Futuresteading
Jade Miles
This is a conversation about the future. About creating a culture that values tomorrow. We reckon a slower, simpler, steadier existence is the first step - one that’s healthier for humans and the planet. We call it Futuresteading. Each week we chat to community builders, ritual makers, food growers, health wizards and environmental wisdom keepers, gathering practical advice and epic solidarity - so we can all nut this thing out together. Join our nitty, gritty, honest and hopeful convo every Monday during our 16 episode seasons. Support the pod by shouting us a cuppa >>> buymeacoffee.com/futuresteading
2 Listeners
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Futuresteading Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Futuresteading episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Futuresteading for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Futuresteading episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
02/14/21 • 57 min
Charlie Arnott is an eighth generation Aussie farmer, educator, regenerative ag advocate, podcast host, wellness dude and pretty darn enlightened dad in his spare time.
For all that, there was a time Charlie wasn’t such a conscious operator. His early farming career was characterised by all the conventional stuff; synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, a high input/output model, and a bitter ongoing battle against nature.
Today, he shares the epiphanies that led him to where he is today -- an award-winning biodynamic farmer who lives and breathes regenerative principles -- plus a veritable polyculture of stories, struggles and holistic thinking. A thought-provoking conversation with a visionary fella.
SHOW NOTES
- A blessed country childhood with a high bar for work ethic and a deep appreciation of farming
- Back on the farm from 1997, questioning the congruence of his values with his farming practices
- Interrogating chemical use, increased understanding in human health.
- “Once you’ve learned other ways of doing things, you can’t unlearn them, and I was searching for something to “go towards”. I had a new set of KPIS including ecology, well being, sense of purpose."
- Building a new community of intuitive, curious land managers.
- Changing the paddock between your ears!
- Why people are mean when they are scared.
- If you don’t have a few enemies, you're not having a good go.
- Making decisions through the lens of seven generations.
- Making the legacy attractive enough for the next generation to see it as desirable.
- “My sense of compassion and gratitude for the paddocks in my care is immense.”
- Practices that are ritualistic and foster a sense of reverence for our surroundings
- Engaging with the essence of our biome.
- Why we need to keep our food coming from places that are as close to the natural world as possible.
- Accepting those with different filters and ethics.
- Are plants sentient beings?
- Why using your credit card to abdicate responsibility for your actions isn't enough.
- The joy of not being an expert.
- Why it's OK to judge your former self but never others.
- A day in the life of Charlie Arnott
- Journaling for clarity and gratitude
- “Success is the confluence of preparation and opportunity”.
LINKS YOU'LL LOVE
Charlie Arnott -- Website, Instagram, Podcast
Sacred Cow: The case for (better) meat -- Documentary
The Secret Life of Trees -- Peter Wohlleben
1 Listener
05/24/20 • 40 min
Together, we’ve got this.
But we’ve also gotta make it happen, grabbing the moment by the short n curlys and becoming everyday changemakers.
This week we break our own rules of sticking to 20 minutes and blow out to 40. But we think it’s worth it, and hope there are ideas within that pique your curiosity and propel you to action.
We yak about a stack of ways to make change that each and every one of us can bring to fruition pretty much immediately. All simple, doable, impactful.
Again, we apologise for the odd audio crackle. This pod-via-distance thing isn’t ideal but we’ll get the band back together as soon as we can! Thanks for understanding.
SHOW NOTES
What can you change? Here are 20 easy-as ideas (for people who like lists)
1. Divest your superannuation away from coal industry supportive funds.
2. Join your local food co op & continue to actively participate (being willing to roll with the inconvenience of things sometimes being unavailable).
3. Stop using single use plastic.
4. Grow your own food and swap what you can't grow.
5. Make your own presents.
6. Buy less shit.
7. Drive less (“do I really need to go into town?”)
8. Always think local: holidays, presents, food.
9. Reframe 'luxury' as drinking fresh milk not visiting a spa.
10. Go slow: play with your kids, grow from seed, swim in rivers, make from scratch, draw, nana nap, write letters not emails, cloud watch, picnic, hand water.
