Living One
Meet our hosts!
Living One is a free monthly webinar series. Since 2018, Living One has heard from individuals who are dedicating their lives to healing and revitalizing the planet through the transformation of human consciousness. Join hosts Olivia Crossman and Issy Clarke for another year of rich conversations to learn how, individually and in community, we can make the necessary, concrete timely steps towards a world of peace and wellbeing for all Earth Beings. Upcoming and past webinars are listed below.
Series one: Attending to the More-Than-Human World
This first series, Attending to the More-Than-Human World, explores the ethics of attention –why it matters when we unhook our minds and attention from human privilege and ground in the perspectives of Animals, Plants, Rivers, Seas, Forests. Six incisive thinkers discuss ways to pay deep and loving attention to Animals and Plants. Through various approaches – empathy, shared embodiment, animism and holism – they offer thoughtful and practical guidance on how the well-being and self-determination of our fellow earth-beings can be supported and revitalized.
NEW! For the first time we are offering a companion course for the first series, Attending to the More-Than-Human World. Anyone and everyone who would like to engage more deeply can sign up for the course with instructor Isabella Clarke.
Webinar Schedule (Click on speaker name and title for speaker biosketch)
Silvia Caprioglio Panizza is a philosopher working on moral psychology, interested in attention, (im)possibility, perception, trust, and all the ways in which we (fail to) meet the world. Apparently, she likes to travel: she has worked as a lecturer and researcher at UEA (UK), UCD (Ireland), Pardubice (Czechia), and currently Tübingen (Germany). She is the author of The Ethics of Attention: Engaging the Real with Iris Murdoch and Simone Weil (Routledge 2022), co-editor of The Murdochian Mind (Routledge 2022), and co-editor and co-translator of Simone Weil’s Venice Saved (Bloomsbury 2019) and Mirror of Obedience (Bloomsbury 2023). Non-human animals, how to do justice to them, and how to make the world a little better for them, are at the centre of much of her thinking.
Eva Meijer is a philosopher, visual artist, writer and singer-songwriter. They write novels, philosophical essays, academic texts, poems and columns, and their work has been translated into over twenty languages. Recurring themes in the work are language, including silence, madness, nonhuman animals, and politics. Meijer also works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam, writes essays and columns for Dutch newspapers, and is a member of the Multispecies Collective.
Ralph Acampora is the author of Corporal Compassion: Animal Ethics and Philosophy of Body (2006), editor of Metamorphoses of the Zoo: Animal Encounter After Noah (2010), and co-editor of A Nietzschean Bestiary: Becoming Animal Beyond Docile and Brutal (2003). He has written many articles and chapters in the arena of animal philosophy (ontology, morality, etc.). Acampora teaches widely in applied ethics among other areas, has served as an animal advocate, and worked as a park ranger before entering the academic profession.
Skye was raised on the edge of a wildlife reserve in South Africa, where she spent most of her days exploring outdoors and immersed in the Imaginal World. She now lives on Wurundjeri Country, in Melbourne Australia with her husband, toddler and Border Collie. Her early years were spent working in wildlife rehabilitation and as a Wilderness Guide in the South African bush. She then underwent a traditional 3 year apprenticeship in Taoist Healing practises before moving to the Peruvian Amazon where she entered into a full-time traditional curanderismo apprenticeship with her Shipibo teachers of the Mahua – Lopez lineage. On return from the jungle, she has been passionate about finding meaningful ways to deepen into and integrate the life altering paradigmatic shifts she experienced through her time learning from the plants. This is primarily done through her work as a facilitator of Experiential Deep Ecology workshops, as a Folk Herbalist, a Community Grief Ritualist, a leader of Study Groups on the work of Stephen Harrod Buhner and his body of work on “contemplative animism”, and as a facilitator of immersive group experiences into practices focusing on reclamation of Living Earth Perception, Mythic Imagination and Ritual Rhythms.
Erik Jampa Andersson, MA, is an environmental historian, teacher, and the author of Unseen Beings: How We Forgot the World is More Than Human (Hay House UK, 2023). With a twenty-year background in Tibetan studies, his current research focuses on animistic philosophies and the critical intersection of ecology, spirituality, and health in a more-than-human world. His research also extends into the field of Tolkien studies, where he explores critical ecological and animistic themes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythopoeic corpus. Erik holds an MA in History from Goldsmiths, University of London, and is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine.
