Our legacy - or status quo - media is owned and run by billionaires for billionaires and the stories they promote are the ones that will keep us all in line. How do we shift the global narrative towards a future of mutual flourishing?

It is axiomatic of this podcast that stories – the good and the bad – are what got us to where we are. We are a storied species. Everything we do arises from the stories we tell ourselves and each other about ourselves, each other and our relationship with the communities of place, purpose and passion around us. Often, we're seeking respect and the pride of knowing we've contributed to the things we care about. But many of us are living in media echo chambers which have no connection to the other bubbles around us.

So how do we bridge the gaps? How do we created a media eco-system, a commons, that works for the people by the people, growing stories of agency and empowerment, motivation and direction in, by and from our communities?

This week's guest, Debs Grayson, is a facilitator, researcher and organiser living in Sheffield. She works for Opus Independents, where she spends most of her time developing relatable, accessible metrics to track progress towards the Sheffield City Goals, and also on the People's Newsroom Initiative (PNI). PNI is a project housed within Opus broadly focused on journalism innovation, and our recent work has been reimagining journalism as 'storytelling commoning' - collective practices of sharing and weaving together stories that can support a just climate transition.

With a background in media research and campaigning for a transformed media system, she previously worked for the Media Reform Coalition running the 'BBC and Beyond' campaign, which also developed ideas of a 'media commons'. Alongside her role at Opus, she is currently working with the independent press regulator IMPRESS on various projects, including presenting Dis/Mis, a podcast on dis- and mis-information and how we build a trustworthy media.

Opus: The People's Newsroom https://www.weareopus.org/the-peoples-newsroom
Elinor Ostrom 8 Rules for Managing a Commons https://earthbound.report/2018/01/15/elinor-ostroms-8-rules-for-managing-the-commons/
Hastings Commons https://hastingscommons.com/
Amam Cymru https://www.amam.cymru/
Amam Cyrmu post on the People's Newsroom https://amam.cymru/the-peoples-newsroom/what-is-a-storytelling-commons-and-why-is-it-so-hard-to-talk-about
Dis/Mis podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dis-mis-exploring-misinformation-in-modern-media/id1775649531

Accidental Gods Gatherings https://accidentalgods.life/gatherings-2025/
Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/join-us/

'If you're not changing the numbers, you're not changing the world.' So says this week's guest, Katie Patrick. Katie Patrick is a Silicon Valley based environmental engineer, climate action designer, and author of How to Save the World: How to Make Changing the World the Greatest Game We've Ever Played, now taught in Harvard University’s graduate program and top recommended reading material by UNEP.

Katie specializes in designing innovative apps, dashboards, and campaigns that drive environmental action by leveraging insights from behavioural science and game design. Her work combines rigorous research with creative execution to develop solutions that inspire sustainable behaviors and measurable impact. She has advised the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Google, the U.S. State Department, the University of California, the European Commission, Dassault Systèmes, the Institute for the Future, Magic Leap, and Stanford University, as well as numerous startups focused on behavior design for environmental action.

Katie is passionate about biophilic design and envisions a future shaped by ecotopian principles. Her thought leadership has been recognized globally; she delivered a TEDx talk in 2020 and spoke at the UN General Assembly in 2021 on the role of creativity, optimism, and imagination in environmental change.

In our conversation, we range wide and deep through and across the ways each of us can bridge the divides in our cultures and bring change to our local worlds - and thus to the wider world, exploring the power of gamification, evidence base and feedback loops to create real, enduring change.

Hello World https://www.helloworlde.com/
Climate Action Design School https://www.helloworlde.com/climate-action-design-school
Katie on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-patrick/
Katie's TED Talk. https://youtu.be/GOWYwEtzeH4/
Katie's Book https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-save-the-world-katie-patrick/1671034
Katie's Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/6QaoYkmNqLSsn89zWMw3nl?si=540f4604608d4652

Accidental Gods Gatherings https://accidentalgods.life/gatherings-2025/
Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/join-us/

Suppose we accept that the current system is not broken - it is doing what it was always designed to do - which is to shovel wealth and power from the many to the few at a human scale and from the more-than-human world to the industrial/technical maw of predatory capitalism at an ecological scale.

This is a death cult and it is in its death throes, but it will take us all down with it if we let it.

Suppose then, we accept that, while the current system may not be broken, it is absolutely not fit for purpose, if that purpose is the continuation of complex life on earth; if it is the flourishing of humanity as an integral part of the web of life; if it is a world predicated on values of compassion, decency, integrity, generosity-of-spirit and absolute confidence in our place as conscious nodes in the web of life.
IF this is the case - then we need a whole new system. We need a movement that will bring this system into being.

In this solo podcast, Manda explores what the baselines of a new system might look, feel and work like.

Manda's Substack post https://substack.com/home/post/p-158280401
Jan Andrew Bloxham post https://substack.com/home/post/p-157874742
Jason Hickel 'No the US is not a beacon of democracy' https://substack.com/@jasonhickel/note/p-158661867

If you want to share the journey with us, we're here:
Accidental Gods Gatherings https://accidentalgods.life/gatherings-2025/
Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/join-us/