conscient podcast

i was listening to the sound of rain falling in a small cabin by a stream with distant thunder in the background… TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath) (Rain from inside a cabin with thunder in the distance) You’re listening to the sound of rain falling in a small cabin by a stream with a bit of distant thunder in the background. Is it raining where you are now? Maybe it is snowing? If so, what does it sound like? Now, this particular recording is quite evocative for me, with the distant rumbling of thunder that might be threatening to ignite a fire, a wildfire, as we have seen throughout Canada this year or maybe… a tornado brewing behind that storm that could suddenly break this cabin to pieces, myself included. Or maybe this rain will go on for days and days as it did in 2019 and fill this cabin with water and take it down the river to Lac Simon? Who knows what might happen in this era of permanent climate emergencies… Now, unfortunately, listening to soundscapes, like rain and thunder… now terrify me. It makes me think back to the very first episode of this podcast, terrified : In May 2019, my climate denial bubble burst. It was a terrifying and disorienting experience that made me question everything about my life. In retrospect, I realize this was a zen-like gift of ‘terrified awakening’, of ‘clear seeing’, but at the time, I was paralyzed with emotion and dread. What triggered my climate denial bubble to burst? Sweet rain, gentle thunder, thank you so much. Thank you for your gifts and for your warnings. We are changing our ways, aren’t we. We are making efforts to change our ways of being on this planet, incrementally, but we are making efforts. The problem is that science tells us that our efforts are not enough, not nearly enough to avoid catastrophe that is being announced. Can you hear the sound of catastrophe in the rain and thunder? * Recorded on August 10, 2023 at 10.40am in Duhamel, Québec. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the AVAAZ. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

i heard a strange tapping sound from my window one morning and had a chat when the workers repairing the street TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (Bell and breath) (sound of me walking towards a machine on a city street) I heard a strange tapping sound from my window one morning and decided to walk towards the sound. Claude: It's okay. I was interested in that machine, but you're not using it right now. Oh… Worker : I actually turned it off because I saw that… I did not want to blow out your ear drums. I was actually being considerate. Claude : It’s very kind of you. Worker : I tried, I do, I do try. Claude : What is it called? Worker : It's a tamper. It just packs. Yeah. It's so, the real name is… it's scary. Worker : The real name is a plate Compactor. The actual name you'll find, uh, on.., Claude: I heard it and I was trying to imagine what it was. I thought it must be this big machine dragging somebody along, you know... Are you planning to use it again or are you done? Worker: I’ll turn it right on for you. (Transformation of the tamper sound) Are there strange sounds on your street? * Recorded on Chapel Street, Ottawa on December 2, 2022. With thanks to the street repair workers for their consideration. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Indigenous Climate Action. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

i came upon a 1980’s era ‘discman’ portable CD player that still work, sort of and listened to it trying to spin up TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath) (old cd player trying to spin up) While going through a box of old technologies to be recycled, I came upon a 1980s era discman portable CD player that still sort of worked. I listened to it, trying to spin up to speed to do its job, but it wasn't able to, it didn't have enough power, energy, or ability left in it. But the sound was really interesting because it kept trying to get up to speed, so to speak. So, it feels to me like this is a symbol, as an example of modernity falling apart, not able to deliver. So, there's something about that fascinated me in this sound, and so I made it a type of sonic meditation, and I suggest you listen to it without any particular story in mind. Just let the sound take you wherever it might in your imagination. * The idea for this episode came from my wife Sabrina. Thank you. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

