Kenny Ausubel: Imagining Our Way Out of the Unimaginable | Bioneers 2016

This speech was given at the 2016 National Bioneers Conference.
Kenny Ausubel is an award-winning social entrepreneur, author, journalist and filmmaker. He is the Founder and CEO of Bioneers, the internationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to disseminating breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. He launched the annual Bioneers Conference in 1990 with his business partner and wife Nina Simons, Bioneers Co-Founder and President.
Kenny is a writer, filmmaker and media professional. Since 2004, he has served as executive producer and co-writer of the award-winning international radio series The Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature. He acted as a central advisor to Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature documentary, The 11th Hour, and appears in the film.
He has written four books and edited several volumes of the Bioneers anthology book series. His most recent book Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature (Chelsea Green 2012) won the Nautilus Grand Gold prize in the Ecology-Environment category. He writes for the Huffington Post.
Transcript is available here: medium.com/@bioneers/imaginin...
Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges.
Subscribe to the Bioneers Radio Series, available on iTunes and other podcast providers and on your local radio station.
Support Bioneers today: www.bioneers.org/donate
Please join our mailing list (www.bioneers.org/subscribe), stay in touch via Facebook ( / bioneers.org ) and follow us on Twitter ( / bioneers .

[@roberthill3206]

I have known this since I was a child in the 50's playing in the swamps of Farmington, Michigan. As an organic gardener I sense the plants and often have words like water or feed me come from an area of my garden. I let the plants know I am grateful for their bounty and enjoy listening to the birds sing the trees awake every spring. Even the soil has different forms of life that seem to communicate. My best friend's daughters did a science experiment that proved that plants respond to human emotions of love, hate and neutral. When I was growing tomatoes on an urban farm in La Habra Heights the owner's son played rap while he worked and a circle of tomato plants around his radio became ill. I had him remove the radio and managed to bring the plants back to health.

[@janetjacobsen5850]

That is beautiful and amazing, Robert!

[@AstralBabyLove]

Love and light

[@gabbyganzel1]

I wish everybody would listen to this.

[@nikieberhardt4624]

Share it

[@geeebobbwow]

“We can do this, this is what we get to do” ❤️

[@HeikoNolen]

He just summed up everything that's wrong in the world! Very concise!

[@marythoma4877]

What a deeply considered text, not a wasted word, I will be viewing this repeatedly just to begin to absorb the content. Thank you.

[@Hvitveispike]

Here you can read the full speech too: www.huffingtonpost.com/kenny-ausubel/imagining-our-way-out-of-_b_12594074.html

[@jacksimper5725]

Huff post !!!!!1 Jeezus The home of left wing crap

[@bennyj2005]

The lefties, as you call us, are the ones opening their mind to new possibilities. What are you doing here, then?

[@jacksimper5725]

So Do I take it you work for Huff then ? If then ,perhaps you could tell us when they had an open mind?

[@kerrycraig1222]

Yes, A beautifully considered and thoughtfully woven speech. I will view this many times as well. It is filled with quotable thoughts.

[@mysticalsoulqc]

together we stand brothers. this is what life's all about,these truth are part of the future. let's all become the future in a world of d.i.y hi tech and in balance with nature. peace to you all.

[@ShimekRiverGirl]

Wow. This is one of the most spiritual talks I have ever heard.

[@bettanatura5656]

Hope....thank you for sharing this. Amazing speech.

[@thomfoote6779]

If Ausubel hasn't considered this already, this would make a great TED talk.

[@guramare44]

I see hope after this man's speech.

[@helenavondrakenstein4969]

It may be of little comforrt to know but those who destroy the world are also doomed to die with it

[@JMS1452]

Yes! Well spoken. Thank you Kenny

[@flyinsaucer138]

genius even the slime mold would appreciate, we can do this, its in our power to imagine it into reality

[@waxon2]

Beautiful, cogent, and thoroughly inspiring.

[@silversobe]

Kick ass speech!

[@RSpence777]

There's a cause I can get behind!

[@clarityofmind7317]

🌈Superior speaker with fantastic vocabulary to clearly express many great ideas while injecting humor and irony to keep the audience fixated. Absolutely amazing speech!😁👍

[@IMANESAMMAN]

Isn’t it funny that no one knows everything about anything but someone just decided to name it something one day ie ‘plant’ and we all just stuck to that story. Wild.

[@rineric3214]

Great speech! Standing ovation! Kudos!

[@taleandclawrock2606]

Wonderful! love it.

[@coldwindowsworkerseminolen4214]

yes Great job!

[@crashroots]

bravo!

[@dailyrapture2759]

i love you all!!!

[@ronalcalay]

Wonderfully insightful, inspiring speech, full of information, humor and hope. Thank you for this, for your organization and for a beautiful, meaningful conference this year.

[@carolena8929]

🫶🦋✨🧚‍♂️

[@dailyrapture2759]

facebook and youtube belong to the people, we need to take them back!!!

[@dans8955]

I came here, inspired by a passion for science.. and got politics instead. ?

[@chillythicc942]

Same lol. Still a good speech. I don't consider myself a liberal, but I really liked it.

[@_Epictetus_]

What will vegans eat now🤦🤷😂

[@KaylaLandin]

To eat something should be to honor it, we have gotten so disconnected with our food that the last thing they see before they die is a machine. Eating something with life is not the problem, and is necessary for survival, eating something without respecting and appreciating the life it’s giving for you and making sure it’s a good one, that’s the sin.

[@rubymaxliy]

Dear Kenny, I agree with much of what you say...but there is a major omission in your call for movements to work together. You mention only human-centric movements, not the animal rights movement. Animal Ag contributes more greenhouse gases (& the worst) than ALL oil/gas emissions combined, yet our leaders--including 'environmental' organizations and environmentalists DON'T talk about this. How we can continue to slaughter our fellow animals so that our society can achieve complete obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other killing diseases, and meanwhile destroy the environment? Even friends waging battle on the frontline to 'save' the environment eat animals and many are overweight. Frankly, I can't take them seriously and talking about diet is TABOO and the fastest way to lose a 'friend.' When will humans release their death grip on eating animals? When we're extinct? Why can't we talk about moving to a human, animal and earth-healthy diet? No, there is no such thing as "humanely" killing an animal - the ultimate cruelty is killing another. Yes plants are eaten on a veg/vegan diet but a lot fewer plants than plants fed to animals and then the animal slaughtered. And water. My calculator doesn't have enough spaces to calculate freshwater savings by watering plants instead of animals for a small population assumption of 100k people let alone millions. Sincerely...

[@dasman3772]

Vegetarians now eat gravel.

[@3nthamornin]

blah blah blah...