Survival of the Kindest

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli is one of the world' s leading consultants on the topic of economic development. He started working in the field of International Aid in Africa in 1971 and has since worked in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America and Asia in projects that promote local entrepreneurship and local self determination. Dr. Sirolli resides in California, USA where he was...

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli is one of the world' s leading consultants on the topic of economic development. He started working in the field of International Aid in Africa in 1971 and has since worked in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America and Asia in projects that promote local entrepreneurship and local self determination. Dr. Sirolli resides in California, USA where he was...

I am delighted to welcome Simon Betteridge on to survival of the kindest podcast Simon has been in healthcare chaplaincy since 2003. He worked as Chaplain at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust since 2004 and became lead chaplain & Bereavement Service Manager in 2010. Over the last 7 years he has been involved with and led various new initiatives mainly within the community, mor...

It can be quite hard to understand that emotions play a fundamental role in our evolutionary biology. This is mainly because emotional science historically focused on the negative aspects of emotions such as anger and fear. Dacher Keltner paid a second visit to the podcast with the publication of his excellent new book Awe. We have difficult emotions which cause us all kinds of problems, but they...

Training in science is built on theory and evidence. The hope is that scientific theory turns into reproduceable results. In the case of medicine, finding evidence is the search for the holy grail . Bu the ivory towers of academic practice often do not sit easily in the muddy waters of the world of day to day clinical medicine. Our guests today found a different way of helping people with life lim...

The themes of belonging, community and urban regeneration, well known to the listeners of Survival of the Kindest Podcast, are central to the work of this week's guest, Dr Sophie Yarker, recommended by Dr Simon Lennane. Sophie is a Research Fellow based in the Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing, working on the Ageing in Place in Cities project. She has a PhD in Human Geograp...

Carey Sipp To be fully present, to make best use of the incredible potential we all possess, to make the most of what it is to be human, we need a deep sense of belonging and connection. This is something that arises out of our family, our friends and our community. Too often, the development of these deep trusting relationships is marred by traumatic experiences of childhood. But these experience...

Neil Mantell is a very old friend, not just that he is ancient like me, but we have known each other for nearly 40 years. We met on bleary eyed walks in the early morning around the hills of the village where we lived, having both been woken up by young babies far to early, taking the opportunity to give our respective partners a break at the same time as walking the dogs.  Neil was a school teach...

For this episode of Survival of the Kindest, we welcome Christian Ntizimira, who has been doing remarkable work in Rwanda, developing palliative care through making use of the most precious of resources, the community. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the African Centre for Research on End of Life Care. A Fulbright Alumni who graduated from Harvard Medical School his career includes tim...

Charlie Herzog Young is a climate activist and  author of Spinning Out, his new book, which explores his journey  navigating climate change and mental health issues which affected him from his early years onward. Charlie makes the explicit what many of us experience, that of nihilistic feelings about the inevitable progression of climate breakdown. And not just this. The nihilism is worsened by th...

104 - This week's Survival of the Kindest podcast features Camila Ronderos. Camila learnt about the importance of community from  her father, who was a doctor visiting people in rural Colombia. He would visit people in the fields and in their homes, making sure that he took care of them in the widest sense. She started her studies in architecture but changed to anthropology as she felt architectur...

Shawn Wilson is an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia. His book, Research is Ceremony, Indigenous Research Methods, is one of my favourites. As we have discussed previously on Survival of the Kindest, indigenous ways of knowing and being offer a lot, stressing the importance of interdependence, relationsional accountability and kinship not just with the...

Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, RN, PhD, FCAHS is a professor in the School of Nursing and a research fellow at the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria and research affiliate with Island Health.   Kelli has been a champion of equity in palliative care. Her interest in this developed in her time working as a community nurse with HIV positive patients. She understood directly t...

101: Tammy McGrath - It takes a community approach for end-of-life journey "A Wongatha, Ngadju, Mirning  Yamitji, Woman from the Goldfields, proud Mum, Nanna, Daughter, Sister Aunty, Cousin, Friend, Colleague, Connector. I've been living on Noongar Boodjar (Country) more than I've lived on my own. I've been blessed and guided by my Noongar Elders, Ancestors to walk their Country live, work respect...

100 - Simon Lennane: How developing trust with community builds community health "Social infrastructure is a good way of framing community capacity" Simon Lennane is a GP in Shropshire who has a new book out, called Creating Community Health. For many people in healthcare, common sense tells them that health is more than application of medical treatments. The context in which people live has a tre...

99 - Vishanthie Sewpaul: Hearing, Listening, Helping. - Part 2 Helping people does not always have to be something tangible or material that you give. It's hearing people. It's listening to them. It's taking them seriously. Vishanthie Sewpaul is a Senior Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. She has an extraordinary life story, living as a South Afri...

97 -  Antoine Boivin and Ghislaine Rouly: Standardisation, depersonalisation and the impact this has on peoples health and wellness "My whole journey really as a physician has been to meet people in important moments of their lives, build relationships." - Antoine Boivin For many clinicians, the routine practice of medicine is unsatisfactory. Standardisation, depersonalisation, lack of emphasis on...

96 - Gonzalo Brito Pons: Compassion in Chile "I take wisdom and kindness wherever I can find it" This week @julianabel welcomes Chilean clinical psychologist and researcher into compassion Gonzalo Brito Pons @CulivarMente to the Survival of the Kindest podcast. Gonzalo talks about his work spanning 20 years on the impact of compassion, most recently during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

We are fully dependent on and interdependent with the food that's grown from the ground, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the sunlight, the moon, and everything that keeps our ecosystem functioning. On this week's Survival of the Kindest we hear from Dave Oates. Dave he is an advocate of regenerative farming practices on his family farm on The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, Southwest England...

94 - Tania Singer: "We need to start measuring social interactions and understand compassion" "We need to start measuring social interactions and understand compassion" I am delighted to welcome Tania Singer on this week survival of the kindest podcast. Tanya is a psychologist and Professor of Social Neuroscience. She is the scientific director of the Max Planck Society's Social Neuroscience Lab i...

"The LGBTQ+ community is not just my friends and what some people refer to as a chosen family, but it's also a connection to history and what got us to where we are now." Stewart O'Callaghan (they/them) is the Founder and Chief Executive of Live Through This , the UK's only LGBTIQ+ cancer charity and one which is firmly patient-led. When, aged 29, Stewart was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaem...

"If we live in a culture where where hate is made easy, we are more likely to take that path. Hate gives us a sense of empowerment. Rage gives us a sense of agency. Othering gives us a sense of superiority. It may all be an illusion but at least we don't feel vulnerable and powerless [...] In political debate, fear has been used to create a triggered state where people are going to be in 'fight or...

"If we are attuned to the reality that our biological, emotional, and spiritual needs are totally dependent on others, then we will feel gratitude and tenderness towards others." Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi is the co-founder and Executive Director of the  Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics  at Emory University, a Professor of Pedagogy in the University's Department of Relig...

89: Dr Jim Nininger & Dr Mary Lou Kelley: Compassionate Ottawa "In community development, as the outsider, you can help with facilitation, you can help with organising, you can help with identifying resources. But you are never the leader." In this episode, Julian is joined by Jim Nininger, Co-Founder of Compassionate Ottawa, and Mary Lou Kelley, Professor of Social Work and Gerontology at Lakehea...

86: Ben Raskin - The Cooperation Beneath Our Feet "Something Darwin knew all about is the power of diversity - crops are more successful when they're grown as part of a mix." On this episode of Survival of the Kindest, Julian speaks to Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry at the Soil Association . Ben has been working in horticulture for over 25 years, since he helped out at a vineyar...