We are in a world of mad kings. The ones that destroy life, extract more and more, leaving Earth empty.

Lately, I keep asking: What shall we do? What are we doing wrong?

If I had asked that question in the medieval Arab world, they might have said: Tell them a story. And they might have told me the story of Shahrazad, the woman who changed the mind of a mad king by telling him a thousand stories.

Stories can change minds, worldviews. And worldviews shape our actions: toward care, kinship, and love for the natural world, or toward detachment, conquest, and destruction.

So, what are the stories that could save humanity? And most of all, how do we shape them, as the storytellers we are? Why was the medieval Arab world, like many ancient cultures, so devoted to storytelling? And how did they understand the precious power it held?

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Sources:

• The Arabian Nights, translation by Malcolm C. Lyons

• Ocean Vuong, 'A Life Worthy of Our Breath' On Being Podcast

Cover: Die Favontin by Adolf Seel, 1883

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If a story reveals something about its characters, it also reveals something about the storyteller.

The story you’re about to hear is no exception.

But what could a story tell about the one who is telling it? You might ask. Well, what if, in this story, the storyteller was the Prince of them all? What if, thousands of years ago, he understood better than anyone what makes a story an invisible thread connecting humanity together? What if he told a tale you could still connect with today?

His name was Ovid. And this podcast episode is about Daphne, who became a tree; Apollo, whom she fled; and Ovid, who told their story.

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Sources:

• The Metamorphoses by Ovid, translation by Mary M. Innes

• The Epic of Gilgamesh, translation by Andrew George

• The Masks of God, Volume 1: Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell

• https://www.worldhistory.org/Melusine/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20legend%2C%20and,accept%20her%20as%20she%20was

Cover: Apollo and Daphne by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1743

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What would you do if you stood before the spirit of the forest? How would you feel? And how would you treat its forest?

This podcast episode comes at a time when I find myself looking around and witnessing how deeply we disrespect nature in so many ways—including the precious, life-giving forests of our planet. Deforestation, animal hunts, mining…

As a fierce believer that stories shape a culture and the actions of a civilization, I wondered: what stories are we telling ourselves? And more importantly, what are the stories we don’t? The ones we’ve forgotten?

Because, let’s be real—our ancestors lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. What did they have that we don’t?

One story. As old as time.

And let me tell it to you.

⭐ If you liked the episode, please share it and rate it 5 stars on your favourite platform.

Sources:

• The Epic of Gilgamesh, translation by Andrew George

• https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/faith-in-the-forest-helps-indonesias-dayaks-keep-plantations-loggers-at-bay/

• https://www.instagram.com/p/DF7z77GR0tB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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