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• Creativity, Improvisation & Learning to See with DR. KEITH SAWYER 29.05.2026 1j 4min

  “I've discovered in my studies of creativity in general that creativity is not about starting with a brilliant idea and then following a linear path to an execution of your idea. What I see in art and design is a much more iterative, wandering, exploratory process where the ideas emerge from the act of engaging in the work.”Dr. Keith Sawyer’s work focuses on creativity and human ingenuity. With over 20 books and a career that spans computer science, psychology, and the study of innovation, he has explored what it means to lead a creative life. Following his foundational research with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, his books include Explaining Creativity and Group Genius. In his latest book, Learning to See: Inside the World's Leading Art and Design Schools, he pulls back the curtain on how elite institutions cultivate the creative mind. He has been a jazz pianist for over 40 years. We will explore the evolution of his research, and what music and improvisation have taught him about life.(0:00) The Non-Linear Process of Creativity(3:12) Teaching Students to Find Their Own Aesthetic(7:13) The Pressure to Replicate Success(13:31) Guided Improvisation in Education (16:46) Unlearning Rigid Perceptions(22:52) Embodiment and the Material World(25:27) Deep Listening and Jazz Improvisation(27:09) Domain General vs. Domain Specific Creativity(30:07) Architecture as an Exchange(37:47) Learning from Nature: The Velcro Lesson(42:54) Gen AI and Human Ingenuity(44:42) The System of Improv(1:01:08) The Value of Problem FindingEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• The Future of Architecture & Cities of Tomorrow w/ CARLO RATTI, Director of MIT's Senseable City Lab 28.05.2026 23min

  "What we need to do is learn from nature. If you think about how nature progresses through trial and error. I'm really a fan of how we can do open designs that citizens can respond to, and use the feedback in order to create similar systems to what happens in nature."Our guest today is Carlo Ratti, an architect, engineer, and academic who is deeply engaged with the critical questions facing our planet and its urban spaces. He's known for his innovative work at MIT's Senseable City Lab, where he explores how digital technologies are transforming our cities and for his groundbreaking design projectsaround the world. Carlo Ratti's work has been called everything from sensory city philosophy to a driving force behind the world of design. And having recently tackled one of the biggest challenges of our time as a curator of the 19th International Architectural Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, the exhibition Intelligence, Natural, Artificial, Collective seeks to fundamentally rethink architecture's role in an altered world and rapidly changing climate.(0:00) Learning From Nature's Trial and Error(1:20) The Senseable City(6:05) The Future Of Concrete and Circular Building(9:02) Peak Population And The Century Of The City(10:55) Transforming Architecture With Japanese Joinery and AI(14:36) Curating the Venice Biennale As An Open Lab(16:22) Blending The Natural And Artificial Through Data(20:32) Breaking Down Silos and Staying CuriousEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• The Cognitive Cost of AI: Surveillance Capitalism, The Future of Work & Democracy 25.05.2026 25min

  Look closely at the screen in front of you. It is no longer just a passive device; it is actively shaping your perception. Today, we investigate the cognitive and ethical costs of offloading our reason to algorithms and ask what happens when our tools begin to train us? We explore the rise of surveillance capitalism with those documenting the shift—technologists Jaron Lanier, Henry Ajder, and Antonella Wilby. We hear from those fighting to preserve our essence and agency—philosophers Iain McGilchrist and C. Thi Nguyen, economist Jeffrey Sachs and ecologist Carl Safina. Grounding us in the power of expression, are artists and writers Trevor Paglen, April Gornik, Etgar Keret, and Hans Ulrich Obrist. In these original interviews for The Creative Process, our guests remind us that we must never surrender our messy, human reality to artificial perfection.(0:00) Trevor Paglen (Artist) The cognitive cost of offloading our reasoning to AI (3:26)(2:28) Jaron Lanier (Computer Scientist, VR Pioneer) The Turing Test and the degradation of humanity (14:30)(5:42) Henry Ajder (AI & Deepfakes Expert) The unprecedented speed of generative AI(8:48) Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries) The fight for net neutrality(10:14) Antonella Wilby (Roboticist, NatGeo Explorer) Encoded biases, the danger of neutral tech(11:50) C. Thi Nguyen (Philosopher, Author) Thin metrics and the truth about screen time(13:09) Carl Safina (Ecologist, Author) Mechanization and human dignity(15:17) Jeffrey Sachs (Economist, Center for Sustainable Development) Citizen responsibility (23:06)(16:54) Etgar Keret (Writer, Filmmaker) Enslavement to the machine, outsourcing imagination(19:07) April Gornik (Artist) The historical parallel between AI and nuclear weapons(20:46) Iain McGilchrist (Psychiatrist, Author) Wisdom vs. utility in artificial intelligenceTo hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews here or http://www.creativeprocess.info/podEpisode Website IG@creativeprocesspodcast
• MUSKISM—Its Roots, Nature & How to Fight It w/ QUINN SLOBODIAN & BEN TARNOFF 22.05.2026 1j 1min