11. Write to leaders demanding change: local, state & federal.
12. Teach your kids to be practical not digital: build, grow, create, learn.
13. Really live in the season: food, activities, clothing,
14. Connect more deeply with the natural world: seasonality, camping, bushwalking, river swims, bare feet.
15. Support the second hand economy .
16. Celebrate simple: actively seek simplicity over complexity
17. Share your knowledge: seek skills from the elderly and teach children your skills.
18. Redesign your house renovation to be smaller: less is more
19. Veto your work: actively seek projects that align with your beliefs
20. Commit to & value a home based life
LINKS
- To watch: War On Waste
1 Listener
11/03/24 • 46 min
Summary
Life is impermanent. Precious but not entitled to length. The past is behind us, the future is unknown & all we have is this moment. Our role is to meet the moment.
Being overwhelmed with the assignment of bringing healing & protection to the earth, todays guest looked to Gaia as the source of guidance towards effortless harmony. Easier said than done but she found that our cultural inclination to constant self referencing & focussing on I, Me, Mine was the limitation.
Looking beyond the veil into another dimension & awakening her relationship to the earth allowed her to thread humility into all her actions & remembering that we are part of & conspiring with gaia in every living moment gave her the space to take a breath before acting.
She meditated
She took the radical act of pausing to gain clarity
She had the courage to step out of the old patterns
She undertook pilgrimages
She built global networks of healing & peace
She honoured those who are maintaining the ceremonies, prayers & connections that keep us all in balance.
She filled Earth Treasure vases and built a global mandala as her offering of 'sacred activism'.
This is her story.
Links You'll Love
Joanna Macey - the work that reconnects
Charles Eisenstein - new and ancient story podcast
Cynthia Jurs Book - Summoned by the Earth
Gaiamandala.net global healing community
Loved this ep? Try these:
E138 Osprey Oriel Lake
E105 Rosemary MorrowSupport the Show
Casual Support - Buy Me A Coffee
Regular Support - Patreon
Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters
We talked about:
Buddhism tradition of earth treasure vases - holy vessels with purpose
Being prepared within yourself before succumbing to a summoning
Bringing the earth back into balance
Filling small clay pots with prayers, offerings, traditions & intentions as a symbolic measure for healing & balance
Clay pots are kind of like living beings - they come alive in your hands
The clay includes many sacred substances linking them to ancestral lineages Allowing ancient practices to become relevant to the world today & to the people that are participating in the offering process
The capacity for different cultures, communities & lands to accept without assumption
Making offerings to the earth & the unseen-beings-without-a-voice that we know we need to keep in balance
Becoming a vessel but not imposing your own ideas & self importance on what you think is best for the world.
Getting down on her knees and opening her heart and asking for support from the unseen energy.
Our own true nature is so much a part of the nature of Gaia
“ When I learned how to get myself out of the way, form an intention, but allow that intention to unfold on its own without trying so hard to make it happen, things started to unfold in a very different way - in ways I never could have predicted"
Ep 113 Brooke McAlary - going slow & the farce of multitasking Summer Days Throwback 2023
Futuresteading
01/22/23 • 62 min
Brooke McAlary has built a life and brand around slow. She's the author of three books, the co-host of The Slow Home podcast and the voice of a movement that says, "Dear Joneses, I'm opting out of the rat race."
But hey, that doesn't mean she's exempt from overwhelm. This convo opens with Brooke and Jade swapping stories of exhaustion. File that under honesty.
So join us on the couch as we define our zone zero, get our inner turmoil sorted before facing the outer chaos, and discuss a potential inner care deficit.
We talk packaged up versions of “balance” “slow” and “simple” and why “tilting” may be more useful; leaning into the most pressing issue of the moment.
Why multi tasking is a farce but barefoot bushwalking creates a heady sense of lightness, wonder and awe that just might hold the answers.
Say no to fast and yes to slow living with Brooke McAlary.
