Adventures in Nutopia

Welcome to Nutopia, a documentary-style series exploring radical ideas, new myths and social movements for a positive future shaped by collectivism, re-enchantment, sustainability, ecology, holistic thinking, creativity, magic and compassion. Don’t worry about po-faced beard-stroking: there’s plenty of mischief, weirdness and fun to be had. Written and presented by Sony award-winning broadcaster David Bramwell. Gratitude to our friends at Journey to Nutopia and huge thank yous to our generous sponsors the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and Hawkwood College.

Extra Topping - The Wisdom and Ignorance of John Lloyd 11/05/2024

Extra Topping - The Wisdom and Ignorance of John Lloyd 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 /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229932

The Wiggly World of Alan Watts 10/29/2024

The Wiggly World of Alan Watts The self-styled entertainer philosopher Alan Watts wrote his first book on Zen in 1936 when only nineteen and grew to become a world expert on Eastern philosophy. A prolific author, public speaker and radio presenter he wrote over twenty books, gave hundreds of public lectures and sought out a life in which (in his own words) he could ‘swing’. Watts had a rare genius for expressing with clarity and humour complex and challenging ideas about reality and how we came to relate to the world in the way that we do. In this episode, AIN’s David Bramwell explores Watts’ fondness for seeing the universe as essentially playful, and asks the question: had Watts been alive today, what words of wisdom he might have had for our culture wars, our divisive political leaders and how to find compassion and understanding in times of conflict. With special thanks to Mark Watts for kind permission to use the archive footage of the late Alan Watts for this episode. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229927

Smarter Than the Average Bear? 10/22/2024

Smarter Than the Average Bear? 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 /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229897

Deadlier Than the Male 10/15/2024

Deadlier Than the Male 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 /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229877

Where is My Mind? 10/08/2024

Where is My Mind? Is mind contained within us, or us within it? When it comes to what science calls ‘the hard problem’, we still have no understanding about the nature of consciousness. That it could be a field, rather than isolated within us, might explain what appear to be the group minds of termites, ants and bees or the pulsating murmurations of starling. It could even help explain the pervasive global practise of prayer and magic, and non-contact forms of healing like Reiki. This episode is not setting out to prove or disprove the existence of a field of consciousness but – in the Nutopian spirit of enquiry – to offer a voice to a variety of individuals and scientists doing pioneering work in consciousness studies.. For the making of this episode our intrepid presenter spent a week at Broughton Sanctuary for an event called Science and Consciousness: Making Wyrd the Norm. Here he learned the fascinating history of thought experiments at Princeton and Northampton Universities, tries his hand at remote viewing and meets Wyrd Experience founder Peter Merry. With guests Jeff Dunne, Peter Merry, Karin Valis, Annette Grathoff, Chris Roe, David Luke, Kirsty Allan and John Lloyd Peter Merry ICRL (Jeff Dunne) Kirsty Allan David Luke Karin Valis /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229872

S3 Appetiser - Keeping it Random 10/01/2024

S3 Appetiser - Keeping it Random Alan Turin’s ‘automatic machine’ remains the blueprint for nearly all of our modern computer systems. In an early paper however Turin wrote: ‘of course another type of machine is possible. This is the Oracle Machine and I will not speak of that.' Our guest for this mini episode however, will. James Bridle is the author of Ways of Being and an artist whose work deals with the ways in which the digital, networked world reaches into the physical, offline one. James shares their thoughts on why computers can’t do random and what our computers of the future might look like. We also touch on the role that randomness play in evolution and how it can radicalise our political systems. With James Bridle and special guest ORAC /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/33229867

Series Two Extra Topping: The Mangled Ones 11/14/2023

Series Two Extra Topping: The Mangled Ones In S2E1 we met Rogan Taylor, author of The Death and Resurrection Show a book which traces a path from popular entertainment to the darkened yurts of our nomadic ancestors. After writing this book Rogan went on to pioneer the world’s first post-graduate ‘football’ degree and write many books on the subject. During our conversation he talked about football in relation to myth, ritual, suffering and community. It’s a unique and fascinating perspective on the sport that will stay with you. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/28632273

