Greek Classics—Modern Life
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
11/27/25
•44m
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The Greek classics are timeless because they provide insights into our souls, into how we think and why we do what we do. Of course, few of us regularly read or ponder the wisdom of those epic tragedies. But what if they could be made accessible in ways that shed light on the specific challenges of life in the 21st century?
The results could be amazing, healing, entertaining, and educational---partly by stripping away what we think is so special about our time, focusing instead on what makes us human.
That's exactly what Theater of War Productions,** Bryan Doerries, and a host of actors have been doing with global audiences for almost two decades. **
Six months ago, we recorded this podcast with Bryan, who co-founded Theater of War Productions and serves as its artistic director. We share it again in recognition that Bryan Doerries has recently been selected as a winner of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The jury honored him for creating brave spaces where art, empathy, and dialogue aim to restore human connection, reimagining the role of culture in public life.
Listen again and let us know what you think.
Previous Episode
Reimagining Environmental Journalism
November 20, 2025
•34m
By almost every objective indicator, the process of dramatic climate change grinds on. However, the optimists are currently making a big deal out of the notion that warming might top out between 2.5 and 3°C over pre-industrial levels, compared to earlier and much higher scenarios. And Bill Gates now assures us that it is poverty, not climate change, that is potentially catastrophic.
No one should be reassured!
When it comes to the environment, what people around the world need is reliable, fact-based information about how the places in which they live are actually changing. They need to be empowered with accessible science, and the voices and knowledge of those directly impacted by environmental change amplified in ways that could actually produce positive outcomes.
Thank God for something called Mongabay. Rhett Ayers Butler founded and built Mongabay as a global digital platform for high-quality journalism about the environment. He and they have deservedly won endless journalism awards. Far more importantly, Mongabay is practically the only reliable source for consistently objective reporting on conservation and the environment on a global basis.
Butler is a world-class conservationist and journalist. He is also one of the recipients of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize Winners.
Listen as Rhett talks about the world as he reports on it....
Next Episode
What Has the Whale to Say?
December 4, 2025
•36m
| "The whale has no voice," Herman Melville wrote in Moby Dick. "But then again," he went on, "What has the whale to say?"
Turns out he was wrong: not only do sperm whales have voices, but these massive, amazing mammals talk constantly to each other. They are humongous creatures: males can be 18 meters long and weigh 45 tons. Think something the weight of an industrial dump truck, but twice as long. Despite their massive size and the capacity to dive more than a mile into the depths of the ocean, they apparently are quite sociable.
How amazing would it be if we could decipher what they are saying? That's the passion of David Gruber, a marine biologist and technologist who organized and leads Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative). He has gathered a team of 50 global scientists and technicians dedicated to understanding what the sperm whales are saying to each other---not so we can talk to them, but so that we can understand how they think about the world we share.
David is also one of the recipients of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, who was honored for his work with CETI and his underlying drive to help humans and nature co-exist.
Listen as he discusses what drives him and CETI here: https://tallbergfoundation.org/podcasts/what-has-the-whale-to-say/
Learn more about Project CETI here: https://www.projectceti.org/ |
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