  “ Musk interestingly has this way of excluding the majority of the population from consideration, what he variously calls non-playing characters or NPCs, which is a category from video games, or sometimes bots, vampires. And this is a much more stark version of insider and outsider group creation than even hierarchies of race because it takes this one step further by taking very seriously the idea that other people are not only not human, but they in some way don't even exist, which is the literal reading of Musk's adoption of Nick Bostrom's simulation theory, which is that most people are simply programmable parts of a simulation and only a small number of people are actual players.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff about their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. This is much more than a biography or popular account of Elon Musk, it is a radical analysis of a deeply disturbing, computational way of seeing the world. We see a mind that is profoundly troubled by any contagion spreading into seemingly closed systems—it can take the form of racial others, transpeople, “woke” populations, or most generally and dismissively, “Non-Player-Characters.” We talk about the dangers this mindset has on democracy and the public sphere, and argue that what we should do is to “embrace the woke-mind virus as a counter-revolutionary act.”Quinn Slobodian is professor of international history at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. His books include Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy and Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right. Slobodian is a Guggenheim Fellow. has been an associate fellow at Chatham House and held residential fellowships at Harvard University and Free University Berlin. Project Syndicate put him on a list of 30 Forward Thinkers and Prospect UK named him one of the World’s 25 Top Thinkers.Ben Tarnoff's books include Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do-and How They Do It, and Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future. He's a contributor to the New York Review of Books, NYTimes and The New Yorker.(4:50) How childhood in apartheid South Africa shaped Musk’s worldview(11:05) Humans as NPCs(17:26) Memes & far-right discourse(21:40) Engineering ideology through Grok & probabilistic language models(33:03) Automating consent & isolating the public sphere(38:08) DOGE, the limits of cyborg optimization(47:46) Unwinding tech monopolies, Embracing the woke mind virus(53::20) Possible Futures of Carbon Musk & Contractor Muskhttps://www.creativeprocess.info/speaking-out-of-place-6/elon-musk-slobodian-tarnoffwww.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.com Bluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialIG @speaking_out_of_place
• LAND GRAB UNIVERSITIES: Dispossession, Indigenous Futures & the True Cost of Higher Education w/ TRISTAN AHLONE, ANDREW HERSCHER, ROBERT WARRIOR 21.05.2026 52min

  “I think in terms of the Land-Grab project: looking at that history and really beginning to learn more about the history of education in the United States—and especially Indian education—a lot of that was new to me. So, our project that we did about two years ago, building on Land-Grab, was our Misplaced Trust investigation at Grist. We wanted to go back to those universities and start looking at not just the history of how they got their finances, but looking at the present to understand how dispossession and extraction are ongoing.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu and guests Tristan Ahtone, Andrew Herscher and Robert Warrior take a deep look into universities, and education more broadly with We focus on a critique of land grant universities, which were built on land granted by the federal government. What we learn is that lands were stolen from Indigenous peoples through violence-based treaties and seizures. These 57 universities have used wealth derived from those initial acts of theft to buy more property, expand holdings, and enrich themselves. In contrast, we see the continued harm these universities do to Native peoples. This harm comes what Herscher calls “non-memory,” which creates knowledge that distorts and omits historical truths and impedes upon Indigenous futures. We talk about the deep damage non-memory does to education for all, and the ways people have fought back to retrieve, restore, and grow knowledge through scholar-journalist activism like the Land Grab University project.(6:18) The Morrill Land-Grant Act and the Origins of Institutional Wealth(7:38) Visualizing the Massive Wealth Transfer(15:30) The Northwest Ordinance and the Architecture of Deletion(27:32) Reframing Education as Indigenous Negotiation(46:33) Settler Insecurity and the Politics of Non-memoryTristan Ahtone (Kiowa) is Editor at Large at Grist and one of the foremost journalists covering Indigenous affairs in America. He previously served as Editor in Chief of the Texas Observer and Indigenous Affairs editor at High Country News.Andrew Herscher’s work endeavors to bring the study of architecture and cities to bear on struggles for justice, democracy, and self-determination across a range of global sites. He is the co-founder of a series of militant research collectives, including Detroit Resists, Settler Colonial City Project, and the We the People of Detroit Community Research Collective. Robert Warrior is Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas and a member/citizen of the Osage Nation. He is the author of Tribal Secrets: Recovering American Indian Intellectual Traditions, The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction.https://www.creativeprocess.info/speaking-out-of-place-6/land-grab-universitieshttps://www.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.social IG @speaking_out_of_place
• The Atlas of Resonance: How does architecture  shape the way we think, learn & remember? SALWA & SELMA MIKOU - Highlights 19.05.2026 22min

