The Passing Through Podcast

I currently live in a German-made van named Wilma with my partner. We’ve given up our old way of life and are touring Europe – passing through farms and eco-villages while I record a rambling, ranting podcast examining the in-betweens of consciousness, ecology, animacy, and the human condition. Fasten your seatbelt and come along for the ride!

109 episodes

19d ago latest

monthly cadence

English language

Explicit rating

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Episodes 109

E129 | Leaving On a Jet Plane
19d ago · 13:40
I'm leaving for a little while for a brief adventure. I'll be back again in about a month. Enjoy the down time!
E128 | Skye Cielita Flor | Curanderismo, Ayahuasca & Animist Perception
25d ago · 1:32:57
When you think of plant medicine, one of the first things you think of is probably ayahuasca. An Intensely psychedelic kaleidoscopic weekend of hallucination and vomiting hopefully accompanied by profound shifts in consciousness. You may know someone who’s attended an ayahuasca ceremony, you may have even attended one or more yourself, but you probably haven’t heard the stories of someone who’s studied with indigenous Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon. This week’s guest spent 5 years in the jungle, embedded in an animist culture, undergoing plant dietas while learning medicine songs called
E127 | Funkadelic | 55 Years of Maggot Brain
1mo ago · 28:22
On July 12, Funkadelic's Maggot Brain turned fifty-five. Mommy, what's a funkadelic? Join me for a very quick reflection on this enormously influential psychedelic funk rock album. Frontman George Clinton and guitarist Eddie Hazel are musical heroes, and to commemorate this special anniversary George Clinton landed the mothership in New Orleans at the Essence Festival. If you too share visions of one nation under a groove, then sit down, tune in, free your mind, and your ass will follow. Links https://funkadelic.bandcamp.com/album/maggot-brain https://funkadelic.bandcamp.com/album/funkadelic h
E126 | John Seed | Deep Ecology & Community Therapies | Are We Entangled With The Living Earth?
1mo ago · 1:02:52
This week John Seed is Passing Through. A pioneering environmentalist, musician, activist and writer, John has played a formative role in shaping Deep Ecology globally. Beginning back in 1979 he began putting his life on the line to defend rainforests and would later found and direct The Rainforest Information Center to continue this important work. Since then he’s initiated projects protecting rainforests in South America, Asia and the Pacific, providing sustainable development and working with indigenous inhabitants to protect their forests. During his more than 40 year career John has worke
E125 | Dan Burgess | Ramble On Spaceship Earth
2mo ago · 1:37:50
There's a heatwave passing through, and we're passing through it. At least here in Europe. I was delighted to ramble through part of it with the lovely Dan Burgess. Earthling, father, partner, and brother, Dan is a regenerative practitioner, creative strategist, action researcher, co-designer, un/learning guide, facilitator, activist, writer, speaker, podcaster and DJ working at the intersections of ecology, culture, and transformation. Dan is creator and host of The Spaceship Earth Podcast, as well as many other environmental projects like We Are Avon, Becoming Crew, and Famous For Five Miles
E124 | Dr. Louise Hecker | Can Psychedelic Mushrooms Slow Aging?
2mo ago · 1:19:54
My guest this week is pioneering psychedelic researcher, Dr. Louise Hecker. Under her guidance, a team of scientists made shocking clinical discoveries for the first time in history. Studying a group of elderly mice, the scientists observed that administering heroic doses of psychedelic mushrooms conferred geroprotective benefits to their cells and appear to slow down aging. Her research is paving the way for a new understanding between the role of psilocybin in health and aging. Repeatedly giving mice hallucinogenic doses of psilocybin over tenth months produced profound, observable changes i
E123 | A Finger in Your Ear
2mo ago · 36:48
This week I'm passing through the space between your ears! Join me for a liminal stream-of-consciousness ramble into the unknown, as I hunger for your wax and comb the murky depths of what's bubbling up through my mind.
E122 | Tristan Gooley | Natural Navigating: Reading Nature's Signs
2mo ago · 46:46
This week I had the chance to speak with Tristan Gooley — a man who’s been called The Sherlock Holmes of nature by the BBC. Tristan is the author of a series of books exploring the topic of natural navigation. Now, you may not have heard this term before. What is natural navigation? Well, to answer that question we'd have to ask, what did people do before maps and compasses were invented? Curious question. I hadn’t thought of it before. What did our ancestors do to successfully navigate the world for pretty much all of human history? They learned to listen to nature and read its signs. That’s
E121 | Francis Weller | Grief, Ritual and Holding Space for Sorrow
3mo ago · 1:30:20
