Podcast with Lokesh D

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest by Vandana Shiva is a reflective essay in which she recalls how the Himalayan forests shaped her understanding of ecology, justice, and simple living. Through her memories of Chipko, seed-saving, and the creation of Navdanya and Earth University, she shows how forests teach union, compassion, and enoughness, taking only what we need and sharing the...

“The Gentlemen of the Jungle” by Jomo Kenyatta is a political fable that uses talking animals to represent European colonial rulers and a poor man to represent the colonized Africans. Set in a jungle, the story shows how an act of kindness by the man is abused by powerful animals, who then use biased “commissions of enquiry” and fine words about law and civilization to justify taking over his hut...

"Too Dear!" is a satirical story by Leo Tolstoy that critiques modern governance and the justice system. The plot revolves around a tiny kingdom where the government finds it too expensive to carry out capital punishment or maintain a prisoner in jail. As a result, the prisoner is simply freed, exposing the absurdity and inefficiency of bureaucratic systems. Tolstoy uses the story to highlight how...