The AskNature Podcast

Sound design and composer duo, Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray, adapt life's principles and bridge biology with sound design to create the sonic layers and music you heard during each episode of season 1 of the AskNature Podcast. Hosted by Senior Producer Ayoade Balogun. Let us know what you thought of Season 1! Like feedback loops in the adaptive cycle found in nature, your feedback will inform the future of this project and offering, helping us understand what we can learn from both nature and you. Tell us your thoughts, here: AskNature.org/survey

To close our inaugural season, engineer and biomimic Gamelihle (Gama) Sibanda takes us on a journey from his formative years in Zimbabwe to using the architectural wisdom of ants and termites to solve real-world flooding crises. Tune in to episode 6 to explore how one can take a childhood curiosity of observing insects and turn it into a global engineering framework, bringing together Indigenous knowledge, biomimicry, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.  -- Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor.Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray.Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun.The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute.What will you AskNature next?

If we asked nature, what would it teach us about the true meaning of community, democracy, and technology? As we AskNature for balance in a digital age of rapid AI and cascading climate crises, storyteller, author, and host Baratunde Thurston invites us to transition from a story of isolated extraction to a declaration of interdependence. “How do we remember our belonging to each other and to the Earth?” – Baratunde Thurston Tune in to Episode 5 of the AskNature Podcast to explore what it means to step away from techno-fascism, and learn how to citizen as true, interconnected citizens of the Earth. Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor. Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray. Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun. The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute. What will you AskNature next?

As we AskNature for nature positive solutions to climate resilient design, author and designer Julia Watson challenges us to look beyond high tech fixes and embrace the multi generational genius of LO-TEK infrastructure. "I’m really interested in exploring:  How is contemporary technology interacting or intersecting with ancestral knowledge systems to create new forms of technologies that we've never seen before?" – Julia Watson Tune in to Episode 4 of the AskNature Podcast to travel from the 6,500 year old floating reed islands of Iraq to the potential that indigenous knowledge carries for designing the infrastructures of contemporary cities.Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor.Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray.Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun.The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute.?What will you AskNature next?

If we asked nature, what would it reveal about the landscapes we walk through every day? “Every single shape, every color we see is a solution to a certain problem” – Tristan Gooley As we AskNature to help us read the clues and signs of the more than human world, natural navigator Tristan Gooley reminds us that nothing in nature is random and everything is connected. Tune in to Episode 3 of the AskNature Podcast to unpack the two pillars of wayfinding and learn how a simple five minute walk can unlock your brain's evolutionary potential. Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor. Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray. Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun. The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute. What will you AskNature next?

We have the knowledge that we need to change our worldview, and yet we don't change. What's the missing piece? “It may seem simplistic to say, ‘Well, what we need is a different story.’ But what is it that has changed and guided us through history? It's stories. I can say, ‘I am going to live as if the world is a gift for which I need to be grateful, for which I need to reciprocate, for whom I am accountable.’ And if I change my mind, I can align my behaviors with that story.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer As we AskNature for guidance through today's climate uncertainty, Robin Wall Kimmerer joins us to explore cultural biomimicry and the braiding of western science with traditional ecological knowledge.Learn more about Plant Baby Plant, a new grassroots movement led by Robin, at plantbabyplant.com. As Robin encourages in the episode: Raise a garden, and raise a ruckus! Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor. Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray. Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun. The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute. What will you AskNature next?

What is the design intent of our lives? Janine Benyus and Christiana Figueres open the series in conversation about biomimicry, belonging, and what it actually means to live in relationship with the rest of the natural world. "What is the design intent of our actions, of our words, of our thoughts? If we can be much more mindful about that, much more thoughtful and frankly much more loving in how we operate, we would have a different world." — Christiana Figueres "That personal relationship with the rest of the natural world can be cultivated. We are not too far gone from it at all." — Janine Benyus Systems change, it turns out, starts personally. This episode will shift how you think about the relationship between nature, design, and the choices you make every day. As we AskNature for guidance through today’s climate and social crises, Janine Benyus and Christiana Figueres remind us that we also need to have the humility to listen. --- Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor.Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray.Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun.The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute. Episode 1 premieres on May 27th.What will you AskNature next?  

At a time of unprecedented ecological and social challenges, people across regions, industries, and movements are asking: what happens when we look to nature to guide our way forward? The AskNature Podcast explores that question and the revolutionary answers it yields—bringing together diverse voices to uncover nature-inspired strategies for resilience, innovation, and systemic change. Season 1 focuses on the exponential impact we can have by reconnecting with the rest of nature, with guests Janine Benyus, Christiana Figueres, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Baratunde Thurston, Tristan Gooley, and Julia Watson. Hosted by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, and Andrew Howley, Chief Editor. Sound design and music composition by Simon Thomas George and Lucas Murray. Senior producer is Ayoade Balogun. The AskNature Podcast is a project of The Biomimicry Institute. Episode 1 premieres on May 27th. What will you AskNature next?