What Could Possibly Go Right?

Latest Episodes:

#30 Starhawk: Fostering Interconnection and Compassion Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, founder of Earth Activist Training, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism.

She answers the question of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” with thoughts including:

The boost in people being politically engaged this past year, tuning up and caring for democracy “like an old creaky car”
That more people paying attention to climate change and increasingly understanding the infrastructure changes and action that is needed
That turning to permaculture and regenerative land management is one of the key things we can do around climate change
That fostering interconnection and compassion can help people avoid getting sucked into a “game version” of life
That “we have to offer a way for people to participate in reality, and feel themselves, and let them be heroes, to feel like we are doing something really great for the world, for each other, for our communities.”

Connect with Starhawk
Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

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#29 Vicki Robin: A Way of Being Mar 02, 2021

Show notes

The third set of What Could Possibly Go Right? kicks off with host Vicki Robin reflecting on past episodes, sharing her motivation for creating this series, and revealing what she hopes to find as we embark on a new set of interviews.
Her thoughts include:

That cultural scouts have this “carefully cultivated sense of looking squarely at reality and trying to pick a path, a critical path forward on behalf of the common good”.
That cultural scouts have an educated sense of the future, with perspectives often gained through living at the margins.
That justice is at the center of many interviews, whether it’s racial, economic, intergenerational, interspecies or ecological.
That guests are framework-fluid, able to see more clearly by not being stuck in one story or worldview.

Join our Patreon Community to receive bonus conversations with guests and "backstage" conversations between Vicki and other podcast hosts.
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#28R Douglas Rushkoff Reflection: Social Affection is the Gold Dec 23, 2020

Show notes

Our host Vicki Robin reflects on the interview with media theorist and author Douglas Rushkoff, as heard on episode 28 of “What Could Possibly Go Right?”

Connect with Douglas
Website: rushkoff.com
Twitter: twitter.com/rushkoff
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Twitter: twitter.com/postcarbon
Instagram: instagram.com/postcarboninstitute/
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#28 Douglas Rushkoff: Finding the Others Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. Named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, his twenty books include the recently published Team Human, based on his podcast. Others include bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks and the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool.

Rushkoff’s work explores how different technological environments change our relationship to narrative, money, power, and one another. Through this lens, he answers the question of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” including:

That our immersion in online networking technologies is making us long for “organic kinship”, and causing overwhelm and distrust as our evolutionary social cues are missed.
That what could go right is we emerge from this isolation and dominance of screens to being more willing to reconnect with other human beings in person, more readily establishing rapport, solidarity and mutuality.
That civics is about feeling responsible for neighbors and community, even if you don’t always like them.
That we “learn to see that unpredictability as the novelty and weirdness and joy of being a living entity in the now.”
That we need to get rid of our addiction to exponential growth, extraction and repression of others, and refocus on the commons. Rather than “using the stick of devastation”, we use the “carrot” of fun to make working together more appealing than ongoing competition.
The encouragement to: “Find the others. You don't have to do this in isolation. They're all over the place. Just look into people's eyes and you'll get that instant moment of recognition of, Oh, there's another one. Let's do this together.”

Resources

Extra reading

The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods - Douglas Rushkoff on One Zero, Medium

Connect with Douglas Rushkoff
Website: rushkoff.com
Team Human: www.teamhuman.fm
Twitter: twitter.com/rushkoff

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#27R Kathleen Dean Moore Reflection: Neglected and Rejected Moral Center Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

Our host Vicki Robin reflects on her conversation with author and moral philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore, as heard on episode 27 of “What Could Possibly Go Right?”.

Connect with Kathleen
Website: riverwalking.com
Website: musicandclimateaction.com
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postcarboninstitute/
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#27 Kathleen Dean Moore: Building Anew on Moral Foundations Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

Kathleen Dean Moore, Ph.D., is an Author, Moral Philosopher, Environmental Advocate. She served as Distinguished Professor of Environmental Philosophy at Oregon State University, where she wrote award-winning books about our cultural and moral relations to the wet, wild world and to one another. But her increasing concern about the climate and extinction crises led her to leave the university, so she could write and speak full-time about the moral urgency of climate action.
Kathleen shares thoughts on What Could Possibly Go Right? including:

That “sometimes it feels like the whole world is burning to its foundations, but the foundations are still there, and they're holding a space for the future.”
That “almost every major change in US history has been the result of a rising wave of moral affirmation,” of the “conscience of the streets”.
That we need to remember our shared moral foundations, of the “human decency deep in the earth” and the ideals our nation aspires to.
Using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to call out the oil, gas and fracking industries for violations of human rights through contributing to climate change.
The Blue River Declaration by an assembled group of philosophers, which asks “three fundamental questions... What is the world? What are human beings? And therefore, how shall we live?”
That as human beings with imagination and understanding, “we have a responsibility to be the meaning makers of the universe.”

Resources

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal
Blue River Declaration
Book: Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril by Kathleen Dean Moore
Book: Great Tide Rising: Toward Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change by Kathleen Dean Moore

Connect with Kathleen Dean Moore
Website: riverwalking.com
Twitter: musicandclimateaction.com

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#26R Julian Brave NoiseCat Reflection with Sherri Mitchell: Letting Go of Colonialism and Reclaiming Indigenous Identities Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Host Vicki Robin is joined by Sherri Mitchell today to reflect on episode 26 of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” They discuss what Julian Brave NoiseCat had to share about this big question, especially with an Indigenous perspective.

