From What If to What Next

The second (Episode 102) of my rejuvenated and back-in-your-life podcast, 'From What If to What Next' features my conversation with the fabulous Solitaire Townsend. Following 2025's New York Climate Week online, the key thing that caught my attention was Solitaire standing up and boldly stating 'Fuck Doom'. She told Climate Week "Fuck the sad little "last generation" memes. Fuck climate being served up as clickbait. Fuck the guilt and grief shoved down our throats. Fuck waiting for the end of the world like it's a season finale". In my chair many miles away, I whooped in support. I wanted to find out more. Why does it matter so much that we come out fighting for a liveable future rather than resigning to collapse and disaster? It's a wonderful conversation that goes off in so many directions. In it we discuss her 'F*ck Doom' campaign, William Shakespeare, why she's just written a novel, and why climate activism needs to move beyond, in theatrical terms, 'Act One'. It's brilliant and rich.

It's deeply exciting to be able to present your first new episode of 'From What If to What Next' in almost 2 years. As the months have gone past, I've had a sense that there was more still to do, more conversations to be had. From the research I did for 'How to Fall in Love with the Future' and since, I've come across so many amazing people with stories that you read need to hear, with important things to say at this moment in time. The guest in our first return episode is the person I most wanted in all the 100 previous episodes, the wonderful Rasheedah Phillips, one half of Black Quantum Futurism. Her work is so hugely inspiring, if you haven't come across it already. I will be publishing these now once a month. I'd love to know what you think, your thoughts on this conversation.

Writer, educator, and poet Walidah Imarisha discusses non-linear time, radical imagination, and the transformative power of storytelling in envisioning a more just and equitable society. The conversation explores activism as time travel and the importance of collective care and connectivity in advocating for societal change.

On this, our 99th episode of 'From What If to What Next', we have the first episode in which both guests actually joined my physically in the studio! I was joined by Ruth Ben Tovim and Anne-Marie Culhane, both extraordinary practitioners of community arts and what they call 'the Art of Invitation'. I have learned so much from both of these extraordinary women. The question we dive deep into is "What if invitations to participate in civic life were creative and caring?". You are going to love this one. The video Ruth mentions about the 'Town Anywhere' exercise is here. In two weeks time, we hit Episode 100! Don't miss it. We have a VERY special guest, and also a big announcement or two. See you there

You're in for a bit of a treat here. In today's episode things are a little bit different: you usual Producer is your host, you usual host is a guest, we've woven some beautiful sound recordings into our episode to make it a sensory experience for you. Our other guest is Andrew Skeoch, sound recordist and author of the excellent book, Deep Listening to Nature. You can find his Listening Earth catalogue of nature soundscape albums here. This episode was such a joy to be part of, I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it, and I hope that you find yourself listening to the world around you with a deeper intensity.

Exploring alternatives to capitalism, guests discuss transitioning to a cooperative future, embracing purpose-driven service, reclaiming power and identity for Indigenous communities, advocating for economic transformation through education and policy reform, and promoting a 'Buffalo Economy' for inclusive economics.

Here in the UK, the Right to Roam has been pushed into the news headlines by the activities of Dartmoor landowner Alexander Darwall, who just announced that he is appealing the recent victory for campaigners who overturned the ban on wild camping that he brought in last year. His actions have triggered a beautifully colourful and well-supported campaign, and growing political support. This week we bring together Nadia Shaikh and Lewis Winks, both of whom campaign for a right to roam, to explore what it could actually be like to have a right to roam, how it would impact society, the natural world, and our collective ability to 'see things as if they could be otherwise'. It's a delightful conversation. Do excuse our not-quite-so-perfect-as-usual sound quality, our Producer Ben is away on holiday so we've had to improvise! And, as always, do let us know what you think... Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Dive into the concept of 'Protopian' thinking with futurist Monika Bielskyte. Explore a future focused on sustainability, equity, and peace in 2030. Embrace inclusivity in healthcare and redefine economic success. Imagine a world of utopian collaboration through massage therapy and interactive gaming. Learn about the importance of pro-topia over utopia or dystopia, and the influence of AI perceptions from sci-fi narratives. Navigate the complexities of achieving peace through critical thinking and nuanced understanding.

Season's greetings to you! Here is your special Christmas day episode, appropriately focusing on the theme of compassion. Our guests are Jared Seide and Dr Ann Seide, whose work on compassion is amazing. To find out more about Centre for Council, click here. You might also enjoy this film about their "Cops & Communities: Circling Up" program, this one about LAPD officers talking about working with "council huddles" and a presentation Jared and Ann did for a cohort of Law Enforcement leaders on compassion training for police officers. I really hope you love this episode, and thanks so much for your love and support of this podcast during 2023. Have a great festive season. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

As you'll have spotted by now, we're never ones to shy away from asking a good big bold What If question. This week we are diving into the question of how different things would be if we were to rethink the scale on which we operate, and were to root ourselves more closely in nature's own boundaries. The bioregional movement was a big thing in the 1990s and faded away a bit, but is now back with a bang, and we speak to two of its key proponents, Erika Zarate and Daniel Christian Wahl to find out more. How would bioregionalism going mainstream change the world and how we look at it? This is a fascinating deep dive, and I hope you love it. As always, do let me know what you think... thanks! Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.