ken Wilber writing under the name David J. Temple.About Rufus PollockRufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this podcast series Jacob Kishere interviews key speakers on themes of education, metacrisis, transformation and the possibility of a Second Renaissance. On May 2-3rd the corresponsing conference 'Education For Flourishing: In a time of Metacrisis and Second Renaissance' will be held in partnership with Life Itself at Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this first dialogue with conference co-lead and co-founder Boaz Feldman, they lead a broad and deep exploration into these questions & introduce the conference itself. More information about the conference here: https://www.sfwhgse.com/About BoazBoaz Feldman is a researcher and clinical psychologist, ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, completed over 7 years of silent meditation retreats, led numerous war-zone humanitarian missions, and presented at over 30 international conferences. At Harvard University, he is a Research Scholar (at HGSE), an Education Ambassador (at HCCRC), and the European Director for the Harvard Alumni for Education. http://boazfeldman.com/home/ About JacobJacob Kishere is a professional dialogue facilitator, the rapper, philosopher and writer behind Culturepilgrim and The Resonant Man Initiative. In 2020 he founded SENSESPACE Podcast—a dialogos journey into the heart of wisdom bringing together leading philosophers, artists and practitioners to address a collective phase shift. www.jacobkishere.comWatch the episode here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this Second Renaissance episode from Life Itself, Rufus Pollock sits down with Bonnitta Roy for part II of their conversation.Listen above or watch the episode hereAbout the EpisodeIn this episode, Bonnitta Roy delves into the challenges of large-scale collective action, the limitations of extrinsic motivation, and the importance of fostering intrinsic motivation and prosocial behavior. Drawing from her own personal experiences and work with the UN, she and Rufus examine the evolution of human cooperation, the role of identity, and the need for new strategies that emphasize inner development for transformative leadership.They also explore the four key skills taught in the Divinity School—awakened perception, visionary scholarship, crazy wisdom, and passionate action—skills that Bonnitta argues are vital for guiding free and willing participants towards positive change. Their conversation addresses the essential qualities of healthy leadership, voluntary obligation, and effectively managing difficult personalities within conscious communities.You can read more about the Divinity School here.Listen to our first interview with Bonnitta Roy here.Chapters00:01:11 Who gets to build the world we live in and the role of investors 00:07:20 Challenges of large-scale collective action and the role of intrinsic motivation00:12:55 The evolution of human prosociality and cultural factors enabling collective action00:21:35 The importance of identity, evaluative reasoning, and enforced social protocols00:37.25 Circles of trust and transcending the Self 00:53:00 The role of trust and voluntary obligation in community building 01:05:00 The need for transformative leadership and toxicity 01:10:02 The four key leadership skills of the Divinity School About Bonnitta RoyBonnitta Roy teaches insight practices for individuals who are developing meta-cognitive skills, and hosts collective insight retreats for groups interested in breaking away from limiting patterns of thought. She teaches a masters course in consciousness studies and transpersonal psychology at the Graduate Institute. Her teaching highlights the embodied, affective and perceptual aspects of the core self, and the non-egoic potentials from which subtle sensing, intuition and insight emerge. Through her company, APP-AI, Bonnitta is developing applications that can visualize changing patterns as teams work through complex problems. Her research shows how simple but powerful protocols that underlie these patterns can be used to represent various dispositional states of human systems. Bonnitta is the author of the popular Medium publication Our Future at Work. She is an associate editor of Integral Review where you can also find her articles on process approaches to consciousness, perception, and metaphysics.About Rufus PollockRufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this conversation, Zak and Rufus examine the shift that has taken place from a belief in the intrinsic value of the universe to the modernist view that denies the reality of value.Zak explains how this loss of value has contributed to the current metacrisis, impacting areas such as education, architecture, and technology. The concept of "civilizational transvaluation" and the dangers of a potential civilizational collapse during this period of profound change are also discussed. Alongside this, the potential for conscious evolution is explored, which could enable new forms of human cooperation and flourishing—provided that we establish an urgent, coherent discourse around value to address the challenges we are facing. This conversation supports the recent book First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come. See detailed notes on the book and our summary here. Chapters00:03:15 - Ideas and motivations behind First Principles and First Values00:13:12 - The shift from intrinsic to denied value00:22:00 - The cold and warm streams of modernity00:32:35 - The dangers of civilizational transvaluation00:46:45 - The importance of value in education and society00:54:58 - The denial of value in architecture01:03:26 - The transhumanist ideology and the denial of value01:30:27 - The path to conscious evolution and homo-moreAbout Zak SteinDr. Zachary Stein is co-founder of the Civilizational Research Institute, the Center for World Philosophy and Religion and Lectica, Inc, and is a widely sought after and award winning speaker. Zak is a leading authority on the future of education and contemporary issues in human development. He was trained at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and education, and now works in fields related to the mitigation of global catastrophic risk. Dr. Stein is the author of several books and many peer-reviewed papers, including most recently First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come, by Zak Stein, Marc Gafni and Ken Wilber writing under the name David J. Temple. About Rufus PollockRufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.You can also watch the episode here: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People, Rufus Pollock speaks with Kyle Kowalski, the founder of Sloww. Kyle shares his journey that led him from a high-powered marketing career to becoming a self-described "student of life" and creator of a digital platform dedicated to the art of living. In 2015 Kyle experienced a turning point that shattered his then current and conventional path and set him off on a deeper quest for meaning and purpose. Kyle candidly shares how he navigated the cognitive dissonance of staying in his unfulfilling job while simultaneously immersing himself in the world of intentional living, minimalism, and spiritual self-inquiry. Kyle's story highlights the power in questioning, learning, and trusting the unfolding of one's life journey. In this episode he shares insights into the stages of ego development, the impact of his family conditioning, and the joyful yet challenging process of transcending one's socialized identity. Chapters 00:03:39 The Existential Crisis Catalyst 00:10:22 Embracing Intentional Living 00:18:04 The Path to Entrepreneurship 00:27:15 Reconnecting with Life through Self-Inquiry 00:37:42 Ego Development and Spiritual Evolution 00:44:00 Trust the Extraordinary Unfolding About Kyle Kyle Kowalski is the founder of (and human behind) Sloww. He's an ex-marketing executive turned self-education entrepreneur after an existential crisis. In one sentence, his purpose is synthesizing lifelong learning that catalyzes deeper development. But, he's not a professor, philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, scientist, mystic, or guru. He's an interconnector across all those humans and many more—an “independent, inquiring, interdisciplinary integrator” (in other words, it's just him, asking questions, crossing disciplines, and making connections). To keep it simple, you can just call him a “synthesizer,” and Sloww is his synthesis on the art of living for students of life. Over the last decade, Kyle has deeply explored lifelong learning, human development, intentional living, life purpose, mental mastery, and spiritual growth. He shares all his learning and living with 10,000+ email subscribers and 50,000+ social followers.About Rufus Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. Ordinary People is a podcast series as part of The Life Itself Podcast that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode from the Ordinary People series, Rufus Pollock sits down with Bonnitta Roy to explore her extraordinary life journey, from her early days in a Connecticut factory town to her groundbreaking work in neuroscience, philosophy, and spiritual practice. Bonnitta recounts her adventurous childhood, her academic achievements, and the profound moments of introspection that shaped her worldview. As she navigates her college years and early career, Bonnitta shares the transformative experiences that led her to leave a promising scientific career and dive into the world of philosophy and art in San Francisco.Bonnitta also delves into her spiritual awakening, recounting intense experiences that deepened her understanding of herself and the world around her. Her story includes a powerful psychological split that allowed her to see the world in a new light, ultimately leading her to innovative approaches in horse training and teaching. Throughout the conversation, Bonnitta emphasizes the importance of living a balanced life, grounded in reality while embracing deep spiritual insights.About Bonnitta RoyBonnitta Roy teaches insight practices for individuals who are developing meta-cognitive skills, and hosts collective insight retreats for groups interested in breaking away from limiting patterns of thought. She teaches a masters course in consciousness studies and transpersonal psychology at the Graduate Institute. Her teaching highlights the embodied, affective and perceptual aspects of the core self, and