Adventures in Nutopia

Biomimicry, the science of learning from nature's genius, is helping us in areas as diverse as architecture, pollution, air conditioning, clothing, robotics, fire-resistant materials, flooding and leadership. The internet of animals is a vast, ever-growing network of data provided by mini-transmitters on everything from bees and birds to rodents and bats. It is providing us with a better understand the natural world. Through biomimicry and the internet of animals we'll discover how trees, limpets, pine cones, bats, sharks, spider webs, birds, beavers and termites – to name but a few – are helping us re-shape our world for the better. With Nicola Peel and Martin Wikelski Nicola Peel https://www.nicolapeel.com/ https://www.thewillowslakesideretreat.com/ Martin Wikelski www.ab.mpg.de/585424/the-internet-of-animals www.nasa.gov/nasa-earth-exchange-nex/new-missions-support/internet-of-animals/

Science has long wrestled with what is known as 'the hard problem' – how did consciousness arise out of matter? But what if we've been approaching the problem wrong, all this time? Thanks to some of the world's leading philosophers, neuroscientists and psychedelic researchers, this consciousness-expanding episode delves into panpsychism, the theory that mind is a fundamental property of the universe. Along the way we'll discuss psychedelic experiences, why we won't be downloading our minds onto a floppy disc any time soon and how panpsychism could even be good for our mental health. With Anil Seth, Philip Goff, Peter Sjoestedt-Hughes, Mark Vernon and Hedda Hassel Mørch. https://www.anilseth.com/ https://philipgoffphilosophy.com https://www.philosopher.eu/ https://www.markvernon.com/ https://heddahasselmorch.com/

For the Greeks and other ancient cultures, animals played a key role in the diagnosis and healing of humans. In this episode we'll learn just how much animals are medicine to us, psychologically and physically, and explore the idea that certain things what we think of as being quintessentially human – morality, ethics, game-playing etc – may even have been taught to us by animals. We'll also take a deep dive into the behaviour of animals in our own woodland environments and what they can teach us, and learn that some of our two, four, six and eight-legged friends are capable of undertaking palliative care of dying humans, recognising diseases like cancer and appear to have their own rituals of bereavement and awe. With Jay Griffiths, David Hadrill and Tristan Gooley Tristan Gooley www.naturalnavigator.com Jay Griffiths www.jaygriffiths.com

In this episode we meet those who are putting anarchism into action through community building, including the founders of Doncaster's A Commune in the North and Bristol's Rockaway Park. We'll learn about Three Acres and a Cow, a theatre show which teaches audiences about land rights and we'll go on a special adventure with Chumbawamba's Dunstan Bruce. We begin however, on the outskirts of Sheffield to visit Edward Carpenter's century-old queer, anarchist, socialist, feminist, vegetarian, nudist, sandal-wearing utopian retreat known as Milthorpe and which scandalised the local vicar. With Robin Gray and Katherine Hallewell from theatre show Three Acres and a Cow, Chumbawamba's Dunstan Bruce, Warren Draper and Cath Muller from A Commune in the North, author Sally Goldsmith and Mark Wilson and Marta Jachimowicz from Rockaway Park. Sally Goldsmith https://salgoldsmith.wordpress.com/ Three Acres and a Cow https://threeacresandacow.co.uk/ Dunstan Bruce on Bandcamp https://allthemadmenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/interrobang Warren and Cath at A Commune in the North https://www.acommuneinthenorth.org.uk https://bentleyurbanfarm.com/ Rockaway Park https://www.rockawaypark.co.uk/

'I am an anarchist! I am an antichrist!' sang the Sex Pistols' butter-loving John Lydon in 1976. But, as we'll discover in the first of this two-parter, anarchism has far more to do with allotments, lifeboats, mutual aid, self-organising and inclusivity than it does with nihilism and destruction. Thanks to our guests we will explode some of the misconceptions around anarchism, learn its key principles, consider whether it needs a rebrand and discover that most of us, at heart, adhere to many of its principles. With Robin Gray and Katherine Hallewell from the theatre show Three Acres and a Cow, Chumbawamba's Dunstan Bruce, Warren Draper and Cath Muller from A Commune in the North and Anarchism author Carissa Honeywell. Robin Gray and Katherine Hallewell threeacresandacow.co.uk Dunstan Bruce allthemadmenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/interrobang Warren and Cath at A Commune in the North https://www.acommuneinthenorth.org.uk bentleyurbanfarm.com Carissa Honywell https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=anarchism--9781509523900

A brief hello and news that work on Series Four is underway.

John Lloyd was producer for TV's Spitting Image, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and all four series of Blackadder. He is the creator of the News Quiz on Radio 4 and BBC2's iconoclastic comedy series Not the Nine O Clock News. He is the host of Radio 4's Museum of Curiosity and creator of the long-running TV comedy panel show QI. He even once shared a flat with Douglas Adams. John has won numerous awards for his work and has a happy, stable loving relationship and three children. Despite this, he has struggled with depression and in his early forties experienced a long dark night of the soul, out of which he came to some profound revelations. In this extra topping to conclude series three John shares his wisdom and ignorance on life, the universe and everything. With guest John Lloyd

Alan Watts, a captivating entertainer philosopher and esteemed expert on Eastern philosophy, shares his insights on the playful nature of existence and the illusion of success. He critiques traditional views of societal achievement, encouraging listeners to seek deeper fulfillment. Watts explores the significance of interconnectedness, urging awareness of polarities in life. Through anecdotes, he highlights the importance of viewing life as a dance, promoting compassion amidst societal divides and championing the beauty of imagination in our personal narratives.

Search Google for the 'most intelligent' people who ever lived and the names most commonly thrown up are Galileo, Da Vinci, Einstein, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawkin. All men, all western, all united by their contributions to science. Why is our idea of intelligence so skewed? How did IQ come to be our standard measure for intelligence? Is there a deep intelligence in the more-than-human world of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria? What about AI? Or politicians? Big questions for one episode but with the help of an eminent guests, James Bridle, Emma Kilbey and QI's John Lloyd – none of whose IQs we could give two hoots about – let's see what we can uncover. With guests Emma Kilbey, Sir John Lloyd and James Bridle https://www.qi.com/ www.jamesbridle.com https://www.emmakilbey.com/

Lucy Cooke's Bitch tells a wildly different story of reproduction, gender and sexual habits in the animal kingdom to those passed down to us by Darwin, Dawkins and other highly influential male scientists. Bitch challenges outdated preconceptions and biases around the female of the species being sexually coy, monogamous and passive and males being sexually dominant and promiscuous. It also challenges broader expectations around male and female roles and why binary ways of looking at the world and ourselves are increasingly being challenged. David meets up with zoologist, broadcaster and author Lucy Cooke in a woodland in Sussex to talk birdsong, bonobos, same sex parenting, sex changing fish, menopausal whales, parthenogenesis and murderous meerkats. Trigger warning: this episode contains discussions about vomit bubbles and sexual cannibalism. With guest Lucy Cooke http://www.lucycooke.tv/