  Salwa and Selma Mikou are the founders of Paris-based Mikou Architecture. Born in Fez, Morocco and educated in Paris, they have spent the last two decades reimagining the relationship between the built environment and the cultural landscape.After honing their craft under two of the world’s most iconic architects, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano, they founded their own studio. For them, architecture is a living interaction with landscape and what they call the Atlas of Resonance, interpreting the hidden layers of a territory, geology, memory, and craft. It is a philosophy that rejects the generic, seeking instead to weave together technological innovation with local materials. Whether it is a mosque in the north of England or a hybrid innovation hub in a former royal manufactory, their work asks a fundamental question: How does space shape the way we think, learn and remember? They were selected by Rem Koolhaas to represent Morocco at the Venice Biennale. Most recently, they were commissioned by Hermès to create a 17,000-square-meter facility that bridges industrial performance with poetic expression. At the heart of their practice is a belief that architecture is not just about building—it’s about shaping relationships: between people, between past and future, between technology and craft.(0:03) Architecture as a Living Transformation(1:42) The Intuitive Knowledge of Living Art(2:20) Preserving the Human Core of Expression(3:14) The Medina and the Geometry of Childhood(6:35) The Social Spaces of Rooftops(8:27) The Twin Dynamic and Confrontation with 'l'autre'(10:21) Contextual Echoes & Traces of the Site(12:12) The Temples of Water(13:15) The Mosque as Pure Spatiality(15:49) Building Culture with Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé(16:57) The Wast ed-dar (وسط الدار) and the Heart of a Building(18:31) The Smells and Sounds of Home(19:44) Balance, Nature, and SisterhoodEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• Building Bridges Between Memory, Nature & Architecture with SALWA & SELMA MIKOU 18.05.2026 1j 18min

  “Architecture should bring a true sensation of wellbeing. We were really lucky to experience that as children, and now as architects, we try to bring all that we learned into our practice.”Salwa and Selma Mikou are the founders of Paris-based Mikou Architecture. Born in Fez, Morocco and educated in Paris, they have spent the last two decades reimagining the relationship between the built environment and the cultural landscape.After honing their craft under two of the world’s most iconic architects, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano, they founded their own studio. For them, architecture is a living interaction with landscape and what they call the Atlas of Resonance, interpreting the hidden layers of a territory, geology, memory, and craft. It is a philosophy that rejects the generic, seeking instead to weave together technological innovation with local materials. Whether it is a mosque in the north of England or a hybrid innovation hub in a former royal manufactory, their work asks a fundamental question: How does space shape the way we think, learn and remember?They were selected by Rem Koolhaas to represent Morocco at the Venice Biennale. Most recently, they were commissioned by Hermès to create a 17,000-square-meter facility that bridges industrial performance with poetic expression. At the heart of their practice is a belief that architecture is not just about building—it’s about shaping relationships: between people, between past and future, between technology and craft.(0:04) The Intuitive Knowledge of Living Art(4:24) The Medina and the Geometry of Childhood(8:18) The Social Spaces of Rooftops(13:46) The Intuitive Knowledge of Living Art(15:31) Contextual Echoes & Traces of the Site(19:18) The Twin Dynamic and Confrontation with 'l'autre'(26:42) The Temples of Water(33:24) The Mosque as Pure Spatiality(38:01) The Crisis Period and Structural Systems(48:24) Building Culture with Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé(51:38) The Wast ed-dar (وسط الدار) and the Heart of a Building(57:02) Preserving the Human Core of Expression(1:04:29) Urban Acupuncture in the Modern City(1:08:46) The Smells and Sounds of Home(1:10:02) Balance, Nature, and SisterhoodEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• Art, Imagination & the Search for Connection: Max Richter, Iain McGilchrist, Ami Vitale…16 Artists & Writers on Creativity 14.05.2026 31min

  Creativity is an infinite conversation. The impulse to speak and be heard is what keeps us tethered to each other and to the world. From the cinematic scores of Max Richter and Carter Burwell to the Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry of Jericho Brown, we examine the human imagination. Psychiatrist philosopher Iain McGilchrist and writers Ana Castillo, Andre Dubus III and Hala Alyan discuss the power of the unconscious and embracing imperfection. We listen to the hidden life of nature with painter April Gornik, photographer Ami Vitale and writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, scientist Daisy Fancourt, biologist David George Haskell and philosopher C Thi Nguyen remind us of the art of living and human connection. Filmmakers Cherien Dabis and Albert Serra underscore that whether we are fighting for justice or simply seeking maximum fun, the process is the prize.(0:00) Max Richter (Composer) (2:41) Andre Dubus III (Author, House of Sand and Fog) (3:36) Iain McGilchrist (Psychiatrist) (4:52) Ana Castillo (Author) (6:11) Albert Serra (Director, Pacifiction) (6:39) Daisy Fancourt (Author, Art Cure) (8:35) David George Haskell (Biologist) (9:49) C. Thi Nguyen (Philosopher) (11:14) Cherien Dabis (Director, All That’s Left of You) (13:27) Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Author, World of Wonders) (14:31) Ami Vitale (Photographer) (16:17) April Gornik (Artist) (20:12) Carter Burwell (Composer) (22:59) Hala Alyan (Author) (24:24) Jericho Brown (Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet) (27:11) Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine)For more, listen to their full interviewshttp://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-richter
• Daydreaming, Spycraft & Writing The Gray Man - Author MARK GREANEY 13.05.2026 1j 8min

  Can fiction help us make sense of an increasingly chaotic world? For Mark Greaney, writing international thrillers isn't just about explosive action—it's about untangling the messy realities of disinformation, institutional erosion, and AI-driven conflict. The author of The Gray Man series joins us to discuss his path to publishing, training alongside military operatives, and why the most terrifying threats in his novels are often pulled straight from today’s headlines.Mark Greaney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has spent his career exploring the technical and human complexities of the modern thriller. A student of international relations and political science, he has spent the last two decades at the intersection of deep-state espionage and the high-tech future of warfare. The Grey Man series is also a motion picture starring Ryan Gosling. Greaney was entrusted to carry forward the Jack Ryan universe created by the late Tom Clancy. To get the details right, Mark doesn’t just sit at a desk; his writing is built on a foundation of immersive experiential research. He’s traveled to dozens of countries, trained with SWAT teams, and even flown in Navy fighter jets.His latest book, The Hard Line, brings his protagonist back to a landscape of old conflicts in Northern Ireland and forces him to confront a father he hasn't seen in twenty years. It’s a story about the blood we share and the blood we shed. It arrives at a moment when the boundaries of global conflict are being redrawn by AI, disinformation, and a shifting geopolitical order.(0:00) The AI Arms Race(0:53) Maladaptive Daydreaming in Childhood(1:50) Following Your Passion(4:39) Growing Up with a Newsman Father(8:10) Collaborating with Tom Clancy(11:05) Work Ethic and Enjoying the Process(13:24) The Weight of Grief and Becoming an Adult(16:18) The Reality of Consequences in Fiction(18:01) The Evolution of Court Gentry(22:02) An Unconventional Path to Writing(26:33) Writing Through Physical Pain(30:56) The Weaponization of AI in Warfare(32:41) The Erosion of Truth and Bot Farms(38:06) The Cold War vs Modern Political Polarization(40:46) The Gray Man Film Adaptation(42:56) Immersive Military and Weapons Research(45:14) The Value of the Outsider Perspective(46:31) Reading from The Hard Line(50:42) Justifying Treason in Espionage(54:40) The Climate Crisis and Erosion of Institutions(57:51) The Media and Complexity(1:00:55) Adapting Education for a Changing World(1:05:49) Advice for Writers to Follow Your PassionEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• Understanding Global Conflict, AI, The Future of War & Crafting Characters - NYTimes Bestselling Author MARK GREANEY - Highlights 08.05.2026 16min

  Mark Greaney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has spent his career exploring the technical and human complexities of the modern thriller. A student of international relations and political science, he has spent the last two decades at the intersection of deep-state espionage and the high-tech future of warfare. He is the creator of the Gray Man series, a motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, and was entrusted to carry forward the Jack Ryan universe created by the late Tom Clancy. To get the details right, Mark doesn’t just sit at a desk; his writing is built on a foundation of immersive experiential research. He’s traveled to dozens of countries, trained with SWAT teams, and even flown in Navy fighter jets.His latest book, The Hard Line, brings his protagonist back to a landscape of old conflicts in Northern Ireland and forces him to confront a father he hasn't seen in twenty years. It’s a story about the blood we share and the blood we shed. It arrives at a moment when the boundaries of global conflict are being redrawn by AI, disinformation, and a shifting geopolitical order.(0:00) The AI Arms Race(1:42) Maladaptive Daydreaming(2:34) Following Your Passion(3:05) Collaborating with Tom Clancy(3:38) The Weight Of Grief(6:03) The Reality Of Consequences(7:26) The Value Of Outsider Perspective(8:30) The Weaponization Of AI(9:00) The Erosion Of Truth(11:05) The Erosion Of Institutions(13:14) The Media And ComplexityEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• Writers On Memory & the Human Condition: Siri Hustvedt, Ada Limón, Paul Lynch, T.C. Boyle…Share their Stories 05.05.2026 22min