the non-egoic potentials from which subtle sensing, intuition and insight emerge. Through her company, APP-AI, Bonnitta is developing applications that can visualize changing patterns as teams work through complex problems. Her research shows how simple but powerful protocols that underlie these patterns can be used to represent various dispositional states of human systems. Bonnitta is the author of the popular Medium publication Our Future at Work. She is an associate editor of Integral Review where you can also find her articles on process approaches to consciousness, perception, and metaphysics.About Rufus PollockRufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey.Chapters5:07 Childhood experiences & self-awareness12:23 College culture, social games, & personal growth25:47 Power dynamics & inauthenticity in a college setting32:31 LSD use & academic career choices39:35 San Francisco & New York in the late 80s & early 90s46:09 Personal experiences with poverty & homelessness1:02:20 Spiritual experiences, limitations of the self, & the perception of beauty1:14:00 Using Qigong & horse training to understand fundamental nature of reality1:30:15 Cultivating inner capacities & awakened perception This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People host Sylvie Barbier speaks with Rainer von Leoprechting, an inspiring figure who transitioned from a structured career in the European Commission to a fulfilling life as an independent consultant working internationally from his small farm place in  Austria.Rainer shares his journey from studying Economics and Business Administration in Germany to embracing a critical view of economic systems. After joining the European Commission in 1994, he eventually left to co-found initiatives like the Frændi Partnership and the Obenaus community in Austria, focusing on innovative leadership and long-term strategic thinking. Rainer reflects on the systemic challenges of his generation, the importance of fostering new approaches for younger generations, and the transformative power of leaving behind the "golden cage" of conventional success. He emphasizes the value of community, creativity, and proactive change in leadership roles.This episode is a testament to how stepping away from comfort zones can lead to a richer, more authentic life. Join us for a compelling conversation that delves into the heart of personal and societal transformation, highlighting the potential within each of us to impact the world positively.#community #economicsystems #transform #leadership #podcast #ordinarypeopleAbout Rainer von LeoprechtingRainer von Leoprechting is a German entrepreneur and philanthropist. He works as an independent consultant and is co-founder of the Fraendi partnership.About Sylvie BarbierSylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey.Chapters00:02:25: The 2035 Process: Preparing for the Future00:07:54: Founding the Frændi Partnership00:12:33: Inspiration from Jean Monnet00:19:49: Rainer's Formative Years00:22:39: Family Background and Education00:27:10: Transition to Independent Consultancy00:34:20: The Role of Community in Leadership This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People host Sylvie Barbier sits down with Natalia Lombardo, a multifaceted community developer and psychedelic guide. Natalia shares her journey from her roots in Argentina to her current endeavors in Europe, where she engages in community development, permaculture, and creative activism. She opens up about her personal healing journey following a severe brain injury and how this led her to explore and integrate psychedelics into her therapeutic practices. Natalia's story is one of transformation, resilience, and the continuous pursuit of innovative ways to foster collaboration and personal growth. #permaculture #collaborative #psychedelics #collective #activism #ordinarypeople #podcast About Natalia Lombardo Nati helps groups to cultivate a collaborative culture through values-driven behavioral change. Her focus is the self in "self-organising": the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours each of us brings into any collective endeavour. Co-founder and Collaboration Coach at The Hum . Co-owner of Loomio and member of Enspiral. About Sylvie Barbier Sylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey. Chapters 00:02:09: Current Projects and Passions 00:03:23: Nati's Childhood Journey from Argentina to Europe 00:15:51: Discovering Permaculture and Community Living in Argentina 00:21:43: Intergenerational Communication in Communities 00:29:37: Unlearning Societal Norms and Exploring New Models 00:36:14: Healing with Psychedelics 00:42:34: Embracing a New Identity Post-Trauma 00:45:33: Discovering New Energies and Capabilities This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People Walking Extra-Ordinary Path, Life Itself Co-Founder Sylvie Barbier is joined by Liam Kavanagh. Liam reflects on his transition from observing environmental changes to spearheading initiatives like the Climate Majority Project. From his childhood curiosity and nourished creativity to his adult inquiries into the nature of thought and emotion, Liam shares how an openness to people from all walks of life, a thirst for understanding truth, and a dedicated meditation practice have shaped his unconventional journey. His story invites us to question societal norms and embark on our own journey of spiritual inquiry in service of an awakening society. #ordinarypeople #climatechange #meditation #buddism #curiosity #adhd #secondrenaissance About Liam Kavanagh Liam Kavanagh is co-founder of Life Itself and Director of the Climate Majority Project. About Sylvie Barbier Sylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey. Chapters0:00 - Liam's path from economist to climate activist 03:12 - Growing up, family values and curiosity 10:06 - Creativity, ADHD, and family support 14:47 - Living in a squat, visiting Compton, and encountering gang violence 25:45 - Buddhism and the book that opened my mind 35:40 - Economics, neuroscience, and understanding the emotional holes of economic ideas 42:35 - Meditation and practice 53:15 - Questioning societal norms and the thirst for enquiry This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People Sylvie Barbier speaks with Elizabeth Debold in a thought-provoking dialogue exploring the intersections of gender, identity, and culture. Elizabeth shares her journey of questioning societal norms around gender roles and relationships, stemming from witnessing the destructive dynamic between her parents. She talks about her early spiritual experience that opened her up to a sense of unity, and her involvement in feminist activism and spiritual communities. The conversation explores themes of community, interbeing, postmodernism, and the tensions between different generations.#societalchange #genderidentity #growth #resilience #feminine #masculine #ordinarypeople #secondrenaissance #developmentalpsychology About Elizabeth Debold Elizabeth Debold is a developmental psychologist, gender futurist and author of the bestselling Mother Daughter Revolution. She has spent the past four decades working as an activist, researcher, journalist, spiritual explorer, and transformative educator in relation to gender and cultural evolution. About Sylvie BarbierSylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community.Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey.Chapters0:00 - Gender identity, spirituality, and creating sacred spaces for connection05:32 - Personal growth through writing and identity formation11:26 - Gender roles, expectations, and family betrayal19:38 - Gender roles and cultural divisions25:17 - Gender roles, femininity, and community life34:34 - Women's empowerment and interpersonal relationships41:40 - Family dynamics, and sibling relationships48:00 - Generational differences and the challenges of growing up in a postmodern society This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People Rufus Pollock talks with Daniel Thorson. Daniel shares his unique journeys of finding faith, meaning, and personal growth through unexpected avenues of meditation, living at a Goenka center, and participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement. They delve into the critical roles of trust, courage, and support in navigating life's uncertainties and explore the intersection of Buddhism and technology, pondering the potential for online spaces to foster contemplative practices, and sustaining personal and societal transformation through commitment and deep inquiry.#monastic #emerge #buddhism #friendship #inquiry #technology #socialtransformation #courage #faith #meditationAbout Daniel ThorsonDaniel Thorson is a writer, a Monastic at Monastic Academy and the creator and host of the podcast Emerge – Making Sense of What's Next, where he explores meaning, responsibility, and human development in the age of automation and climate collapse, and the relationship between inner and outer transformation. About Rufus PollockRufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey.Chapters00:05 Personal growth, meditation, and systems change with a focus on alienation and finding meaning in life06:48 Occupy Wall Street movement, Buddhist geeks, and hope, and power18:02 Creating a modern monastery to address planetary crisis27:18 Personal growth, breakthroughs, and the importance of faith and support39:41 The importance of friendship in personal growth and spiritual development47:19 Creating intentional communities for personal growth and service59:07 How to help people stay in a community and work through conflicts1:05:02 Commitment and transformation through structured programs1:10:53 desires through inquiry, letting go of preferences and avoiding manipulation.1:20:59 The nature of truth and goodness in a secular humanist society and its relationship to religion, culture, and personal transformation1:31:27 Truth, meaning, and values in post-conventional society This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People Sylvie Barbier speaks with Valerie Duvauchelle on the transformative power of Zen and embodied practices. Valerie explains her personal journey as she navigates the complexities of cultural and generational trauma, exploring the profound impact Zen Buddhism had on her connection with self, others, and nature.#ordinarypeople #zen #wisdom #meditation #wiserworld #tenzo #bergeracpraxishub #consciouscollectives This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit news.lifeitself.org