Freya Mathews is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Philosophy at La Trobe University, Australia. She is the author of over a hundred books, articles and essays in the area of ecological philosophy, including the 1991 classic, The Ecological Self (re-issued in 2021). Her latest book, The Dao of Civilization: a Letter to China, appeared in 2023. In addition to her research activities, she co-manages a private conservation estate in northern Victoria. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Webinar Recordings
Skye was raised on the edge of a wildlife reserve in South Africa, where she spent most of her days exploring outdoors and immersed in the Imaginal World. She now lives on Wurundjeri Country, in Melbourne Australia with her husband, toddler and Border Collie. Her early years were spent working in wildlife rehabilitation and as a Wilderness Guide in the South African bush. She then underwent a traditional 3 year apprenticeship in Taoist Healing practises before moving to the Peruvian Amazon where she entered into a full-time traditional curanderismo apprenticeship with her Shipibo teachers of the Mahua – Lopez lineage. On return from the jungle, she has been passionate about finding meaningful ways to deepen into and integrate the life altering paradigmatic shifts she experienced through her time learning from the plants. This is primarily done through her work as a facilitator of Experiential Deep Ecology workshops, as a Folk Herbalist, a Community Grief Ritualist, a leader of Study Groups on the work of Stephen Harrod Buhner and his body of work on “contemplative animism”, and as a facilitator of immersive group experiences into practices focusing on reclamation of Living Earth Perception, Mythic Imagination and Ritual Rhythms.
Ralph Acampora is the author of Corporal Compassion: Animal Ethics and Philosophy of Body (2006), editor of Metamorphoses of the Zoo: Animal Encounter After Noah (2010), and co-editor of A Nietzschean Bestiary: Becoming Animal Beyond Docile and Brutal (2003). He has written many articles and chapters in the arena of animal philosophy (ontology, morality, etc.). Acampora teaches widely in applied ethics among other areas, has served as an animal advocate, and worked as a park ranger before entering the academic profession.
Eva Meijer is a philosopher, visual artist, writer and singer-songwriter. They write novels, philosophical essays, academic texts, poems and columns, and their work has been translated into over twenty languages. Recurring themes in the work are language, including silence, madness, nonhuman animals, and politics. Meijer also works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam, writes essays and columns for Dutch newspapers, and is a member of the Multispecies Collective.
Silvia Caprioglio Panizza is a philosopher working on moral psychology, interested in attention, (im)possibility, perception, trust, and all the ways in which we (fail to) meet the world. Apparently, she likes to travel: she has worked as a lecturer and researcher at UEA (UK), UCD (Ireland), Pardubice (Czechia), and currently Tübingen (Germany). She is the author of The Ethics of Attention: Engaging the Real with Iris Murdoch and Simone Weil (Routledge 2022), co-editor of The Murdochian Mind (Routledge 2022), and co-editor and co-translator of Simone Weil’s Venice Saved (Bloomsbury 2019) and Mirror of Obedience (Bloomsbury 2023). Non-human animals, how to do justice to them, and how to make the world a little better for them, are at the centre of much of her thinking.
Series two: Encounters with the Unseen
Encounters with the Unseen
Encounters with the Unseen delves into the critical ethical and ontological dimensions emerging from nonduality and our existence in a world of persons in which only a small number are human.
Journey with us into unseen territories and discover how this deeper understanding can expand and restore wholeness and connection with the vitality of our living cosmos.
2024
2024 What's Ours To Do?
This season, Living One asks our guests “What is ours to do?”.
Since 2018, Living One has asked the question: “We know what wrong looks like, but what does right look like? Most importantly, how do we get from wrong to right? When there is so much to change and heal, where do we begin? What’s the first step? What is the path each of us can undertake to make positive, deep, transformative change, not only as individuals, but as a collective whole? Let’s talk about it!
This year, Living One hosts and hears from individuals who have forged a range of unique and inspiring paths to help transform and heal Earth, Animals, and human society. Join us for another year of rich conversations to learn how, individually and in community, we can make the necessary, concrete, timely steps towards a “right” world – a world of peace and wellness for all Earth Beings.
Tiant Mitchell is a Psychology Department Peer Assistant in a State Prison in Western Pennsylvania where he teaches cognitive behavior therapy-based classes and Suicide Prevention. He is the author of several book and associated programs including Felons-R-Fathers2: Parenting Outreach Program and Fatherhood Training System, The Correctional Solutions Institute, and Freedom Consultation Group, LLC. which he developed while in prison to train other incarcerated fathers how to be exceptional fathers from prison.
Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education in Prisons (PA CHEP) Presentation
Betty J. Kovacs, PhD received her doctorate from the University of California, Irvine, in Comparative Literature and Theory of Symbolic/Mythic Language. She taught Mythology and Fairy Tales as literary structures that reveal the organizing principles of human development, as well as Comparative Literature and Writing. She served many years as Chair and Program Chair on the Board of Directors of the Jung Society of Claremont in California and sits on the Academic Advisory Board of Forever Family Foundation. Among her numerous other publications, She is the author of Merchants of Light: The Consciousness That Is Changing the World and The Miracle of Death: There Is Nothing But Life.
