Much is changing in the world, evidenced by flourishing as well as degradation. So how can we lived into these times? What qualities and imaginative tools might help?

Mark Vernon talks with Jacob Kishere about dialogue and trauma, psychedelics and Christianity. They ask about the nature of soul-fields with which we can tune, as well as whether the burgeoning world of podcasts is a sign of hope as the media landscape changes.

Jacob is a professional dialogue facilitator, a musician and philosopher, and creator of Culturepilgrim, Sensespace and The Resonant Man. For more see - https://www.jacobkishere.com/.

The Realisation Festival is five years old, so how is it shaping up? What ways best describe the gathering? And also, what of its distinctive coupling of music and improvisation with ideas and the challenges of today?

Two directors of the festival, Pippa Evans and Mark Vernon, share their sense of St Giles House, the place that hosts the weekend, as well as the genius brought by the Realisation Players, the improvisers of which Pippa is one.

They talk about improvisation itself and how it powerfully fits with the spirit of the gathering, being an emergent activity that does’t try to fix things but does invite participants to bring what they have. And they discuss that short word which is central to the festival: soul.

For more on Pippa’s work see http://www.pippaevans.com/

What would happen if the doors of perception were cleansed, to recall William Blake's phrase? Can science-fiction help us re-imagine the world in which we live? Might strange experiences play a part in enlightening us?

Mark Vernon talks with Carrie Myskhin about ghost stories, sci-fi and alternative ways of doing philosophy. They range from the work of Philip K Dick to Neoplatonism.

Carrie has a BA in Creative Writing and Philosophy, and an MA in English Literature, focusing on space and time in the novels and Exegesis of self-styled “fictionalising philosopher” Philip K. Dick.