This week Francis Weller is Passing Through! How do we work with grief? Why is it important to metabolize our sorrow in a group setting? How does grief work and grief ritual differ from group therapy or support groups? What is grief asking of us? To help us answer these questions, I’m honored to have passed through this space with someone who’s been a teacher and inspiration to me, Francis Weller. Francis is a retired psychotherapist, renowned author, and grief worker who has opened up his life to an apprenticeship with sorrow. He’s written extensively on the topic of grief in books like The W
E120 | Listening to Grief & the Emotions Modern Culture Casts Aside
3mo ago · 31:32
This week I’m passing through southern Poland with a little preamble about grief (stay tuned for a more thorough investigation to come). This episode is a short, stream-of-consciousness exploration of the difficult emotions that we cast aside into liminal space in modern culture: inadequacy, anger, resentment, fear, uncertainty, humiliation, loss, sadness, grief. Inside any living thing there’s a hurting thing. Through attrition — a careful whittling away over time — we accumulate damage; seasoning. The longer we live, the more time polishes us; smooths the edges; fades the color. But in doing
E119 | Big Other | The Surveillance Episode
3mo ago · 1:22:42
Did you ever get the feelin’ you was bein’ watched? This week I’m passing through a network of Flock Safety cameras that are all watching my every move and making me wonder what my Fourth Amendment rights are for. This is the surveillance episode. This episode is all about how the most powerful surveillance apparatus in human history was built — not by a government, or a dictator, but in plain sight, incrementally, by companies whose products you use every day, funded by investors whose names you might not know, operating inside a legal framework that doesn’t meaningfully safeguard your civil
E118 | Time Away
3mo ago · 1:02:01
This week I’m passing through remembering the past couple of weeks. Join me for a chat about time spent with my father in Portugal, reflections on child-parent relations, Community Building, and Asia and I's first time on our own as facilitators.
E117 | Jeremy Lent | Envisioning Ecocivilization and Exiting the Anthropocene
4mo ago · 1:00:01
Jeremy Lent, visionary thinker, founder of The Deep Transformation Network, and author of books like The Patterning Instinct, The Web of Meaning, and most recently, Ecocivilizaiton: Making A World That Works For All, joins us this week on The Passing Through Podcast. He takes a systems-thinking approach to assess our collective unraveling, which is, by definition a systemic crisis, and he emphasizes how an ecology of practice and action is required to shift our global paradigms. Jeremy’s work helps us imagine the horizons of different shared futures as we transition from the horrors of the ant
E116 | Weekend Updates | New Website & Substack
4mo ago · 15:43
This week I'm passing through with some news! We've got a website! Now you can stream episodes, search content, watch animated transcripts, comment, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts without having to use Spotify or pay for any apps. Check it out: https://thepassingthroughpodcast.com I'm also on Substack now. If you want to check out supplemental writing-based content, you can subscribe to The Passing Through Substack page that I'll occasionally post on: https://substack.com/@thepassingthroughpodcast This episode brought to you by Tenta-Call. Grab everyone!
E115 | Werner Herzog | The Texture of the Moment
5mo ago · 26:49
Filmmaker, writer, and philosopher Werner Herzog is Passing Through (he's always passing through) for a conversation about the state of the world — oil, artificial intelligence, borders, and what lies underneath all of it. He discusses H.P. Lovecraft, the moth that drinks from the tears of sleeping birds, a jar of crude oil he has kept sealed for many years, and a specific frog who he may or may not know. One of the more surreal conversations I've had on this show. (Music during past lives reading by SWER)
E114 | Grace Rachmany | Leaving, Belonging & the Courage to Compost
5mo ago · 1:35:26
What does it mean to build a new world when you haven't figured out how to leave the old one behind? Grace Rachmany returns to The Passing Through Podcast for the second time, this time calling in from Malaysia, where she had been living inside a crypto-bro utopia not entirely dissimilar to the eco-villages where we first met. Different tribe, same restless hunger for something better. We talk about what separates those two worlds, what they unexpectedly share, and what gets lost when you try to build culture without knowing how. We also get into death — specifically, our disagreement with Bry
E113 | Vipassana Meditation | Inside a 10-Day Silent Retreat
5mo ago · 1:53:43
In this solo episode of The Passing Through Podcast, we dive deep into the ancient meditation practice of Vipassana. After completing my third 10-day silent retreat, join me for a talk where I unpack what really happens inside a Vipassana course: the intense physical pain, the psychological unraveling, and my confrontation with an unfocused mind. Before we start I'll lay out some core Buddhist concepts—impermanence (anicca), non-self (anatta), suffering (dukkha)—as well as sila, samadhi and panna. From concentrated breathing to scanning sensations to dissolving deep-rooted reactions (sankaras)
