#763: Margaret Atwood and Boyd Varty

This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited.

The episode features segments from episode #573 "Margaret Atwood — A Living Legend on Creative Process, The Handmaid’s Tale, Being a Mercenary Child, Resisting Labels, the Poet Rug Exchange, Liminal Beings, Burning Questions, Practical Utopias, and More" and #571 "Boyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life."

Please enjoy!

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Start

[05:11] Notes about this supercombo format.

[06:14] Enter Margaret Atwood.

[06:48] What drives Margaret's ability to craft engaging speculative fiction?

[10:52] The downsides of raising a family isolated in the woods.

[15:44] Factors that nudged young Margaret toward poetry.

[21:54] How limited options led Margaret to her current vocation.

[24:07] How long it took for writing to pay off, and its benefits in the meantime.

[30:34] Life lessons learned by teaching.

[34:18] Enter Boyd Varty.

[34:42] Setting the scene.

[37:00] Origins of Londolozi Game Reserve and Boyd's childhood influences.

[39:17] Why Boyd's family kept the seemingly useless property.

[41:23] Boyd's experiences with The White Knuckle Charter Company.

[50:00] Transforming scrubland into a safari business with help from Ken Tinley and Shangaan trackers.

[56:04] Shangaan trackers' lineage and wildlife trust in Londolozi's caretakers.

[59:46] Renias Mhlongo's supreme tracking skills and work ethic.

[1:05:18] Hardest animals to track at Londolozi.

[1:08:30] Safety measures in Londolozi's unpredictable environment.

[1:10:21] "I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there." —Renias Mhlongo

[1:12:26] Boyd's tracking evolution: from childhood to trauma recovery.

[1:30:30] Definition of Ubuntu.

[1:32:40] Boyd's 40-day tree-dwelling experience.

[1:45:47] Bees, birds, and hive algorithms.

[1:57:07] Interacting with lions in the wild.

[2:01:41] Death conversations, ancient myths, and inexplicable animal movements.

[2:07:30] Comparing trauma recovery paths within Boyd's family.

[2:11:08] Ceremony work for trauma healing.

[2:14:06] An authentic life as activism.

[2:19:27] The impact of Byron Katie's Work on Boyd and me.

[2:23:55] Boyd's first sweat lodge experience in Arizona.

[2:29:18] Feelings. Nothing more than feelings.

[2:31:48] What a close encounter with a beautiful predator taught Boyd about Ubuntu.

[2:40:53] The therapeutic value of spending time with animals.

[2:45:22] Contrasting lion roar descriptions: van der Post vs. Boyd.

[2:49:40] Invitation to Londolozi and parting thoughts.

*

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