The Healing Power of Sound 10/20/2023

The Healing Power of Sound Are our listening habits changing? What effects can sounds like drones and sine tones have on us physically and emotionally? Can we imagine a future in which we might receive audio prescriptions for wellbeing? Why does music played badly make us laugh? Does beetroot really taste better if serenaded with sound? And what might the national anthem of Nutopia sound like? With guests Richard Norris, Paul Devereux, Fiona Miller, Jude Rogers, David Velez and Harry Sword. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/28166945

The Poetry of the Night 10/13/2023

The Poetry of the Night Our ancestors invested great importance in the power of dreams. Across traditional, indigenous and pre-industrialised cultures – including the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians – they were an integral part of the healing process and a tool for divination. So why do most of us give so little consideration to them now? What is hypnagogia? What techniques can help us lucid dream? What might precognitive dreams tell us about the nature of time? This episode dives into the poetic realms of dreams and even offers insomnia sufferers fresh advice on how to get a better night’s kip. With guests Sarah Janes, Gary Lachman, Philip Carr-Gomm and Kate Alderton. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/28166924

Less is More 10/06/2023

Less is More If our capitalist economic model of perpetual growth was presented as a myth it would read something like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. As for our economic unit of measure, in a speech in 1968 Robert Kennedy described GDP as ‘measuring everything except that which is worthwhile’. Are there economic models out there that might allow for a paradigm shift from the need for constant growth to a system that is more sustainable, regulated, and nurturing of life? In this episode David attempts to get his head around doughnut economics, de-growth and how our financial systems might be radically reimagined. With guests Sir Tim Smit, Kate Raworth, David Barmes, Timothee Parrique, Inez Aponte and Sara Osterholzer. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/28166912

Ghosts of the Medicine Show 09/29/2023

Ghosts of the Medicine Show As the lights dim and performers take to the stage, is it mere escapism for us or is there something deeply profound about our need to be entertained? Why do we get so fanatical and idolatrous about musicians and film stars, wanting them to be something more than us mere mortals? Might the whole entertainment industry have learned its trade from an ancient shamanic journey of the soul known to some as the death and resurrection show? With guests Rogan Taylor, journalist Jude Rogers, Dr. Marissa Carnesky, Kris Hughes/drag queen Maggi Noggi and magician Paul Zenon. @judgerogers /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/28166900

Series Two Appetiser with the Eden Project’s Tim Smit 06/12/2023

Series Two Appetiser with the Eden Project’s Tim Smit While Series Two edges a little closer to completion here’s a short appetiser serving up some words of wisdom from The Eden Project’s founder, who we’ll meet properly in a future episode. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/27118053

Series One extra topping with comedian George Egg 02/14/2023

Series One extra topping with comedian George Egg Comedian and ‘anarchist chef’ George Egg was planned for inclusion in Series One but we just couldn’t work out where to put him. So instead he gets a mini episode all of his own exploring his own concept of snack-hacking, sharing ways of being creative with ‘scraps’ and demonstrating how to cook a full meal in such unlikely places as a hotel room and garden shed. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/25923843

Medicine for the Soul 12/05/2022

Medicine for the Soul While western medicine excels at repairs and crisis management it remains, for many, too mechanical and reductive in its approach to important issues such as mental health, diet and lifestyle. With health practitioner Peter Deadman and Dr Laura Marshall Andrews we’ll explore new (and very old) alternative approaches to health, from social prescription to the Chinese system of yangsheng and the magic of tea. We’ll also meet tech pioneer Sarah Ticho, championing the use of VR for tackling our phobias and anxieties. Warning: this episode contains giant spiders. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/25222839