  We look to the arts to help us make sense of the world. Today on The Creative Process, we bring together twelve writers. We hear from Booker Prize winners, Paul Lynch, discussing "cosmic fiction", and Yann Martel on the necessity of magical thinking. We’re joined by Andre Dubus III and Megan Abbott, who share their thoughts on memory and family; while Siri Hustvedt, Etgar Keret and A.L. Kennedy explore the ordinary madness of grief. We listen to the novelists Katie Kitamura, Intan Paramaditha, and Liz Moore reflecting on displacement, trauma and the liminal state—and find a connection to the natural world with T.C. Boyle, and Ada Limón.(0:00) Andre Dubus III –(Bestselling Author of House of Sand and Fog)(0:55) Etgar Keret (Celebrated Author · Filmmaker) (5:08)(3:03) Paul Lynch (Booker Prize-winning Author of Prophet Song)(4:12) Megan Abbott (Bestselling Author of The Turnout)(5:53) Katie Kitamura (Author of Audition · Intimacies)(8:02) Liz Moore (Bestselling Author of Long Bright River)(9:10) A.L. Kennedy (Award-winning Author of Day · Alive in the Merciful Country)(10:14) Siri Hustvedt (Author of Ghost Stories · What I Loved)(13:10) Yann Martel (Booker Prize-Winning Author Of Life Of Pi · Son Of Nobody)(14:27) Intan Paramaditha (Author of The Wandering)(16:18) T.C. Boyle (Bestselling Author of Talk to Me and Blue Skies) (20:27)(17:46) Ada Limón (24th U.S. Poet Laureate · Author of The Hurting Kind)To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews.https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/writers-on-memorywww.creativeprocess.info/podIG @creativeprocesspodcast
• A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls with Veteran Environmental Journalist FRED PEARCE 27.04.2026 1j 17min

  After 40 years of reporting on the world's most pressing ecological crises, you might expect Fred Pearce to be a cynic. Instead, he’s one of our greatest advocates for hope.If you follow the news about the environment, it’s easy to feel a sense of impending doom. We hear about accelerating extinctions, collapsing water cycles, and climate tipping points. But my guest today, environmental journalist Fred Pearce, says that if you look at the "ground-truth"—the stories of nature and people he has encountered—there is a surprising, even radical, case for hope. His work has taken him to more than eighty countries, from the logging concessions of Borneo to the radioactive exclusion zones of Chernobyl. He is the environment consultant for New Scientist and a regular contributor to The Guardian.In his latest work, Despite It All: A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls, he challenges the prevailing narrative of environmental collapse. He argues that the "population bomb" is being defused, that we are approaching "peak stuff" in developed nations, and that nature possesses a staggering capacity for resilience that we often ignore. He says that a "Good Anthropocene" is not only possible but is already beginning to take shape through a combination of ancient wisdom and modern technical fixes. We’ll talk today about his life as a journalist and why pessimism may be the greatest enemy of progress.(0:00) The Radical Case for Climate Optimism(2:46) Traveling the World to Find Environmental Resilience(5:08) Fixing the Anthropocene and Escaping Despondency(10:22) Indigenous Wisdom and Local Stewardship(15:28) Rewilding and Trusting Nature's Adaptability(21:10) The Renewable Energy Transition in China and Beyond(23:56) Peak Stuff and Redesigning the Cities of the Future(34:01) Defending Democracy and Environmental Protestors(36:12) Drinking Radioactive Vodka in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone(41:29) When the Rivers Run Dry and Water Scarcity(50:37) Why the Population Bomb is Defusing(55:36) The Origins of an Environmental Journalist(1:03:15) The Future of Journalism in the Age of AI(1:13:27) Generational Hope and the Next Industrial RevolutionEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• We Are Becoming Earth - Scientists, Writers, Musicians, Environmentalists & Indigenous Voices on the Living World 22.04.2026 29min

  Today, on Earth Day, we explore the Living World—a reality where we are not merely on a planet, but are a moving part of its very metabolism. We travel from the High Sierras with Paul Hawken to the forests of Costa Rica with Thomas Crowther. Guided by Merlin Sheldrake and David George Haskell, we explore ecology, policy and music with guests Paula Pinho, Hans Bruyninckx, Bill Hare and Alice Schmidt. Alongside Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Tom Chi, Erland Cooper, Rebecca Tickell and Britt Wray, we ask what happens when we stop trying to dominate and start trying to collaborate with the Earth?(0:04) TIOKASIN GHOSTHORSE Founder, First Voices Radio(2:05) PAUL HAWKEN Founder, Project Regeneration, Project Drawdown, Author (24:25)(4:57) THOMAS CROWTHER Founder, Restor, Co-chair UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration(5:51) MERLIN SHELDRAKE Biologist, Author, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds(8:23) DAVID GEORGE HASKELL Biologist, Author, How Flowers Made Our World(10:43) HANS BRUYNINCKX Fmr. Director European Environment Agency(11:39) REBECCA TICKELL (Director, Kiss the Ground) Soil Health (26:27)(13:32) TOM CHI Founding Partner, At One Ventures, Author, Climate Capital(14:44) PAULA PINHO Chief Spokesperson, European Commission(16:08) BILL HARE Founder/CEO, Climate Analytics, Physicist(18:03) ALICE SCHMIDT Global Sustainability Advisor, Author(19:18) ERLAND COOPER (Composer) Earth as Collaborator(22:38) BRITT WRAY Author, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate CrisisTo hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviewshttps://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/earth-day2026https://www.creativeprocess.info/podIG @creativeprocesspodcast
• The Fight for the Future: AI, Privacy & Power with CARISSA VÉLIZ 21.04.2026 53min

