Rob Hopkins

When was the last time you read a book cover to cover? And if you are still able to do this, do you feel you read in the same way you did, say, 20 years ago? How is the decline in our collective attention span affecting our ability to read and, by extension, our collective capacity for knowledge, wisdom and art? What do we lose when we lose our ability to focus? This was such a fascinating conversation, with two people who have given this question a great deal of thought. Maryanne Wolf is a scholar, a teacher, and an advocate for children and literacy around the world. She is the Director of the newly created Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Previously she was the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service and Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. She is the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Dyslexia, Fluency, and the Brain Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century and most recently of the brilliant Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. Sven Birkerts defines himself as an essayist, a teacher of writing, and the editor of a literary journal at Boston University called AGNI. He started out as a book reviewer, which led him into becoming a writer of essays and memoirs. In 1994 he wrote ‘The Guthenberg Elegies’, which explored the demise of reading and the rise of digital culture. It’s a phenomenal book. Then, in 2015, he wrote ‘Changing the Subject’, an update on his relationship with digital media, and a powerful cry for the importance of attention and imagination in a time where both appear to be waning. More recently he has become, as he puts it, “kind of obsessed, both in a very literal ‘get and out and do it’ way, but also thinking about it, by taking photographs. With his phone. As he puts it, “It has become a little fixation of some sort that has me thinking a lot about how we take in the world and what we keep and what serves us, and what is artistic and what isn’t”. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. I interviewed him previously as part of the research for 'From What Is to What If'. This was such a great discussion. I hope you love it. Do let me know what you think. And thanks as always to Ben Addicott for theme music and production.

Welcome to Episode 23 of our journey together into the imagination and into the powers of What If. Today we are looking at street art. Street art has stood alongside the fight for climate justice, the Black Lives Matter revolution, and pretty much every mass uprising for change through history. But is it just decoration? Or does it have the power to deeply shift a culture? To fire the collective imagination? And what if it was everywhere? I am joined today by two incredible, insightful, passionate masters of this particular artform. Ghanaian-born artist Tijay Mohammed combines his work as an artist, with numerous accolades and residencies, as well as working with the diverse communities he surrounds himself with. He lives in the Bronx, New York, and was one of the artists who created the huge Black Lives Matter mural in that city. He also maintains a studio in Ghana which serves as a sanctuary for visiting artists to interact with local residents, promoting multicultural dialogue through story circles and art workshops, a source of motivation for him in both his studio and teaching practice. Favianna Rodriguez is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and social justice activist based in Oakland, California. Her art and praxis address migration, gender justice, climate change, racial equity, and sexual freedom. Her practice boldly reshapes the myths, stories, and cultural practices of the present, while healing from the wounds of the past. Her work serves as a record of her human experiences as a woman of color embracing joy, sexual pleasure and personal transformation through psychedelics as an antidote to the life-long impacts of systemic racism. She is the co-founder and president of The Center for Cultural Power, a national organization igniting change at the intersection of art, culture and social justice. Both are phenomenal, and I am so grateful they were able to find the time to join me. I hope you love this discussion. Do please let me know what you thought of it, using the comments box below. My thanks to you for supporting this podcast, to my guests, and to Ben Addicott for production and theme music. Join me next week when Favianna and Tijay join me in the Ministry of Imagination....

Welcome to Episode 22 of 'From What If to What Next'. This week we are exploring failure. More precisely, what if we were able to create a culture in which failure is embraced, celebrated even, rather than feared, avoided or ridiculed? What would society look like if we embraced failure in politics, education, economics and everyday life, indeed if we learned from a young age that failure was just as important as success? There's a great What If question to stretch your imagination... My two guests have so many great insights into failure and its importance. Social visionary, entrepreneur and thought leader Simon Cohen strives to make the world a happier and more fulfilled place—he is uniquely placed as the individual who gave away his £1m company, Global Tolerance. A champion for media ethics, social justice and values, he expounds his wisdom as an international keynote speaker. He is also the first person in the UK to place an entire company on a one year sabbatical. And Carlos Zimbrón is the Co-founder and CEO of Fuckup Inc. He is also the Co-founder of WE ARE TODOS (cultural space), architect, art and history lover, who describes himself as “always curious” and was described by the Economic Times of India as “Not glamorising failure, just embracing it”. I hope you love it, and that you will share any thoughts and comments you have in the box below. My thanks to my guests, to you for listening and for supporting this podcast and to Ben Addicott for theme music and production. And just to prepare you, the episode where Simon and Carlos visit the Ministry of Imagination (which you'll receive next week) is amazing. One to look forward to.

