Can you be collapse aware and still want kids? w/ Jem Bendell

In 2018 Professor Jem Bendell published an academic paper that went viral; pretty weird for a piece of scholarly writing. The topic? Societal collapse caused by runaway climate change. The timeline? Soon. Deep Adaptation presented a frank, delusion-free framework for facing the end of the world as we know it, sparked a movement, and copped a lot of flack.I wanted to chat with Jem not so much about the grim facts but about how, “as that collapse guy”*, he is filling his life with meaning at the eleventh hour. And it turns out, that includes becoming a farmer, writing folk songs and considering having kids.*Jem happily identifies as a doomster🎙️ In this convoExperiencing climate change first hand as a farmer in BaliHow to act on knowledge about collapse and climate?Making the leap towards your values (with the help of a global pandemic)Why the wellness community is full of shitFarming failsPicking up music at 48 and writing comedy rockFaulty beliefs we have about our creative giftsLiving fully at the eleventh hourLetting go of status and securityWhy it’s all ok when everything’s not okKirtan and ecospirituality practicesJem’s evolving views about how collapse will unfoldBringing kids into this world, yay or nay?The Deep Adaptation frameworkBecoming NURTURANTHow to help others through the griefJem’s simple pleasuresOracle cards for cynics🧙‍♀️LINKY POOSJem’s home on the web[paper] Deep Adaptation ~ Jem Bendell[book] Breaking Together ~ Jem BendellThe Metacrisis InitiativeJem’s collapse-aware oracle cardsJem’s musicSongbird credit: Australia Outback Birds by EduFigueres License: Attribution 4.0🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon 🧡

I tell a story about Jar Power before sitting down with Robin Greenfield, an incredible fella best known for his radical experiments in simple living, food reclamation, waste minimisation and wild foraging.He has been called “the Robin Hood of our times”, “the Forrest Gump of ecology”, and “the best kind of crazy”. To me, Robin is a torch bearer for truth, leading the way towards justice – with a whole lotta joy and integrity.This year he is eating 100% foraged foods – unreal! – so we chat about that, as well as:Why Robin is so gassyHow it feels to break free from the global industrial food systemWhy Robin is not into human optimisationPracticing non-attachment and impermanenceFreedom in communityWhat gives Robin the power to do crazy stuff?Non-delusionalismHow to identify your purpose and nicheThe most limiting factor in figuring out who you really arePursuing radical honestyRobin’s simple financesSkills + relationships = freedomTransition ethicsCompassionate communicationWhat IS foraging, really?All the foraging nuances you never thought about!How our language is built around disconnectionWhat would happen if everyone foraged?Joy as resistance🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOSRobin’s websiteRobin’s booksRobin on Instagram[book] Mark Boyle ~ The Moneyless Man🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon 🧡

Christie Green spends days at a time in the mountains, in the snow, tracking elk, solo. Her hunting journey began at 40 as a practical way to feed herself and her family, and became a fierce and fluid exploration of womanhood, motherhood, stewardship, intuition, listening and kinship. Christie wrote a memoir about her experiences called Moonlight Elk that I rapturously devoured, licking my fingertips with every turn of the page, it is that delicious. 🦌 Terrain covered:Life in Sante Fe, New MexicoHunting as a deep and embodied exploration of just about everything.Listening to other than human perspectives as a landscape architectDesigning for soil, water, animal, pollination; landscapes in service of wild natureLearning to hunt at 40Weaving values into businessHow to catch dreamsWhy would you want to hunt alone?Being an “other-centred” personFollowing desire and intuitionThe extreme paradox of loving and killingDefying categories and boxesAre there better and worse ways to hunt?Could and should everyone hunt?Communal local food relationshipsWalking in fear as a woman, as preyDreams as soul expressionWriting sex scenes that feature yourselfThe choiceless choice of creativity🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOSChristie’s home on the webChristie on InstagramGet your mitts on Moonlight Elk (note: you can buy it anywhere, or ask your library for copies)Moonlight Elk audiobookSelected essays by Christie Green🧡 Join the Reskillience community on Patreon 🧡Outro birdsong credit: Afro408 - License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

You’ve heard of swales… but what about swales in the brain to slow and deepen our human experience? Join me and Cecilia Macaulay for one of those special convos that gets to the heart of life’s gnarliest struggles; our biggest messes, our greatest failures, our everyday chaos… and uses permaculture design to harness their power.This episode will particularly chime with “forgetful, distractible” types, clutter accumulators, chaos agents, overwhelm junkies, and anyone with a hunch that a few elegant household systems could MASSIVELY increase their effectiveness in the world.WE COVERInsane wisdom from Bill MollisonMeeting Masanobu FukuokaThe FIVE RULES OF HARMONIOUS PERMIE SHAREHOUSESJapanese rules of Non-Complaint and Taking Full ResponsibilityGrowing an enduring permaculture spiritHow to become a world expert in a tiny little thingCreating a failure protocolUpward spiralsPermaculture for heartbreakBeing an effective human later in lifeMore than medication for neurodiversityThe connection between untidy houses and traumaMaking your kitchen sink a shrine to beauty and goodnessSetting a household culture using mirror neuronsThe eco-footprint of universitySTOP AWFULISING!Permaculture zones in the homeWhy to share what’s spareSTOP COLONISING CREATIVE VOID!Expanding the edges of our gifts and talentsBeautiful messcapesKnollingWhat “can’t be bothered” really codes forHow to use imagination to improve your memory🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOS 🧙‍♀️Cecilia’s home on the webCecilia’s nine month home harmonising projectThe Edible Balcony Garden ~ Indira NaidooSand Talk ~ Tyson YunkaportaScreen Zen AppWWOOF, HelpX & WorkawayPolyvagal theory🧡Join the Reskillience community on Patreon 🧡Thanks to kangaroovindaloo for the singing bowls: License: Attribution 4.0

