Ancient Intelligence

#150 | How To Stay Human As Reality Gets Replaced | Stephen Jenkinson

June 22, 2026
Episode Description from the Publisher

I’ve been mentioning how much I have been impacted by Stephen Jenkinson’s work for a while on this show now, and here he is in honor of Ancient Intelligence’s 150th episode (you can access all 150 via Spotify or Apple).We discuss themes from his work, particularly his forthcoming book Trembling, Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse - a book shaped by a difficult neurodegenerative diagnosis. We explore culture work, the meaning of animism and paganism, beauty, and maintaining our humanity in this postmodern world.LINKS: Pre-order Stephen's latest book: https://orphanwisdom.com/trembling-st...Stephen has two upcoming in-person events: https://orphanwisdom.com/event/stagge... https://orphanwisdom.com/event/brain-...Learn more at: https://orphanwisdom.com/TIMESTAMPS:00:00 — Introduction04:00 — Artificial Intelligence Versus Reality12:00 — Why are the youths convinced?17:30 — Animism and Paganism30:00 — Beauty and Duality46:00 — Cultural Poverties50:30 — Trembling Still and Closing Wisdom ____________________ Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW, is a teacher, author, culture worker, farmer, and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School. He is the author of Die Wise, Come of Age, A Generations Worth, Matrimony, and most recently Trembling Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse. His work explores grief, elderhood, dying, and the deep obligations of being alive in a time of unprecedented consequence. He has a master's degree in theology from Harvard and a master's in social work from the University of Toronto, and spent years as a program director in a major Canadian hospital, where his work focused on the care of the dying. He lives on a farm in the Ottawa Val

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