Welcome to Episode 20 of From What If to What Next. This feels like a bit of a landmark for us, our twentieth episode! Thank you for joining me on this journey. Do tell your friends to come join us... Any reflections on how you're finding the journey so far are most welcome. Seems like a good moment for that. The good news is that we have saved one of the very finest episodes to mark this moment. Today we are exploring the question of trauma, and I must confess that recording this conversation rather blew my mind, as it will no doubt blow yours. I had to lie down afterward and digest it for a while. I am joined by two amazing thinkers for this conversation. I hope you love it. Susan Raffo is a bodyworker, cultural worker and writer. For the last 15 years she has focused her work through the lens of healing justice with a particular interest in supporting individual and collective practices of safety and wellness. This also means attending to how generational and historical trauma shapes the present moment , including both internalized and systemic supremacy. She spent her first seven years of adulthood living in Bristol, England, particularly shaped by the anti-imperialism and sustainability movements of the 1980s (the protests at Greenham Common being an especially life-shaping experience). She has lived in south Minneapolis in the US for 30 years with her awesome partner, Rocki, and their daughter, Luca. Staci K. Haines is a national leader in the field of Somatics, specializing in intersecting personal and social change. Staci is the co-founder of generative somatics, a multiracial social justice organization bringing somatics to social and climate justice leaders and organizations. She specializes in somatics and trauma, and leads programs for healers, therapists, and social change leaders to transform the impact of individual and social trauma and violence. Her new book The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice (North Atlantic Press 2019) is based on that work. She is the founder of generationFIVE, a community based organization whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within five generations. Both are phenomenal, and I am so grateful to them for coming on the podcast. My thanks as always to Ben Addicott for his production skills and our theme tune, to you for subscribing and making all of this possible, and please do leave your thoughts below. As mentioned in the podcast, Staci and Susan sent in the list of recommended readings, which I will copy below: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Shaping World, We will not cancel us, and other dreams of transformative justice and Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown. My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem. Fumbling Towards Repair: A workbook for community accountability facilitators by Mariame Kaba and Shira Hassan. Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha and Ejeris Dixon. The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice by Staci K. Haines. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity during this crisis and the next by Dean Spade. Love and Rage, the path of liberation through anger by Lama Rod Owens Transform Harm: a website with many resources about Transformative Justice and ending violence Finding Our Way Podcast, by Prentis Hemphill Zehr Institute on Panel Transformative Justice with Ejeris Dixon, RJ Maccanni, and Nathan Shara. Video. Zehr Institute on Panel Transformative Justice with Ejeris Dixon, RJ Maccanni, and Nathan Shara. Video. Two Feathers Native American Family Services. "Healing the Soul Wound" with Dr. Eduardo Duran. April 10, 2020. His life’s work has been in Native American postcolonial psychology. Video.

It was recently announced that Chuck Feeney, the Irish American former airport duty free shopping entrepreneur who was worth $8bn, had, at the age of 89, succeeded in his goal of giving away all of his money to initiatives working to make the world a better place. Every cent. He suggested that to give away a huge fortune was far more fun than holding onto it. He once wrote “to those wondering about giving while living .. try it, you’ll like it”. In today's podcast we are exploring how it would be if Feeney's thinking were to be embraced by those holding the vast reserves of money that the world needs to address its complex problems right now. What if they shifted and recognised the need to let go of what they're holding onto? And how would it feel to do so? I'm joined by two amazing guests to discuss this. Dr Wanda Wyporska is Executive Director at The Equality Trust, the national charity that campaigns to reduce social and economic inequality. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of York, a trustee of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Redthread Youth, and Equally Ours, as well as Governor of a primary school. Chuck Collins is the Director the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. He is author of the seminal book, Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good and co-author of Wealth and Our Commonwealth, a case for taxing inherited fortunes. His new book, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, is about the wealth defense industry and will be published in the UK in February 2021 and US in March 2021 by Polity Press. I hope you enjoy this conversation. Do let me know what you thought. My thanks to my guests, to you for subscribing to this podcast, and to Ben Addicott for production and our theme tune. See you next week when we join Wanda and Chuck at the Ministry of Imagination.