A special episode of The Place of Sound podcast featuring highlights from a project I did in 2017 for Bivouac Recordings, in Hong Kong, called 60 minutes Cities Ottawa, a series of winter time field recordings of Ottawa.Note: This episode is also available in French.This is a special episode of The Place of Sound podcast. You’ll hear highlights from a project I did in 2017 for Bivouac Recordings, a sound label based in Hong Kong, called 60 minutes Cities Ottawa - featuring winter sounds in Ottawa - curated by Terrence Lloren, which is a series of albums focused on an individual’s genius loci or the ‘spirit of a place’.Each 60-minute cities album is a personal document of the recordists (re)discovery of their ‘city’ through sound. The 60 minutes of recordings are taken from the recordist’s own personal surroundings and include photos and text to describe the significance of these sounds to their own lives.The result is a document that reveals the deepest character of a place through a native resident’s own experience so that (locals) and non-locals, as well as the recordist, can (re)connect with the city and (re)discover the beauty of their place.You’ll hear excerpts from :Commemoration, recorded on November 11, 2016 at 10.58am at the National War Memorial on Elgin StreetRunning, recorded on New Year Day, 2017 at 11.28 am in Sandy HillProtest, recorded on January 21, 2017 at 11am at the corner of Elgin and Gloucester streetRiver, recorded on January 29th, 2017, at 1.34pm, on the Ottawa River west of downtownOffice, sound of office towers and entry and exits at 150 Elgin St.Skateway, the rideau canal skateway, on January 26th, 2017Parliament Hill on February 18, 2017, at 11.58amTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODENote: below is my original script which I improvised from during the recording(Choir singing O Canada at Remembrance Day ceremony, November 11, 2016, Ottawa)Please stand for O Canada… (Fade to silence) My name is Claude Schryer. Welcome to a special episode of The Place of Sound, a radio show/podcast produced in Carleton University’s Communication and Media Studies Program by Dr. Vincent Andrisani and airing on CKCU FM, campus radio. The Place of Sound explores the idea of ‘place’ through the ears of students and sometimes, guest producers, like me. Check it out. I’m speaking to you from Ottawa, which is on the unceded and un-surrendered territory of the Algonquin-Anishinaabe nations, who are the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries.What you’ll hear today are highlights from a project I did for Bivouac Recordings a sound label based in Hong Kong. In 2017 I produced 60 minutes Cities Ottawa as part of Bivouac’s 60-minute cities project, curated by Terrence Lloren, which are a series of albums focused on an individual’s genius loci or the ‘spirit of a place’, which is closely related to the objectives of this podcast. Each 60-minute cities album is a personal document of the recordists (re)discovery of their ‘city’ through sound. The 60 minutes of recordings are taken from the recordist’s own personal surroundings and include photos and text to describe the significance of these sounds to their own lives. The result is a document that reveals the deepest character of a place through a native resident’s own experience so that (locals) and non-locals, as well as the recordist, can (re)connect with the city and (re)discover the beauty of their place.But first, who am I? Qui. Suis-je? Until September 2020 my day job was as a senior strategic arts advisor at the Canada Council for the Arts but then I decided to focus on the climate emergency and co-founded an art and climate organization called SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency, that I encourage you to check out. In 2020 I also started up a bilingual podcast called the conscient podcast, balado conscient en français, exploring art and the ecological crisis. I’m just completing season 4 now exploring the sounds of modernity which will take me to episode 153 on December 31, 2023. I invite you to check it out at conscient.ca. You’ll find various subscription options, including a monthly blog where I share my learnings and more importantly my unlearnings and so on.However, today, I’m taking a break from the darker side of podcasting and invite you to listen to some soundscapes with me from Ottawa where I was born in 1959 and where my wife Sabrina and two children have lived since 1999. (fade in Remembrance Day recording)Let’s pause for a minute of silence. This recording is called Commemoration and was recorded on November 11, 2016 at 10.58am at the National War Memorial on Elgin Street a few steps away from Parliament Hill. This is Remembrance Day, our national day to remember those who died in military service. (running sounds in Ottawa)Will you join me for a run? This sequence was recorded on New year day, 2017 at 11.28 am. Back then I was a marathon runner, so this sequence is me running at a good

