Look Near First

When I appeared on Your Brain on Climate, with Dave Powell

This is an episode from Dave's podcast, Your Brain on Climate, which features me! Dave wanted to talk to me about how climate change led me to a place where I felt I had no option but to leave my job as an airline pilot. We also talk a little bit about how our brains often don't make the most rational decisions when faced with challenges that they didn't evolve for, such as, for example, flying aeroplanes, and dealing with climate change. Fortunately, Dave has agreed to be a guest on this podcast soon, to dig into this fascinating and vital topic in a bit more detail. This one, though, is mostly my story and, having found so much warmth and wisdom from Dave's podcast over recent months, there was nobody with whom I would shared it more willingly.

Bonus Episode - when I heard myself on Your Brain On Climate

Wow. Hearing yourself on a podcast is a big moment, or at least it was for me, especially when, in that podcast, you dive deep into the issues that have turned your life upside-down. This is a brief reflection on the conversation I had with Dave, and how it has helped me to see what needs to happen next. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pilot-who-quit-for-the-climate-with-joel-walker/id1577093580?i=1000767951095

How Near Can You Find Adventure? With Alastair Humphreys

Alastair Humphreys has written books about his epic, worldwide adventures, which included cycling around the world, walking across India and rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. But more recently, he has turned his attention much, much closer to home and, not being someone to do things by halves, he has taken 'local' to an extreme. In this episode, we explore some of the reasons behind the switch, and more importantly, how those local adventures compare to the global-scale ones. What has he discovered about what it means, and what it takes, to have a great adventure? Alastair's books, blog and more can be found at alastairhumphreys.com

The Magic of Stopping to Draw Pt 2: Silvie Hibdon and how we can find awe in nature on our doorsteps

Inspired by John Ruskin's example (see part 1 in the previous episode), I was keen to get out on a nature walk with my sketch pad. But at this time, I met Silvie Hibdon, a co-fellow in Cohort 8 of the Climatebase course, has set up the non-profit organisation 'Arts Humanitas', and is leading the organisation of the San Francisco biennale in art, nature and ecology. She is knowledgable and passionate about how art can connect us to the natural world, and foster a desire to protect it. This episode features my conversation with Silvie, in which she gives me advice in not only the practicalities, but also in getting over my inhibitions over trying to draw anything in a public place! Find Silvie's project at arthumanitas.org

The Magic in Stopping to Draw Pt 1: Howard Hull and the wisdom of John Ruskin

John Ruskin is a fascinating figure from the 19th century. He wished for a fairer society, and advocated strongly for social reform. He was also concerned by what he recognised as harmful effects of the industrial revolution - not only seeing how the emissions might harm the environment, but how the ever-increasing pace of life could inhibit us from really seeing and appreciating the wonder and beauty in nature and art. In this episode, I talk with Howard Hull, the director and curator of Brantwood, the beautiful house which was home to John Ruskin throughout the second half of his life. I ask what Ruskin might have taught me, if I had attended one of his drawing classes at the Working Men's College in the 1850s, as well as more of Ruskin's views on society and how we live our lives, which are possibly even more relevant now than they were when he was alive. https://www.brantwood.org.uk/ https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/aug/30/john-ruskin-artists-victorian-social-critic