Forest of Thought

Ingrid M. Rieser
  • 5.0 (4)
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Conversations that explore the ideas we live by – re-examining the familiar and catching glimpses of the new. forestofthought.substack.com

  1. 6D AGO

    37. Embracing our cyclical nature // JENNY KOOS [Blood Mysteries pt. 1]

    From menarche until menopause, women have a rhythmical companion, whose presence or absence tells us something about our bodies. The menstrual cycle is considered by many medical professionals to be the fifth vital sign, and just like our pulse or our blood pressure, it tells us something important about our health. And yet the general knowledge about the menstrual cycle, both in the medical community and society at large, is very poor. Many women struggle with pains, mood swings, and infertility without understanding the underlying cause of these. Why isn’t the cycle considered more important? Could the disregard for women’s bodies be tied to the disregard for nature? What new possibilities emerge if we lean into the cyclical nature of bodies? Even if you're not a woman – actually, especially then - you may find this episode illuminating. Jenny Koos is an author and Holistic Reproductive Health practitioner. She has championed fertility awareness and women’s empowerment through body literacy in countless debates, lectures, client sessions and social media for 15 years. Her first book on fertility awareness was published in 2022. LINKS: Vulverine - Jenny's website Menstrual cycle as fifth vital sign Justisse College This is the first episode of the 🩸 Blood mysteries🩸 mini-series here on the podcast. Follow us in your podcast app or sign up for our Substack newsletter so you never miss an episode! SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 31m

  2. JAN 20

    REPRISE: Imaginations of Control // ANDY STIRLING

    A favorite conversation from the archives, with particular relevance for upcoming episodes! When our societies are faced with challenges we often call on science to provide us with the best course of action; we strive to make evidence-based decisions. But what assumptions are hiding behind this recipe for decision-making? And how can taking control of a situation reduce our capacity for responding with care? We delve back into the Forest of Thought today with Andy Stirling, Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the STEPS Centre, UK. Andy Stirling is Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the University of Sussex. He co-directs the STEPS Centre, which looks at social, technological and environmental pathways to sustainability. Andy’s research focusses on understanding science and technology in relation to issues of power, uncertainty and diversity. LINKS: A video talk and blog post by Andy on modernity, the pandemic and the futilities of control: https://steps-centre.org/news/andy-stirling-on-covid-19-modernity-and-control-video/ Andy’s 4-part blog series on responding to climate disruption with caring struggle rather than technocratic control: https://steps-centre.org/blog/is-the-naming-of-climate-change-a-dangerous-self-defeat/ A lecture by Andy on uncertainty and power in science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDfQ3fIKygQSHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 10m

  3. 12/09/2025

    36. Thinking with plants – on Hildegard of Bingen’s ecological theology // MICHAEL MARDER

    What can we learn from plants?  In Western thinking, plants have usually been seen as the most lowly beings, fixed in one place and without capacity for thinking. But many cultures have known – and modern science is confirming – that plants carry their own kind of vibrant intelligence. They communicate, interpret and elaborate – could it be that we humans are more plant-like than we tend to believe?  In the 12th century, the mystic Hildegard of Bingen wrote about viriditas, a kind of capacity for self-renewal and vitality expressed most clearly in the vegetal realm. In today’s episode  I speak to philosopher Michael Marder about Hildegard’s ecological theology and what we might learn from plants.  Michael Marder is Ikerbasque Research Professor of Philosophy at University of the Basque Country, and his work spans the fields of environmental philosophy and ecological thought, political theory, and phenomenology.  LINKS Michael Marder website (free articles, book overviews) Green Mass: The Ecological Theology of St. Hildegard of Bingen Pyropolitics: Fire and the political Michael’s Substack SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    58 min

  4. 11/25/2025

    35. Walking for peace and learning with head, heart & hands // SATISH KUMAR

    If you’d prefer to watch the episode, it is available here on Youtube.  In 1962 , a young man named Satish Kumar set out with his friend Prabakhar Menon on a pilgrimage for peace that would take him around the world, forever changing the course of his life.  Later on, Satish dedicated himself to the work of making peace with nature,  as the editor of the ecological magazine Resurgence, and in helping to found Schumacher College, a school for transformative learning.  We first met when I did my master’s at that college more than a decade ago. In this conversation we talk about the power of walking and of pilgrimage, about the kind of education we are in need of today, and about whether working for peace means the same thing today as when Satish was young.  Peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. He undertook a pilgrimage for peace, walking for two years without money from India to America for the cause of nuclear disarmament. Now in his 80s, Satish has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration and social justice. He is a world-renown author and international speaker, founder of The Resurgence Trust and Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist – a change-making magazine he edited for over 40 years.  LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Satish Kumar’s autobiography No Destination – autobiography of a pilgrim. Satish's mentor Vinoba Bhave Satish’s peace pilgrimage – if you’d like to hear more details about his trip, I can recommend this episode of Follow your Blissters.  Schumacher College – support the college here. Resurgence magazine SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 2m