In this episode of Ordinary People walking an extra-ordinary path podcast, Life Itself co-founder Sylvie Barbier is joined by Dr Simon Longstaff. Dr Simon Longstaff is the Executive Director of The Ethics Centre, co-founder of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and has been named one of the True Leaders of the 21st century by Australian Financial Review BOSS magazine. He shares with us his journey into ethics, from the choice of his mother between the life of her child and her own, his path of working as a cleaner, to studying the law, to the influence the aboriginal people had on his life to his work of strengthening Australia's ethical infrastructure. Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey. Sylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. The Once Upon a Time podcast series, shatters the myth that extraordinary lives are reserved for a select few. Join us as we dive deep into the lives of seemingly ordinary people who are walking extra-ordinary paths, uncovering their motivations, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extraordinary journey. If you found this conversation insightful please give it a like and consider subscribing to our channel. By doing so you will be helping us bring this necessary knowledge to a bigger audience. www.lifeitself.org

In this episode of the Ordinary Poeple walking an extra-ordinary pathPodcast, Life Itself Co-Founder Sylvie Barbier is joined by Jamie Bristow a leading expert on inner development and contemplative practices in public life. Ordinary People is a podcast series that delves into the lives of individuals who have defied societal expectations and embarked on extra-ordinary paths despite their seemingly ordinary backgrounds. Join us as we dive deep into their lives, uncovering their motivations, beliefs, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extra-ordinary journey. Jamie talks about his journey from his troubling teenage years to teaching mindfulness to politicians. Jamie Bristow opens up about his troubling teenage years led by the dislocation and adaption of new cultures while their family moved between the UK and the USA. Exploring what led him to move away from his advertising career to being a mindfulness practitioner and teacher. Jamie's life story highlights the importance of meditation, faith, and resilience in leading a mindful life.  About Jamie Bristow (2023) Jamie Bristow is a leading expert on inner development and contemplative practices in public life. For eight years, he was Director of the Mindfulness Initiative and clerk to the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness. In 2023, he joined the Inner Development Goals team to lead on public narrative & policy development. Jamie was formerly Business Development Director for Headspace and has a background in psychology, climate change campaign communications and advertising. A teacher of insight meditation, his mentors have included Rob Burbea, Stephen Batchelor and Christina Feldman.  Learn more about Jamie Bristow and his work here: https://www.jamiebristow.com/ About Sylvie Barbier Sylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. The Once Upon a Time podcast series, shatters the myth that extraordinary lives are reserved for a select few. Join us as we dive deep into the lives of seemingly ordinary people who are walking extra-ordinary paths, uncovering their motivations, practices, and moments of transformation. We demystify hero worship and share accessible narratives of real individuals who have transcended societal expectations and norms. Each guest delicately navigates the balance between introspection and worldly engagement. Listeners are offered empowerment, kinship and inspiration for embarking on their own extraordinary journey. If you found this conversation insightful please give it a like and consider subscribing to our channel. By doing so you will be helping us bring this necessary knowledge to a bigger audience. www.lifeitself.org

