Next Economy Now: For the Benefit of All Life

What would change if we treated the household as a living economy, not just a place to rest between workdays? Su Dennett, permaculture elder and local food pioneer, joins Erin Axelrod to explore how daily life can foster resilience, care, and cultural change. Su lives at Melliodora, the internationally recognized permaculture demonstration site in Central Victoria, Australia, with her partner, per...

What if there were a way you could make a difference in the world and be successful financially? Today on Next Economy Now, we welcome Dror Yaron, a purpose-driven life and leadership coach who helps overwhelmed business leaders by rebuilding and reenergizing his community, while also facilitating conversations about humanizing business and practical ethics. For full show notes, visit: https://www...

One of the most important steps to improving our global economy is to work towards stronger systems of localization. Helena Norberg-Hodge, linguist, author, director, founder of Local Futures, and leader of the New Economy Movement, joins us to explore her work as an activist trying to change the global economy through greater localization. For full show notes, visit: https://www.lifteconomy.com/b...

How can communities reconnect with place while shifting away from extractive systems? Matt Biggar, researcher, consultant, and author of Connected to Place , joins Kevin Bayuk to explore how place-based systems change can help regenerate nature, strengthen communities, and build more resilient local economies. Drawing on his background in education, sustainability, and transportation research, Mat...

Most companies don’t set out to abandon their mission, but they are often pulled off course by the systems they operate within. In this episode, Eric Ries, creator of The Lean Startup Method and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, joins Ryan Honeyman to examine how financial and governance structures shape company behavior over time. Eric is the author of multiple titles, including the New Yo...

Can you imagine the kind of healing and reconciliation that could be possible in society if Restorative Justice were used as an alternative to traditional criminal justice? Gerald Partridge joins us today to explore the power and value of Restorative Justice in building a civilized society. Gerald is a retired career prosecutor who has used Restorative Justice throughout his career to solve sensit...

Rethinking everyday products and how they’re made can open the door to transforming entire systems. In this conversation, Brianna Kilcullen, founder of Anact, a sustainable towel brand, joins host Erin Axelrod to explore how natural materials and supply chain innovation can move the textile industry toward a more regenerative future. Drawing on her experience in global apparel supply chains, Brian...

What if the real reason healthcare keeps getting more expensive isn’t doctors or patients, but a benefits system that is designed to reward overspending instead of better health outcomes? In this episode, healthcare entrepreneur Dave Chase, founder of Health Rosetta, joins host Kevin Bayuk to unpack what is wrong with U.S. healthcare and what needs to change to realign the system towards better ou...

What if waste isn’t an inevitable byproduct of modern life, but a design flaw we can solve? In this conversation, Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, joins host Kevin Bayuk to explore how businesses can rethink waste and build systems that move us toward a circular economy. More than two decades ago, Tom founded TerraCycle with a mission focused on Eliminating the Idea of Waste®, growing the...

What if perpetual economic growth is part of the problem, not the solution? Feroz Khan explores how degrowth and disaster justice could guide a more sustainable and equitable future. For full show notes, visit: https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/feroz-khan/ Interested in creating a world that works for the benefit of all life? Join a network of 800+ alumni transforming communities and enterprises fr...

What would it take for banks to move away from capital extraction and toward climate resilience, racial justice, and community wealth? Francis Janes, Senior Director of Industry Relations and Partnerships at Beneficial State Foundation, joins host Erin Axelrod to explore how banking can become a lever for social and environmental justice. Drawing on his work with banks and trade associations, Fran...

This conversation with Dr. Lucía Alcalá explores how cultural values shape children’s autonomy, motivation, emotional development, and contributions to family life. Drawing from her research with Indigenous communities in Yucatán, she reveals what Western parenting norms overlook and how collaboration and reciprocity can transform family dynamics. The episode invites listeners to rethink childhood...

Zainab Salbi joins Next Economy Now to share her remarkable journey from founding Women for Women International to launching Daughters for Earth, a movement uplifting women-led climate solutions across the globe. She discusses the moral crisis of war, the urgency of biodiversity protection, and the unique contributions women bring to climate restoration. This episode explores the Hummingbird Effec...

This episode challenges you to rethink the economy from the ground up. Solana Rice and Jeremie Greer of Liberation in a Generation break down why extraction and exclusion are not bugs but core features of our current system, and invite listeners into a bold vision of a liberation economy rooted in guarantees rather than scarcity. Through stories of gentrification, community-led policy making, and...

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Erin Axelrod speaks with Fabiola Santiago, founder and executive director of Mi Oaxaca, about what Indigenous worldviews can teach us about belonging, reciprocity, and everyday consumption. Drawing from her experience as a diasporic Zapotec woman from Oaxaca and a public health researcher, Fabiola explores the hidden systems behind mezcal, food, and tourism, an...

True health is about more than simply taking your medicine. It’s about healing the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. In this episode of Next Economy Now, Dr. Shamini Jain, a clinical psychologist, scientist, author, singer, and founder of the Consciousness and Healing Initiative, explores the intersections of science, spirituality, and creativity in advancing health and well-being. View the sh...

What if accountability led to healing instead of more harm? In this conversation, restorative justice practitioner Tatiana Chaterji shares how her work in prisons, schools, and communities is helping people move beyond punishment toward real repair. She reflects on her own experience as a survivor, the power of truthful dialogue, and why accountability requires support rather than shame. This epis...

This episode explores how ancestral plant wisdom can reshape the future of healthcare and the economy. Clinical herbalist and educator Laura Ash shares practical insights on ethical herbalism, biopiracy, whole-plant medicine, and why reconnecting with traditional knowledge matters for human and planetary wellbeing. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural, scientific, and economi...

Climate resilience is not only a matter of innovation but also of honoring what communities have practiced for centuries. In this episode, Julia Watson, designer, activist, and leading expert on Lo—TEK — a term that combines low-tech and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) — shares how traditional practices offer vital solutions for sustainable design and regenerative economics. View the blog p...

Autumn Brown returns to Next Economy Now for a third time for a wide-ranging, candid conversation on practicing freedom in an unfree world. We talk joy and parenting, the post-2020 backlash, symbolic vs relational change (pronouns, land acknowledgements), building broader coalitions, and Autumn’s shift from cooperative leadership to music, Aikido, and a forthcoming book on fugitivity. It’s a groun...

Freedom and fulfillment aren’t measured in square footage; they’re shaped by how we live and what we value. In this episode of Next Economy Now, we welcome Jewel Pearson, a tiny house expert, intentional living advocate, and longtime voice for representation in the tiny house movement. With over ten years of experience living in a tiny house, Jewel brings lived experience and deep expertise as a c...

When you understand the power of a limiting belief and change it into a liberating belief, you get to take your power back and achieve personal freedom. In this segment of our Next Economy Living mini-series, we are joined by author and advocate for personal liberation, Christine Platt, to talk about her new book, Less is Liberation, and to share her liberation story.  For full show notes, visit:...

What if the solution to better housing, health, and happiness isn’t greater independence, but deeper interdependence? In this episode of Next Economy Now, sustainability educator and regenerative living advocate Cynthia Tina invites us to rethink how we live, highlighting what it means to live in alignment with shared values, and why intentional communities are emerging as a powerful response to t...

Living with intention can be a radical act in a world driven by consumerism. In this special Next Economy Living mini-series episode, host Kevin Bayuk speaks with writer, herbalist, and former Black Minimalists podcast producer Farai Harreld about how ancestral knowledge and mindful practices can help us reclaim agency over our health, homes, and everyday choices. For full show notes, visit: https...

How do we equip people with the skills and support they need to build a regenerative, community-centered economy? In part two of our series on the hypotheses that guide our work at LIFT Economy, Kevin Bayuk and Ryan Honeyman explore the critical training and skills gaps facing entrepreneurs and organizations working to create economic systems rooted in community well-being, environmental regenerat...