  “Algorithms are deciding whether you are eligible for a loan, a job, an apartment or insurance. They determine what you see online, who reads your social media posts and who connects with you on dating apps. They may even decide whether you get arrested or go to jail. Your very life hangs in the balance of prophecies.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Carissa Véliz, an associate professor at the University of Oxford, about her new book,Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future—from Ancient Oracles to AI. Linking this work to her previous book, Privacy is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data, Véliz writes: “ surveillance and prediction are digital technology’s original sins.”In our wide-ranging discussion, we talk about how both massive and intrusive invasions of privacy at all levels of society and false claims to be able to predict the future erode democracy, are corrosive to ethics, and undermine people’s ability to think for themselves. Instead, we are conditioned to trust an unregulated band of “effective altruists” who claim to know better than we what kinds of lives we should prefer and the choices we should make. Véliz argues instead that we should embrace the uncertain to build resilience, to prepare for contingency but not be determined by what we cannot see, and to foster curiosity and imagination.EPISODE CHAPTERS(0:00) Digital Technology's Original Sins(2:34) How Books and Prophecies Choose Their Readers(5:50) The Link Between AI, Mass Surveillance, and Profit(8:46) Why Ethics Is the Hidden Foundation of Democracy(13:52) The Future Tense as a Tech Executive Power Play(16:20) Predictions as Speech Acts and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies(22:04) Artificial Intelligence as the Ultimate Bullshitter(26:38) Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the Dangers of Infinity(35:10) Losing Connection to the Analog World and Critical Thinking(42:16) Family Stories and Absorbing the Shock of Life(46:56) Cultivating Bravery and Defying Tech’s Probabilistic Vision(49:19) Practical Advice for Everyday Life and PreparationEpisode Websitewww.palumbo-liu.com https://speakingoutofplace.com Bluesky @palumboliu.bsky.social Instagram @speaking_out_of_place
• Why Do We Listen to the Talkers More Than the Builders Saving the Planet? - Physicist, Designer, Investor TOM CHI - Highlights 17.04.2026 22min

  Why does our economy treat environmental destruction as an inevitable side effect rather than a massive design flaw? How can shifting our focus from polarizing "talkers" to practical "builders" literally save the planet? We are repeatedly told that the climate crisis is too vast and volatile to solve, but what if the true obstacle is simply bad design?Tom Chi is a physicist, designer, inventor, and investor whose work has shaped everything from Google Glass and rapid prototyping at Google X to some of the most ambitious climate technologies being built today. He’s now the founding partner of At One Ventures, where he invests in deep-tech companies focused on a bold goal: a world where humanity is a net positive to nature.Tom’s new book, Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future, reframes economics itself—not as a fixed law, but as a design discipline that can be reimagined to align with the physical realities of our planet. Drawing on science, systems thinking, and lessons from nature, the book offers a grounded, practical framework for moving beyond both climate doom and empty optimism—and toward real, regenerative solutions. Today’s conversation is about what Tom calls the 4Cs: Capital, Compassion, Climate, and Community—but also about agency, responsibility, and what becomes possible when we stop treating the future as something that happens to us and start designing it deliberately.0:00) Build Integrity: Choosing Builders Over TalkersWhy prioritizing those who physically create solutions over those who merely debate them is essential for systemic change(1:21) Overcoming Powerlessness Through Creativity, Critical Thinking, Community CompassionUtilizing a specific framework of portable skills to move from climate anxiety into meaningful, iterative action(2:22) Capital Misallocation: Taxing What We Want to SeeA critique of current tax structures that burden labor while under-taxing capital and failing to serve societal needs(3:47) The Volatility Gap: Why Average Temperatures MisleadUnderstanding why increasing climate volatility—rather than just average temperature rise—is the true driver of human distress(6:19) Economics As Design: Redesigning The Global EngineMoving beyond "physics envy" in economics to treat the global market as a discipline that can be redesigned for better outcomes(9:11) Depth Over Breadth: Reforming Education Through Experience(13:30) Local Resilience: How Cities Can Lead The TransformationPractical, block-by-block strategies for urban adaptation, from expanding tree canopies to improving household efficiency(16:33) AI and Robotics in Agriculture(19:12) Human-Centric AI: Flipping The Priority Of Automation(20:18) Thinking In Pictures: A Language Beyond WordsEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podIG @creativeprocesspodcast
• Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future - TOM CHI, Google X Co-founder, Founding Partner At One Ventures 16.04.2026 1j 27min