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock sits down with Professor Joseph Henrich to continue the discussion on the study of cultural evolution. In this second part of the conversation continuing from episode 3, Rufus Pollock and Joe Henrich discuss the implications of cultural evolution in relation to modern challenges. They explore the potential for intentional experimentation in creating cultural norms that promote trust, cooperation, group cohesion and a sense of community and belonging.  Rufus and Joe touch upon the idea that Western societies might be running on old values and norms cultivated by historical religious practices. They discuss the need to find ways to renew and revitalize these values, potentially by experimenting with intentional communities that incorporate elements of shared meaning, trust-building, ritual and cooperation. The talk moves on to discuss the idea that by allowing a variety of intentional communities to form and observing which ones thrive, societies could potentially find ways to address current challenges and promote positive cultural evolution. This conversation forms part of the Cultural Evolution: A New Discipline is Born Series. You can learn more here https://lifeitself.org/learn/culturology Joseph Henrich is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is author of several books, most recently 'The Weirdest People in the World' and 'The Secret of Our Success'. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to cultural learning, cultural evolution, culture-gene coevolution, human sociality, prestige, leadership, large-scale cooperation, religion and the emergence of complex human institutions. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: ⁠⁠rufuspollock.com⁠⁠.

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock sits down with Professor Joseph Henrich to continue the discussion on the study of cultural evolution. In this episode the significance of family structures and the church takes center stage in their role towards shaping human societies. Joseph explains that different kinship networks influence behaviors, trust, and cooperation within societies and how the Catholic Church played an unintentionally role in shaping Western societies by implementing rules against cousin marriage and polygyny. These rules inadvertently fostered individualism, trust in non-kin relationships, and analytic thinking. These cultural shifts and networks of horizontal connections led to the development of "WEIRD" psychology – Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic, a topic discussed in Henrich's latest book. These cultural transformations resulted in the development of different psychological traits that help to explain the remarkable economic success, innovations, and current challenges faced by Western societies. This conversation forms part of the Cultural Evolution: A New Discipline is Born Series. You can learn more here: https://lifeitself.org/learn/culturology Joseph Henrich is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is author of several books, most recently 'The Weirdest People in the World' and 'The Secret of Our Success'. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to cultural learning, cultural evolution, culture-gene coevolution, human sociality, prestige, leadership, large-scale cooperation, religion and the emergence of complex human institutions. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: ⁠⁠rufuspollock.com⁠⁠.

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock sits down with Professor Joseph Henrich to continue the discussion on the study of cultural evolution. In this episode they discuss the innate human inclination to develop and learn from culture and to transmit this knowledge across generations. This conversation emphasizes that our success as a species is attributed not only to individual intelligence but also our capacity to expand upon ancestral wisdom. Join us in the conversation as Joseph shares insights around the pivotal role culture and social bonds have in the development and continuation of vital skills and ideas. Wider factors such as group dynamics, environments, and competition are further discussed along with the impact of cognitive processes on cultural transformation. This conversation forms part of the Cultural Evolution: A New Discipline is Born Series. You can learn more here: https://lifeitself.org/learn/culturology Joseph Henrich is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is author of several books, most recently 'The Weirdest People in the World' and 'The Secret of Our Success'. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to cultural learning, cultural evolution, culture-gene coevolution, human sociality, prestige, leadership, large-scale cooperation, religion and the emergence of complex human institutions. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: ⁠rufuspollock.com⁠.