Big personal shares at the top of the ep (preview: podcasting terrifies me) before an utterly delightful conversation with Scots folk singer Josie Vallely aka. Quinie.Quinie's album Forefowk, Mind Me was named The Guardian's best folk release of 2025, but don't worry if you're not into bagpipes because we mostly chat about:Not making your art your careerTips for slow art/seasonal living in a rushing worldThe mind bending differences between relating with Country in Australia versus ScotlandMinority languages and evocation of placeThe right to roamConfused white settler syndromeWhen you’re a cultural mongrelImpure ancestryPlace as a surrogate elderTradition in motionWhere do songs live?Journeying on horsebackHorses as bodyguardsWhy we all just want to be got🧙‍♀️LINKY POOSQuinie’s home on the webQuinie on Instagram[album] Forefowk, Mind Me ~ QuinieQuinie’s seasonal almanac ~ Things that happen every year in a cycle[film] Forefowk, Mind Me Guardian review of Quinie’s albumCover art photo credit: Anthony Rintoul🧡🧡🧡 Join the Reskillience community on Patreon 🧡🧡🧡

A garden drama unfolds during a heatwave, and I share my summer solstice/New Year wishes for you.Thanks for tuning into another year of Reskillience! We'll be back later in January full of fresh questions and custard. Shout out to my love Jordan Osmond for helping produce this episode.Sound credit: BlackbirdFiltered.wav by acclivity 🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon 🧡

Cor blimey, we're getting equiney! Cast aside your Saddle Club trauma and learn how horses can help us be better humans and stewards of nature in this rich convo with Lisa Podosin.Lisa is a horse listener, advocate and author who swapped Hollywood for a tiny home on shared land with a herd of seven horses. We get real deep on topics of:🐴 not putting off till retirement what you wanna do today🐴 choosing freedom over security at any age🐴 land sharing gifts and tips (single women supporting women!)🐴 how horses as prey animals reveal our inner misalignment🐴 moving beyond control-based strategies (bridles, saddles, whips) and towards trust🐴 how to be agents of liberation for both the more-than-human world and our own wild souls🐴 learning interspecies communication🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOS 🧙‍♀️Lisa’s home on the webPre-order Lisa’s book🧡🧡🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon (and join our December meetup) 🧡🧡🧡Thanks for the birdsong straget! Blackbird.wav by straget | License: Attribution 4.0

You want it, you got it: an open discussion about the cracks in our civilisation, and how to catch each other when it all falls apart.Dave Pollard has been writing about culture, complexity, deep ecology and collapse for longer than some of us have been alive. While he continues to cheer on radical ‘deep green’ activists, he no longer believes that that we can change or reform The System. This convo is about what to do instead.[first aired in 2023]🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOS 🧙‍♀️Dave's writingsDave’s recommended reading list ~ The Books That Have Influenced Me MostDave’s article ~ How Do We Teach the Critical Skills Needed to Face Collapse?Molly Housch Gordon's piece ~ How to Survive the End of The World[watch] The New Peasants by Happen Films

Could you live without money? No support payments, no savings account, no secret benefactors? Jo Nemeth has been doing so for the past decade, and reckons she is less stressed and more secure in her moneyless life (in which she shares a home with eight other humans and plays the role of house keeper/manager/grower/frugavore). This is a truly radical tale of a woman who went the whole hog and gave up the bacon 💰 to invest in relationships and reciprocity. We cover:What is poverty/wealth?Why live without money?Jo has no hope!Less money = more freedomWhy to be a home economistIssues in a nine person householdThe deliciousness of aligning your actions with your valuesMoneyless gift giving, cravings, medical and moreWaste food seagull modeReceiving is harrrrdKids + collapseOn taking care of thingsCollapse prioritiesGrowing locally adapted food🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOS 🧙‍♀️Jo’s home on the webJo on Instagram ~ @jolowimpactJo in the GuardianMark Boyle ~ The Moneyless Man + The Way HomeEaarth ~ Bill McKibbenLuke Kemp ~ Goliath’s CurseArtist As FamilyThe Art of Frugal Hedonism ~ Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam GrubbThe really really free marketJust CollapseSound credits: first raven, flock of ravens.🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon 🧡

I tell a story about becoming a gardening influencer before sharing an animated and long-awaited conversation with David Trood aka. The Weedy Gardener!  Weedy, Jord and I discuss:🌱 Creative land access🌱 Body as compost🌱 Hearing nature's call🌱 Being an eye cell for humanity🌱 Showing your failures🌱 Why to love the small stuff🌱 The all important nutrient cycle🌱 Decomposing cane toad🌱 Pest management, the Viking way🌱 Rhizophagy🌱 Nitty gritty on why organic produce is healthier🌱 From grandpa bod to garden god🌱 Weedy Garden Makeovers🌱 Sacred social media spaces🌱 Why garden?🧙‍♀️ LINKY POOS 🧙‍♀️The Weedy Garden on YouTubeThe Weedy Garden online🧡 Support Reskillience on Patreon 🧡