The Wisdom & Action Podcast

David Holmgren speaks with permaculture design expert and Dumbo Feather friend, Dan Palmer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on the podcast we’re hearing from TV presenter Osher Günsberg. Most well-known for telling other people’s stories—through his hosting gigs on The Bachelor and Australian Idol—Osher is now sharing his own life experiences, detailing what it’s like to live with mental illness in his raw and real book, Back After the Break. In this episode, recorded live for an event with our friends from...

Our conversation this month is with someone who has been hugely influential to us — Parker Palmer, a writer who works at the intersection of activism, social change and spirituality. Three decades ago, Parker helped establish the Centre for Courage and Renewal, which runs programs for people to come together in community and learn to lead from within. Here, Parker and Dumbo Feather editor Nathan t...

For over thirty years, childbirth educator, birth attendant and counsellor Rhea Dempsey has been helping women to feel more empowered and better prepared when navigating childbirth. This month on the podcast, she chats with Dumbo Feather friend and host of the All Being Well podcast, Kayla Robertson about everything from why our attitudes towards birth have changed so dramatically since the ‘80s t...

This month on the podcast we’re a sharing a piece of spoken word storytelling by New Zealand-born writer and occupational therapist, Kirsten Taylor. Throughout this episode, Kirsten explores the changing relationship she’s had with her body from a young person to now. Our editor Nathan Scolaro first heard this story told live at The Weekly Service, a secular gathering in Melbourne where people sha...

In front of a live audience, for an event by our friends at The School of Life, Nigella Lawson and Hugh Mackay chat about everything from why cooking for others is one of the most significant ways we can show people we take them seriously, to the role of food and self-care, to why the first thing Nigella bought when she moved into her new home was a table. It’s a beautiful ode to the role of food...

This month we’re bringing you a special episode of the Dumbo Feather Podcast, inspired by Issue 56 of Dumbo Feather—Embracing the Wild. We teamed up with New York based sound recordist, Matthew Mikkelsen, to take you inside one of the world’s last remaining natural amphitheatres—Olympic National Park in Washington State. We recommend you find a quiet place to listen to this one, to fully immerse y...

This month we’re bringing you a live conversation with Issue 56 profilee, the legendary Bob Brown. For decades, Bob has inspired generations of Australians to feel a deep reverence for the environment—and campaign to protect it. In this episode, Bob talks with our editor, Nathan Scolaro, about his latest efforts to save the Tarkine, a wilderness region in north west Tasmania, and how embracing mus...

On the podcast this month is New York based illustrator, Mari Andrew. Mari’s captivating, relatable portrayals of her personal life and the world around her have made her an Instagram sensation, drawing a following of nearly one million people. Throughout this conversation, recorded live for our sister company, The School of Life, Mari chats with Dumbo Feather contributor Sarah Darmody and unpacks...

Helena Norberg-Hodge joins our publisher Berry Liberman on the podcast this month. As a young woman in 1975, Helena was invited to join a film crew travelling to Ladakh, a remote region on the Tibetan plateau, just as it was opening up to tourism and other Western influences. She talks to Berry about the heartbreaking changes she witnessed during that time, and challenges conventional ideas we may...

Featured on the podcast this month is our very dear friend, Hugh Mackay. Hugh has been examining how we live for six decades, so he's got some pretty great insights into what makes a good life. In this live event run by our friends at The School of Life, Hugh shares wisdom about how we can become a more compassionate and less anxious society, by looking at and working within our local neighbourhoo...

This month’s podcast is all about generosity—something our friend Ronni Kahn knows a lot about. Ronni founded OzHarvest—Australia’s leading food rescue organisation—driven by a passion to make a difference and stop good food going to waste. Along the way, she’s changed lives, changed the law (to make it safe for companies to donate surplus food) and opened Australia's first free supermarket. Chatt...