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock is joined by Dr Jeffery Martin. Jeffery is a founder of the Transformative Technology space, a serial entrepreneur, and a social scientist who researches personal transformation and the states of greatest human well-being. In this episode, Jeffery discusses Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience, more commonly referred to as Fundamental well-being. He discusses his research and key findings, and the protocols he has developed and tested to help people obtain "fundamental well-being" in a rapid, secular, and safe way. For notes, further resources, and to listen as a podcast, head to our website: About Dr Jeffery Martin For over 15 years Jeffery has conducted the largest international study on persistent non-symbolic experience (PNSE), which includes the types of consciousness commonly known as enlightenment, nonduality, the peace that passeth understanding, unitive experience, and hundreds of other terms. This resulted in the first reliable, cross-cultural and pan-tradition classification system for these types of experiences. It also led to the fundamental discovery that these were psychological states that had been identified and adopted for thousands of years by many cultures and belief systems. They were not inherently spiritual or religious, or limited to any given culture or population, and could be moulded in many ways to shape the experience. More recently, he has used this research to make systems available to help people obtain profound psychological benefits in a rapid, secular, reliable, and safe way. About Rufus Pollock Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist, author, and long-term Zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge and a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. If you found this video insightful please give it a like and consider subscribing to our channel. By doing so you will be helping us bring this necessary knowledge to a bigger audience. www.lifeitself.org

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock is joined by Dr Jeffery Martin. Jeffery is a founder of the Transformative Technology space, a serial entrepreneur, and a social scientist who researches personal transformation and the states of greatest human well-being. In this episode, Jeffery discusses Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience, more commonly referred to as Fundamental well-being. He discusses his research and key findings, and the protocols he has developed and tested to help people obtain "fundamental well-being" in a rapid, secular, and safe way. For notes, further resources, and to listen as a podcast, head to our website: About Dr Jeffery Martin For over 15 years Jeffery has conducted the largest international study on persistent non-symbolic experience (PNSE), which includes the types of consciousness commonly known as enlightenment, nonduality, the peace that passeth understanding, unitive experience, and hundreds of other terms. This resulted in the first reliable, cross-cultural and pan-tradition classification system for these types of experiences. It also led to the fundamental discovery that these were psychological states that had been identified and adopted for thousands of years by many cultures and belief systems. They were not inherently spiritual or religious, or limited to any given culture or population, and could be moulded in many ways to shape the experience. More recently, he has used this research to make systems available to help people obtain profound psychological benefits in a rapid, secular, reliable, and safe way. About Rufus Pollock Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist, author, and long-term Zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge and a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. If you found this video insightful please give it a like and consider subscribing to our channel. By doing so you will be helping us bring this necessary knowledge to a bigger audience. www.lifeitself.org

In this episode, Rufus Pollock sits down with Esther Montmany for part 3 in their mini-series on Conscious Parenting. Esther Montmany has spent more than 20 years developing a unique approach to conscious parenting and education. She has worked with Mauricio and Rebecca Wild at their legendary school in Ecuador and led the children's program at Plum Village summer retreats as well as starting several initiatives of her own. In this episode, Esther and Rufus explore the question, what are basic needs? About Esther Esther Montmany is an inspiration to all who have ever felt that perhaps society could work differently. She has lived in a wide range of intentional communities, from Scotland to India to Ecuador. Her deep interest in education as a process of inner growth, in harmony with others and with nature, means she has devoted her life to understanding human wellbeing and development. Having used her knowledge to educate her own children, she now creates gatherings to help families give to their own children the chance to grow with confidence and develop their potential. Over the past five years she has worked closely with the Plum Village Community, participating actively in the children's program at the summer retreat for families. About Rufus Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.

In this episode, Rufus Pollock sits down with Esther Montmany for part 2 in their mini-series on Conscious Parenting. Esther Montmany has spent more than 20 years developing a unique approach to conscious parenting and education. She has worked with Mauricio and Rebecca Wild at their legendary school in Ecuador and led the children's program at Plum Village summer retreats as well as starting several initiatives of her own. In this episode, Esther shares with us how to set up a positive environment for a child, drawing on real life examples. About Esther Esther Montmany is an inspiration to all who have ever felt that perhaps society could work differently. She has lived in a wide range of intentional communities, from Scotland to India to Ecuador. Her deep interest in education as a process of inner growth, in harmony with others and with nature, means she has devoted her life to understanding human wellbeing and development. Having used her knowledge to educate her own children, she now creates gatherings to help families give to their own children the chance to grow with confidence and develop their potential. Over the past five years she has worked closely with the Plum Village Community, participating actively in the children's program at the summer retreat for families. About Rufus Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.

In this episode, Rufus Pollock sits down with Esther Montmany who has spent more than 20 years developing a unique approach to conscious parenting and education. Esther has worked with Mauricio and Rebecca Wild at their legendary school in Ecuador and led the children's program at Plum Village summer retreats as well as starting several initiatives of her own. In this episode, Esther shares with us how she became interested in developing a conscious style of parenting, her journey in developing Conscious Parenting, and offers insight into what Conscious Parenting looks like in practice. About Esther Esther Montmany is an inspiration to all who have ever felt that perhaps society could work differently. She has lived in a wide range of intentional communities, from Scotland to India to Ecuador. Her deep interest in education as a process of inner growth, in harmony with others and with nature, means she has devoted her life to understanding human wellbeing and development. Having used her knowledge to educate her own children, she now creates gatherings to help families give to their own children the chance to grow with confidence and develop their potential. Over the past five years she has worked closely with the Plum Village Community, participating actively in the children's program at the summer retreat for families. About Rufus Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.