Come On, Pilgrim 11/28/2022

Come On, Pilgrim In 2019 artist Daisy Campbell led 69 seekers on a pilgrimage from the Cerne Giant to CERN in Switzerland and back. Their intention? To ‘immanentise the eschaton.’ David was there to see them off, dressed in a gold robe for a ritual to awaken the sleeping giant. Why did they do it? Did they succeed? What is the eschaton? Daisy shares the full adventure and the processes involved in creating a pilgrimage from scratch. We’ll also meet scientist Rupert Sheldrake and Guy Hayward of the British Pilgrimage Trust to learn about more traditional forms of pilgrimage and why there has been such a huge resurgence of interest in them. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/25146552

Ritualised 11/21/2022

Ritualised We delve into the nature of rituals, why they’re important and how to create our own meaningful ones. With chief druid of Anglesey Kristoffer Hughes we’ll learn about the power of death rituals and the pagan eightfold wheel of the year; we’ll experience the May Day ritual of Jack in the Green in Hastings, spend a night with musician Sam Lee singing with nightingales and end with a discussion of the film with the most chilling ritualistic finale ever: The Wicker Man. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/25082550

It Came from the Ground 11/14/2022

It Came from the Ground Recorded live at the agro-ecology festival Groundswell, this episode explores different ways that we could be radicalising global agriculture and reversing biodiversity loss through regenerative farming, hemp, mob grazing, the no-till movement and precision fermentation. Donning wellies, sun hat and a nose peg for a dung beetle safari, along the way David meets Farmerama Podcast creator Abi Rose, Regenesis author George Monbiot and ecofarmer and publisher Daphne Astor. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/24999078

The Map is Not the Territory 11/07/2022

The Map is Not the Territory What makes people fall for conspiracy theories like QAnon? Is it possible to ‘change’ our minds? Might the idea of reality tunnels be the single most important thing to teach the next generation? Counter-culture philosopher Robert Anton Wilson certainly thought so, as do our guests: authors John Higgs, Journey to Nutopia co-founder Michelle Olley and theatre director Daisy Campbell. With their help we’ll reveal experiments to challenge our own belief systems, learn more about Robert Anton Wilson and discover why it’s best to keep a set of false teeth in your back pocket. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/24926802

New Myths to Live By 10/31/2022

New Myths to Live By If myths are the means by which we make sense of ourselves and the world around us, how did we become so fixated on stories and systems built around greed, selfishness and competition? How did we come to perceive nature as an unintelligent machine, a mere resource to be plundered? With the help of philosopher Alan Watts we’ll unpick the past two thousand years before meeting guests George Monbiot, Jeremy Lent, mythologist Sharon Blackie and non-binary artist Brooke Palmieri, to learn about some of the most exciting and innovative ideas and movements and myths – from Ecological Civilisation to The Commons – that just might help guide us into a more networked, inclusive and sustainable future. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/24851124

Trailer 10/11/2022

Trailer Adventures in Nutopia is a documentary-style series exploring new stories, movements, myths and ideas to help steer us into a more inclusive, networked and ecological future. In Nutopia all are welcome. We’re just as excited to share the ideas of pagans, panpsychists and psychedelic pioneers as we are of scientists, economists and cognitive historians. Though, if we’re honest, we do find the pomposity of men like Richard Dawkins a bit of a drag and may prefer to pack them off to clown school first. Mixing guest interviews with experiments, field trips and live performances we’ll delve into such themes as community, re-enchantment, sustainability, ecology, creativity, magick, doughnut economics, psychedelia, the healing power of sound, narrative-based medicine and discordianism. We’ll explore the origins of the myths that shaped western thinking, the concept of reality tunnels, agro-ecology, the pioneering work with VR for mental health, precession fermentation, Ecological Civilisation, The Commons, the Eightfold Wheel of the Year and the resurgence of interest in pilgrimage and ritual. And don’t worry about po-faced beard-stroking: there’s plenty of mischief, fun and weirdness to be had. Gratitude and support goes out to our friends at Journey to Nutopia for their role in our provenance. Nutopia was established by John and Yoko in 1973 as a place with no boundaries. Its international anthem is four seconds of silence. This podcast is made with the generous support of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and Hawkwood College of Future Thinking. /episode/index/show/bedea5a6-d410-43a5-9aec-4a409bca90f2/id/24651405

Adventures in Nutopia

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