By now, in this journey into 'From What If to What Next', it is clear that one of the key things in our world in 2021 that needs reimagining is our education system. In this episode, we explore how it might be if at the heart of that reimagining were permaculture principles. How would the underpinning of the National Curriculum with permaculture principles affect both what is taught, and how it is taught? Imagine a generation leaving school skilled in a diversity of practical sustainability skills, as well as being instinctive systems thinkers. After you've heard this conversation, anything less just won't do. This wonderful conversation is only possible thanks to my two wonderful guests. Lusi Alderslowe is the author of 'Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share in Education: The Children in Permaculture Manual' and has been engaging children in permaculture in formal, non-formal and informal settings around Scotland since 2005. She's a mother of two, a Forest School Leader, a human ecologist and co-founder and coordinator of the Children in Permaculture project for the Permaculture Association and Gatehouse School. A certified Children in Permaculture trainer, she teaches online courses in Engaging Children in Permaculture with students from Australia to Austria, Kenya to Costa Rica. From 2013-2018, Matt Willer was a full time humanities teacher at Reepham High School & College. It was during this time at this school that Matt decided to attempt to create a school allotment to inspire his students. After five years of non-stop work, and with the help of many amazing people, 'The Allotment Project' became a nationally recognised and celebrated secondary school allotment which subsequently won multiple awards. In 2019, Matt left full-time teaching to set up The Papillon Project, which is now a registered charity. The 'Allotment Project' at Reepham High School & College, in many respects, was the 'accidental pilot' project that inspired Matt to create 'The Papillon Project' so he, and others, can help other secondary schools and colleges in Norfolk to also inspire children and young people to lead more sustainable lives too. As always, do share your thoughts on this episode. We love to hear your reflections after the What If massage each episode gives your brain.

Drucilla Cornell is a professor of law, women's studies and political science at Rutgers University. After reading a brilliant article she wrote about the public imagination, I got in touch, and here is the conversation we had.

Welcome to our first episode of 2021! We are planning an amazing series of podcasts for this year, and love that you are part of this exploration. In today's episode we bring together Josina Calliste, a health professional and community organiser who is one of the co-founders of Land in Our Names (LION), a black-led collective addressing land inequalities affecting black people and people of colour's ability to farm and grow food in Britain, and Chris Smaje, author of the book 'A Small Farm Future' and the brilliant blog of the same name. Our far-reaching conversation, which could have gone on for hours, explores our relationship with land, and how a reimagining of that could unlock so much. My thanks to both of my guests for their generosity and wisdom, and to Ben Addicott for production and theme music.

Of all the 17 episodes of this podcast so far, this is the one that I had to go off somewhere quiet afterwards for a while to digest. It is a very powerful and fascinating discussion. My two guests are extraordinary, and I feel so blessed that they could make the time to join me in this wonderful What If exploration. Sherri Mitchell (Weh’na Ha’mu’ Kwasset (She Who Brings the Light)) is an attorney, an activist, an advisor, a speaker and so so so much more, including author of ‘Sacred Instructions: indigenous wisdom for living spirit-based change’. She was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian Reservation. Tyson Yunkaporta is an academic, an arts critic, and a researcher who belongs to the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland. He carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne. His recent book, Sand Talk: how indigenous thinking can save the world, is deeply wonderful and I am very much enjoying it right now. Our discussion focused around the question ‘what if indigenous wisdom could save the world?’, and I hope it blows your mind as much as it did mine. I would recommend taking some time after you’ve listened to it to go for a walk and digest it. It worked for me.

In Episode 16 of 'From What If to What Next' we explore the question of play. Play is a devalued aspect of both childhood and adulthood which has been declining now for decades, and its decline has had many knock-on effects across society. What would it be like if we decided to give it a huge boost, to create the ideal conditions for a re-emergence of play across education, economics, planning, and so much more? What might that look like? I am joined in this episode by two of the most amazing guests to dive deep into this act of imagining. Ash Perrin is the founder and CEO of The Flying Seagull Project, a UK-based charity that works around the world to bring happiness to children who are marginalised or suffering. His small, highly-skilled team of around twenty professional entertainers use music, arts, dance and clowning to spread smiles to more than 140,000 children in hospitals, orphanages and refugee camps around the world. His TEDx talk from last year is a must-watch. Ben Tawil is a play consultant and researcher. Working together with his colleague Mike Barclay as Ludicology, they have over 40 years’ experience of working with and on behalf of playing children. Their work includes play sufficiency assessments, research and action planning with municipalities and national organisations, consultancy on neighbourhood regeneration, developing evidence-based design recommendations, and working with schools and arts and cultural organisations to develop playful practices. I hope you love this inspiring and insightful episode. My thanks, as ever, to Ben Addicott for theme music and production, and to you for listening. Do share your thoughts and reflections, and join us next week when we join Ash and Ben on an umissable visit to the Ministry of Imagination.