Rufus Pollock is joined by Dr Jeffery Martin. Jeffery is a founder of the Transformative Technology space, a serial entrepreneur, and a social scientist who researches personal transformation and the states of greatest human well-being. In this episode, Jeffery discusses Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience, more commonly referred to as Fundamental Wellbeing. He discusses his research and key findings, and the protocols he has developed and tested to help people obtain "fundamental wellbeing" in a rapid, secular, and safe way. For notes, further resources, and to listen as a podcast, head to our website: About Dr Jeffery Martin: For over 15 years Jeffery has conducted the largest international study on persistent non-symbolic experience (PNSE), which includes the types of consciousness commonly known as: enlightenment, nonduality, the peace that passeth understanding, unitive experience, and hundreds of other terms. This resulted in the first reliable, cross-cultural and pan-tradition classification system for these types experience. It also led to the fundamental discovery that these were psychological states that had been identified and adopted for thousands of years by many cultures and belief systems. They were not inherently spiritual or religious, or limited to any given culture or population, and could be molded in many ways to shape the experience. More recently, he has used this research to make systems available to help people obtain profound psychological benefits in a rapid, secular, reliable, and safe way. Find out more about his work on his website: drjefferymartin.com About Rufus Pollock: Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.

In this episode, Rufus Pollock sits down with philosopher, practitioner, and spiritual mentor, Dr. Thomas Steininger. Dr Steininger offers insights and reflections from over 30 years of spiritual practice and cultivation of emergent, co-conscious "We" spaces and practices. Rufus and Thomas explore emergent dialogue, the victories and shadow sides of individuation, and the integral and metamodern movements. Watch on YouTube and view the episode transcript here: https://lifeitself.org/2022/12/08/thomas-steininger-on-emergent-dialogue-and-transcending-individualism/ Dr. Thomas Steininger has been cultivating transformative “We Space” practices for nearly 30 years. He is a philosopher, practitioner, and spiritual mentor and has dived deeply into the practice of meditation and into an exploration of the evolution of human consciousness, particularly the current transition from a hyperindividual “I” culture to a co-conscious “We.” As an authority on cultural evolution and the different spiritual and religious currents that have formed our postmodern world, he brings this perspective into his work as publisher of evolve-magazin, the leading German magazine on consciousness and culture and as faculty at Meridian U. in California. He also co-founded and developed a process of emergent dialogue, an advanced practice in conscious communication. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com.

Rufus Pollock sits down with Professor Joseph Henrich to discuss the study of cultural evolution. Joe gives an insight into how the discipline has emerged and the interdisciplinary nature of the field. He discusses some examples of areas of interest within the field, such as understanding innovation and institutional evolution, scaling and cooperation. Rufus and Joe finish with a brief consideration of where on the "cultural evolutionary tree" we are today, laying the ground for a potential future follow up. Joseph Henrich is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is author of several books, most recently 'The Weirdest People in the World' and 'The Secret of Our Success'. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to cultural learning, cultural evolution, culture-gene coevolution, human sociality, prestige, leadership, large-scale cooperation, religion and the emergence of complex human institutions. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations.

On November 11th 2022, crypto giant FTX collapsed into bankruptcy. In this episode, Stephen Diehl and Rufus Pollock explore what happened, what went wrong, and what we can learn. They look back on the past 6 months in the crypto industry, examining other prominent crashes, namely Terra Luna, Celsius and Voyager, and Three Arrows Capital, and their contagion effects. Stephen and Rufus then look at what remains of the crypto industry. What's next to fall? Find the episode notes here: https://web3.lifeitself.org/notes/post-ftx-collapse Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 expert. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in several podcasts on the topic.

Over the past few months we have been sharing episodes centered around the theme of 'social transformation'. In this final episode of the mini-series, co-hosts Eilidh Ross, Theo Cox and Nathen Fitchen reflect on the series, sharing why we embarked on this project, stand out moments, and key takeaways. We will be continuing with our exploration of this emerging ecosystem of radical change makers in the near future, so make sure to sign up to our mailing list to be kept up to date with new episodes, event announcements and more: https://lifeitself.org/contact/

In April 2022, Life Itself co-founder, Rufus Pollock, was invited by the New School at Commonweal onto their podcast to discuss his recent work mapping an emerging “metamodern” ecosystem centered on a radical, alternative approach to social change–one that is simultaneously paradigmatic, integrated, and engaged. Thank you to Commonweal for allowing us to share the conversation, and to Michael Lerner for hosting the conversation. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He wants his child (and all children) to live in a world of love, abundance and wisdom. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age and has been translated into multiple languages. His next book, Wiser Societies, is about the cultural dark matter that enables societies be wiser (and weller). Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: rufuspollock.com. Michael Lerner is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, Healing Circles, Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press).

This week in our Exploring Social Transformation series, we are sharing a conversation we had back in September 2021 with acclaimed author of 'The Patterning Instinct' and 'The Web of Meaning', Jeremy Lent. This conversation was originally published as part of the Imaginary Society Forum, a forum curated by Life Itself in association with Untitled for the exercising of social imagination through practice and theory. In this episode, Jeremy and Rufus dig into the myth of man's innate selfishness, how shifts in cultural consciousness have historically come about, what's coming next, and why we have reason to feel hopeful. To view the episode notes and learn more about the Imaginary Society Forum head over to: https://lifeitself.us/2022/08/09/jeremy-lent-on-interconnection-shifting-worldviews/

Welcome to another episode of our Making Sense of #Crypto & #Web3 series. This week, Rufus Pollock and Theo Cox sit down with co-founders of Hypha DAO Alex Prate, Joachim Stroh, and Franz Joseph Allmayer to discuss how DAOs are aiming to revolutionize systems of governance and whether blockchain technology is indeed necessary to this effort. Explore our guide to crypto and web3 here: https://web3.lifeitself.us/

In episode 6 of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Theo Cox is joined by author, professor, former director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and former Head of Policy at Downing Street, Geoff Mulgan. In this episode Geoff and Theo explore why social and political imagination is important, why there is a deficit in social imagination in today's society, and what we can do about this. Geoff Mulgan is Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London. He's the former chief executive of Nesta, and within the UK government has acted both as the director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and Head of Policy at Downing Street. Geoff has also founded and co-founded a large number of organizations, from the think-tank Demos to the charity Action for Happiness. His latest book, 'Another world is possible: how to reignite social and political imagination', has just been released.

