Happy New Year.  My guest this week is a long term friend of the podcast. Dr Simon Michaux has been a physicist and geologist and then became an expert in the reality of the circular economy. He now works in the Geological Survey of Finland and is a regular advisor to the Finnish parliament. The day after we recorded this podcast, he was talking to the British consulate in Helsinki and in the last year, he's explained the reality of where we're at over 200 times, and one third of those talks was to governments around the world. He's been extraordinarily generous with his time on Accidental Gods. He was with us in podcasts number 172, 175, 183 and 184 with a series of excoriating, fact-filled, grounded, lucid conversations on the reality of the transition we face, so who better to start us off into 2024 with a conversation about where the world is going, where it could go, where it might go, where it should go in the coming year. This was one of our longest ever podcasts and truly, my brain had turned to slurry and was leaking out of my ears by the end, but Simon's ideas of how we could build a different way of being - and his ability to turn ideas into action feels revolutionary to me in the best possible way. We talked for hours. Many ours - and because we ended up defaulting to Zoom for the recording so we do have a video - the entire unexpurgated hours of which we will put up on YouTube - so if you want to see Simon's slides, head over there. But Caro has edited this down to the highlights so that it makes for easier listening, even so, we're spanning more than one podcast. At the time of recording, I don't know exactly how many, but we'll release them all at once, so just let your favourite podcast provider just stream them all for you. One thing to say before we head into the first conversation is that Simon has very kindly agreed to come back to join our Cutting Edge gathering on Sunday 19th March at 7pm UK time. He'll be with us for an hour during which you'll have a chance to ask him the questions that matter to you - all the things I don't think to ask - and then we'll have another hour together to explore ways each of us can ground what we're learning in our own lives. So you can sign up for this at accidentalgods.life - go to the Gatherings page. I've also put a link in the show notes. And while we're talking about Gatherings, there's still space on Dreaming Your Death Awake on Sunday 7th January.  This is our chance really to delve deeply into the year just gone, and look ahead at how we want to shape our attention and intention for the year that's coming. After all the  outward connection of the holiday season, this is a time to go inwards, to be kind to ourselves, to explore all that we can be and want to be. This, too, is part of our Accidental Gods tradition and we have people who've come year after year to give themselves the gift of time and space and the company of people who share the journey.  So please do come along, we would love to share this time with you.  I've put a link in the show notes and it's also on the website accidentalgods.life under the 'Gatherings' tab. Simon's Website https://www.simonmichaux.com/Prometheus Project link to follow Episode 172 https://accidentalgods.life/transforming-industry-to-create-a-genuine-green-revolution/Episode 175 https://accidentalgods.life/drawing-humanity-out-of-the-cave-with-dr-simon-michaux/Episode 183 https://accidentalgods.life/lifeboats-and-volcanoes-part-3-of-our-series-with-simon-michaux/Episode 184 https://accidentalgods.life/bonus-reality-check-less-quantity-more-quality-in-a-future-that-will-work-part-4-with-simon-michaux/Cutting Edge - come and meet Simon - ask him your questions - and we'll gather afterwards to see how we can apply all we're learning in our own lives https://accidentalgods.life/the-logistical-realities-of-our-world/