  5. 11/11/2025

    34. The subtle art of listening // KERI FACER

    As we are faced with multiplying crises, we often rush into trying to fix the world through words and busy action. What if an adequate response is to simply listen? What new worlds can be made, what wounds can be healed, through listening deeply? In this episode, Keri Facer returns to the podcast to explore the subtle art of listening. Keri is Professor of Educational and Social Futures at the University of Bristol, and co-founder of the Society for Transformative conversations at the Swedish Agricultural university.  LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: My previous conversation with Keri Keri’s paper “Beyond voice: Listening and silence in climate change education” Momo by Michael Ende Lisbet Lipari Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta Tim Ingold - the pause as the moment of thought Ways of Council and Keri’s mentor Pip Bondy SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    59 min

  6. 10/28/2025

    33. “Our crisis is an aesthetic crisis” – on art, education and ecology // JAN VAN BOECKEL

    What could art making and aesthetics mean to us in these difficult times? Can we justify going off to paint or to spend time in nature when there is so much destruction going on in the world? Aesthetics is about opening up our senses to the world - but do we even want to stay sensitive when there is so much pain? How do we deal with that paradox?  Today’s episode is with artist and educator Jan van Boeckel. Jan’s work brings together art, education and ecology. He has been Professor in Art & Sustainability at Hanze University in the Netherlands and is now a Senior Research Associate there. He is also an avid painter, and hosts wild painting courses throughout Europe.  LINKS TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT Jan’s website Jan’s Wild painting courses Active Facebook group on arts-based environmental education “Call of the mountain” – a film on Arne Næss and deep ecology Everyone is an artist - Joseph Beuys Enabling constraints James Hillman: Our crisis is an aesthetic crisis Gregory Bateson writes about “the pattern that connects” in Mind and Nature David Abram (who talks about Eros) Robert Jay Lifton and psychic numbing Renée Lertzman’s book Environmental Melancholia Bayo Akomolafe: the times are urgent, let’s slow down. F. Scott Fitzgerald : Superior intelligence is the ability to embrace two completely contrary ideas, and still retain the ability to function Bill Wahpepah of the American Indian Movement SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    57 min

  7. 10/14/2025

    32. God as the poet of the world – on Whitehead's process philosophy // MATTHEW DAVID SEGALL

    I was born into a world where many of the things that are most important to me, like art, beauty, relationships, embodied experience, love, and the sacred, are not really considered very important to our understanding of the cosmos. They are thought of as ‘extra fluff’ rather than being at the core of our existence and reality. One of the thinkers who has tried to create a science more attuned to these philosophical questions was mathematician turned philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. In the early 20th century, this really radical time when quantum and relativity theory had begun to undermine the old mechanistic view of physics, Whitehead developed his process philosophy, which focused on the co-creative processes of the world’s becoming, and where lived experience, creativity and a poetic God took centre stage. Matthew David Segall, PhD, is a transdisciplinary philosopher and Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. His scholarship challenges dualistic and mechanistic paradigms and bridges process philosophy with contemporary science and spirituality.  LINKS Matthew David Segall’s website and Substack California Institute of Integral Studies Centre for Process Studies SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    54 min
  8. 31. On building community – across the divides and beyond the doom // ASHLEY FITZGERALD

    09/30/2025

    31. On building community – across the divides and beyond the doom // ASHLEY FITZGERALD

    Is it possible to look clear-eyed at the enormous challenges we’re facing today, and still do something practical and creative in the face of that? What happens when we engage with nature and people in an embodied way, rather than through their representations in statistics and media? And how do we stand up for what we believe in without falling into the dehumanising tribalism of us versus them? Ashley Fitzgerald holds a PhD in environmental sociology, is the creator of the Rizoma Field School and a host of the Doomer Optimism podcast. She also organises Doomer optimism events, bringing together constellations of writers, thinkers, farmers, and practitioners, from all sides of the political spectrum. We met on a hot day in downtown Chicago, among the tall skyscrapers facing the river. LINKS: * Doomer Optimism Podcast * Ashley’s Rizoma Field school * Perception gap study SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE 🎙️ The FoT Substack is now live! Become a free or paid subscriber and receive newsletters direct to your inbox. 🎧 All episodes and more at ⁠forestofthought.substack.com⁠. 💜 Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ or Substack.⁠ 🎵 Our theme music is by Christian Holtsteen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit forestofthought.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 6m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Conversations that explore the ideas we live by – re-examining the familiar and catching glimpses of the new. forestofthought.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Ingrid M. Rieser
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Ingrid M. Rieser
  • Show Website
    Forest of Thought

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