In the latest episode of our Making Sense of Crypto & Web3 series, we talk with blockchain researcher and expert Samer Hassan. Samer is an academic at Harvard and Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain focused on decentralized collaboration. In this episode we talk about decentralization both pre and post blockchain, why platform monopolies like Facebook and Google are so ubiquitous and whether Web3 could help replace them with something fairer, freer and more participatory. Learn more about our Making Sense of Crypto & Web3 project here: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Samer Hassan is an activist, researcher and teacher, Faculty Associate at Harvard University‘s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and Associate Professor (“Profesor Titular“) at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain. His focus is on decentralized collaboration and how to build free/open source privacy-aware decentralized systems (e.g. blockchain) that facilitate the sustainability of collaborative communities and social movements (from the Commons paradigm). He was awarded the EU's largest individual research grant, an ERC Grant of 1.5M€, to work on Blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) for bootstrapping a new type of Collaborative Economy. You can find out more at http://p2pmodels.eu

In episode 5 of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Theo Cox is joined by Hannah Close, a writer and photographer and curator for Advaya. Hannah engages in an insightful conversation on kinship, her experience of the social change ecosystem, in particular being a woman within this space, animism and Schumacher College. Learn more: https://hannahlclose.com/ https://advaya.co/ https://campus.dartington.org/schumacher-college/

Regenerative Finance (ReFi) is about combining web3 finance tools with regenerative purposes like tackling climate change or cleaning up the oceans. In this episode of our Making Sense of #Crypto and #Web3 series, Rufus Pollock and Jeff Emmett discuss the promises and pitfalls of ReFi for providing public goods and nourishing the commons. Find out more about the project here: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Find the notes for this episode here: https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/jeff-emmett-on-regenerative-finance Jeff Emmett is a Token Engineering researcher and Communications Lead at BlockScience, and co-founder of the Commons Stack. Drawing inspiration from mycelial networks and biomimetic processes, his goal is a toolkit for customizable regenerative economies that support purpose-driven communities. Author of Rewriting the Story of Human Collaboration and Challenges & Approaches to Scaling the Global Commons.

In episode 13 of our Making Sense of #Crypto & #Web3 series, Life Itself's Rufus Pollock sits down with Stephen Reid to discuss worker cooperatives, DAOs and the potential of blockchain technology to facilitate institutional innovation. Stephen Reid is a teacher, technologist and coach devoted to the flourishing of Life on Earth. He has trained in the fields of complexity science, physics, software development, transformational coaching, meditation and plant medicine. He is currently teacher of the How to DAO, Tools for the Regenerative Renaissance, The Promise of Decentralisation and Introduction to web3 courses, and a member of the not-for-profit worker co-operative Dandelion Collective. Find out more about the Making Sense of Crypto & Web3 project: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Learn more about Stephen: https://stephenreid.net/

In this fourth episode of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Nathen Fitchen and Brendan Graham Dempsey discuss the rise of the meaning crisis, how it has perpetuated throughout the world and its symbiotic nature to the environmental crisis and other crises we face today. In addition, they unpack a potential antidote to the meaning crisis, metamodern spirituality. Through identifying the core characteristics of metamodern thinking and how one might engage in metamodern spirituality, this conversation is a perfect place to orient oneself with the metamodern ideology and to be inspired to find greater meaning individually and as a collective. Brendan Graham Dempsey is the author of several books, his work focusing on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He also hosts a podcast called metamodern spirituality, is a public speaker, course facilitator and has released a series of insightful videos titled after postmodernism. Learn more: Brendans website - https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/ Metamodern spirituality podcast - https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/metamodern-spirituality Facebook group - metamodern spirituality - https://web.facebook.com/groups/492060442032036 Book - Building the Cathedral https://www.amazon.com/Building-Cathedral-Answering-Meaning-Personal/dp/B0915PKWBY/ Our residency page - https://lifeitself.us/upcoming-residencies-gatherings/

In the third episode of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Eilidh Ross sits down with Life Itself Pioneer, Valérie Duvauchelle. Valérie discusses the value collective practice brings to a community and tells us what we can expect from the upcoming Open Residency at the Life Itself Bergerac hub. Valérie also offers some insight into individual activation and its central position in social transformation. To learn more about the upcoming Open Residency and to apply head over to https://lifeitself.us/open-residency/

In the second episode of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Theo Cox sits down with visionary cultural catalyst, Karl Steyaert. Karl explains what it is to be a 'Champion of Human Wholeness', why inner transformation is central to wider societal transformation, and tells us about the series of residencies he will be facilitating in the Life Itself Bergerac Hub from September-November 2022. To learn more about the upcoming Embodying Collective Transformation Community Residencies and to apply, head over to https://lifeitself.us/embodying-collective-transformation/ Karl Steyaert has over 25 years experience facilitating personal and collective transformation across North America, Europe and Asia. His clients range from non-profits, intentional communities and ecovillages, to universities, governments and Silicon Valley tech companies. In 2013, Karl founded the Cultural Catalyst Network – a global community of changemakers integrating inner, interpersonal, and systemic transformation. More on Karl at www.karlsteyaert.com

