Food & Community in the Ruins: Dougald Hine, Chris Smaje, Pella Thiel | Reality Roundtable #05
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 553 Ratings
🗓️ 15 October 2023
⏱️ 88 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this Reality Roundtable, philosopher and writer Dougald Hine, social scientist and farmer Chris Smaje, and ecologist and farmer Pella Thiel join Nate to discuss the future of food and community. Our disconnected relationship to agriculture and our neighbors have been shaped by a modern industrial society fueled by surplus hydrocarbon energy. What will these relationships look like in a lower energy future, where we need to once again work with each other and the land, rather than in isolation. Can we learn from history to celebrate with each other in times of abundance and find strength in community in times of need? In the present world where people are in constant search for meaning and purpose, what are strategies to find joy in simplicity and well-being through the growing and sharing of food?
About Dougald Hine
Dougald Hine is a social thinker, writer and speaker. After an early career as a BBC journalist, he co-founded organizations including the Dark Mountain Project and a school called HOME. His latest book is At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics & All the Other Emergencies (2023). He co-hosts The Great Humbling podcast and publishes a Substack called Writing Home.
About Chris Smaje
Chris Smaje is a writer, social scientist and small-scale farmer, co-running a mixed holding in Somerset, southwest England. He's the author of A Small Farm Future (2020) and Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future (2023), both published by Chelsea Green. He blogs at and is contactable via www.chrissmaje.com.
About Pella Thiel
Pella Thiel is a maverick ecologist, part-time farmer, full-time activist and teacher in ecopsychology. She is the co-founder of swedish hubs of international networks like Swedish Transition Network and End Ecocide Sweden and a knowledge expert in the UN Harmony with Nature programme. Pella was awarded the swedish Martin Luther King Award in 2023 and the Environmental Hero of the year 2019.
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Show Notes & Links to Learn More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/rr05-hine-smaje-thiel
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Great Simplification with Nate Higgins. |
| 0:06.3 | That's me. |
| 0:07.7 | On this show, we try to explore and simplify what's happening with energy, the economy, the environment, in our society. |
| 0:17.0 | Together with scientists, experts, and leaders, this show is about understanding the bird's |
| 0:23.0 | eye view of how everything fits together, where we go from here and what we can do about |
| 0:28.6 | it as a society and as individuals. |
| 0:33.0 | Welcome to reality roundtable number five. |
| 0:37.1 | Typically, we have former guests that have been on the podcast. |
| 0:40.7 | This one are three new friends of mine. |
| 0:43.7 | Uh, firstly Pella Teal, a maverick Swedish ecologist, part-time farmer, full-time environmental |
| 0:50.4 | activists and a teacher in eco-psychology. |
| 1:00.1 | She's a co-founder of Swedish hubs in the Swedish transition network, as well as something called End Ecoside. |
| 1:02.6 | And I expect Pella and I will be fast friends going forward in the future. |
| 1:08.5 | Second is Chris Smaid, who is a writer, social scientist, and small-scale farmer in Somerset, |
| 1:15.9 | England. |
| 1:16.6 | He is the author of a small farm future and saying no to a farm-free future. |
| 1:23.3 | And rounding out the roundtable is Dugald Hein, who is a social thinker, |
| 1:29.7 | writer, speaker, and co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project, as well as a school called Home. |
| 1:37.3 | His latest book is called At Work in the Ruins, which is actually how we organized this |
| 1:43.8 | call thematically. |
| 1:46.0 | How do people paying attention to this podcast, paying attention to the way the geopolitics |
| 1:55.1 | and energy and culture is careening towards ruins? |
... |
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