Narrating our way to a better future with Manda Scott

In our June xChange Paul Skinner, founder of MarketingKind, interviewed Manda Scott, bestselling novelist, to explore how Thrutopian narratives can give us 'a road map through' our current polycrisis existence to one we would be proud to leave to future generations.

We discussed how Manda used the concept of Thrutopia in writing her recently published novel Any Human Power, which is described as a mytho-political thriller and which includes a surprisingly timed general election. *** So a special thank you to Rishi Sunak for calling a general election the week before the book came out, helping to make the book feel even more prescient and needed. ***

Lee Child described Any Human Power as, 'Instantly immersive and compelling, rich and strange, human and humane, and most of all inspiring ... an extraordinary story.’

In the xChange discussion we covered everything from Manda’s contemporary shamanic practice and teaching, to media and political reform, culture change and how we can all use Thrutopian narratives in our work, writing and entertainment to create a better future.

Her top three practical recommendations for changing politics in the UK:

1) Read Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy by Audrey Tang

2) Change from First Past the Post voting to Proportional Representation

3) Give 16 year-olds (or younger) the right to vote

Manda is the author of 18 books including the hugely popular Boudica: Dreaming series and the Times ‘Book of the Year’ Into the Fire​. She hosts the Accidental Gods podcast where she and guests explore how we can create a future we’d be proud to leave to the generations that come after us.​ And she is a contemporary shamanic teacher and offers courses in Thrutopian writing.

You can watch the full xChange repay below or listen to it on the MarketingKind podcast here.