i asked chatGPT what was the ‘sound of modernity’ in 4 modes : normal, critical, radical and optimistic and got some feedbackTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath)On a rainy August 10th 2023, I asked Chat GPT: ‘What is the sound of modernity?’ The bot responded:The sound of modernity is a symphony of electronic devices humming, the rapid clicks of keyboards, the soft hum of air conditioning, intermittent smartphone notifications, the distant whirring of cars, and the bustling energy of city life woven together into a dynamic and ever-changing background.The bit did not mention if those sounds were good or bad so I asked it to be ‘more critical’: The sound of modernity can often be characterized by the cacophony of relentless notifications, the endless drone of traffic, the mechanical beeps and blips of machines, and the superficial conversations drowned out by the noise of consumerism. It’s a discordant blend that sometimes drowns out genuine human connection and the natural world, leaving us more connected to our screens than to the realities around us.I then asked it to be ‘more radical’:The sound of modernity reverberates with the clash of ideologies, the digital uproar of social media, the primal screams for justice, and the defiant chants of those demanding change. It’s a symphony of revolution, where traditional norms are challenged, and the status quo is shaken to its core. Amid the chaos, whispers of hope and cries for a new world order crescendo, creating a radical anthem that dares to rewrite the script of society.Finally… pushing the limits, I asked it to be ‘more optimistic’ :The sound of modernity carries the vibrant beats of innovation and progress, the harmony of diverse voices coming together, and the uplifting melodies of collaboration and empathy. It’s a chorus of technological marvels, cultural exchanges, and global awareness that sings of a world connected like never before. In this symphony, the potential for positive change and a brighter future resonates, fueled by the belief that humanity’s collective efforts can create a harmonious and thriving world for all.Here is some of the feedback I received on FaceBook about this posting :The sound of one hand clapping?Chat GPT n’a que finalement dit ce que ton esprit lui a aiguillé comme raisonnement. En fait, la machine ramasse ce qu’elle a comme infos et la réarrange en fonction de la satisfaction client. (Chat GPT only finally said what your mind told it to say. In fact, the machine picks up what information it has and rearranges it according to customer satisfaction.)Interesting experiment!WOW!!!Good Lord, I’m glad I’m not teaching any longer.Wow. I like your direction here.Ugh, way too verbose is the sound of that modernity. I fear I am not modern enough to handle it.Squeaky clean comes to mind. I hear the inordinate challenge this is for teachers on all levels. Ask students to do an essay, with a critical or sympathetic or ironic twist or whatever, and this chat GPT does it all tidy and seamless. So how can the prof know, except that it’s toooo smooth and trendy sounding?! In my day we could always tell when a less gifted student suddenly wrote like a New York Times editorialist. Then we could google, or harder yet, go to the library and check their sources!! aaargh!!!! But this raises even bigger challenges. Yikes!!!!!!!!!!Or ask them to critique what AI wrote…teachers won’t be able to fight this stuff so we’ll just have to learn how to use it as a polemic.AI is already out of control (too few parameters on its use) but like nuclear technology we’ll have to learn to manage it or risk the consequences… slowing it all down in key…I bet you are the first one, Claude, to have asked that question! I like your requests for further refinement of the answers. Great way to develop skills in questioning this ‘entity’ and to listen to/process its answers! Not much ecology in this machine’s constructed notion of our world.What a fascinating, extraordinary exchange! Gives me some hope, but not without apprehension, about AI in our lives.This is totally fascinating and also gives me a weird sort of sense of apprehension. (also…I can’t write as well as Chat GPT and might be relegated to the heap.). But thanks. I’m going to share this…Il faut peut-être revoir les “prompt” (Maybe we may need to review the “prompt”.)Bizarre…What is the sound of modernity for you?*With thanks to all those who provided feedback. The artificial voices were generated by Elelvenlabs.io.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Green Dreamer. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient

i learned about the concept of ‘worlding’ from Vanessa Andreotti’s Hospicing Modernity and I danced in the rain TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath) (raindrops from https://simplesoundscapes.ca/e105-thunder/) I learned about the concept of ‘worlding’ from page 184 of Vanessa Andreotti’s Hospicing Modernity. Andreotti explains that : Worlding stories are not focused on the aesthetic perfection of form but rather on the integration of form and movement. Now this integration of form and movement made me think of that magical period when rain begins to fall and dryness is transformed into wetness is quite magical. Listen carefully. Andreotti goes on to say that : Worlding stories are not supposed to be ‘thought about’ but rather thought, felt, and danced with and through… Andreotti goes on further to explain that : They play with the ambivalence and dynamic force of meaning. In this sense, meaning will change as a worlding story lands deeper into the body, a story will have many layers of changing meaning, and some layers will only reveal themselves years after the story arrives. Worlding stories invite us to experiment with a different relationship between language and reality. The stories do not require anyone to believe in anything; rather they invite you to believe with them. The stories do not require anyone to believe in anything; rather they invite you to believe with them. What worlding stories do you hear ? * The rain and thunder sounds in this episode are from https://simplesoundscapes.ca/e105-thunder/ recorded during the summer of 2018 in Duhamel, Québec. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Harmony House. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

I recorded myself counting down from 100 to 1 in the snow and played in backwards, hoping, against all odds, to turn back time TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath) (Ambiance and footsteps in the snow played backwards) On December 29, 2022, I recorded myself counting from 100 to 0 in crusty snow at our cottage. My goal was to explore what it felt like to cross over the tipping point into irreversible climate catastrophe. But, you know, to be fair, I like to just count my steps when I walk in the snow, so you can interpret it either way, either as a countdown to Armageddon or playing in the snow. Maybe a bit of both. Anything this ambiguity around the severity of the ecological crisis is in my mind these days and something I listen for, and I’ve noticed during this season about ‘sounding modernity’, which is coming to an end soon, that most people suffer from eco anxiety and don’t know what to do about it. They feel disempowered. I do too and sad and yet life goes on. That kind of dilemma. I have a lot of empathy for all of us, for living beings as we try to work our way through this crisis. So, I think it’s helpful, though it might seem strange, to count from 100 to 0 but I suggest we do it backwards, just for fun. Here we go. Can you turn back time? * Recorded on December 29, 2022 at 1.19pm in Duhamel, Québec. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the alter-ciné foundation. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

when I got up on September 25th 2023, while searching for my glasses in the dark, I touched a little mechanical bear TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath) Vancouver, September 25, 2023. You can hear the city in the background as I record this. When I got up this morning, searching for my glasses, I touched this little mechanical bear… (Cranking up and unwinding of windup toy) It startled me a bit but it was also enchanting and surprising in a good way. I enjoyed listening to it come to a halt. That morning I was thinking about something I published on my website on September 20th. I’ll read it to you.On September 20 2023, I decided to step back from being ‘me’, in the sense of letting go of old habits and patterns and adopting other new ways of being and living. This being said, I will continue to respond to invitations when my presence is useful. What do you think about that, little bear? (Winding up and release of wind up toy) Now this statement reminded me of traps of how I fall into tarps all the time and maybe you do too? Episode 111 of this season presented two traps and I'll play back excerpts from that episode to you now. The first trap is essentially wanting the world to stop and get off. Stop the world I want to get off. Observer: I notice that you’ve fallen into a trap called ‘exit fixation’ which is where people feel a strong urge to walk out on an existing commitment. For example, when someone realises that the path they are on is full of paradoxes, contradictions, and complicities. Often their first response is to find an immediate exit in hopes of a more fulfilling and/or more innocent alternative or maybe even an ideal community with whom to continue this work. Me: Like an escape? Observer: Ya, something like that The second trap is about wanting to erase the past and to find some kind of spiritual haven, which, of course, is an illusion : Observer:. It’s called spiritual bypassing and it happens when spiritual ideas or practices are used to sidestep, avoid, or escape sitting with analyses of historical and systemic violence and the difficulties of one’s complicity in historic and systemic harm. Do you know what I mean? Me: Yes I think I do but I don’t think I do this. Observer: (interrupting) maybe not consciously but spiritual bypassing often manifests itself alongside with cultural appropriation which is something you think about every time you record a soundscape with that microphone of yours, right? Me: I see what you mean. You’re quite a good observer. Observer: thank you but right back at you. Think of me as a guardian angel. Me: Or the devil… Observer: Whatever (laughter) Now one of the dangers with spiritual bypassing is to project interpretations of ‘oneness’ that erase the realities of historical and systemic inequalities, and interpretations of ‘Enlightenment’ that tend to reinforce exceptionalism and you tend to do that… Me: Yes, sure, I do, but it’s all part of being an artist.. Observer: (interrupting) True but that does not necessarily make it right, does it? Something to think about... Me: (interrupting) That’s a lot to think about, to learn and unlearn. What do you think of that, little bear? (Winding up and release of wind up toy) Do you think it’s ok to lose one’s mind in a mad world? Do you think it’s ok to embrace failure as a path towards learning and unlearning? What do you think about grieving our dying planet and sitting with this sadness? (Winding up and release of wind up toy) * Written spontaneously on September 25th 2023 in Vancouver, this episode brought me comfort. Maybe it will bring you comfort as well? I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the reseed podcast. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across thi

