Wonderstruck

From a coffee farm in rural Colombia to the psychoanalytic couch, Macario Giraldo has spent his life listening for the quiet forces that shape a human life: language, loss, desire, and love.At the age of ten, Macario left his family to join the La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic religious order that would become his home for the next twenty-five years. Beneath the structure of faith and vocation, an early sense of separation endured. Over time, it found expression as a desire for something he had long deferred: a family of his own. A Fulbright scholarship brought Macario to Washington, D.C. It was here that he received a rare dispensation from the Church to leave the brotherhood and encountered psychology and the work of Jacques Lacan, which would shape the rest of his analytic life.In dialogue with Colette Soler, an analysand of Lacan, as well as clinicians Marianne Goldberger and Hugh Mullan, Macario developed a distinctive approach to group therapy informed by Lacanian psychoanalysis. In his work, he listens not only to what is said, but to what stirs between people: the unconscious processes that emerge in groups, including conflict, desire, identification, and shared symbolic history.In this episode, we explore:✦ Cause and triggers✦ Group therapy as a modern ritual✦ Lacanian thinking beyond the individual✦ The fantasy of complete satisfaction✦ Listening as a psychological practice✦ The journey to become your own friendMacario invites us to wonder about the desires that take shape in relation to others, the limits of certainty, and how, over a lifetime, we might learn to live more truthfully with ourselves and with one anotherChapters 0:00:00 Introduction0:03:21 Picasso and the Desire of Others0:08:27 Presence, Absence, and the Fort-Da Game0:15:18 From Coffee Farm to the Christian Brothers0:18:53 Discovering Jacques Lacan0:24:49 Jouissance: The Pursuit and Crisis of Desire0:30:34 The Unexplored Gold Mine of Group Therapy0:38:34 The Power of Listening0:41:35 Anxiety is an Index of the Real0:48:27 Faith after Dogma0:55:35 The Journey to Become Your Own Friend0:58:13 Gardens, Love, and Wonder: The Closing NoteFollow Wonderstruck:Website: https://wonderstruck.orgSubstack: https://newsletter.wonderstruck.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plants are our ancient teachers, whispering and nudging… if only we’d listen. Dr. Monica Gagliano is an evolutionary ecologist who has turned the green world into something wonderfully surprising. Her research reveals plants that listen, remember, make choices and even teach one another. Some can sense eclipses before they happen. Others communicate in ways we’re only just beginning to catch up with.In 2008, Monica did something bold: she stepped out of academia and followed her curiosity into the forest, literally. Blending scientific experimentation with Amazonian plant ceremonies and the guidance of shamans, she helped spark the field now known as plant intelligence. Since then, her work has captured imaginations around the world, appearing in The New York Times and the National Geographic. In this episode, we explore:✦ Pushing back against the scientific status quo✦ Letting nature show you what it knows✦ Welcoming indigenous plant teachings into scientific practice✦ Paying attention as a joyful act of devotionMonica invites us into a playful and daring question: what do plants actually know… and what might they be trying to tell us?Chapters0:00 Intro: Science, wonder, and pushing boundaries03:03 Initiation on the Great Barrier Reef12:53 “Plants rescued the scientist in me”20:57 Monica’s first experiments with plants 27:10 Bringing empathy into science32:37 "More-than-human" is a place37:33 It's the human that needs saving42:44 Indigenous science and plant communication50:54 The ancient tree that spoke to her56:14 Trees synchronize during solar eclipse01:03:51 Attention is the beginning of devotionFollow Monica:Website: https://www.monicagagliano.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_monicagagliano_Follow Wonderstruck:Website: https://wonderstruck.orgYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpodApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Vernon is a former priest turned psychotherapist who has spent the last 30 years exploring one central question: how do we find meaning in a secular age?After a crisis of faith pulled him away from the Church’s inner sanctum in his youth, Mark turned to Plato and Jung in pursuit of a deeper understanding of purpose, connection, and the soul. Today, his writing bridges ancient philosophy, religion, and modern psychology, a powerful triad he also applies to his work as a therapist.In this episode, we discuss: ✦ The overwhelm of conflicting meanings and remembering the sacred✦ The spiritual thread connecting Dante, William Blake, and Jesus✦ How wonder helps us access the divine✦ Why psychotherapy is a path for ‘spiritual intelligence’Mark's work invites us into the depths of wonder and spirituality as a necessity for the soul.Chapters0:00 Intro: The modern crisis of meaning5:08 Psychotherapy and the vertical dimension of life11:25 The cloud of unknowing and mystical experiences18:19 Kairos time: Moments of spiritual significance23:01 William Blake on joy and eternity27:04 Death as a transcendent and transformative experience33:08 Early Christianity's deeper mysteries and meanings40:44 Humility as an expansive spiritual virtue50:56 Owen Barfield and the evolution of consciousness57:35 Ontological shocks and transformative experiences1:02:41 Outro: The importance of sacred experiencesFollow Mark:Website: https://www.markvernon.