  “In the book I spend a bunch of time basically teaching skills and teaching frameworks of thinking. Not to indoctrinate, it's not a framework like an ideology where you need to believe exactly these things. This is a lot more about how does one use their minds effectively to solve problems that have been solved before. Of course, I work on things that have to do with investment and climate and the future of the economy and automation. The main things I'm trying to teach in the book are skills around creativity, critical thinking, community compassion and frameworks around how to go and use that on problems that should be relatively portable to a bunch of problems that are meaningful to you. The way that education needs to change is that people need to actively be working on things that truly matter to them so that over time they end up being able to go make that difference.”Tom Chi is a physicist, designer, inventor, and investor whose work has shaped everything from Google Glass and rapid prototyping at Google X to some of the most ambitious climate technologies being built today. He’s now the founding partner of At One Ventures, where he invests in deep-tech companies focused on a bold goal: a world where humanity is a net positive to nature.Tom’s new book, Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future, reframes economics itself—not as a fixed law, but as a design discipline that can be reimagined to align with the physical realities of our planet. Drawing on science, systems thinking, and lessons from nature, the book offers a grounded, practical framework for moving beyond both climate doom and empty optimism—and toward real, regenerative solutions. Today’s conversation is about what Tom calls the 4Cs: Capital, Compassion, Climate, and Community—but also about agency, responsibility, and what becomes possible when we stop treating the future as something that happens to us and start designing it deliberately.(0:00) Overcoming Powerlessness through Creativity, Critical Thinking, Community CompassionWhy broad hopelessness about the future is a purposeful tactic to maintain the status quo(7:16) How average temperature metrics fail to communicate the true danger of extreme climate volatility.(11:54) Economics as Design(17:11) Multi-disciplinary Learning Centered on Real-World Impact(26:12) Local Resilience(31:15) Tax & Capital Misallocation(36:52) Build Integrity(45:32) AI and Robotics in Agriculture(51:08) The First Honeybee Vaccine(56:11) The Entropy Curve of Pollution(1:15:31) Human-Centric AIFlipping the priority of automation to serve the collective good rather than enriching a select few(1:20:59) Thinking in PicturesHow learning to communicate and problem-solve without language fueled a career in deep tech inventionEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• Listening to the Living World: Biologist DAVID GEORGE HASKELL on Flowers, Forests & Songs of Nature - Highlights 11.04.2026 17min

  Step into the deep time of the forest floor, where a single fallen leaf contains the history of the world, and invisible fungal networks hum with ancient conversations. Biologist and acclaimed author David George Haskell reveals a staggering truth: we are completely dependent on the botanical world, and our belief in strict human individuality is a biological illusion.Haskell has spent much of his life training himself to see the universal within the infinitesimally small. He's famously sat for a year in a single square meter of Tennessee's forest, a mandala experience that revealed the deep history of the world through a single fallen leaf. He's a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his books The Forest Unseen and Sounds Wild and Broken, and he received the John Burroughs Medal for The Songs of Trees.His work often focuses on what he calls the unwaged labor of the natural world, the complex biological communities that sustain our planet without a monetary ledger. And his latest book is How Flowers Made Our World. In it, he argues that we are essentially grass apes dependent on the ancient innovations of flowering plants for two-thirds of our daily calories. (0:00) How Flowers Made Our World(1:33) Networked Connection is the Foundation of Life(2:00) Contemplating the Small(4:07) Consciousness, Intelligence & Memory in the More-Than-Human-World(4:18) We Are Grass Apes(5:41) Memories of His Childhood in Paris & Wild Orchids(6:34) The Networked Intelligence of Forests(7:45) The Earth in Full Song(8:46) The Practice of Listening(10:11) Escaping the Screen: Real Connections in the Classroom(11:35) The True Cost of AI(12:11) Transforming Ourselves(14:23) Silence Without Expectation(15:32) A Sensory Legacy for the FutureEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• How Flowers Made Our World: DAVID GEORGE HASKELL on Deep Time, Plant Intelligence & Listening to the Living World 10.04.2026 1j 26min

  What if the defining revolution of Earth's history wasn't led by animals or humans, but by flowers? Are we truly individuals, or are our bodies and minds just walking ecosystems?Our guest today is David George Haskell, a biologist who has spent much of his life training himself to see the universal within the infinitesimally small. He's famously sat for a year in a single square meter of Tennessee's forest, a mandala experience that revealed the deep history of the world through a single fallen leaf. He's a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his books The Forest Unseen and Sounds Wild and Broken, and he received the John Burroughs Medal for The Songs of Trees.His work often focuses on what he calls the unwaged labor of the natural world, the complex biological communities that sustain our planet without a monetary ledger. And his latest book is How Flowers Made Our World. In it, he argues that we are essentially grass apes dependent on the ancient innovations of flowering plants for two-thirds of our daily calories.(0:00) How Flowers Made Our WorldThe incredible ancient history of flowers on Earth(4:56) Contemplating the SmallExpanding our world by restricting our gaze(14:30) The Illusion of IndividualityWhy atomism is false and interconnectedness is the foundation of life(26:08) We Are Grass ApesThe evolutionary origins of humans and our dietary dependence on grass(33:32) Memories of His Childhood in Paris & Wild Orchids(38:55) The Networked Intelligence of ForestsHow trees communicate and share resources beneath the soil(44:00) The Earth in Full SongTracing the sonic history of our planet(51:08) The Practice of ListeningWhy tuning in to the natural world is crucial for our survival(1:01:21) Silence Without ExpectationSitting with nature without demanding progress or enlightenment(1:11:01) Transforming OurselvesWhy personal change matters in the fight for the climate(1:15:20) Escaping the ScreenFinding real human-to-human connection away from technology(1:16:16) The True Cost of AIThe devastating impact of data centers on our fossil fuel consumption(1:23:18) A Sensory Legacy for the FutureWhat we must preserve for the generations not yet bornEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
• "Note from Non-People": Kurdish History, Language & Culture with SERHAT TUTKAL & HEVIN KARAKURT 06.04.2026 1j 16min