We are excited to be broadening the scope of the Life Itself podcast to encompass the full spectrum of work Life Itself is involved with. In this episode, Life Itself team members Theo Cox and Eilidh Ross introduce this new era, discussing how our web3 project fits in with the wider social transformation work Life Itself engages with. Theo also introduces the newest branch of Life Itself, Life Itself Labs, discussing what Labs has already been up to and his aspirations for the future of the project. To learn more about Life Itself Labs visit https://labs.lifeitself.us/

In a previous episode, Collective Action Problems & Climate Change, Steven Diehl and Rufus Pollock discussed the utility of web3 in tackling collective action problems and climate change, using KlimaDAO as a case study. In a follow up to this conversation, Rufus and Theo from Life Itself Labs sat down with Marcus Aurelius and 0xy moron, two core members of KlimaDAO, to discuss the KlimaDAO model, its inspirations and its aims. This is part 1 of a two-part sit down with Klima. Keep your eyes peeled for part 2! For more information on this episode and to learn more about our Making Sense of Crypto and Web3 project visit https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/in-conversation-with-klimadao-part-one KlimaDAO is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on increasing the cost of carbon emissions to disrupt the carbon markets. By accelerating the price growth of carbon assets, KlimaDAO strives to motivate companies to reduce their emissions. Learn more about KlimaDAO at www.klimadao.finance

Episode #7 of our ongoing deep dive into #crypto and #web3 with Rufus Pollock and Stephen Diehl. This week we're exploring the thesis that Bitcoin (and crypto more generally) is an anti-authoritarian force and can help undermine tyranny. To view notes, references and key concepts from this episode, visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/bitcoin-as-anti-authoritarian To learn more about our Making Sense of Crypto & Web3 series visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 expert. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in several podcasts on the topic. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

In this episode of our Making Sense of #Crypto and #Web3 series, Stephen Diehl is joined by economist and data scientist, Matthew Ranger, in a discussion on crypto assets from a macroeconomics perspective. You can learn more about Matthew and his work here: https://www.singlelunch.com/ To learn more about our Making Sense of Web3 series visit https://web3.lifeitself.us/

In this episode of our Making Sense of #Crypto and #Web3 series, Rufus Pollock is joined by activist, journalist and author Cory Doctorow. Cory outlines the problems he sees within the web3 space; economic, technological, and ethical. You can learn more about Cory and his work here: https://pluralistic.net/ https://doctorow.medium.com/ To learn more about our Making Sense of Web3 series visit https://web3.lifeitself.us/

In this episode of our Making Sense of Web3 series, Rufus Pollock speaks with Pia Mancini on Open Collective, steward ownership and exit to community. Pia Mancini is a democracy activist, open source sustainer, co-founder & CEO at Open Collective and Chair of Democracy Earth Foundation. You can learn more about Pia and her work here: https://www.piamancini.com/ https://opencollective.com/ https://democracy.earth/ To learn more about our Web3: Possibilities & Challenges series visit https://web3.lifeitself.us/

In episode #6 of our series of deep dives into #crypto and #web3, Rufus Pollock and Stephen Diehl explore the interaction of climate change and public goods problems. They focus on KlimaDAO as an example of an attempted solution to solve a public goods problem within the climate space using a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. To view the notes from this episode as well as references and key concepts, visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/collective-action-problems-and-climate-change To learn more about our Web3: Possibilities & Challenges series visit https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 expert. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in several podcasts on the topic. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

Episode #5 in our ongoing deep dive into #web3 and #crypto. This week, Rufus Pollock and Stephen Diehl explore the claim that blockchain can be a vehicle for increase in financialization through the development of more complex, blockchain based financial products. To view the notes from this episode as well as references and key concepts, visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/fintech-incrementalism-and-responsible-innovation To learn more about our Making Sense of Crypto and Web3 project visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 expert. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in several podcasts on the topic. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

Episode #4 in our ongoing deep dive into #web3 and #crypto. This week, Rufus Pollock and Stephen Diehl explore a more utopian aspiration of crypto and web3: a transition from the existing US-led international order to a world in which blockchain technology and technocracy are the new foundations for global human governance. To view the notes from this episode as well as references and key concepts, visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/notes/post-state-technocracy To learn more about our Making Sense of Crypto and Web3 project visit: https://web3.lifeitself.us/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 expert. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in major news outlets and podcasts. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

Episode #3 in our ongoing deep dive into #web3 and #crypto. Rufus Pollock and Stephen Diehl discuss financial products known as securities, their relationship to crypto tokens and the regulatory framework that exists around these structures. To learn more about our Web3: Possibilities & Challenges series visit https://lifeitself.us/web3/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 export. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in major news outlets and podcasts. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

Episode #2 with Stephen Diehl in our ongoing deep dive into #web3 and #crypto. We discuss the view that crypto are just risky assets and that unfettered and unregulated financial markets are desirable ("Free markets are good and the less regulation the more free ..."). To learn more about our Web3: Possibilities & Challenges series visit https://lifeitself.us/web3/ Stephen Diehl is a software engineer, writer and Web3 export. He has written many articles about the topic on his blog at stephendiehl.com and has been featured in major news outlets and podcasts. To learn more from Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/ https://twitter.com/smdiehl

This episode is about the potential of DAOs for social change. Alongside host and Life Itself Co-founder, Rufus Pollock, we invite Jordan Hall, a philosopher, entrepreneur and prolific speaker in the Web3 space. He has been building disruptive technology companies for over 17 years and is the co-founder of Game B, the Neurohacker Collective and more recently the Civium Project. Learn more: https://lifeitself.us/web3

This episode is about the narrative of Bitcoin and the Neo-Metallist thesis i.e. that a gold-standard was good and a Bitcoin standard would be even better. Alongside host and Life Itself Co-founder, Rufus Pollock, we invite Stephen Diehl, a software engineer, writer and Web3 critic, who has been outspoken on cryptocurrency, NFTs and Web3. Learn more: https://lifeitself.us/web3