E112 | David George Haskell | Listening to the Living World
5mo ago · 1:23:15
This week I’m joined by biologist, author, educator and deep listener David George Haskell. David is a contributor to publications such as the New York Times, Scientific American and The Guardian, he has produced sound projects with Emergence Magazine, and he has a brand new book coming out later this month, titled How Flowers Made Our World. David’s work is perched in the wonderful place between science and poetry, where forests aren’t just ecosystems but bustling communities, and where listening carefully to the world can be a beautiful way of befriending it. His books such as The Forest Uns
E111 | Jeffrey Epstein | Power, Corruption, and the Global Elite
6mo ago · 2:08:20
Join me for a different kind of episode this week, and it's a long one. Lots of people are talking about Epstein—not enough, in my opinion, considering it’s quite possibly the biggest, most disturbing scandal in modern history—so I’d like to share some thoughts. I’m going to explore this with a "straight from the horses mouth" approach, using sometimes graphic multimedia throughout this episode, so listener discretion is advised. I'm going to be investigating: - Who was Epstein - How did he make his money - What’s the timeline we’re looking at here for the Epstein Files - What’s in them, what
E110 | Doug Tallamy | The Little Things That Run The World
6mo ago · 1:24:45
In this episode of The Passing Through Podcast, entomologist, ecologist, educator and author Doug Tallamy reveals why insects are the foundation of life on Earth, and what happens if they disappear. From caterpillars and chickadees to invasive species, deer, and global insect decline, we explore how biodiversity underpins our food systems, ecosystems, and even social stability. Doug explains why native plants matter, how light pollution is driving down moth populations , and how simple acts like planting oaks or switching to yellow “bug lights” can help restore local ecosystems. Are we separat
E109 | Dr Lyla June Johnston | Love, Beauty and Empire
6mo ago · 1:01:50
Right now the world feels like it’s unraveling—politically, ecologically, spiritually. We’re at a time when love can feel naive, beauty can feel fragile, and the word empire is painfully alive and present. In this episode, I’m honored to be joined by Indigenous scholar, scientist, musician, and activist Dr. Lyla June Johnston. We explore love as resistance, beauty as a moral force, and what Indigenous wisdom might teach us about being human in times of collapse. We talk about nonviolence, collective power, kinship with the more-than-human world, land, indigenous food systems and economies, and
E108 | A Broadcast From the Sickhouse
6mo ago · 15:08
This week I'm down with the sickness (Oh, ah-ah-ah-ah). I'm ill! Part man, part exotic virus. Join me for a very quick and delirious update from the non-ordinary state of consciousness we collectively call sickness.
E107 | On Thin ICE | Fascism, Ecology, and the Ethics of Resistance
7mo ago · 39:53
In this solo episode, I reflect on stillness, resistance and the use of force, as well as what it means to live through times of ecological and social crisis. I talk about the pressure of weekly creation, the value of slowing down, and the tension between offering something out of obligation versus presence. I speak about what’s unfolding in the United States — state-sponsored violence, authoritarianism, and the violation of human dignity — and the difficult questions this raises around nonviolent resistance, the use of force, and how to respond to the monstrous without becoming monsters ourse
E106 | Ethan Tapper | How To Love A Forest | Ecology, Re-Enchantment & Responsibility
7mo ago · 1:07:08
What if learning to love a forest could change how you see responsibility, courage, and your place in the living world? From trees that sweat clouds to foxes guided by invisible forces, today’s conversation invites us back into a world alive with wonder. Joining us today on The Passing Through Podcast is Ethan Tapper, author of the award-winning book How to Love a Forest. Ethan is an internationally recognized forester, educator, and digital storyteller devoted to re-enchanting our relationship with the natural world. He currently lives on a 175-acre forest in Vermont, a place he calls “Bear I
E105 | For Those Listening From The Liminal
7mo ago · 1:03:04
This week I'm passing through the snowy mountains of southwestern Poland. Join me for a meandering ramble that begins with dissolution and letting go. What does it mean to let go of everything and dissolve? In this episode I ask questions like: What is this podcast about?Who is it for?What's the point?Should you pull the mouse from the maw of a feral beast? This is an episode for new listeners and old. Come all ye faithful and lend me your ears. I'm unpacking the tentpoles with you in real time and trying to reassemble the pieces. Let's sit down by the fire and make the time more easy pass