SHOW NOTES
- Why her books and pod are basically talking to herself to maintain a slower pace
- Being diagnosed with severe postnatal depression
- Googling in search of solutions
- Letting go of the relentless ‘keep up’ approach to life
- Stabilising mental health and finding a deeper sense of contentment
- Living life with no buffer
- Operating at 70% capacity to ensure there’s room for unplanned
- Defining and protecting zone zero
- Getting the inner turmoil sorted before facing the outer chaos
- Avoiding an inner care deficit
- The intrinsic link between inward care and capacity to give
- Why the words 'balance', 'simple' and 'slow' are all fraught
- The endless wrestle of living counter culturally
- Learning to “tilt” rather than “balance”
- The fraudulence of multi tasking
- Experiencing a loss of connection, celebration and grieving as a result of covid
- Facing into the need for ‘unlearning’ to build a brave new non-consumerist world
- Building your tribe without preaching
- Equating simple with ‘ease’ not ‘easy’
- Why simplicity lives in the process of finding ease
- Noticing = gratitude
- Family rituals that offer hope
- Barefoot bushwalking on a bliss wave
- A designated slow room
- Reconciling the footprint of travel by embracing her local area
- Vision Quests
- Why small actions of care, purpose and values are creating powerful ripples
- Rebuilding rites of passage for our youth to test and expand resilience and tap into the wisdom from older generations
- Writing a letter to your younger self
- Jump starting our memory making function
LINKS YOU'LL LOVE
- ZenHabits
- Slow - Brooke McAlary
- Destination Simple - Brooke McAlary
- Care - Brooke McAlary
- Rites of passage institute
- Alone - SBS series
- Vision Quest Challenges
02/05/23 • 57 min
Strap in for a fast paced chat with this natural born story teller. From the heady heights of top restaurants, starring in his own reality tv program and radio shows to his definition of “enough” - which begins with rude health and healthy kids before settling with sovereignty of time and community belonging.
As practical and grounded as he is charismatic with a touch of aussie larrikin, ‘Westy’ is whip cracking fast making it easy to listen and laugh at his tales - like serving uncooked rice as his first attempt at cooking.
This high energy human wraps up the season for us with insights and stories that are endearing and inspiring in equal measure.
Episode notes
Choosing your island foods
Are you an eater or a foodie ?- Westie grew up as an eater until he was 17 before becoming a foodie
Embalmed cats above the fresh food aisles at the local supermarket
Moving from his first out-of-home cooked meal: Raw rice, frozen peas, ham and soy sauce to cheffing in lofty places
His first wwoofing experience that sowed the seeds for his ‘NOW’ life:
Witnessing the loftiest ideal for human life as life on the land growing food, connecting to community, physical work
His winding but whip fast hospitality adventure
Using the age good food guide as a way to get a job and crash landing into Vu De Monde to cut his teeth
Turning his back on fine dining cuisine to return to the roots of growing food.
A yearning desire to really understand the rhythms of food
How fatherhood changed him, from self to selfless. Why he never wanted to be a ‘phone in’ dad
Reframing his expectations of fatherhood for him, his kids and his wife.
Creating patterns to set up our kids for the rest of their lives and using food as the central guide for this
The virtues of tapping into the primal human nature.
Transitioning from kitchen to farm grew his understanding of long standing ecological needs.
River Cottage - the inside scoop on the steep learning curves and truth behind producing a reality TV program. The juggle of actually living a 365 day farm life but needing to fit in the production of a stage production alongside.
The hard work of farming! Far from white clothed lunches under a tree
The repetition needed for growing
Now living a life that's the amalgamation of his previous lives
Creating a life of belonging in a village across generations
The perfect combo of small-house big block.
Building ritual around food markers, what the gardens providing, when the crayfish and oysters are harvesting,
Making an effort to observe the natural spectacles and building ritual around it
His ENOUGH
References:
Aftertaste ABC Series
River Cottage Australia SBS on demand series
The Edible Garden Cookbook and Growing Guide - Paul West 2013
02/19/23 • 51 min
If you're yet to hear Mitch perform 'You're the voice", I beg you to head to the link at the bottom and listen.
Carrying the message of unification, love and kindness. Culture is not foreign to Mitch who imbeds a celebration of it into every facet of life as tools to build identity and a strong sense of place. For him living and breathing culture is the start middle and end of it.