During the first Coronavirus lockdown in the UK, a strange phenomenon was seen in towns and cities across the country. As councils became unable, or unwilling, to maintain their usual programmes of spraying weeds and cutting grass, pavements began to feature what had previously been dismissed as 'weeds'. In response, and using a hashtag #MoreThanWeeds, people began using chalk to circle them and to write their names, both common and Latin. In this podcast we explore how different the future would be if we were to cultivate a culture of better understanding and loving weeds. How would it affect the world around us, and how would it affect us? And how does the way we talk about that dazzling diversity of plants that we dismiss as 'weeds' give insights to how many people 'other' groups of people such as immigrants? What does our attitude to weeds tell us about ourselves? For this, our fifteenth episode, we are joined by two people who have been central to this chalky-fingered rebellion. Sophie Leguil is a freelance botanical consultant, writer, translator and nature tour leader. In 2019, she created the project "More Than Weeds", which hopes to change people's perception of urban flora and inspire authorities to adopt biodiversity-friendly practices. Sophie previously worked for the charity Plant Heritage, developing initiatives to conserve the diversity of garden plants in the UK. Having lived in Brussels and London, she became interested in urban greening issues, particularly in relation to planning. Using her background in ecology and horticulture, she is advocating for better landscaping choices in cities, to create healthy streets and spaces for both humans and wildlife." Jane Perrone is a freelance journalist, and presenter and producer of indoor gardening podcast On The Ledge. She is currently crowdfunding a book on houseplants called Legends of the Leaf. She loves growing houseplants inside and raising weird veg in her garden, and walking in the countryside with her hound Wolfie. She has a background in news journalism, spending more than 20 years working in local newspapers, then joining the Guardian as a reporter online and working her way up to an online news desk editor. In 2008 she became gardening editor at the Guardian, editing the gardens pages of Weekend magazine, making the Sow, Grow, Repeat podcast with Alys Fowler and writing features, news stories and blogposts. She left in 2017 to become fully freelance. My thanks, as always, to Ben Addicott for theme music and production. Do let me know what you thought of this episode. Thanks for listening.

One of the things we love most here at 'From What If to What Next' is stories of people bringing imagination to their activism, of impactful, thought-provoking projects that engage our imagination and our playfulness. One of the very best examples of this that we've ever seen is The Bank Job in Walthamstow, London, the work of printmaker Hilary Powell and filmmaker Dan Edelstyn, once described as "an act of generosity rare in the art world". Following the release of the great new book 'The Bank Job' (published by Chelsea Green, and keep an eye on your emails as on Wednesday we will have a subscriber-only competition to win a copy) and their impending new film about the project, we were thrilled to invite Dan and Hilary onto the podcast. The Bank Job eradicated £1.2 million of payday lending debt in their community and so much more besides. I already interviewed Hilary and Dan once before when researching 'From What Is to What If', you can find that interview here. It feels like something we will now do on a regular basis! As ever, thanks to Ben Addicott for theme music and production, and do let us know what you think of this episode.

Here are the opening couple of minutes from Episode 14 of the bonus Ministry of Imagination podcast. Subscribe now at www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext.

Every episode of 'From What If to What Next' begins with my inviting my guests to close their eyes and to walk us through what they imagine 2030 could be like if it were the result of our having done everything we could possibly have done. What would it feel like, taste like, sound like? It is often the most powerful and beautiful part of the podcast. And so, our producer Ben Addicott has painstakingly pieced together the best bits of those visions, and together with Tamsin Cornish, written beautiful music to accompany them. When all pieced together, this podcast offers you a deep and rich immersion in a future that is still possible to us, just. It's not Utopia, but it is a walk through the possible. As the poet Rilke once wrote, "the future must enter into you a long time before it happens". This podcast allows it to do so in the most beautiful way. If there was ever a time in history when clear, abundant and positive visions of the future were vitally needed, this is that time. I so hope you love this, and that the time Ben and Tamsin put into lovingly crafting has produced something you will cherish and love.

And so we reach our thirteenth episode. Wow. Thank you so much for being with us on this journey so far. We have an amazing episode for you today. We live in a world where so much political decision-making seems to be based on short-term thinking, the next opinion poll, next quarter, next election, yet so many of the problems we face are the result of our failing to think in the long term. We use the future as a place to dump the problems we can't resolve, to dump our pollution, carbon emissions, the thorny issues we'd rather avoid. Indigenous cultures and wiser civilisations of the past planned and thought with future generations in mind, so why can't we? And how different would the world be if we did? I am joined for this episode by Roman Krznaric, author of the recent book 'The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World' and one of Britain’s leading popular philosophers, and also by Jane Davidson, author of '#futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country', Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and former Minister for Environment and Sustainability in Wales where she proposed legislation to make sustainability the central organising principle of government - the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act. Our deep and far reaching conversation will hopefully give you a rich and delicious taste of how different the future would be if we lived in a world in which governments, organisations and indeed all of us, factored future generations into all of our decision making. Prepare your imagination for a good workout. As always, do let me know what you think....