Life Itself Podcast

<p>This is episode #1 of a new sub-series Over the Mountains: Finding a Path to the Second Renaissance</p><p>“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was persuading you he didn’t exist.” In this conversation, we discuss how the greatest trick of the last 50 years was persuading us that the state doesn’t work, that government is dysfunctional, and that only individuals and markets can solve our problems—all while concealing that this narrative was systematically pushed forward. From the post-war era when government was trusted and tax rates on top earners reached 80-90%, to today’s world where young minds go into startups rather than public service, we’ve lived through a reactionary upswing driven by evangelical organizing and big business lobbying. But as the concentration of power in figures like Musk reveals the cracks in this dream, we stand at a moment when the pendulum is ready to swing—not back to the past, but toward something new that acknowledges our collective power.</p><p>Chapters:</p><p>00:00 – The Problem: Despair and Technology as Savior</p><p>00:03 – The Greatest Trick: Fish Don’t See Water</p><p>00:14 – When Government Worked: The Other Water</p><p>00:26 – The Shift: How We Changed Waters</p><p>00:38 – The Campaign: Evangelicals, Business, and Persistence</p><p>00:48 – The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy</p><p>00:51 – Living the Dystopia</p><p>00:54 – The Pendulum Swings Back</p><p>Speakers</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://lifeitself.org/people/sylvieshiweibarbier">Sylvie Shiwei Barbier</a> is a co-founder of Life Itself, and French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://lifeitself.org/people/rufuspollock">Rufus Pollock</a> is a co-founder of Life Itself, and an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Life Itself at <a href="https://news.lifeitself.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">news.lifeitself.org/subscribe</a>

<p>Rufus interviews Jim Rutt on his life journey to becoming chairman of the Santa Fe Institute and a leading pioneer of ‘Game B’. Rutt shares insight into the failures of the Game A financial system. Rufus and Rutt explore the historical context of our ‘Game A’ system and what characteristics a Game B communities need to survive and grow with integrity.</p><p>About the episode</p><p>In this Life Itself Podcast, Jim Rutt, a complexity thinker and former tech entrepreneur, recounts his early life hitchhiking across America and his journey to becoming a senior figure in Thomson’s internet transition (1992–1999) and Network Solutions’ $15 billion sale in 2000. Rutt details his early awareness of Game A’s unsustainability and bringing his work on complexity science, markets and social systems to the Santa Fe Institute. Rutt details the founding dialogues with Jordan Hall that led to ‘Game B’ a decentralised societal model to replace Game A—a civilisational mode Rutt and Rufus trace back to the treaty of Westphalia. Rutt describes the intensity of ‘willing to die’ spirit necessary for Game B values to take root & the kinds of meditation structures needed for Game B communities to scale together. </p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>* 00:01:55 – Jim’s Childhood and 1976 Hitchhiking Adventures</p><p>* 00:16:23 – Leading Thomson’s Internet Transition (1992–1999)</p><p>* 00:18:38 – Realizing Game A’s Unsustainability (1994)</p><p>* 00:27:00 – Joining the Santa Fe Institute</p><p>* 00:29:25 – Uncovering the Monetary-Finance-Business Nexus (2007–2008)</p><p>* 00:29:31 – Reflections on Money and the Debt Regime</p><p>* 00:35:35 – Planning for an Uncertain Future</p><p>* 00:36:38 – The Treaty of Westphalia and Game A’s Foundations</p><p>* 01:40:37 – Introducing Game B</p><p>* 02:02:20 – Defining Game A and Game B</p><p>* 02:19:00 – The Personal-Institutional Spiral and Game B Communities</p><p>About the speakers:</p><p> <strong>Jim Rutt</strong> is the former CEO of Network Solutions. The New York Times once referred to him as “the Internet’s bad boy” due to his reputation for creative mischief. He sold Network Solutions at the peak of the Dot Com boom and then went into scientific research. Jim has been affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute since 2002, serving as Chairman from 2009 thru 2012. Since that time he has been spearheading the Game B movement and host of the Jim Rutt Show. “Dividend Money” Everything Jim Learned about money</p><p>The Jim Rutt Show: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jimruttshow.com">https://www.jimruttshow.com</a></p><p>Substack: <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/280973-jim-rutt">Jim Rutt</a> </p><p>“Dividend Money” Everything Jim Learned about money</p><p><strong>Rufus Pollock</strong> is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. </p><p>Find out more about his work on his website: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rufuspollock.com.">www.rufuspollock.com.</a></p><p>Podcast Production: </p><p><strong>Jacob Kishere </strong>of <a target="_blank" href="https://open.substack.com/pub/sensespacestudio">SENSESPACE Studio</a> </p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.jacobkishere.com">www.jacobkishere.com</a></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Life Itself at <a href="https://news.lifeitself.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">news.lifeitself.org/subscribe</a>

