Episode 35: Landscapes - Animals Build Ecosystems with Simon Mustoe

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What if 50% of wildlife species are actually recovering—and no one's talking about it? Wildlife ecologist Simon Mustoe challenges the catastrophe narratives dominating conservation, revealing a radically different picture of what's happening on Earth.

In this Landscapes episode, Simon explores how animals don't just inhabit ecosystems—they build them. From whales fertilizing ocean food webs to elephants shaping forests, wildlife carries the cultural knowledge and behaviors that create the stability we depend on. He introduces the concept of the "air gap"—the space between our minds and Earth—and why floating brains that can move through landscapes make animals the builders of living systems.

Hosts Marti Spiegelman and Todd Hoskins dive deep with Simon into questions that challenge conventional thinking: What if the greatest obstacle to conservation is constant human intervention? What if "doing less" could achieve more? How do we shift from control to participation in the ecosystems we're part of?

The conversation weaves together original human wisdom and modern ecology, examining how collective knowing surpasses individual scientific prediction, why humans need to remember they're animals too, and what it means to let wildlife lead the restoration of our world.

Marti's Potentialities segment explores the power of awe as an evolutionary force—and why our linear minds trap us from experiencing the very rapture that could change everything.

Topics include: rewilding consciousness, the paradox of action versus awareness, Tom Brown Jr.'s teaching on sensory capacities, the Yaqui understanding of perception as the core of being human, and why dreaming about wildlife might be the truest sign you're connected to life.

Guest: Simon Mustoe, wildlife ecologist and author of How to Survive the Next 100 Years: Lessons From Nature and Wildlife in the Balance