Last Born In The Wilderness

In this episode, I speak with pagan writer and activist John Halstead. We discuss his excellent and perceptive two-part essay published by Gods&Radicals, “What If It’s Already Too Late?”: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene and “Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/john-halstead // Sustain + support: https://www...

Psychedelic scholar, editor, publisher, and researcher Robert Forte joins me for this episode. For over three decades, Robert has collaborated with some of the most influential and well-known figures within the psychedelic movement, including R. Gordon Wasson, Timothy Leary, Stanislav Grof, and Alexander Shulgin, to name a few. James Fadiman, psychedelic researcher and writer, has described Robert...

I speak with Ian Campbell, a community-oriented educator and co-founder of North Texas Progressive Schools (NTxPS). We discuss the fundamental principles of self-directed learning and progressive schooling, the necessity of play in childhood development, and the value of instilling democratic values and collective decision-making through education. We also discuss the potent example of collective...

I speak with ecologist and evolutionary biologist Chris Thomas, author of Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction. In this discussion, Thomas lays out his understanding of whether we have truly entered into the Sixth Mass Extinction Event and whether the current rate of species extinction on this planet lives up to that dire description. He also discusses the diffic...

I speak with Kevin Hester, host of Nature Bats Last, and RS in a group conversation in which we discuss living in a time of accelerating change, abrupt climate disruption, and extinction. As the climate crisis continues to accelerate, and the likelihood of mass human displacement and extinction increases by the year, what does it mean to live and be in this time? The nature of this discussion with...

Our guest for this episode is Ben Etherington, author of Literary Primitivism and the long-form essay The New Primitives, published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the themes of which we discuss in this episode. In this discussion, Ben lays out a nuanced examination of Primitivism, a “mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate ‘primitive’ experience.” // Episode...

Writer Tad Hargrave joins me in this episode to discuss his work exploring, unpacking, and addressing the concept and social reality of whiteness—more broadly the roots, or lack thereof, of “white culture” as we understand it to be today. Tad and I discuss the difficult subject of race, in particular the modern and the relatively recent—historically speaking—formation of the concept of whiteness....

I’m joined by Charles Eisenstein—public speaker and author of Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, and most recently Climate: A New Story. Eisenstein discusses the themes and ideas presented in Climate: A New Story, a book that "flips the script on climate change," making the "case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our jo...

Author and integrator Jeremy Lent returns to the podcast. Jeremy is the author of The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning and the founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, an organization “dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview, both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful, that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth.” W...

I speak with Dr. Joe Tafur—family physician, Shipibo-trained shaman, integrative medicine activist, and the author of The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor's Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine. We discuss Dr. Tafur’s years of work integrating Western medical knowledge and practice with traditional Amazonian plant medicine, in particular the administering of the psychedel...

Writer, documentarian, and lecturer Douglas Rushkoff joins me to discuss his widely shared article, published on Medium and picked up by CNBC, Survival of the Richest: The wealthy are plotting to leave us behind. Rushkoff describes a situation in which he was invited to a private meeting with several ultra-wealthy men to field their questions regarding technological trends in cryptocurrency, quant...

Third-generation organizer and photographer Max Wilbert joins me for this episode. Max is the author of We Choose To Speak, a collection of essays written between 2013 and 2018, in which Wilbert “make[s] the case for a revolutionary environmentalism that aims to forcefully dismantle the global culture of empire.” Our culture is a life-destroying force on this planet. What is to be done in the face...

I speak with Dr. Lise Eliot, Professor of Neuroscience at The Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University and the author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps and What We Can Do About It. In this interview, I tried to get to the root of what informs gender identity and its relationship to our biology, specifically regarding our neurology and brain d...

In this episode, I speak with Steven Cohen, author of The Sustainable City, former executive director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, and professor in the practice of public affairs at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.  Dr. Cohen provides an overview of the broader trends in sustainable technological development, especially regarding the ongoing urbanization of human...

I speak with Stephen Jenkinson, founder and lead instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School and the author of numerous books, including Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul and, most recently, Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble.  In this interview, we discuss how the dominant culture of North America, as Stephen frames it, is awash in aged people but bereft of elders in the...

Conjurer, political theorist, and gonzo journalist Dr. Bones returns to the podcast to discuss the irrational nature of human behavior, the narratives that direct human activity, folk magic, and the practicality of conjuring as a form of direct action. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/dr-bones-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness...

Cynthia Jones and I speak with Liyah Babayan—local entrepreneur, business owner, activist, and Armenian refugee.  In this conversation, Liyah goes over her life story, framing it within the cultural/historical/political framework of her home country of Azerbaijan, where she had spent much of her early childhood before fleeing with her family from severe persecution and genocide. In the late 1980s...

This episode contains two interviews. The first is with Shane Burley—filmmaker, journalist, and author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How To End It. The second is with RS—journalist and radio host for the Progressive Radio Network. Each of these interviews focuses on the dynamics and recent developments within the Abolish ICE movement, and specifically the OccupyICE encampments that have sprung...

Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind Peter Sjöstedt-H joins me to discuss psychedelics, panpsychism, and philosophy of mind. We discuss the resurgence of interest in psychedelics in popular culture regarding the profound therapeutic value these substances can provide for individuals suffering from trauma and addiction. The therapeutic value of these substances is only the "tip of the iceberg" wh...

I speak with Joel Wainwright, professor at Ohio State University and co-author of Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future. Professor Wainwright and co-author Geoff Mann examine a question often overlooked within the broader discussion about global climate change and our planetary future: how will our political and economic institutions respond to global climate change?  // Ep...

Tom Aiello, founder and lead instructor at the Snake River BASE Academy, returns to the podcast. Tom has traveled all around the world pursuing his passion of BASE jumping, and in this episode he shares his rich depth of experience and knowledge, as well as some truly fascinating and engrossing stories well worth listening to. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/tom-...

I speak with William Rees—human ecologist, ecological economist, professor emeritus, and former director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Rees is the originator and co-developer of the ecological footprint analysis and the co-author, with Mathis Wackernagel, of Our Ecological Footprint, an exploration of this concept. The e...

Freelance journalist and activist Zak Witus joins me to discuss the unfolding events in the Gaza Strip, in which thousands of Palestinians, over the past several months, have demonstrated against the horrific conditions imposed on the Palestinian territory by the state of Israel. Over a hundred Palestinian demonstrators have been killed by Israeli forces, with over 1,200 injured, during what has b...

In this episode, I speak with Franklin Lopez, also known as the Stimulator, host of SubMedia’s Here's The Fuckin' News and former host of It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Franklin Lopez discusses the aims of the SubMedia media collective, as well as their iconic role as the shit-talking, riot-loving, anti-authoritarian character the Stimulator. Franklin also gets into the...

Agroecologist, entomologist, farmer, and beekeeper Dr. Jonathan Lundgren joins me for this episode. At the very beginning of our conversation, Jonathan discusses his time as a top scientist at the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, during which time he conducted important research into the wide-scale use of pesticides in US agriculture. After conducting research that ind...