We head to Byron Bay to hear environmentalist Paul Hawken and filmmaker Damon Gameau in an epic conversation about the state of the planet. Paul’s renowned book, Project Drawdown, is the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming—it outlines the 100 most substantive solutions to address climate change. Throughout this conversation, Paul and Damon explore why empowering girls a...

This month we’re in conversation with best-selling author and psychotherapist Esther Perel. Esther’s podcast, 'Where Should We Begin?' has become an international sensation. The recorded sessions between Esther and anonymous couples—who visit her for one session only at her private practice in New York—have become a public health campaign for relationships. Chatting with our publisher Berry Liberm...

This month we’re sharing a particularly special conversation with Krista Tippett, creator and host of the much-loved radio show and podcast, On Being. For more than ten years, Krista has been asking spiritual leaders, poets, scientists and philosophers the big questions—about what it means to be human. She speaks with our publisher Berry Liberman about what it means to live a wise life, how can we...

In an age where we can find ourselves feeling exhausted on a daily basis—beloved cartoonist Michael Leunig brings perspective. A duck helping us navigate our way through choppy waters. In this episode Leunig chats with Myke Bartlett about how we can lean into the unknown, accept melancholy as an integral part of our lives, and find joy and beauty in the uncertain. Show notes:This conversation was...

Dr Saamdu Chetri is the Executive Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. GNH focuses on the wellbeing of the country’s people rather than the traditional economic measure of Gross Domestic Product and over the past 40 years it has been a success story in Bhutan. In front of a live audience, Saamdu chats with Danny Almagor, the founder of Small Giants, about his incredible story...

Robyn Davidson is best known as ‘the camel lady’—a reference to her journey as a young woman crossing the Australian desert with four camels and her dog in 1977. Today, Robyn feels like a different person, yet there’s one quality that has remained a constant in her life: her ability to adapt to change. Robyn sat down in front of a live audience at The School of Life with our publisher, Berry Liber...

Jostein Solheim is the CEO of Ben and Jerry’s—a social justice company that just happens to sell ice cream. In this episode of the Dumbo Feather podcast our publisher Berry Liberman sits down with Jostein to chat about using business as a force for good, finding purpose, and why he prides Ben and Jerry’s on being a highly emotional company. Show notes:This edited conversation was produced by Beth...

Julie O'Shea is a living legend. After visiting a farm to buy some chickens, she found herself in a whirlwind that saw her save 400 hens in less than three days. Julie's story is uplifting, thought-provoking and joyous—she truly is making the world a better place. One rescue chicken at a time. Show notesJulie's hen rescue Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/Rescue-Hens-Northe...

This week we’re hearing from Sydney-based artist, Laura Jones, about what happened when she spent ten days as an artist-in-residence at the Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station. Laura brings to life her experience of witnessing the Great Barrier Reef’s changing conditions, how she learnt to use her art as a form of activism and how she worked alongside science to interpret and bring at...

This month we head out of Dumbo Feather HQ and take you on an adventure to the 2016 Melbourne Writers Festival, when we parked our caravan up at Federation Square and welcomed writers in for intimate conversations with a small audience. First up is British poet and educator Anthony Anaxagorou, a man who thinks deeply about each word he uses and the importance of being vulnerable. Then, we hear fro...

Carol Ride is the founder of Psychologists for a Safe Climate, a therapeutic support service that helps people face our difficult climate reality. In this podcast conversation, she talks about the importance of doing inner work and grieving our dying planet in order to act meaningfully on climate change. This episode of Dumbo Feather Live is part of our special Climate Change series, which we have...

Welcome to another episode of That Time When, the series where we chat with people about moments big or small that changed the course of their lives. This week we’re hearing from William Stubbs about the time he escaped being eaten by a bull shark—which led him to committing his life to men’s mental health. It all makes sense, promise! This episode was sponsored by the good folk at Intrepid Travel...

We caught up recently with marvellous Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark. She is is now CEO of Save the Children International, a role that’s all about giving children a voice. We loved hearing from Helle about keeping it real, deciding to be courageous and why we need to keep having difficult conversations. This event was held in collaboration with The School of Life and Sav...