<p>Sylvie Barbier brings sensemaking to bear on the polarization that followed the Kirk assassination and explores the significance of the Kirk memorial in an interview hosted by Jacob Kishere. The dialogue delves into the profound importance of speech, cycle-breaking forgiveness, non-violence, and remembering the sanctity of life.</p><p><strong>About the episode:</strong></p><p>In this episode of the Second Renaissance Podcast, we make sense of the polarization following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Sylvie speaks to the power and necessity of forgiveness in breaking cycles of retaliation and explores what leadership can look like amid escalating division. We reflect on the nature of speech and the importance of recognizing the power of our words. The conversation closes with an appreciation of the existential importance of becoming joyfully alive in these times.</p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>00:02:11 – Erika Kirk’s Forgiveness of the Killer00:08:00 – Why Our Words Matter00:16:50 – Sacred Anchoring & Breaking Cycles of Violence00:18:50 – Challenges Around “Speech as Violence”00:26:00 – Intention in Speech00:29:00 – Thich Nhat Hanh on Non-Violence & the Seeds of Hatred00:31:00 – Committing to Something Greater & the Joy of Being Alive</p><p><strong>Speakers</strong></p><p>Sylvie Shiwei Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://lifeitself.org/people/sylvieshiweibarbier">https://lifeitself.org/people/sylvieshiweibarbier</a></p><p> Jacob Kishere is a dialogue facilitator, rapper, philosopher and writer. He is the creator of SENSESPACE podcast, author of Culturepilgrim and co-founder of The Resonant Man Initiative. </p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.jacobkishere.com">www.jacobkishere.com</a></p><p><strong>Discussion about this video</strong></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Life Itself at <a href="https://news.lifeitself.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">news.lifeitself.org/subscribe</a>

<p>Rufus dives into the life story of the one and only Layman Pascal: exploring his unique childhood, what he found in Wilber’s Integral, his relationship to intentional communities and what it means to live beyond a post-modern world. </p><p><strong>About the episode:</strong></p><p>In this interview with Layman Pascal and Rufus Pollock, Layman recounts his upbringing and the unique childhood in the Canadian Pacific Northwest that disposed him to become one of the metamodern scenes most interesting thinkers. Layman delves into the experience of the post-modern milieu of the late 1990s and efforts to find ways beyond it. They explore the value and limits of Ken Wilber's integral and the formation of his approach to dialogue and community in 'The Integral Stage' project. He closes envisioning precisely what's needed to move beyond culture war dynamics. </p><p>Chapters:</p><p>04:43 Layman’s childhood in the Canadian Pacific Northwest</p><p>15:00 From college to living in Belize</p><p>16:48 Early Spiritual Teachers</p><p>27:00 Layman’s experience of the Post-Modern and Post-Post Modern</p><p>35:00 Story of Ken Wilber, Integral and The Integral Stage</p><p>45:24 going beyond post-modernism</p><p>52:53 Rufus’s View on Integral</p><p>57:50 Integralist vs Integralites</p><p>1:02:00 What Layman looks for in communities</p><p>1:08 Culture War & What we need to build coherence</p><p>Speakers</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/11623282-layman-pascal">Layman Pascal</a> was incarnated on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. He used to be a meditation teacher, yoga instructor & public speaker—but he’s feeling much better now. He is a writer on themes of cultural philosophy, shamanism and organic spiritual development. </p><p>www.laymanpascal.substack.com/ </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/138683345-rufus-pollock">Rufus Pollock</a> is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Life Itself at <a href="https://news.lifeitself.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">news.lifeitself.org/subscribe</a>

<p>Following <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/1Fv3S8T2nVE?si=RaMQVp2JDjkCTXhc">our interview with Lectica Co-founder Zak Stein</a>, Rufus interviews Theo Dawson, Lectica’s founder and executive director, about her journey into transforming education and the complex and critical science of measuring educational development.</p><p>Listen above or watch the episode here: </p><p><strong>About the episode:</strong></p><p>In this interview Theo Dawson, award-winning educator, scholar, & founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://lectica.org/">Lectica Inc.</a> speaks to her rich life story from drop out to conscious birthing doula to working inside of America's premier educational institutions. In her decades long journey, Theo has focused on realising a form of testing that actually supports students—recognising that contemporary 'education' often works in contra to natural learning processes. We 'teach to test' and education as a field often 'memory holes' decades of work to adopt the latest fashion. </p><p>Join us to explore development and how Lectica have, over three decades, developed new metrics for student development in K-12 which are also offered to professional organisations. </p><p>Corrections: </p><p>At 22:39 Theo refers to ‘Dopamine’ but means ‘<em>Opioid’</em> </p><p>At 44:58 Theo refers to 'Abstract Mappings' but Means '<em>Representational Mappings</em>' </p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>1:28 Theo’s story of growing up during the Vietnam War, leaving home and running with draft dodgers. </p><p>3:47 Becoming a mother and organising conscious doulas </p><p>6:57 How her life brought her to focus on the injustice of limiting education system </p><p>12:00 The ‘memory holing’ shadow in education and developmental science </p><p>15:00 The contra-Piaget movement in education, new ideas of ‘fairness’ in education </p><p>18:00 ‘Teaching to the test’ </p><p>19:41 How learning really works, the role of the dopaminergic system, and how education undermines natural learning </p><p>26:19 Developmental science as very recent </p><p>36:00 Hierarchical complexity as development </p><p>50:00 The dangerous shift in education </p><p>59:29 Points of leverage in systems</p><p>01:02:57 A new system of measurement </p><p>01:17:00 Higher complexity does not equate to ethical participation </p><p>01:24:45 Is there a limit to human development? </p><p>Theo Dawson is founder and executive director of Lectica, Inc, a non-profit organization that develops and administers evidence-based, diagnostic, and formative developmental assessments; offers research and assessment services to clients in the private and public sectors; and builds knowledge about learning and its role in the future of society. She received her master's and PhD from University of California at Berkeley and has published widely in the field of cognitive developmental psychology. https://theo-dawson.medium.com/ https://lectica.org/about/cv-theo </p><p>Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author as well as a long-term zen practitioner. He is passionate about finding wiser, weller ways to live together. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: www.rufuspollock.com. </p><p>Podcast Production:</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/10819626-jacob-kishere">Jacob Kishere</a> of <a target="_blank" href="https://open.substack.com/pub/sensespacestudio">SENSESPACE Studio</a></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Life Itself at <a href="https://news.lifeitself.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">news.lifeitself.org/subscribe</a>