If we ever had a genuine democracy (and I would argue we never have) then it is clearly disintegrating now, along with the entire system with which it was entwined. Everyone agrees we need something new, what we don’t necessarily agree on across the board is the design of this new thing. This week’s guests are two people who spend their lives imagining how things might be different, particularly in the US, where even the pretence of democracy has been abandoned.
When people have experienced ways to bring Power to those with Wisdom and Wisdom to those with Power, then they’ll work together to make it a reality at a larger scale.
Our legacy – or status quo – media is owned and run by billionaires for billionaires and the stories they promote are the ones that will keep us all in line. How do we shift the global narrative towards a future of mutual flourishing?
We are living through the death of democracy and the onset of Techno-Feudalism. But this is not a time when linear systems can hold and feudalism was nothing if not linear. So how can we be part of a transformative process that will let us lay the foundations for a future we’d be proud to leave behind?
Is it possible that 2024 might be the year of ‘Peak polarisation’? Audrey Tang certainly thinks so and in this wide-deep, mind-expanding conversation, we explore everything from the dual nature of AGI to the potential for liberational education that gives young people a sense of agency, interaction and the common good, to ways to rescue democracy to recipes for sound sleep.
As we head rapidly into biophysical and cultural collapse, how do we adapt and transform to the changing realities?
It occurs to me that we are now at an inflection point in the WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich and – notionally – Democratic) culture that has been so successful in destroying the ecosphere.
So where do we go from here?
How can we achieve total systemic change? And are there politicians anywhere who are ready to make it happen (in a way that supports the continuation of complex life on this planet, not the scorched-earth destruction of the right)?
The question of how we reshape democracy, walking the fine line between stagnation and populist rage – is the defining problem of our time – with a coherent strategy, we can shape anything. In its absence, we’re going to end up spinning in pointless circles, arguing about trivia while the world burns.
What are we being offered by the incoming Labour Government? What’s good in their Manifesto (spoiler alert, not very much)? What’s not good? What could be improved upon and how do we go about pushing them to a place where they actually do something useful that isn’t simply a repeat of the same-old, same-old we’ve had for the past decade and a half?
In this second election special, we talk to Natalie Bennett (or Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle if we’re going to be formal – but she said we didn’t need to be) – one of two Green Party members in the House of Lords. Natalie is author of the Book ‘Change Everything: How we can rethink, repair and rebuild society’ – one of the essential books of our time that outlines in detail how we can create the total systemic change we need.
Our first Election Special with Neal Lawson, director of the progressive campaign group, Compass, a long-time progressive campaigner and a tireless advocate for Proportional Representation as a vehicle for change. In this swift half hour, we look at the circumstances of this utterly unexpected election and at steps we can take between now and polling day with the aim of brining about what he calls a progressive ‘Pitch Invasion’ that will fundamentally upgrade and update the way we arrange our governance structures…