An articulate, straight talker he sheds light on why everyone deserves a chance to not only survive but to thrive. His super-power-story-telling ability notches up a few ranks when on stage and over the last few years he has found a platform for passing on knowledge through song and dance.
Nerves and awe aside, Jade manages to dig a little into the psyche of this incredible individual, who without question shows us why the first nations people of this country were not hunters and gatherers but the most purposeful people to have ever walked.
Show Notes
- Ma-wollagoolabah - self, family, community
- Falling in love with his identity and eagerly celebrating this in a respectful and authentic way
- The value of being raised by a strong single mother
- Publicly honoring women to the point of reverence
- Being relentless in our desire to keep talking to convey a message of transparency
- Circle people - we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us
- Can song and dance as mediums take their place as a much needed storytelling tools
- Emojis are an ancient format
- Humans disconnection from spirit, soul and heart
- Being the most connected and the most disconnected simultaneously
- Holidays = connection to the natural world. Do we love holidays or do we love the opportunity to unconsciously connect to our evolutionary place
- Building an understanding of the spirit in the land
- Opening yourself up to ‘feel’
- Honoring our ancestors, offering a rightful seat at the decision table and acknowledging the knowledge held by indigenous people
- "We're not hunters and gatherers, we’re the most purposeful people to have ever walked
- There are so many conversations to be had - we need to keep talking
- His mob cared for the land to co-exist not to be captured or controlled
- Walking together and healing so we can get to where we need to get to
- The first people of a land MUST be heard first
- If your hearts in the right place you can only do the best you can with what you've got to ‘level’ up’
- Stradling the reality of living an urban life with intent and purpose while knowing how powerful a childhood on country can be
- Self perception vs how others perceive you
- Instilling identity, belonging and connection through ritual
- Living and breathing culture as part of every day life
- Avoiding the traps of fame by staying focussed on his purpose
- Staying grounded by knowing that he is just a vessel with a message who is part of something so much bigger than him
- Starting with self love - heal, educate
- Conditioning that has bred fear of difference
- Coming together with an intent to heal, love and listen.
- Having real conversations which are birthed out of truth
Mitch Tambo Instagram
Mitch Tambo - You're the Voice
Keen to buy the Futuresteading book? Its now available at all good bookstores or you can order online here.
Ep 121 Just Collapse - The illusion of techno-solutions “We can’t swallow horses to solve this problem”
Futuresteading
03/20/23 • 57 min
This conversation is difficult to process but important to hear. It asks: "How does Socioecological justice prevail in the face of an irreversible collapse"?
Its time to accept that infinite growth on a finite planet will be short lived and that those who have agency & privilege have much to do - in big or small ways
It’s hard to really accept collapse when we have a comfortable lifestyle but let's consider preparing while we still have abundance in our system.
Show notes
A new form of activism - possibilities to make the world a better place
Why climate activism is the most important issue of focus
The shift in activism following covid
Introducing disruption to activism
Socioecological justice
Justice can only be relative
Creating a collapse community to help relieve anxieties of reality & locate ourselves
Putting differences aside to open the door to building localised communities
Acknowledging how difficult it can be to create community in the individualised society of the affluent west.
As we ratchet back, our community will be where we physically are.
Having faith that we can rely on each other
Consciously connecting is inevitably in train and we will be pushed together
Relearning to connect, compromise and communicate
Its unhelpful to create utopian or romanticised ideals
Insurgent planning - actively creating a plan of readiness to this inevitable collapse
Being led by the greater group with place based solutions
Why there is no prescription to future solutions - we need to figure that out for ourselves based on our understanding of the soil, water, culture we are working within
Breaking down individualisation & risks: outrageous debts & our reliance on fossil fuels
#talkcollapse - linking people to plant the seeds of a different and just future
Planting seeds physically and metaphorically for a socioecological collapse
Talking collapse is not about converting those who don't want to hear it
The emotional reality of procesing climate grief - face it, expereince it and let is sit behind you with echoes
Depression goes with the territory but its not a reason to avoid reality
Ecological awareness as the foundation to discovering more
Understanding the fragility of the world while also being a ‘doer’
What a cyclical grief process looks like and feels like
Cognitive dissonance of having endless choice and capacity to purchase while simultaneously being aware that collapse is inevitable
The myth of progress being perpetuated by every message around us
The need to decomplexify
Building solidarity via social media
Being sure to remind yourself of how wondrous the world actually is
Supporting mental wellbeing with various tools
It’s so important in this point in history to embrace life in whatever form
References
Limits to growth - Club of RomeJust Collapse
Podcast partners ROCK!
Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters
Support the show
Casual Support - Buy Me A Coffee
Regular Support - Patreon
Ep 118 Joost Bakker - The darling of waste free living
Futuresteading
02/26/23 • 29 min
Summary
We know that Western culture lives excessively, endlessly seeking the newest and shiniest new thing. Its shocking that 40% of our food goes to waste, one third of our building materials are never even used. But this way of life will be short lived and thankfully being wasteful is now on the nose and cool cats like Joost are making waves by making junk UBER COOL. What can we do to create a new way forward in what he describes as the most exciting time in human history?
Show notes
Keeping family as number one
Keeping it real with family to ensure they are present
His journey through waste which began using other peoples junk
Spending his spare time in junkyards collecting and using other peoples waste
Even the poster boy doesn't get everything right - examples of things that haven't worked
For every project that gets up there are 3 or 4 which didn't - that’s having a go! And through the Process we discover a new way forward
Attracting like minded people to build a community and deliver amazing projects
Showcasing the innovation and vast knowledge that exists in this country
Creating binless hospitality businesses
Curating the message for living waste free so that people understand it.
Considering materials based on their ability to be recycled
Living in the most exciting time in human history
Getting creative to find solutions that allow us to continue our existing lives with minimal compromise
There's something mentally wrong with us when we endlessly chase the next, new, shiny, big thing.
Being properly nourished and connected to the outdoors satiated our desires and replace our desire for STUFF.
Using plants to support our sleep
Reverting to primitive practices to reconnect to ourselves
Starting our day with simple, natural world practices
If we’ve got 3 hours to be on social media, surely we’ve got time to make our everyday actions more intentional.
We feel great after gardening not just because its sensorially beautiful but because you are breathing in microbiomes
Observation is a lost trait we need to rebuild
His fascination with the perfect sized branch for birds
All his buildings are covered in 8 mil rio mesh because it's perfect for the birds
If you really want to understand why he makes the decisions he does then check out his instagram pages
References
Podcast partners ROCK!
Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters
Ep 123 Hayley Morris - Leading the investment world away from extraction & into their hearts
Futuresteading
04/02/23 • 58 min
SUMMARY
We need an economic system based on values and trust to see genuine change in this critical decade. This intuition led powerhouse is collaboratively leading the thinking for philanthropy & impact investment to shift away from reductionist outcomes to a 'relationship first' approach where she believes the place to begin is with inner work to determine 'who you are', 'what makes you brave' and 'where your voice strongest'
We’ve got the solutions but the human capacity to make this change is what needs to begin first.
SUMMARY
Why its harder to give money away with meaning than you might think
Wanting to be more than not just a cheque book
Asking where humans fit into ecosystems
Her awakening to disconnection
Finding people who were also asking questions
Moving into sustainable ag and food security
Connecting the environmental crisis & what we eat
Her appetite to move beyond greenwashing to transformation
The value of slowing down
Wanting people to think of her as a broke NGO leader not a rich philanthropist
Getting her ego out of the way
Embracing the world she was trying to push away
What is philanthropy - the skill of giving money away
Moving assets away from the extractive economic system
How investment can change systems
Understanding systems & the levers that need to be pulled to expedite change
The importance of mass decentralisation & taking a place based approach to bring change
Starting a relationship with open, honest transparency & an opportunity to co-create solutions
Relationship requires a number
Moving at the speed of trust
Looking for replication not endless growth
Using compassionate debt as a solution to building relationships that can enable change
Creating opportunity for replication over scale
Building models that allow relationships to be at the core
Rich relationships are paramount
Understanding connection to country - bringing gentleness from the land into her everyday
Daily spiritual practice to set the days intentions
Whatever you resist persists
Daily practice of staying mindful and present - maintenance
The danger of defining yourself as “resilient” which doesn’t allow you to be fragile
Developing a hardiness by sitting in your discomfort
Keeping the ego in check
Gleaning joy from rich conversations
Cocreating a new language that releases our stuckness in the current paradigm
Discovering how we all contribute in a way that meets our super power
If its too easy then it must be in the current paradigm and we need to ask, is there another way to do this?