while drifting on a river in a kayak i listenedTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath) (kayak drifting on a river) * CREDITS One of my ‘happy places’ in life is drifting down a river on a kayak. It’s an opportunity to slow down and regenerate with earthly elements. To let go and be carried away. This recording was made on July 13, 2023 on the Preston River in Duhamel, Québec. This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔNin Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull 28 days of programming from September 7 to October 4 2023 showcasing local artistic practices. With thanks to the Centre de production DAÏMÔN production team: Manon, Coco, Philippe and Simon and DAÏMÔN’s funders and partners. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to canadaland. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

I felt defeated by the ecological crisis, and by myself, so I created an episode about defeatism hoping to defeat my defeatism TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and voice) Note: [ ] = filtered voice I got up this morning feeling defeated. [ I got up this morning feeling…] You might know this feeling of … powerlessness. [This feeling of…] You know, producing more podcast episodes, like this one, exploring art and the ecological crisis. It does seem rather… pointless. [Producing more podcasts… ] I sometimes feel like the best thing I can do for our troubled world is to be quiet and do no harm.… [To be quiet and do no harm] Rebecca Solnit, We can’t afford to be climate doomers (female voice) : Some days I think that if we lose the climate battle, it’ll be due in no small part to this defeatism among the comfortable in the global north, while people in frontline communities continue to fight like hell for survival. Which is why fighting defeatism is also climate work. [Which is why] Am I one of those comfortable people in the global north struggling with defeatism? [am I a… defeatist? ] Yes. I am. I produce this weekly podcast in safe, luxurious conditions while the majority world fights like hell for survival. While the majority world suffers like hell the consequences of my generation’s excess. [the majority world fights like hell …] I’m a hypocrite. I’m complicit. My work is pretentious and … [I’m a defeatist] So, what does defeatism sound like anyway? Well, it probably sounds like this. A privileged male voice talking about his feelings about defeatism. [ what does defeatist sound like? ] Britt Wray, Generation Dread (female voice) Some people believe that it is already too late to prevent societal collapse. They speak about the “earth as hospice,” and suggest we use what time we have left to summon the courage to face the music, as the ship we’re all on sinks.’ … [facing the music, as the ship we’re all on…] In my August conscient blog I wrote that : I see no point shuffling the deck chairs. We have already hit the metaphoric iceberg and the good ship modernity is sinking. So, where do we go from here? How does one defeat defeatism? [where do we go from here? ] In the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Moving with Storms report I was reminded of the seven steps forward and-or aside, in particular this teaching about honesty and courage to see what you don’t want to see: Commit to expanding your capacity to sit with what is real, difficult, and painful, within and around you. In what ways are your projections, idealizations, expectations, hopes, fears, and fragilities preventing you from approaching aspects of the Climate and Nature Emergency that are unpleasant for you and/or that challenge your sense of reality and/or self-image? What are you not willing or ready to see and how does this unwillingness impair your ability to respond to the Climate and Nature Emergency ? [ What are you not ready to see? ] * Warm thanks to Kelly Langgard for lending me her voice to read the Rebecca Solnit and Britt Wray quotes (Kelly’s voice is also featured in e142 consent). Thanks to Rebecca and Britt for use of their words and to the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective for use of an excerpt from the Moving with Storms report. This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔN in Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull. With thanks to the Centre de production DAÏMÔN production team: Manon, Coco, Philippe and Simon and DAÏMÔN’s funders and partners. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Post Carbon Institute. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitment

i asked a forest for permission to record it and got a response from a treeTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath) (Wind in forest soundscape) Today's episode is a fictional conversation between a tree and myself. It came to me while I was doing a consent and reciprocity exercise in a forest… like this one. (Recited slowly and thoughtfully) Me (M): Forest, are you ok if I record you today for my podcast? Female voice (F): It’s nice of you to ask. (silence) F: What’s a podcast? M: Ah, well, they're stories told through recorded sound that humans listen to. F Hum. We communicate through our mycorrhizal networks and symbiotic relationships with other living beings. For example, we regularly exchange nutrients through fungal mycelium. What kind of story do you want to tell your community? M: I’m preparing an episode about listening to life in a forest - in this forest - and I wanted to ask for your consent before recording these sounds and sharing them. F: ok. Everyone is welcome to visit our home, as long as they are respectful and do no harm. M: Thank you. I would also like to make a gesture of reciprocity to the forest, like an offering of food or maybe a song. (Silence) F: or maybe leaving us alone? But good food and song are always welcome. f: Where did you learn about consent and reciprocity? M I learned it from a course I took at UBC called facing human wrongs. One of the exercises during this course was to make contact with the land before entering and asking for safe passage… F: What do you mean by safe passage? Safe passage for whom? M: Right. Let me explain. We learned that there are some human communities who still understand that there is no dualistic distinction between objects and subjects, or humans and nature. The rivers, the mountains, the trees, the other animals and, you know, the forests themselves are experienced as conscious entities who were much older relatives and who, like human beings, required engagements based on trust, respect, consent, reciprocity and accountability. F: I can relate to that: trust, respect, consent, reciprocity and accountability. These are part of some of our system of values of forests but there is so many humans don’t know about trees and forests, our culture and our relations. M: We also learned that asking permission and making an offering of reciprocity was a way of entering into a relational experience between living beings, as opposed to, say, consuming an object, owning a property or enjoying a benefit. F: and… how can I say this… how do you think that you can enter into a relational experience with a forest simply by asking permission? (silence) M: Well, to be honest, I don’t know. F I agree, human, that you don’t know, at least, you don’t know yet, but maybe you will one day? F: Do keep listening and thanks for the visit. * CREDITS This is my second attempt at a two person play (the other is e111 traps). With thanks to Kelly Langgard for playing the role of tree and helping me give it shape. Thanks also for editing advice from Sabrina Mathews, Azul Carolina Duque and Flora Aldridge. This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔN in Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull 28 days of programming from September 7 to October 4 2023 showcasing local artistic practices. With thanks to the Centre de production DAÏMÔN production team: Manon, Coco, Philippe and Simon and DAÏMÔN’s funders and partners. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Toronto Arts Foundation. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.

This episode is a recording of a presentation I gave on October 6, 2023 about my ‘Sounding Modernity’ project to the XI International Symposium on Soundscape, organized by the FKL-Forum Klanglandschaft in Lugano, Switzerland. See TRANSCRIPT (with a laptop or desktop only) to read what was said. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