Episodes

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More Society shows

The Passing Through Podcast

Episodes 109

E129 | Leaving On a Jet Plane

E128 | Skye Cielita Flor | Curanderismo, Ayahuasca & Animist Perception

E127 | Funkadelic | 55 Years of Maggot Brain

E126 | John Seed | Deep Ecology & Community Therapies | Are We Entangled With The Living Earth?

E125 | Dan Burgess | Ramble On Spaceship Earth

E124 | Dr. Louise Hecker | Can Psychedelic Mushrooms Slow Aging?

E123 | A Finger in Your Ear

E122 | Tristan Gooley | Natural Navigating: Reading Nature's Signs

E121 | Francis Weller | Grief, Ritual and Holding Space for Sorrow

E120 | Listening to Grief & the Emotions Modern Culture Casts Aside

E119 | Big Other | The Surveillance Episode

E118 | Time Away

E117 | Jeremy Lent | Envisioning Ecocivilization and Exiting the Anthropocene

E116 | Weekend Updates | New Website & Substack

E115 | Werner Herzog | The Texture of the Moment

E114 | Grace Rachmany | Leaving, Belonging & the Courage to Compost

E113 | Vipassana Meditation | Inside a 10-Day Silent Retreat

E112 | David George Haskell | Listening to the Living World

E111 | Jeffrey Epstein | Power, Corruption, and the Global Elite

E110 | Doug Tallamy | The Little Things That Run The World

E109 | Dr Lyla June Johnston | Love, Beauty and Empire

E108 | A Broadcast From the Sickhouse

E107 | On Thin ICE | Fascism, Ecology, and the Ethics of Resistance

E106 | Ethan Tapper | How To Love A Forest | Ecology, Re-Enchantment & Responsibility

E105 | For Those Listening From The Liminal

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Episodes 109

E129 | Leaving On a Jet Plane

E128 | Skye Cielita Flor | Curanderismo, Ayahuasca & Animist Perception

E127 | Funkadelic | 55 Years of Maggot Brain

E126 | John Seed | Deep Ecology & Community Therapies | Are We Entangled With The Living Earth?

E125 | Dan Burgess | Ramble On Spaceship Earth

E124 | Dr. Louise Hecker | Can Psychedelic Mushrooms Slow Aging?

E123 | A Finger in Your Ear

E122 | Tristan Gooley | Natural Navigating: Reading Nature's Signs

E121 | Francis Weller | Grief, Ritual and Holding Space for Sorrow

E120 | Listening to Grief & the Emotions Modern Culture Casts Aside

E119 | Big Other | The Surveillance Episode

E118 | Time Away

E117 | Jeremy Lent | Envisioning Ecocivilization and Exiting the Anthropocene

E116 | Weekend Updates | New Website & Substack

E115 | Werner Herzog | The Texture of the Moment

E114 | Grace Rachmany | Leaving, Belonging & the Courage to Compost

E113 | Vipassana Meditation | Inside a 10-Day Silent Retreat

E112 | David George Haskell | Listening to the Living World

E111 | Jeffrey Epstein | Power, Corruption, and the Global Elite

E110 | Doug Tallamy | The Little Things That Run The World

E109 | Dr Lyla June Johnston | Love, Beauty and Empire

E108 | A Broadcast From the Sickhouse

E107 | On Thin ICE | Fascism, Ecology, and the Ethics of Resistance

E106 | Ethan Tapper | How To Love A Forest | Ecology, Re-Enchantment & Responsibility

E105 | For Those Listening From The Liminal