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platospodcasts/?hl=en-gb X: https://x.com/platospodcasts YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PlatosPodcasts Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/awake/ Follow Wonderstruck:Website: https://wonderstruck.orgNewsletter: https://newsletter.wonderstruck.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpodApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the cracks in our world aren't flaws, but thresholds into the unknown? In this episode of Wonderstruck, we sit with philosopher, poet, and playful trickster Bayo Akomolafe. Bayo's vision invites us to linger in mystery rather than rush to solutions. He takes us into the unfolding terrain of post-activism, where possibility, not certainty, becomes our guide.In this conversation, we explore:✦ How physics becomes philosophy… and poetry offers a new way of seeing✦ How AI unsettles our ideas of consciousness and what it means to be human✦ His vision of an “autistic politics,” shaped by those who move differently through the world✦ The role of sanctuary and sacred spaces in times of upheavalThis is less a conversation of answers than of reimagining; an invitation to pause, to listen otherwise, and to encounter the mystery shimmering inside the fractures of our time. In these transformational times, Bayo is a rare and radical voice, urging us to reimagine how we see the world.This episode of Wonderstruck invites you into that space. Chapters0:00 Introduction5:31 Autistic perception and expanded awareness12:30 AI is redefining intelligence18:58 The Ship of Theseus and posthumanism25:50 A moment of wonder at the moon40:00 Second sound and postactivism 55:38 Liminality and the Cracks1:06:50 Death, Eshu and Jesus as trickster 1:14:51 Making sanctuary and examining life's glitchesFollow Bayo:Website: https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bayoakomolafe/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bayoakomolafeampersand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bayo.akomolafe/Emergence Network: https://www.emergencenetwork.org/ Follow Wonderstruck:Website: https://wonderstruck.orgYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpodApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fungi are everywhere. Under our feet, in our food, in our medicines. Yet they remain one of the most overlooked kingdoms of life. In this episode of Wonderstruck, we speak to mycologist Giuliana Furci, a self-taught champion for fungi and founder of the first NGO in the world dedicated to fungal conservation, the Fungi Foundation. She reveals how mushrooms shape ecosystems, inspire culture, and hold ancient knowledge. They are alchemists of decay, transforming death and toxins into the fertile ground of new life. From sacred candlelit ceremonies to songs created with a cloud forest that has rights, Giuliana’s stories may change how you see the world forever.We explore:How fungi sustain life on Earth and make our survival possibleDocumenting indigenous relationships with fungi, from birth control to healingThe Song of the Cedars with Robert Macfarlane, Cosmo Sheldrake, César Rodríguez-Garavito Sacred mushrooms, Mazatec culture and Maria SabinaWhy protecting fungi may shape the future of our planetGiuliana’s story is a testament to what can happen when we follow our calling and, in the words of Giuliana's mother, that something doesn't have to be done in order for us to do it! Chapters: 0:00 Intro: A fateful encounter with fungi5:56 Mycology 101: Fungi's role in life on Earth9:37 Studying fungi with experience and intuition15:07 Don Pfister’s invitation to Harvard23:13 The Song of the Cedars and forest rights30:13 Documenting indigenous relationships with fungi37:38 Surprising fungal uses across cultures41:27 Fungi communication and sacred ceremonies47:49 National Geographic award and impactFollow Giuliana: Website: https://giulianafurci.com/Instagram: @giulifungiFungi Foundation https://www.ffungi.org/LET THINGS ROT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpjWh1TXthMFlora, Fauna, Funga Documentary National Geographic Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DsnWcWeyoIThe Song of the Cedar by Cosmo Sheldrake and Robert Macfarlane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_timp2S3E&list=RDHH_timp2S3E&start_radio=1Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455147/is-a-river-alive-by-macfarlane-robert/9780241624814 Follow Wonderstruck:Newsletter: https://newsletter.wonderstruck.orgWebsite: https://wonderstruck.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.