300 / Part Seven: Transitions, Death, The Ruptures Of Life In Between

Finally, we have reached the end—in more ways than one.

This long series has been a labor of love. It took too long to produce, but ultimately, preparing and releasing each of these parts has been a gratifying, and even cathartic, experience. This last part, fittingly, is a meditation on endings, transitions, the death of things. And, most importantly, love—the love that accompanies all of it.

We are meeting a time of many endings. The overly-complex systems that govern modern human life are meeting their inevitable demise. Centuries of human industrial activity has thrown the living systems of the Earth into disarray, and mass extinction ensues. The global climate is beyond repair, with enough heat baked into the system to guarantee several degrees of warming over the next several decades and centuries—a fact that cannot be contested. The question of human extinction is less a matter of "if" but more a matter of "when." If what is happening is happening, how, then, shall we live? 

This part seven is not meant to be overly bleak, but instead, sober and life-affirming. Weaved together with commentary, these six interviews reflect on the nature of the crises we are all living through right now, from the macro scale of this predicament to the deeply personal. And truly, what it all comes back down to, simply, is love—to love and to be loved in the face of our collective death, with all the grief and despair that accompanies it.

Photography by Brendon Holt

Music by Emilee Gomske

TIMELINE:

00:00: '“Sacrament” by Emilee Gomski

1:53: Intro

13:42: Ramon Elani (The Wryd)

32:24: Commentary

34:42: John Halstead (Ring of fire)

54:25: Commentary

55:43: Dougald Hine (Dark materials)

1:23:57: Commentary

1:27:55: Barbara Cecil (Openings)

2:05:51: Commentary

2:08:11: Stephen Jenkinson (Limitations)

2:27:19: Commentary

2:32:56: Barbara Cecil & Dahr Jamail (Grief)

3:35:06: Outro

VIDEO EPISODE: