Solacene

One of the oft-touted benefits of our era of technological innovations is increased immersion. For the purpose of storytelling, this refers to a more satisfying and focused experience as watchers of movies and television, listeners of music and audiobooks, and players of video games. This pros, cons, and accuracy of this assertion is challenged during this podcast episode. We also talk about our r...

This conversation draws from a lot of different references to answer questions about storytelling today and in the Solacene. We first discuss the individual and communal benefits of rereading/rewatching good literature and cinema. Then we talk about the pros and cons of mapping our lives onto existing narratives, and the strange phenomena of smartphones in movies. Buy the zines, sign up for field...

Has the increased production, advertisement, archival, and accessibility of narrative-based art grown its presence in our lives to an unhealthy level? Has intertextuality gone too far? Are there any stories that show the search for modern identity in a positive light? Listen to this episode to hear our thoughts on all these questions and more! Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the...

Welcome to Field Notes- a weekly collection of thoughts, images, and stories that we find exciting. We hope this new project will allow us to go deeper into topics from our weekly episodes and highlight things going on in the Solacene community! To sign-up use the link below and if you have any questions feel free to email us at alicia@solacene.org || aaron@solacene.org www.solacene.org

This episode is the first in our new semester- storytelling! Each week we'll be discussing a different element of the narratives, both explicit and unspoken, lived and fantastical, that make up the texture of life in the Solacene. We begin by discussing stories that we find useful for understanding modern times. In true Solacene spirit, a breadth of allusions are made, from Jonah to Tinkerbell. We...

This week's episode is an ode to FLOWERS- those colorful, fragrant gifts that decorate the natural world. We discuss their various uses and presence in mythology, but mainly just why we like them so much (they're very Solacene). Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: www.solacene.org

This episode is a discussion on 'wellness influencers'- the quasi-spiritual figures that inhabit certain corners of the Internet and pop culture, spreading various messages of fitness, mental health, and holistic wellness. The conversation touches on everything from jade eggs to ancestral tenets, and of course, the presence of these influencers in the beautiful sustainable tactile utopian future S...

Inspired by recent observations of phone use even at important events, this episode is a discussion of how the people of the Solacene behave among strangers in social settings. Of particular concern are those 'liminal' spaces (elevators, waiting rooms, buses, etc.) that make up a large portion of our time. Some topics discussed include the benefit of everyone "sharing a room", building places for...

We conclude our semester on education by describing various organizational, individual, and aesthetic elements of the Solacene University. We also discuss learning outside of such designated institutions (self-learning / at-home learning), and Aaron gets tested on his memory of the last twelve episodes. We hope you enjoyed and were inspired by this series. We will be back next week with the first...

We imagine people of the Solacene to be free, original, and comprehensive thinkers. This episode sees us brainstorm the conditions that might create such citizens. We also discuss educational buildings for children (that aren't schools), and various educational philosophies that help categorize the Solacene systems of learning. Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: www.sola...

Effective and honest speech is crucial for communicating ideas. In this episode, we brainstorm how to teach good speaking skills via modeling, practice, listening, and performance. The value of film as an inspirational and didactic tool is also discussed. Finally, we continued our mapping of the educational infrastructure in the Solacene by designing its 'gymnasium', a multi-use physical/intellect...

This episode focuses on two transitory stages of life- maturity into adulthood, and maturity into elderliness- and how various Solacene infrastructures might make them periods of celebration rather than dread. We talk specifically about rites of passage related to education, and ways to stay young by continued learning. Also discussed are educational techniques that have faded through history that...

Music is the art that decorates time, and nature that which best decorates space. How can they be used as educational tools, both for their own inherent lessons and also as mediums for teaching other concepts? How can outdoor classrooms encourage curiosity and creativity? Will the Solacene have bards? Listen to hear us address all these questions and more. Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, o...

Museums! Lecture halls! Bookstores! The built infrastructure of education is intertwined with its policy and curriculums, so this episode is devoted to designing two perfect (Solacene) libraries and classrooms. We use the latter as a base to explain how we would teach a high school course in the beautiful, sustainable, tactile utopia. Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: w...

What does a culture of learning look like? How can one maintain enthusiasm and standards as a self-educator? What are the common traits of good teachers? This episode seeks to answer these questions and more through our continued discussion on education in the utopian Solacene. Enjoy! Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: www.solacene.org

When making observations about schools and learning today, the word "education" is often followed by "system". This episode seeks to focus more on the individuals that comprise that broader system. We discuss the benefits of a variety of mentorship opportunities that might be encouraged in the Solacene, tangible teaching techniques that actually work, and what it actually means to learn something....

Our latest discussion in this series designing the utopian school system of the Solacene focuses on achieving the matter of tailoring education to individual students, as well as maintaining "standards without standardization." We address this topic directly, as well as through a conversation about our favourite examples of education in art, and by sharing our designs for a Solacene school uniform...

Just as last week's episode established the reasons why internalized knowledge/memory is still important in the modern world, this episode provides some guidance for how we can increase it. We also discuss various examples of 'brain food' and their possible presence in the school lunches of the Solacene, certain "grubby holdovers" of the education system, and the best ages for starting and finishi...

An understanding of our historical and contemporary conception of 'knowledge' is necessary for any in-depth conversations about education. In this episode we outline the ways that the Internet has changed the way we access and retain information, as well as the relevance of memory in the modern world. We also discuss the ideal school hours in the Solacene and how children can retain concentration...

Our second semester will aim to detail the presence, purpose, and methods of education in the Solacene. This episode starts the conversation with an analysis of what is going wrong in today's educational systems. We address the three influential aspects on the classroom- the students, the methods, and the planning. Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: www.solacene.org

To celebrate and accompany our next semester of podcasts, we are releasing a handmade zine on the topic of education. It's collaborative, educational, and dense. To check it out, follow the link below to our online storefront. www.solacene.org

The 7 wonders of the ancient world (that's the Colossus of Rhodes, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus, the Temple of Artemis, and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus) have long been a source of inspiration and fascination for us. In this episode, we present our vision for 7 similarly impressive feats of art and engineering that we...

Much has been said recently about the crisis of mindfulness, and how modern people find experiencing the present difficult. This episode seeks to explore how our concepts of 'future' and 'past' are similarly troubled in the information age. The conversation starts in ancient Greece with the 3 Delphic Maxims, and goes from there all the way into the futuristic people of the Solacene. Buy the zines,...

This episode covers a lot of different topics under the umbrella of 'making'. We use our personal experiences with different mediums, as well as research on the psychological benefits of art, to discuss why making is so beneficial in a culture built around 'taking' (consuming). Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the hosts: www.solacene.org

This is the final episode of our degrowth semester. We conclude by mentioning some common criticisms of degrowth and our rebuttals/agreements, as well as the ways in which the Solacene can or cannot be described as 'degrown'. Thank you to everyone who has listened to this series on degrowth. The podcast will continue next week with a new topic Buy the zines, sign up for field notes, or contact the...