When facing the realities of our world, the urge to drown in grief or shut down into apathy is becoming more and more common. As we are flooded with information and global predicaments outside of our control, overwhelm can set in, affecting our energy, efficacy, and even our ability to care. But what if facing our grief is actually the pathway to increasing our capacity to stay connected to and work on the things that matter most to us? What tools, practices, or rituals could we use to help us begin to metabolize our grief?

In this episode, Nate is joined by John Seed and Skye Cielita Flor to explore the power of rituals and community for processing grief and transforming it into a deeper connection with ourselves, each other, and the natural world. They discuss the primary influences of their work, including ‘The Work That Reconnects,’ a framework developed by Joanna Macy and others, as well as the philosophy of Deep Ecology, founded by Arne Naess. Most importantly, John and Skye share their experience with deepening their own emotional capacity and embodiment of ecological values, and how they’ve helped others do the same.

How has an absence of ritual and the avoidance of grief in our culture distorted our relationship to loss – and therefore our ability to protect what we love? What practices do other cultures use to nurture ecological identity and kinship with the more-than-human world? And finally, why might grief, when honored and integrated, be a vital part of building more resilient and ecologically-grounded systems for the future?

(Conversation recorded on May 21st, 2025)

About John Seed:

John Seed is an activist, facilitator, musician, and co-author of the seminal book “Thinking Like a Mountain” with Arne Naess, Joanna Macy and Pat Fleming. John Seed is the founder of the Rainforest Information Centre and has dedicated his life to the protection of rainforests and their biodiversity since 1979. Over the past few decades, John has also become a pivotal figure in the Deep Ecology movement.

About Skye Cielita Flor:

Skye’s 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 practices before moving to the Peruvian Amazon where she entered into a full-time 5 year 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 with the plants. This is primarily done through her work as a facilitator of Experiential Deep Ecology, as a Grief Ritualist, as a co-facilitator of The Mythic Body year-long course by Josh Schrei, and as a facilitator of immersive group experiences into practices focusing on reclamation of living earth perception, mythic imagination, and ritual rhythms.

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners

In today’s Frankly, Nate reads and responds to questions from viewers of the channel, offering reflections on a wide range of topics from current events, balancing fear and action surrounding often existential topics, green technology, and more. By directly addressing these questions, Nate aims to further unpack some of the nuances in the complex and expansive concept of The Great Simplification.

The goal of TGS is to build out a comprehensive outlook that connects the dots of energy, human-made systems, and Earth's functioning ecosystems. By making clear the biophysical reality of our current predicament, this platform aims to explore not only what brought us to this point, but also what we can do as individuals, communities, and as a society to move towards a sustainable future that centers around the wellbeing of the planet and all of its inhabitants.

How do wealth inequality and disparate standards of living fit into the larger view of the superorganism? What is the relationship between AI and peak oil? How do you grapple with the sheer scope of this content, and the system-wide lens? What are some things you’re most concerned about in the world today, and what are peoples’ responses to those concerns?

(Recorded June 23, 2025)

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners

Recently, the risks about Artificial Intelligence and the need for ‘alignment’ have been flooding our cultural discourse – with Artificial Super Intelligence acting as both the most promising goal and most pressing threat. But amid the moral debate, there’s been surprisingly little attention paid to a basic question: do we even have the technical capability to guide where any of this is headed? And if not, should we slow the pace of innovation until we better understand how these complex systems actually work?

In this episode, Nate is joined by Artificial Intelligence developer and researcher, Connor Leahy, to discuss the rapid advancements in AI, the potential risks associated with its development, and the challenges of controlling these technologies as they evolve. Connor also explains the phenomenon of what he calls ‘algorithmic cancer’ – AI generated content that crowds out true human creations, propelled by algorithms that can’t tell the difference. Together, they unpack the implications of AI acceleration, from widespread job disruption and energy-intensive computing to the concentration of wealth and power to tech companies.

What kinds of policy and regulatory approaches could help slow down AI’s acceleration in order to create safer development pathways? Is there a world where AI becomes a tool to aid human work and creativity, rather than replacing it? And how do these AI risks connect to the deeper cultural conversation about technology’s impacts on mental health, meaning, and societal well-being?

(Conversation recorded on May 21st, 2025)

About Connor Leahy:

Connor Leahy is the founder and CEO of Conjecture, which works on aligning artificial intelligence systems by building infrastructure that allows for the creation of scalable, auditable, and controllable AI.

Previously, he co-founded EleutherAI, which was one of the earliest and most successful open-source Large Language Model communities, as well as a home for early discussions on the risks of those same advanced AI systems. Prior to that, Connor worked as an AI researcher and engineer for Aleph Alpha GmbH.

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners