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What if the crises threatening our civilisation are not just political, economic or ecological but symptoms of something much deeper: a loss of meaning? John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist, philosopher and one of the leading thinkers exploring the meaning crisis of modern civilisation. Through his influential lecture series Awakening from the Meaning Crisis, he examines how the erosion of shared meaning, wisdom and spiritual traditions has left modern societies increasingly disconnected from themselves, each other and the world. In this conversation, we explore how the collapse of meaning and trust may be amplifying the wider metacrisis - from political polarisation and ecological breakdown to the growing disruption of artificial intelligence. But John also sees something else emerging. What he calls “the advent of the sacred” -  the possibility that, as our old ways of understanding reality begin to unravel, new forms of wisdom, connection and collective transformation are struggling to be born. In this conversation, we explore: Why the meaning crisis may be one of the deepest challenges facing modern civilisation How the collapse of shared meaning is fuelling a wider crisis of trust in institutions and each other Why meaning is a fundamental human need — and how its absence can make us more rigid, fearful and self-centred How the loss of religious traditions has left a gap in our ability to cultivate wisdom, belonging and transcendence Why solving the metacrisis requires more than technological innovation or better political systems What John means by the “advent of the sacred” and why new forms of spirituality and community may be emerging Why humanity may be facing a “civilisational koan” — a challenge that cannot be solved through ideas alone, but requires a transformation of who we are How ancient wisdom traditions, modern cognitive science and new ways of relating to reality might come together Why the future cannot simply be a return to the past — or an engineered utopia What the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly might reveal about humanity's own evolutionary threshold Whether the breakdown of our existing systems could create the conditions for an entirely new kind of civilisation And why the future of humanity may depend on our ability to rediscover the sacred in everyday life John suggests that we may be living through a rare moment in history - one in which the frameworks that shaped modern civilisation are beginning to lose their hold, while something genuinely new is emerging in their place. Yet this transformation is far from guaranteed. The same forces that could open the door to a new era of human flourishing could also lead towards deeper fragmentation and collapse. Ultimately, this is a conversation about what happens when the stories that once gave our lives meaning begin to fall apart - and whether the crises of our time might be inviting us into a fundamentally different way of being human. Could the breakdown of the old world be the beginning of a new relationship with reality itself? If you enjoy The Initiation, please subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube, and share the episode with someone who might resonate with this conversation. And for new listeners, Season 1 of The Initiation lays the foundation for this inquiry - exploring the breakdowns, breakthroughs and inner transformation shaping humanity's collective threshold.

What if one of the most powerful forces shaping human behaviour is something we rarely talk about - our fear of death? Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist and one of the world’s leading researchers on terror management theory - the idea, inspired by Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death, that our awareness of mortality quietly shapes much of human behaviour. For more than four decades, Sheldon and his colleagues have studied what happens when people are reminded of their mortality. Their research suggests that death anxiety can make us cling more tightly to our beliefs, become more hostile towards those who are different, seek money and status, support authoritarian leaders and even become more willing to exploit the natural world. But there is another possibility. What happens when, instead of denying death, we actually turn towards it? In this conversation, we explore: Why humans are uniquely aware of their own mortality How terror management theory helps explain seemingly irrational human behaviour Why fear of death can intensify tribalism, polarisation and hostility How existential anxiety can increase our attraction to authoritarian leaders Why money and status can become unconscious attempts to escape mortality The surprising relationship between death anxiety and environmental destruction Why modern Western culture may be particularly death-denying What near-death experiences reveal about our relationship with mortality How meditation, mindfulness and psychedelics may change the way we respond to death Why awe, humility, gratitude and nature could help us become more psychologically resilient Whether today’s converging crises are forcing humanity through a collective initiation And what Sheldon calls the need for a new kind of existential maturity Sheldon argues that we may be living in a culture saturated with death anxiety — much of it operating beneath conscious awareness. Yet confronting our mortality may offer something unexpected: a deeper appreciation for being alive. As Sheldon reflects personally, after decades of studying death intellectually, it was only later in life that he began to experience the importance of practising awe, humility and gratitude — finding meaning in something as simple as walking outside, encountering another person or planting a tree that may outlive him. Ultimately, this is a conversation about death - but perhaps even more importantly, it is about how to live. Could the crises gathering around us be part of humanity’s initiation into a more mature relationship with mortality, with each other and with life itself? If you enjoy The Initiation, please subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube, and share the episode with someone who might resonate with this conversation.

What if the collapse we fear isn’t the end of humanity — but the end of a system that no longer serves us? Sarah Wilson is a bestselling author, journalist and activist. Her latest book, I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World, explores how facing the reality of the metacrisis can paradoxically bring greater clarity, courage and even joy. In this conversation, we explore:  Why the crises around us may be different expressions of one larger metacrisis  Sarah has moved beyond conventional ideas of hope What it means to hospice the old world rather than desperately trying to preserve it Humanity’s passage from adolescence toward collective adulthood How to become an “island of sanity” in increasingly unstable times Why uncertainty, nature, community and spirituality may become essential capacities for what comes next And why humans have repeatedly turned to dance and joy in times of crisis Ultimately, this is a conversation about what it means to meet a moment of profound change without looking away — and to live fully and beautifully anyway. If you enjoy The Initiation, please subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube, and share the episode with someone who might resonate with this conversation.

In this episode of The Initiation, I speak with Luke Kemp, researcher at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and author of Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse. Luke challenges the conventional story of civilization as a steady march of progress. Instead, he traces the rise of what he calls “Goliaths”: societies built upon concentrated power, extractive resources, monopolized violence, and the restriction of people’s freedom to leave. While the collapse of these systems often benefited ordinary people in the past, Luke argues that collapse today would be profoundly different. Nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, ecological breakdown, and our dependence on global supply chains have raised the height of the fall—potentially to a terminal level. We discuss: Why the earliest states resembled organized protection rackets The three ingredients that allow Goliaths to emerge Why fear makes societies vulnerable to authoritarian leaders How inequality and concentrated power make civilizations fragile Why collapse had a surprisingly bright past—but may have a dark future The growing risks posed by nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence Why game theory misunderstands ordinary human behaviour Humanity’s deeper evolutionary capacity for cooperation How corporations and states amplify the darker sides of human nature Citizens’ assemblies, wealth redistribution, and the possibility of open democracy What meaningful action looks like in the face of systemic risk This is a sobering but ultimately empowering conversation about the history of power, the risks gathering around us, and how we might build institutions that bring out the best—rather than the worst—of humanity. And for new listeners, Season 1 of The Initiation lays the foundation for this inquiry - exploring the breakdowns, breakthroughs, and inner transformation shaping humanity’s collective threshold.

In this episode of The Initiation, I speak with Corey Bradshaw, ecologist, modeler, and global change scientist, about the uncomfortable realities of the ecological crisis — and what it means to face them honestly. Corey’s path began far from academia: growing up in the Canadian wilderness with a trapper father, learning the intelligence of animals, the harshness of wild places, and the power humans have to alter the living world. Today, he uses mathematical models to understand ecosystems, extinction, population dynamics, climate trajectories, and the future of human civilization. Together we explore why the sixth mass extinction is not just a distant scientific abstraction, how overpopulation and overconsumption are inseparably linked, why efficiency often leads to more exploitation rather than less, and why denial is such a deeply human response to ecological breakdown. This is not an easy conversation — but it is a deeply clarifying one. Corey offers a form of grounded realism: not the fantasy that everything will be fine, and not the despair that nothing matters, but the possibility of making the future “less s****y” through honest seeing, better choices, and a renewed sense of responsibility for the living systems that sustain us. A conversation about extinction, denial, resilience, collapse, and what it means to stay useful in a world that is already changing. And for new listeners, Season 1 of The Initiation lays the foundation for this inquiry - exploring the breakdowns, breakthroughs, and inner transformation shaping humanity’s collective threshold.

In this episode, I’m joined by Jeff Booth — entrepreneur, investor, author, and co-founder of Ego Death Capital — for a wide-ranging conversation on Bitcoin, money, AI, and the civilizational threshold we find ourselves in. Jeff argues that Bitcoin is not merely an asset, but a protocol for a fundamentally different kind of world: one beyond the zero-sum logic of manipulated money, extraction, and centralized control. In his view, Bitcoin opens the possibility of a true free market — one where technological progress, AI, and productivity gains can flow back to people through falling prices, rather than being captured by states, banks, or technocratic monopolies. We explore why Jeff sees Bitcoin as essential to the transition into a post-labor economy, how broken money distorts reality and fuels fear, why most of crypto misses the point, and what it means to reclaim agency in a time of accelerating breakdown and breakthrough. We discuss: – Bitcoin as a civilizational phase shift – Why the natural state of a free market is deflation – AI, robotics, and the future of labor – Why broken money concentrates power – The spiritual and psychological dimension of Bitcoin – Ego Death Capital and investing in the Bitcoin ecosystem – Why Jeff believes most other blockchains go to zero – MicroStrategy, ETFs, and the risk of Bitcoin capture – Agency, fear, and building the world that comes next This is a conversation about Bitcoin — but also about consciousness, courage, decentralization, and the possibility of an infinite game for humanity. And for new listeners, Season 1 of The Initiation lays the foundation for this inquiry - exploring the breakdowns, breakthroughs, and inner transformation shaping humanity’s collective threshold.

Jeremy Lent is an author, philosopher, and systems thinker whose work explores the deep roots of our civilizational crisis - and the possibility of a life-affirming future. His books include The Patterning Instinct, The Web of Meaning, and his latest book, Eco-Civilization, which asks what it would take to build a world system designed for the flourishing of all life. In this conversation, Sebastian and Jeremy explore why our current system is not simply broken, but functioning exactly as designed: extracting wealth, exploiting life, and concentrating power. From there, they move into the deeper question at the heart of Jeremy’s work: whether another path is still possible - one rooted in mutual flourishing, ecological regeneration, and what he calls “mutually beneficial symbiosis.” Together they unpack: why “there is no alternative” is one of the most powerful myths of our time the Windigo as a metaphor for endless extraction and insatiable growth what hunter-gatherer societies reveal about human cooperation and dignity the rise of inequality, domination, and alpha-male power structures collapse, authoritarian fortress-earth scenarios, and the third possibility the adaptive cycle, unraveling systems, and islands of coherence AI, the singularity, and the danger of confusing technology with transcendence why evolution is not only competition, but cooperation and symbiosis how to orient your life toward the possibility of an eco-civilization At its heart, this is a conversation about remembering who we are beneath the conditioning of a system that has taught us to crave, compete, and consume. And for new listeners, Season 1 of The Initiation lays the foundation for this inquiry - exploring the breakdowns, breakthroughs, and inner transformation shaping humanity’s collective threshold.

Richard Heinberg joins The Initiation. Richard is a human ecologist, journalist, and Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, and the author of fourteen books on energy, ecology, and the future of industrial civilization. His work traces the deep entanglement between energy systems, social evolution, and the ecological limits now confronting humanity. In this conversation, we explore the polycrisis through the lens of human ecology - examining how fossil fuels enabled the modern world, why the energy transition faces hard material limits, and what a graceful descent from industrial civilization could actually look like. What begins as a discussion about energy quickly reveals itself as something deeper: a reckoning with the assumptions, incentives, and stories that have brought us to this threshold moment. Together they unpack: why energy is the foundation beneath everything humans do - and why fossil fuels created an unrepeatable historical anomaly  the hard material limits of the renewable energy transition, from minerals to recycling why perpetual economic growth on a finite planet was always a temporal illusion how the debt bomb, demographic decline, and energy descent are converging into a single systemic reset the case for bioregionalism as the organizing principle of a post-industrial future  why AI may be the worst idea at the worst possible time - and the bubble likely to pop within months what indigenous societies understand about ecological limits that modern civilization has forgotten the phase shift already underway between 2025 and 2030 - and what it asks of us psychologically why the path forward isn't found in blame or technological rescue, but in rebuilding sustainable households and communities This episode is a sobering yet grounding look at the ecological foundations of our predicament - and an invitation to meet this moment with clear eyes, open hearts, and a willingness to imagine human life on radically different terms. If you're new to The Initiation, I recommend starting with Season 1 - it lays the foundation for understanding the broader arc we're tracing, from breakdown to breakthrough, and the deeper initiation this moment is asking of us.

Roberto Rios returns to The Initiation. Formerly known as Peruvian Bull, Roberto is a macro analyst and author of The Dollar Endgame, known for his deep work on global liquidity, sovereign debt dynamics, and the long arc of monetary transitions.   In this conversation, we explore the unfolding Iran war as a potential catalyst in a much larger systemic shift - from geopolitics and energy markets to the fragility of the global financial system. What begins as a military conflict quickly reveals itself as something deeper: a stress test of the petrodollar, the stability of sovereign debt, and the future of global order.   Together they unpack:   - the current state and likely trajectory of the Iran war - why the Strait of Hormuz is a critical pressure point for the global economy - how rising energy prices cascade into food, goods, and systemic inflation - the hidden fragility of the yen carry trade and its implications for global markets - the accelerating fiscal crisis in the United States - the slow erosion of the petrodollar system and the rise of alternative settlement rails - how geopolitical shocks reshape trust in the global financial architecture - the stages of the “dollar endgame” and where we are today - why monetary transitions unfold slowly - until they don’t   This episode is a sobering look at how interconnected our world has become - and how quickly localized conflict can ripple into systemic transformation.   If you’re new to The Initiation, I recommend starting with Season 1 - it lays the foundation for understanding the broader arc we’re tracing, from breakdown to breakthrough, and the deeper initiation this moment is asking of us.

In this episode of The Initiation, Sebastian speaks with Bill E. Rees, ecologist, systems thinker, and co-originator of the ecological footprint - one of the most influential frameworks for understanding humanity’s material relationship to the Earth. Bill reflects on the early experiences that shaped his worldview, from childhood on his grandparents’ farm to a lifelong inquiry into ecology, overshoot, and the dangerous myths underpinning modern civilization. From there, the conversation opens into Bill’s more recent thinking on human exceptionalism, ecological denial, fossil fuel dependency, maladaptation, and why the crises we face are symptoms of a deeper civilizational rupture. Together they unpack: the origins of the ecological footprint and what it reveals about humanity’s overshoot why climate change is not the root crisis, but a symptom of a much larger breakdown human exceptionalism, social constructs, and the illusion that we are separate from nature how modern civilization displaces other species by expanding the human niche why fossil fuels enabled the explosive growth of population, complexity, and consumption the collapse of cooperation at scale - and the rise of competition, hierarchy, and dark triad leadership why green growth, decoupling, and techno-optimism may be forms of denial rather than real solutions why humanity may be heading toward a painful but unavoidable correction A sobering and unsparing conversation about ecological reality, civilizational overshoot, and the possibility that breakdown may be the necessary threshold for a different way of being on Earth. - If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we explore in this podcast.

In this episode of The Initiation, Sebastian speaks with Brian Stafford, a former psychiatrist who left a successful career after an unmistakable inner call - and went on to train with Animas Valley Institute, founded by Bill Plotkin. Brian shares the story of how a single book - Soulcraft - cracked his world open, and how wilderness rites like the Vision Fast can catalyze profound, grounded transformation without any entheogens: through ceremony, fasting, solitude, soulcraft practices, and direct relationship with the more-than-human world. Together they unpack: the five phases of soul initiation (preparation, dissolution, soul encounter, metamorphosis, enactment) why “find your purpose” often stays abstract - and how “soul image” makes vocation real soul-centric dreamwork, imaginal intelligence, and the role of grief and awe in a time of planetary unraveling Brian’s upcoming book, Pathways to Ecological Awakening, and why ecological belonging may be the prerequisite shift for everything else A conversation about remembering our place on Earth - and discovering what you’re here to serve, specifically, in the middle of civilizational transition. If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we’ll explore this year.

In this episode of The Initiation, Sebastian is joined by mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade for a deep exploration of myth, initiation, and the meaning of collapse. Michael reframes myth not as ancient history, but as a living language for the deep patterns shaping human life. When we lose that language, he argues, we lose vertical intelligence - our felt connection to soul, nature, and the imaginal realm - and the world collapses into literalism, polarization, and loss of meaning. At the heart of the conversation is initiation. We explore rites of passage as a missing cultural technology, the idea of a “second birth” where the inner eyes of the soul awaken, and why our era can be understood as a collective rite of passage - a prolonged liminal phase between a world that has ended and one that has not yet been born. Anchoring the episode is Michael’s powerful story of the Old Weaving Woman - a mythic image of collapse, chaos, and renewal. In times like these, he suggests, the task is not heroic salvation but distributed genius: each person finding their thread and participating in the reweaving of the world. The conversation closes with Michael’s “second level of hope” - not optimism, but the awakening of imagination itself: the capacity to see meaning, tolerate uncertainty, and envision a different future. In this episode: How myth reveals “the real behind the real” Why rites of passage matter - and what happens when a culture loses them The difference between the hero myth and a “genius” path Liminality, uncertainty, and the skill of holding tension The Old Weaving Woman story as a map for these times Why imagination (not optimism) is the deeper form of hope If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we’ll explore this year.

