Endless Vital Activity

“What does it look like on the other side of this crisis? Does this have to be a story of depravity - or can it be an opportunity to create [a better future]?”

In the latest episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston speaks with Damon Gameau, actor and filmmaker behind ‘That Sugar Film’ and his most recent release ‘2040’.

David and Damon discuss why the film industry is getting it wrong when it comes to climate change, the importance of providing children with a utopian vision of the future, and how having a fundamental understanding of human psychology can create a better future for both people and the planet.

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Ren Rigby, formerly known as Mike Rigby, is a multidisciplinary designer, educator and activist based in New York City. As founder and chief Design Officer of design and innovation company Proto, Ren is dedicated to advancing people.

During this conversation, Ren and David journey through the nuances of reinvention, change, transition, and falling in and out of love with design.

Follow along on @endless_vital_activity / @acceptandproceeed

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In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston meets with Bethany Koby – mum, CEO, Social entrepreneur, designer, educator and art director. Bethany journeys through her trajectory, from her education to the inception of Fam Studio and Tech Will Save Us. Johnston and Koby interrogate how technology can be an expressive medium, as opposed to just a tool, and also discuss the challenges & opportunities of parenting in the digital age.

“Commercialism is not the antithesis of culture; it can be part of it, but a well-rounded culture does not keep culture and commerce in antithesis”

In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston speaks with Paola Antonelli, senior curator of the Department of Architecture & Design and Director of R&D at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

David and Paola explore her philosophy of design for the people, why she compares her role as a curator to that of a movie director as oppose to a storyteller, plus Paola lifts the lid on the production of her speaker series, Salon, uncovering the work that goes into setting the theme of each event.

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“A crisis such as the one that we're in right now has given brands a bit of a wakeup call to make products that are about survival and not necessarily consumption in the same way.”

In this episode, David Johnston meets with Seetal Solanki, founder of materials research design studio Ma-tt-er and author of ‘Why Materials Matter’.

Seetal discusses the importance of broadening the definition of ‘materials’, brands using the pandemic to pivot and how you can challenge yourself to change your perspective within a capitalist society.

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Writer, thinker, novelist, journalist and cultural historian John Higgs and David Johnston discuss magic and myth.

During this conversation, they explore the power of hidden narratives as lenses from which we can interrogate and make sense of the world.

Follow along on @endless_vital_activity and @acceptandproceeed

In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston meets with Adrian Lahoud - architect, urban designer, researcher and dean of the School of Architecture at London's Royal College of Arts. Johnston and Lahoud discuss Second Sea, why we need to stimulate debate around reparations, and the importance of reciprocity.

Chef, bestselling writer and columnist Anna Jones talks to David Johnston about the overlaps between food, intuition, connection and healing. 

"What I've always wanted to do is to encourage change through positive action and setting an example – not through rhetoric or lecturing." – Anna Jones

Follow along on @endless_vital_activity and @acceptandproceeed

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“The idea that you could use the law to help other people fight for bigger radical change was the only thing I ever wanted to do”

In this episode, David Johnston sits down with Ravi Naik, co-founder for the UK’s first data right agency A.W.O and a leading solicitor in the field of data protection and protecting human rights in a digital age, working on agenda setting cases against Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, and Google.

“[In the future] I believe that the buildings will dream, the buildings will remember.”

In the latest episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston speaks with Refik Anadol, media artist, director and visiting researcher at UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts.

Johnston and Anadol discuss the intersection between the spiritual, virtual and physical realms, data as an art form and how Refik challenges the conventions of art with his public space data sculptures.

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Co-founder and MD of social enterprise Thankyou Daniel Flynn talks about disruptive marketing and the importance of reimagining consumerism.

In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston welcomes a radically new perspective to the season with architect Michael Pawlyn. Listen to the conversation on what lies between our built environment and our natural environment: biomimicry.

“The future is a verb, not a noun. It's not something that we passively stumble into, it's something we all actively shape and define”

In this episode, David Johnston sits down with director and architect Liam Young, co-founder of the Urban Futures think tank Tomorrows Thoughts Today and the nomadic research studio Unknown Fields.

The pair discuss how ‘humanness’ in the future will exist in tech blind spots, the importance of visual language to best detail a story, and the power of using fiction as an emotional Trojan horse to travel through potential futures in order to build the correct infrastructure today.

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“Uncertainty is freedom.”

In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston meets with Clare Farrell, co-founder of global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion.

Johnson and Farrell discuss the broken system our current democracy upholds, the parallels between COVID-19 and global warming, and how to inspire people into radical action.

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Multidisciplinary designer, floral artist and no-waste advocate Joost Bakker guides us through his mission to inspire us all to live a zero-waste life.

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In this episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston speaks with none other than whom many consider as one of the great philosophers and writers of our time: Charles Eisenstein. In this special conversation, join David and Charles for an enlightening mind journey on the topic of Rethinking Meta-Systems.

“Business has some serious thinking to do. We're in danger of losing our way. In amongst a crisis and chaos is a really good time to just go ‘are we doing this right?’”

In the latest episode of Endless Vital Activity, David Johnston speaks with David Hieatt, the co-founder of Hiut Denim Co and The DO Lectures; the self-funded talk series that aims to create a safe space to ask better questions about the world we live in.

Johnston and Hieatt discuss the pitfalls of ‘selling out’, the need for purpose-led businesses and the power of anonymity when asking what needs to change in the world.

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“We need a new mythology of what technology is. We need nature-based technologies that will lead us towards a new form for not being saviours of the earth, but living with Earth symbiotically”

In this second episode of series 2, creative studio Accept & Proceed's founder David Johnston meets with Julia Watson, an Australian designer of urban, indigenous, and spiritual landscapes and author of Lo-TEK, Design by Radical Indigenism.

Johnston and Watson discuss why we need to redefine the meaning of technological innovation, the importance of diversity in building resilient environments and why nature-based technologies can help us live symbiotically with nature.

Clare Farrell and Brian Eno discuss their shared commitment to mobilising change in the face of climate emergency, under the banner of an emergent movement called HardArt.

Our first guest kicking off this season is Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, an Olympic champion, three-times world champion heptathlete and the founder of Jennis, a fitness app synced to its user’s unique hormonal cycle. This season’s theme is Rethinking Systems, and with Jessica, we are Rethinking Women’s Health

“It's not an asteroid coming in. It's not nuclear war. It's not a killer virus. We are the weapon of mass destruction.”

In the first of this six-part series, creative studio Accept and Proceed’s founder David Johnston meets with renowned, multi-disciplinary physician of internal medicine and internationally recognised educator on the microbiome Zach Bush MD.

In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the duo explores the explosion of chronic disease, the morality of the advertising world and the impact of consumer behaviour on our internal and global ecosystems.

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"I think at the centre of it, is a new recognition of who we are as human beings."

In the first episode of series 2, creative studio Accept & Proceed’s founder David Johnston meets with Indy Johar, architect and co-founder of Dark Matter Laboratories.

The duo discuss Sikhism, running Dark Matter Labs, the values and rationale behind running a business in an untraditional way and reconfiguring the ‘normal’ structures that exist within a company.

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UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with Helen Job – future forecaster, brand strategist and Principal at Observatory Studio.

Helen talks about why provocation is important, why great design is communal and why you have to be inside the castle to break down the walls.

UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with Jakob Lange, Partner at BIG. Jakob, David and Borre talk about sustainability, technology and the future of architecture.

UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with design entrepreneur Yves Béhar. Yves discusses his innovative approach to business and technology through design.

UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with Matteo Ward, CEO and co-founder of WRÅD.

Matteo, Borre and David talk about the importance of challenging and questioning the role of the design industry.

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UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with Pasquale Jr Natuzzi, Natuzzi’s Chief Brand Officer.

Pasquale, Borre and David talk about diversity, legacy, the power of experimentation, and why the revolution must be televised and amplified.

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UNSAID – The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with design researcher and lecturer Delfina Fantini van Ditmar.

Delfina, David and Borre talk about alternative design futures, regeneration, systemic thinking and the importance of reconceptualising humans as part of nature.

UNSAID — The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

Listen to Borre Akkersdijk of BYBORRE and David Johnston of Accept & Proceed at Milan Design Week 2024, as they speak with Zowie Broach, Head of MA Fashion at RCA.

Borre, David and Zowie discuss paradigm shifts in design, consumption, the future of education, the crossed lines between dopamine and desire, and more.

UNSAID — The conversations we’re not having | BYBORRE x Accept & Proceed

At  Milan Design Week last year, the Accept & Proceed team was extremely inspired by BYBORRE’s ‘Elephant in the Room’ and how it unlocked necessary conversations about transparency and accountability.

One year later, David and Borre are back in Milan, joining forces.

At Vanity Fair's Garden of Ideas, they will engage in wide-ranging conversations with radical thinkers, fashion designers, creators, architects, designers and makers about the problems we have been given to solve. Together, seeking new perspectives to reimagine our world.

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