  How does the literature of a collective that shares neither one nation nor any one language function? What can the study of state violence in Latin America teach us about the dehumanization occurring in West Asia? And how do we imagine paths out of generations of violence to build new utopias?In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with Serhat Tutkal and Hevin Karakurt to Speaking Out of Place. These two scholars engage in a broad discussion of Kurdish history, culture, politics, literature and language, with particular attention to issues of statelessness, identity, and violence. We talk about the current moment with regard to Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and the US-Israel war on Iran and beyond. We use as a starting poet Serhat’s remarkable essay, “Note from Non-People,” and then move to a discussion of his work on dehumanization. We end with imagining paths out of cycles of violence and dehumanization, and consider specifically the way we might imagine new sorts of utopias and vistas of life-affirmation.Hevin Karakurt is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Stanford University, where she studies Kurdish literature across languages and territories. In this way, she works on the question of how a literature of a collective that shares neither one nation nor any one language might function. Before coming to Stanford, she worked as a researcher in the Swiss National Science Foundation funded research project “Half-Truths. Truth, Fiction, and Conspiracy in the ‘Post-Factual’ Age”, at the University of Basel.Serhat Tutkal is a Kurdish academic. He is a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (Secihti) in Mexico. He has a PhD from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá) with a dissertation on the legitimation and delegitimation of Colombian state violence. He mainly works on violence, racism, and dehumanization in West Asia and Latin America.(3:54) READING "NOTE FROM NON-PEOPLE"(8:00) DECODING STATELESSNESSThe foundational aspects of Kurdish identity and existing outside the nation-state(17:00) THE STRUGGLE OF LANGUAGELESSNESSWhat it means to borrow languages when your native tongue is unrecognized.(31:00) DEHUMANIZATION & ACADEMIA'S ROLEExamining the legitimation of violence and the changing role of the university in critical thought(44:00) DATA RESEARCH & GEOPOLITICSConnecting data research on social media racism to current events in Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Iran.(1:05:00) IMAGINING UTOPIASEpisode Websitewww.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.social Instagram @speaking_out_of_place
• How the Pandemic Exposed the Cruelties of Incarceration w/ VICTORIA LAW 05.04.2026 56min

  “The United States has this mentality that if somebody is serving a prison sentence or if somebody is in jail, they somehow deserve whatever happens. Whether it is medical neglect, whether it is abuse by staff or the other incarcerated people, whether it is terrible food, whether it is not being able to communicate or see their family members and loved ones. What happened in 2020 is that being incarcerated became a possible death sentence. Because we saw that prison deaths jumped 77% compared to the previous year where there was not a pandemic in the United States.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu speaks with veteran journalist Victoria Law. She is the author of such books as Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms (co-authored with Maya Schenwar), and “Prisons Make Us Safer” and 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration. Today we talk about her new book, Corridors of Contagion: How the Pandemic Exposed the Cruelties of Incarceration.In this devastating study, Law shows how instead of focusing on care during the outbreak of COVID, prisons took the pandemic as an opportunity to amplify their inhumanity, cruelty, and violence. We hear how contagion spread through ventilation systems and through guards who spread viruses from outside to the prisoners, we learn how things like solitary confinement and strip searches only intensified their worse aspects, and how extractive communications systems preyed on those hungry for news from their loved ones. Law also tells us of the personal stories she was able to track that give a human dimension to the statistics of the pandemic, and also remarkable stories of self-sacrifice and solidarity, as prisoners gave each other the care and support so badly needed. We end by learning about organizations that are at the forefront of fighting for decarceration and restructuring of parole boards, and other actions to fight against the inhumane and cruel practices of the prison industrial complex.(0:00) Corridors of Contagion(2:21) Pre-Pandemic Prison Conditions Severely crowded and destabilizing environment of jails and prisons before COVID-19(8:42) Global Releases vs. US Incarceration(12:44) The Horrors of Solitary Confinement An exploration of how isolation cells offer no protection from respiratory droplets or viruses(16:55) Punished for Seeking Safety(19:07) Dehumanization Through Video Visits(26:47) Extractive Electronic Messaging(33:43) Humanizing the Statistics(43:56) Solidarity Behind Bars(51:57) The Fight for DecarcerationEpisode Websitewww.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialInstagram @speaking_out_of_place