In this episode of The Initiation, I sit down with Samantha Sweetwater for a wide-ranging and deeply human conversation about the moment our world is moving through. We explore Samantha’s work at the intersection of inner transformation and collective breakdown, and how she understands the polycrisis not merely as a convergence of external problems, but as a profound initiation for humanity itself. We talk about why so many people feel disoriented, exhausted, or called into something they can’t yet name – and how this moment is asking us to mature, individually and collectively. A central thread of the conversation is Samantha’s latest book, True Human, which invites a radical re-orientation toward what it means to be human in times of collapse and transition. Rather than offering fixes or false hope, True Human points toward embodied truth, responsibility, grief, love, and the reclaiming of our capacity to meet reality as it is. We speak about: The deeper psychological and spiritual layers of the polycrisis Why breakdown often precedes genuine maturation The difference between spiritual bypassing and true initiation What it means to become “adult” at a civilizational level How to stay in relationship with life – even as old stories fall apart This is a conversation for those who sense that something fundamental is ending, something unknown is beginning, and that our task is not to escape the moment, but to meet it more fully. If you’re interested in consciousness, systems collapse, initiation, and the quiet emergence of a more honest humanity, this episode is for you. - If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we’ll explore this year.

In this episode of The Initiation, I sit down with Scott Dedels, author of The Dao of Bitcoin: Towards a Cosmology of Energy Money, to explore Bitcoin not just as technology or finance — but as a philosophical and energetic lens on how humans organize value and life. Scott blends timeless wisdom with modern innovation, drawing from Daoist philosophy to show how Bitcoin reconnects money with energy, effort, and the natural flow of existence — in contrast with modern money’s disconnection from real human and ecological systems.  In this conversation, we unpack: Why Bitcoin is more than a financial instrument — it’s an energy currency that carries meaning and connection across human systems. How the principles of the Dao illuminate Bitcoin’s role as a harmonizing force in a world fractured by centralized finance and abstract money. The deeper philosophical questions at the intersection of money, life, and human purpose — and why this matters now more than ever.  This isn’t a typical Bitcoin discussion — it’s an invitation to reflect on why money matters, how it shapes our world, and what it might mean when money itself is grounded in energy and human reality. Whether you’re a long-time student of Bitcoin or just curious about its deeper implications, this episode connects the dots between ancient wisdom and emergent systems. -- If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we’ll explore this year.

In this episode of The Initiation, I’m joined by Roberto Rios also known as Peruvian Bull — monetary researcher, economist, and author of The Dollar Endgame — for a deep and unsparing conversation about the fate of the global financial system. For decades, central banks have attempted to stabilize growth through zero interest rates, quantitative easing, and ever-expanding debt. What began as emergency policy has quietly become permanent architecture. Peruvian Bull argues that this system has now crossed a point of no return — and that the world is entering a phase of structural monetary breakdown rather than a cyclical downturn. We explore why the US dollar-based system is increasingly trapped by its own design, how inflation is not an accident but a structural outcome, and why traditional policy tools may no longer be able to restore stability. From sovereign debt dynamics to the limits of fiat money, this conversation traces the deeper mechanics beneath today’s economic volatility. At the heart of the discussion is Bitcoin — not as a speculative asset, but as a potential new monetary base layer. We examine whether Bitcoin could function as a form of hard money for a digital age, what conditions would be required for such a transition, and what this would mean for states, markets, and individual sovereignty. This is a grounded, systems-level exploration of where our monetary world may be headed — and what kinds of choices lie ahead once old structures begin to dissolve. If you’re new to The Initiation, you may also want to explore Season 1, where I lay the foundations for the entire series. Across the first nine episodes, we dive into the core themes shaping our moment in history - from the rise of artificial intelligence and the breakdown of our monetary system to the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the breakthrough forces pointing toward transformation. Season 1 offers the wider context for everything we’ll explore this year.