The word 'magic' derives from the Old Persian 'magush' – to have power and wisdom. Nowadays the word has multiple meanings including stage illusions, awe and wonder, and the kind of fictional sorcery found in Harry Potter, Buffy and Shakespeare. And then there is magical practise (also known to some as witchcraft).

A somewhat ambitious final episode, in sixty minutes The Magic Hour attempts to cover the history of magical practise in the west – from Ancient Greece to present day – offer advice on how to start a magical practise and demonstrate that magic isn't fanciful nonsense or mere superstition as some might believe but a dance between our imaginations and the material world, and something that lies at the heart of every culture.

With Dave Lee, Eimear Burke, Susan Greenwood, Mark Wagner, Andrew O'Neill and Efa Lois.

Efa Lois

https://www.serenbooks.com/seren-author/efa-lois/

Dave Lee

https://chaotopia.com/

Eimear Burke

https://www.kilkennydruidry.com/

Susan Greenwood

https://independent.academia.edu/SusanGreenwood

Mark Wagner

@mark_wagner_33

Andrew O'Neill

https://www.andrewoneill.co.uk/

Biomimicry, the science of learning from nature's genius, is helping us in areas as diverse as architecture, pollution, air conditioning, clothing, robotics, fire-resistant materials, flooding and leadership. The internet of animals is a vast, ever-growing network of data provided by mini-transmitters on everything from bees and birds to rodents and bats. It is providing us with a better understand the natural world. Through biomimicry and the internet of animals we'll discover how trees, limpets, pine cones, bats, sharks, spider webs, birds, beavers and termites – to name but a few – are helping us re-shape our world for the better.

With Nicola Peel and Martin Wikelski

Nicola Peel

https://www.nicolapeel.com/

https://www.thewillowslakesideretreat.com/

Martin Wikelski

www.ab.mpg.de/585424/the-internet-of-animals

www.nasa.gov/nasa-earth-exchange-nex/new-missions-support/internet-of-animals/

Science has long wrestled with what is known as 'the hard problem' – how did consciousness arise out of matter? But what if we've been approaching the problem wrong, all this time? Thanks to some of the world's leading philosophers, neuroscientists and psychedelic researchers, this consciousness-expanding episode delves into panpsychism, the theory that mind is a fundamental property of the universe.

Along the way we'll discuss psychedelic experiences, why we won't be downloading our minds onto a floppy disc any time soon and how panpsychism could even be good for our mental health.

With Anil Seth, Philip Goff, Peter Sjoestedt-Hughes, Mark Vernon and Hedda Hassel Mørch.

https://www.anilseth.com/

https://philipgoffphilosophy.com

https://www.philosopher.eu/

https://www.markvernon.com/

https://heddahasselmorch.com/