Sherri Mitchell is a Lawyer, Indigenous Rights Activist & Educator. Learn more about Sherri at sacredinstructions.life

Connect with Julian Brave NoiseCat
Website: julianbravenoisecat.com
Twitter: twitter.com/jnoisecat

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhatCouldPossiblyGoRightPodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/postcarbon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postcarboninstitute/
Learn more: https://bit.ly/pci-wcpgrseries
***Join us in December for a special Zoom call with Vicki! When you donate any amount to support the show, we'll invite you to join a live, online call with Vicki on Thursday, December 10. ***

Support the show (https://www.postcarbon.org/support-what-could-possibly-go-right/)

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#26 Julian Brave NoiseCat: Creative Resilience in Indigenous Communities Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

Julian Brave NoiseCat is Vice President of Policy & Strategy for Data for Progress and Narrative Change Director for the Natural History Museum. A Fellow of the Type Media Center, NDN Collective and the Center for Humans and Nature, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and other publications. Julian grew up in Oakland, California and is a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen and descendant of the Lil'Wat Nation of Mount Currie.

Julian provides his insight on What Could Possibly Go Right? including:

Individual stories that show the resilience and creativity of Indigenous people, “post-apocalyptic people”.
The story of a Blackfoot man named Cowboy with an idea for reverse colonization.
The grit and leadership of Cheyenne Brady, former Miss Indian World titleholder, in increasing census participation and ensuring Native people are counted.
The commitment to tradition by Navajo medicine people David and Bess Tsosie, combined with adaptability to the modern-day context - such as transitioning their healing practice to a socially-responsible telehealth model in the midst of pandemic.
That “the ability for people to retain a sense of community, a commitment to who we are as people, and to create and make beauty at the other side of truly devastating circumstances” does provide hope.

Connect with Julian Brave NoiseCat
Website: julianbravenoisecat.com
Twitter: twitter.com/jnoisecat

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#25R Judith D. Schwartz Reflection: Finding the Fertile Soil of Possibility Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

Our host Vicki Robin considers her interview with author and journalist, Judith D. Schwartz, as heard in episode 25 of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” She discusses stories of regeneration and metaphors of seeds for the open-mindedness and possibilities that are sprouting. "The day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
Connect with Judith
Website: judithdschwartz.com
Twitter: twitter.com/judithdschwartz
Facebook: facebook.com/judith.d.schwartz
Follow WCPGR on Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhatCouldPossiblyGoRightPodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/postcarbon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postcarboninstitute/
Learn more: https://bit.ly/pci-wcpgrseries
***Join us in December for a special Zoom call with Vicki! When you donate any amount to support the show, we'll invite you to join a live, online call with Vicki on Thursday, December 10. ***

Support the show (https://www.postcarbon.org/support-what-could-possibly-go-right/)

Support the show

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#25 Judith D. Schwartz: Tuning In to the Natural World Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

Judith D. Schwartz is an author who tells stories to explore and illuminate scientific concepts and cultural nuance. She takes a clear-eyed look at global environmental, economic, and social challenges, and finds insights and solutions in natural systems. She writes for numerous publications, including The American Prospect, The Guardian, Discover, Scientific American, and YaleE360.

Bringing insights from her latest book, “The Reindeer Chronicles”, Judith addresses the question of What Could Possibly Go Right? including:

That “we are a part of nature and to keep ourselves separate from nature is really causing our own demise, as well as the demise of all that we love around us.”
That increased interest in home gardening is a gateway to larger engagement in the natural world and environmental restoration.
That mainstream news highlights when things go wrong, but “when something goes the way it's supposed to go, it isn't news, so we're never paying attention to how the natural world works or how communities function when they're going well and serving the people in them.”
That slowing down and staying in one place during the pandemic has encouraged us to pay attention to smaller things and gives “permission to love where I am in a very different way, as opposed to that being the backdrop and then real life happens elsewhere when I leave.”
That there is opportunity in the degraded landscapes throughout the world, including restoring the heartlands and rangelands of US.
That regenerative agriculture projects, such as by Commonland, give people reasons to stay or come back to the land. These include 4 Returns: of finance, of nature, of social capital or community well-being, and of inspiration.
That a connection to nature can happen anywhere, even a permaculture lesson around a city tree by a New York City sidewalk.

Resources

Book: “Cows Save The Planet” - Judith D. Schwartz (2013)
Book: “Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World” - Judith D. Schwartz (2019)
Book: “The Reindeer Chronicles” - Judith D. Schwartz (2020)
Commonland, Netherlands - restoration projects www.commonland.com

Connect with Judith D. Schwartz
Website: judithdschwartz.com
Twitter: twitter.com/judithdschwartz
Facebook: facebook.com/judith.d.schwartz

Follow WCPGR on Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhatCouldPossiblyGoRightPodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/postcarbon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postcarboninstitute/
Learn more: https://bit.ly/pci-wcpgrseries
***Join us in December for a special Zoom call with Vicki! When you donate any amount to support the show, we'll invite you to join a live, online call with Vicki on Thursday, December 10. ***

Support the show

Complete Show Notes