Communication is not what sets humans apart. All life communicates, and at a level sufficient to its survival. Animal and even plant communication are, in fact, highly sophisticated. But what makes humans different is symbols - letters and words that can be arranged in the self-referential sets we call language. Using symbols, we can detach communication from its direct relation to things present around us. We can speak with one another about things not here and now. We can tell stories. Tradition, myth, history, culture - these are storage systems for knowledge, and they are all products of the symbol. And the use of symbols is something we have not seen outside our own species. - Dr. Ha Nguyen [from Ray Nayler's novel The Mountain in the Sea. Picador, 2022: 75]
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Challenger, Melanie. "Animals in the Room: Why We Can and Should Listen to Other Species." Emergence Magazine Podcast (2022) ["How might our human systems work differently if they were adapted to receive input from the nonhuman creatures they involve and impact? In this week’s narrated essay, writer and ethicist Melanie Challenger considers what it would take to expand the democratic imagination to include and represent animal voices in the decisions that affect them. Advocating for a quieting of our own narratives so that we might recognize political signals from the behaviors of the vast community around us, she envisions the revolutionary mechanisms which could make present the expressions of animals within our systems of power."]
Dorian, MJ. "Creativity Tip 23: Be Driven By A Vision." Creative Codex #23 (March 26, 2024) ["All creative geniuses have visions throughout their lives which guide their work. What does it mean to have a vision? How does a vision differ from a goal? How do you discover your own vision? Let's talk about it. This insight developed from recent studies and reflections I've been engaged in, it is part of my current attempt to define creative genius through several traits which all creative geniuses seem to share. In searching through all of the insights gathered over five years of doing this show, I've noticed that all of the figures we have covered have a vision which, in some way, guides their creativity."]
Holland, Tom and Dominic Sandbrook. "Luther: The Man Who Changed the World (Part 1)." The Rest is History (March 24, 2024) ["The Reformation, launched in 1517, stands as one of the most convulsive and transformative events of all time, shattering Christendom and dividing Europe for centuries. Its outcome determined the fates of Kings and Emperors, and saw the souls of millions consigned to the fiery pit of heresy. The man behind it all was Martin Luther, a humble monk of obscure origins. Bold, intellectually arrogant, and a master of spin, the assault he unleashed on the medieval Church had him excommunicated by the Pope. But what was it about Luther’s humble upbringing in Saxony and his strained relationship with his intimidating father that led him down a path of insolence? And was the religious revolution that he sparked inevitable? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the early life of Martin Luther, the apocalyptic environment from which he and his radical ideas emerged, and the Catholic Church he would come to take on…"]
Katz, Sandor. "Fermentation as Metaphor: A Conversation." Emergence Magazine Podcast (October 22, 2020) ["In this interview, Sandor Katz discusses his new book, Fermentation as Metaphor. A world-renowned expert in fermented foods, Sandor considers the liberating experience offered through engagement with microbial communities. He shares that the simple act of fermentation can give rise to deeply intimate moments of connection through the magic of invisible forces that transform our foods and our lives, generation by generation."]
Laycock, Joseph. "Late Night With the Devil Reflects The Role of Talk Shows in Sensationalizing the Satanic Panic of the 1980s." Religion Dispatches (March 26, 2024) ["Despite its supernatural premise, Late Night with the Devil is a work of realism. Most of the characters and events in the film are references to actual figures from 1970s occulture. It also reflects on the way that talk shows became a vector through which rumors of Satanic cults spread, fueling the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. As described in my book The Exorcist Effect, filming a live exorcism was a goal of network news media for two decades."]
Meagher, Kevin. "The Future of Ireland: Why a United Ireland is Inevitable." The Future of ... (January 17, 2024) ["In A United Ireland: Why Unification in Inevitable and How It Will Come About (Biteback Publishing, 2017), Kevin Meagher argues that a reasoned, pragmatic discussion about the most basic questions regarding Britain's relationship with its nearest neighbour is now long overdue, and questions that have remained unasked, and perhaps unthought, must now be answered. Indeed, in the light of Brexit and a highly probable second independence referendum in Scotland, the reunification of Ireland is not a question of if, but when and how. Listen to Meagher explain to Owen Bennett Jones why he thinks a united Ireland is inevitable and how he thinks it will happen. Kevin Meagher was a Special Adviser to former Labour Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward. He is the associate editor of the Labour Uncut blog and frequently writes about Irish politics for the New Statesman."]
Rohr, Richard. "Growing Up Men." On Being (June 13, 2019) ["Men of all ages say Richard Rohr has given them a new way into spiritual depth and religious thought through his writing and retreats. This conversation with the Franciscan spiritual teacher delves into the expansive scope of his ideas: from male formation and what he calls “father hunger” to why contemplation is as magnetic to people now, including millennials, as it’s ever been. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan writer, teacher, and the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His many books include Falling Upward, Divine Dance, and most recently, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe."]
Roshi, Susan Murphy. "Earth as Koan, Earth as Self." Emergence (April 1, 2024) ["What becomes possible when we open and orient our consciousness towards uncertainty, emptiness, and a sense of relationship with the world beyond the self? Australian writer and Zen teacher Susan Murphy Roshi immerses us in the tradition of Zen koan and the power of the not-knowing mind to open a treasury of resources for navigating the climate crisis."]
Solloway, Jack. "How to Be Original." Bloomsbury Visual Arts (June 2024) ["It’s a truism that art is not created in a vacuum and that artists are always indebted to a wider community of creators and facilitators in the industry which provides the conditions for their work. Yet when something is truly original and singular in its execution, it is undeniably so. How can this be? In this featured content, we examine originality, its myths and characteristics, as well the dance between inspiration and influence in creating original artwork."]
West, Stephen. "The Buddha." Philosophize This! #9 (November 10, 2013) ["... the life of Siddhartha Gautama and his Heisenberg-esque transformation into Buddha. We learn how Buddha left a lifestyle of being fed grapes and being fanned with palm leaves to pursue a life of celibacy, starvation, and sleep deprivation. We also learn about how Buddha reached enlightenment while sitting beneath a fruit tree à la Isaac Newton, and about the four noble truths which he believed were the key to ending human suffering once and for all. "]
Yunkaporta, Tyson. "Deep Time Diligence." Emergence (February 19, 2024) ["Aboriginal scholar and author Tyson Yunkaporta illustrates how deep time thinking, born of an intimate relationship between a place and its community, can radically reshape our relationship to the cosmic order."]
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