The Initiation
The Initiation explores the profound challenges and transformations facing humanity at a pivotal moment in history. The show examines how exponential technologies, economic instability, climate change, and shifting geopolitical orders are reshaping the world. Each episode seeks to unpack these global forces and the inner personal shifts needed to navigate them with clarity and courage. It frames this era as a collective rite of passage, inviting listeners to rise to the occasion.
Episodes
#25 Sheldon Solomon: How the Fear of Death Shapes the World
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
#24 Sarah Wilson: How to Live Fully in a Collapsing World
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 e
#23 Luke Kemp: Why Civilizations Collapse - and How We Might Avoid the Next One
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 res
#22 Corey Bradshaw: Extinction, Overpopulation, and the Future We Can Still Shape
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 huma
#21 Jeff Booth: Bitcoin, AI, and the End of the Zero-Sum Game
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
#20 Jeremy Lent: Eco-Civilization and the Possibility of a Life-Affirming Future
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, Sebast
#19 Energy, Ecology, and the Limits of Industrial Civilization - with Richard Heinberg
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 polycr
The Iran War and the Dollar Endgame: Inside the Next Phase of Global Breakdown - with Roberto Rios
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 Myth of Infinite Growth - with Bill Rees
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, oversh
Ecological Awakening and the Return of Soul - with Brian Stafford
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 trans
Myth, Initiation, and the Art of Reweaving a World in Collapse - with Michael Maede
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 th
Becoming True Human in the Age of the Polycrisis – with Samantha Sweetwater
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
The Dao of Bitcoin: Money, Energy & the Future of Human Systems - with Scott Dedels
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
Inside the Dollar Endgame: Why the Global Monetary System Is Reaching Its Limits - with Roberto Rios
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 emerg
Economics of Happiness: Localization, Culture & a Future Worth Living - with Helena Norberg-Hodge
In this episode, I sit down with Helena Norberg-Hodge — writer, filmmaker, linguist, and pioneering voice in the localization and new economy movements. Helena is the founder and director of Local Futures, an international non-profit dedicated to revitalizing cultural and biological diversity and strengthening local communities and economies around the world.
Helena’s journey began in 1975 when sh
Building a Village for a New Way of Being - with Vincent Daranyi
Welcome to Season 2 of The Initiation. We’re beginning this new season with a conversation that is both deeply grounded and quietly radical – a look at what it truly takes to build a different way of living on this planet.
In this opening episode, I speak with Vincent Daranyi, founder of Neos.life, a 1000-acre village and retreat center in the Alentejo region of Portugal, designed as “a village f
The Initiation Trailer
Humanity stands at a threshold. Old systems are breaking down; new patterns of life are emerging. The Initiation invites listeners into the deeper story beneath this turbulence — a collective rite of passage for our species.
Hosted by Sebastian Dienst, entrepreneur, author and coach, the show explores how technology, money, ecology, and consciousness are converging to transform the human experienc
Episode 9 – The Evolution of Consciousness: Awakening Through the Metamorphosis
In this final episode of The Initiation, I turn inward—to what may be the most profound dimension of humanity’s transformation: the evolution of consciousness itself.
We’ve traced the forces of collapse and emergence reshaping our civilization. But beneath the noise of technology, money, and geopolitics, a quieter revolution is unfolding—in minds, bodies, and hearts. A revolution in how we underst
Episode 8 – System Change: Money, Energy, and Governance Reimagined
In this episode of The Initiation, I continue our exploration of breakthrough trends—not through technology alone, but through the transformation of systems: how we coordinate, exchange, and govern in a world reaching its limits.
We move through three foundational shifts:
Bitcoin as a potential new base layer for value—decentralized, scarce, incorruptible
The new energy paradigm—clean, abundan
Episode 7 – Foundational Technologies: The Intelligence That’s Emerging
In this episode of The Initiation, we cross the threshold from breakdown to breakthrough—and begin exploring the seeds of transformation already stirring within our dissolving world.
So far, we’ve tracked the destabilizing forces reshaping our reality: superintelligent AI, a faltering monetary system, climate breakdown, and geopolitical unraveling. But just like in nature, collapse is often the pr
Episode 6 – The End of an Empire: The unraveling U.S. Global Dominance
In this episode of The Initiation, I explore the fourth major force of breakdown: the unraveling of the U.S.-led global order.
Unlike past transitions—like the handover from the British Empire to American dominance—this shift isn’t a simple changing of the guard. It signals something deeper: the structural breakdown of the postwar system, and the slow-motion collapse of U.S. hegemony as both a fin
Episode 5 – Climate Breakdown: Beyond Carbon, Toward Transformation
In this episode of The Initiation, I explore the third major force of breakdown shaping our time: the accelerating climate crisis.
This isn’t a debate. It’s a reckoning with what the science tells us—and how that fits into the deeper phase shift humanity is undergoing. I begin with the fundamentals of climate physics, then move into feedback loops, tipping points, and the sobering truth about lock
Episode 4 – The Debt Spiral: Why Our Monetary System Is Reaching Its Limits
In this episode of The Initiation, I turn our focus to one of the most foundational—and fragile—systems shaping our world: money.
This isn’t just a conversation about inflation, debt ceilings, or economic cycles. What I explore here is something deeper: the structural limits of our current fiat monetary system—and why it may be approaching a breaking point.
We trace the full arc: from barter to go
Episode 3 – Superintelligence: Crossing the One-Way Gate
In this episode of The Initiation, I explore one of the most urgent and destabilizing forces of our time: the rise of artificial superintelligence.
Unlike previous technologies, superintelligent AI won’t just amplify our abilities—it will exceed them, radically and irreversibly. It’s not a tool we’ll wield. It’s a form of intelligence that may soon outpace our own in every domain—creativity, strat
Episode 2 – Phase Change: How Nature Transforms, and What It Means for Us
In this episode of The Initiation, I take you deeper into the heart of the journey we're on - by introducing the concept of phase change as a way to make sense of the transformation humanity may be undergoing right now.
Rather than reacting to news headlines or jumping between disconnected crises, I invite us to slow down and look to nature itself - because across biology, physics, and collective
Episode 1 – Humanity at a Threshold: Breakdown, Breakthrough, and the Call to Participate
Welcome to The Initiation - a podcast for those who sense that we are living through a civilizational turning point. In this inaugural episode, host Sebastian Dienst lays the groundwork for what this show is about, why it matters now, and how we can navigate a time of profound global disruption and transformation.
We are witnessing the convergence of four historic breakdowns: – The rise of artifi
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