Dr. Sandra L. Bloom is a Board-Certified psychiatrist, graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and currently Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. She is an author or co-author of a series of books on trauma-informed care, is Past-President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and Founder and immediate Past-President of The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP). From 1980-2001, Dr. Bloom served as Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary programs, inpatient psychiatric programs for the treatment of trauma-related emotional disorders, and during those years was also President of the Alliance for Creative Development, a multidisciplinary outpatient practice group. Dr. Bloom is recognized nationally and internationally as the founder of the Sanctuary Model. In extending her work to include an online delivery program called Creating Presence, Dr. Bloom makes the innovative approach to service delivery known as “trauma-informed” and “trauma-responsive” more available and cost effective.
David Michelson is one of the chief petitioners for Initiative Petition 28 (IP28), a proposed ballot measure for the Oregon 2026 election that would ask voters if they are ready to end the slaughter, hunting, and experimentation of animals statewide. Inspired by prior social movements, David believes that bringing the question of animal liberation to the ballot will help stimulate a radical transformation in how we collectively view the animals currently exempt from the same legal protections granted to our companions. David began working on building the foundations for this campaign in 2020, after recognizing the untapped potential of ballot initiatives to accelerate the animal rights movement. David’s activism is informed by his practice of Nonviolent Communication and participation in the Plum Village community of engaged Buddhism.
Liza is on a mission to help people discover and express their unique proposition, personally and professionally, for greater impact to themselves and others. She covers the mind-body-spirit movement as editor of Mindstream.world and host of The Mindstream Podcast, and provides strategic communications for the holistic wellbeing, spirituality and consciousness sector through her consultancy, Mindstream Ventures. She chairs the Frontier Journalists’ Network, which is devoted to helping the press cover topics surrounding the mysteries of human phenomena. Her latest endeavor is a new podcast, Express Yourself with Authenticity. Liza earned her Master of Science degree in strategic communications at Columbia University, and her B.A. in sociology with journalism at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Maryland. Liza is an American living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Learn more about all her projects at LizaHoran.com.
Kristin Flyntz is an assistant editor of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, an online journal that publishes writing and visual art created in response to an age of massive species loss and ecological collapse. Her writing has been published in Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, Cloud Women’s Dream Journal, The Pivot: Addressing Global Problems Through Local Action, and The Corona Transmissions: Alternatives for Engaging with COVID-19—from the Physical to the Metaphysical. By day, she is a marketing executive for a retirement services organization, where she leads an editorial content team. She lives in northern Connecticut on undeeded land of the Algonkian Peoples with her musician husband and their feline teachers and companions, Ophelia and Zoe.
Paul Moss has an undergraduate degree in biology and masters degrees in agronomy and marketing. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography, Environment & Society at the University of Minnesota. Paul is cofounder and executive director of The Plant Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to increase respect for plants, and has also served as executive director of the Minnesota-based grantmaking Cottonwood Foundation since 1992. He worked as a planner and program coordinator for a State of Minnesota environmental agency for 28 years on issues related to community sustainability and climate adaptation, and had previous experience as a marketing manager with a large food company. Paul has a strong commitment to increasing respectful treatment of plants and is interested in plant ethics, plant rights and plant liberation.
Check out Gay’s appearance on The Plant Initiative’s podcast here!
Chris Agnos is the co-founder of Sustainable Human, a non-profit organization dedicated to evolving human consciousness through video storytelling. When Chris became aware of the many crises facing humanity, he discovered that there are hidden forces guiding humanity, both individually and collectively. Those forces are stories. Chris realized that the best way to change the world was to help people become aware of their story and the impact it has on their lives. Along with his wife and co-founder of Sustainable Human, Dawn Agnos, Chris has created hundreds of video stories along the themes of economics, the natural world, human development and trauma. He is currently writing a book entitled The People’s Library, which offers a new economic story for humanity.
Dr. Lynn Rogers is the founder of the North American Bear Center located in Ely, Minnesota. He received his doctorate in ecology and behavioral biology at the University of Minnesota. Lynn has spent more than fifty years studying wildlife behavior and ecology, focusing on Black Bears. His Bear work has ranked as one of the five major studies of large mammals in the world and is one of the longest conducted with a single species. For close to two decades his research has centered on the more than two hundred Bears who live around the Center. As a result, he has developed many deep, long lasting relationships with Bears and is an accepted member of their community. This dedication has dispelled the myth of Bears as ferocious and dangerous beings. Dr. Roger’s work has indisputably demonstrated the complex intelligence, emotions, empathy, culture, and gentle nature of Bears. Lynn lectures widely, serves as a scientific consultant internationally, and is the focus of numerous documentaries including thirteen BBC-TV programs. Every year, thousands of visitors from around the world visit the Center to learn about who Bears really are.
