Beginning the Year With Ancestral Wisdom

As billions around the world mark the beginning of a new year, many are pausing to ask the same questions: what do we carry forward, and what do we leave behind, as we cross from the old into the new? And as headlines fill with predictions about the rise of artificial intelligence, could a different kind of AI - ‘ancestral intelligence’ - offer insights equal to the depth of the climate and biodiversity crises we now face? This year’s COP saw Indigenous and First Nations Peoples better represented than ever before; but it also showed how far there is still to go to include them in meaningful dialogue. In a conversation recorded at COP30, Christiana Figueres sits down with two Indigenous leaders from different continents and traditions: Mindahi Bastida , from the Otomí-Toltec peoples of Mexico, and Atawévi Akôyi Oussou Lio , Prince of the Tolinou people of Benin. Together, they explore a relationship with the living world grounded in belonging rather than dominance, continuity rather than short-termism, and reciprocity rather than extraction. Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson then join Christiana to reflect on what it means to carry this wisdom into the year ahead. And if the challenges before us are not only technical and political, but also cultural and spiritual, how might that reshape the way we act, decide, and lead in 2026 and beyond? 🎤 Leave us your voice notes and questions for upcoming episodes on SpeakPipe Join the conversation: Instagram @outrageoptimism LinkedIn @outrageoptimism Or get in touch with us via this form . Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks Planning: Caitlin Hanrahan Assistant Producer: Caillin McDaid Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Beginning the Year With Ancestral Wisdom is an episode from Outrage + Optimism by Persephonica .

This episode is 40:58 long.

This episode was published on Jan 1, 2026.

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