Stepping around colonialism by being present & really listening
Being uncomfortable with the new to serve a changed world in the future
Self sustainability is the piece that often gets left behind
How can philanthropists play their part
Finding strength & bravery when you have your people by your side
References
Impact sustainability - her business
Sustainable Table
Sentient Impact group
Podcast partners ROCK!
Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters
Support the show
Casual Support - Buy Me A Coffee
Regular Support - Patreon
11/15/20 • 56 min
Diego Bonetto, aka. The Weedy One, grew up on a dairy farm in northern Italy where it was still common practice to collect the wild bounty of the land.
After moving to Australia in the 90s, Diego found that his practical foraging knowledge and weedy know-how was actually pretty rare. He lamented our modern approach to "weeds" -- a battle waged with poisons rather than a loving relationship that respects the valuable, nutrition and wisdom of the plants all around us.
So he became a weed advocate and educator, harking back to the dandelions, nettles, mulberries and edible mushrooms of his childhood and sharing their stories with those longing to return to their roots.
Diego's enthusiasm will inspire and move you, as it has done for the thousands of people who have attended his public and private workshops, events and weed walks. This conversation about belonging, sustainability, agency and food is just a glimpse of Diego's immense knowledge, and we encourage you to connect with him online or better still, in person!
SHOW NOTES
- Collecting wild plants, fungi, grains and berries as a child to supply seasonal produce to his family larder.
- Empowering people to recall childhood memories ; mulberries as lipstick, daisy chains to overcome fear and find confidence.
- Foraging does more than just give us free food; it’s our chance to experience gratitude, connect to ecology, anchor us all to the now. It cuts away our entitlement to resources and encourages us to engage in the gifts of the natural world.
- How to create steps to build foraging confidence, even in urban spaces.
- Basic rules of foraging.
- Foraging is not survival, it's establishing relationships of care-taking.
- Ocean foraging.
- The vast majority of foraging is handfuls for tasting rather than buckets of food.
- Are plants a living, conscious, feeling things?
- Why we should be up in arms about factory farming which is enslavement into a system of yield rather than being a wild species which fetches its own minerals and grows of its own accord.
- We are part of a system where we eat and can be eaten.
- Foraging foundation of being still, staying put and becoming part of a specific cycle so you can build knowledge.
- Stepping from observer to stakeholder to caretaker.
- Why “weeds” is an arbitrary term.
- The importance of acknowledging the services that plants play.
- Backyard medicine is the result of coevolution.
- Calling on the knowledge of our wisdom holders to maintain self care.
- Why mulberries and blackberries are wonderful foraging teacher species and part of our ecological symbiotic contract to eat the species.
- Putting humans back in the cycle of life.
LINKS YOU'LL LOVE
- Diego Bonetto on Instagram @theweedyone
- Diego Bonetto online
Photo credit -- Aimee Crouch
Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/futuresteading)
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does Futuresteading have?
Futuresteading currently has 174 episodes available.
What topics does Futuresteading cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture, Skills, Personal Journals, Community, Podcasts, Agriculture, Farming and Homesteading.
What is the most popular episode on Futuresteading?
The episode title 'E10 Futuresteading Shortie : Right-now-easy Ways To Make Change' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Futuresteading?
The average episode length on Futuresteading is 54 minutes.
How often are episodes of Futuresteading released?
Episodes of Futuresteading are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Futuresteading?
The first episode of Futuresteading was released on Apr 11, 2020.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