a bilingual soundwalk with city of Gatineau councillor (Hull-Wright) Steven Moran around ‘la filature’ for radio-hull 2023TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE (this episode is a mix of English and French, below is the complete English version)(bell and breath)Claude (C ): Steven Morin, I invite you to take a sound walk with me. Steve (S): Excellent. Shall we? C: So you're a local councillor here? S: Yes. From Hull-Wright.C: Me, I'm an artist in residence here at DAIMON then I create works for the radio-hull 2023. Then I decided to take a walk with a friend, you, in French and English. The idea of a sound walk is to pay attention to all the details. For example, our feet are making a rather soft sound at the moment. It just rained here in Gatineau. You can feel all the details of life through sound.Claude: And it's going to be a bilingual conversation because Gatineau is multilingual and I'm bilingual. In fact, my family, my grandfather lived in Hull at the time. So there are lots of stories that we can tell. C: I'd start with what you're hearing right now, Steven. S: I can hear the leaves in the poplar over there. You hear construction because you always hear construction in the city center. I hear birds. I think it was a chickadee. I hear the wind. I hear the wind by itself, I think. I hear the wind in the leaves. I hear the highway and then Montcalm. Someone with a chainsaw, it sounds like. C: So that's the idea. But what's interesting about the sound walk is that you can also interact with the soundscape. So you listen to it, you perceive it, you're sensitive to... for example, the car that's just gone by. You can perceive all sorts of things with sound. For example, there are bustards ahead. We'll see if they make a sound. We're so used to seeing that our sense of hearing is sometimes a little less developed, so a sound walk is a way of sharpening our... S: With geese, you can hear them in the sky, but you don't think about them as much when they're on the ground. C: For example, the building here is interesting. The spinning mill was an old factory, the Hanson I forget the name of.S: Hanson Mills. Socks, among other things? Yes, among other things. C: Then it was converted into an artist center in the '80s and now it's AxeNéo7 and Daimon. I find it interesting that there's a cultural center in a former industrial site, that it's a way of giving new life to the building and the neighborhood. (soundscape of children playing)S: Ruisseau de la Brasserie was really the center of a whole industrial environment. It was the beating heart of Gatineau industry. The axes were made right there. The distillery was right there and a lot of things happened on the creek. So, when we think of industry and culture, when we talk about places, obviously it's often post-industrial spaces that aren't necessarily suitable for housing, so we use them to make cultural spaces. The spinning mill was a perfect example. (urban soundscape)S: But it's clear that in this place, if there was an era. I try to imagine it, and then I hear it in my head: the hammers, the big machines, the saws, and so on. That's not the case anymore. I mean, there's no heavy industry of that kind here. The sounds would be completely different. It's fascinating to imagine what it would have been like back then. Also, you have to remember, just before World War II, there was a big homelessness crisis of what we called the homeless at the time, who were here, who were centered on the West Side. So there would even have been camps. Are those industrial sounds? But it would have been families left in poverty, in this industrial system that left them behind. It would also have been a family place. But not in the same way as now. (soundscape of children playing)C: When I came here earlier, there were a lot of children playing with their bikes. I did some sound recording, and for me it's also a discovery, because I don't know Gatineau very well. I'm an artist from Ottawa who comes here to listen... and to take part in Radio-Hull. And I find it really interesting to get caught up in Gatineau's atmosphere, culture and spaces.(sound of foot on the road)C: But speaking of sound, that's a nice one. Yeah. Tell me what just happened here.Steven: Cars going through puddles, everybody knows that sound. So typical of after the rain. Yeah. Yeah. But also, I mean, it's asphalt. It wouldn't be the same if this were, you know, mud. It wouldn't be the same if this were grass. A car going through puddles definitely has to do with asphalt. And we forget to think… I always think it's interesting to keep in mind what was here before we built cities and what were the sounds that were possible then it's I mean, I don't think about just sounds, I think about all the spaces, the trees. Of course the sounds come with that. How would this place have been different? It would've been totally forested. So you would've had a different perspective on everything. It would've sounded very different. The sound

my response to a colleague’s concern about feeling saturated by the omni presence of eco-awareness informationTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath)(sound of two climate shows at once then fade out)I was talking with a colleague recently about how few people listen to ‘end of the world as we know it’ podcasts, such as this one.And I think it’s because they’re so … fucking, depressing and grim. We are constantly reminded how awful things are and how much more awful they will become, with no credible way out. SaturatedI used to think that art could help us with these entangled crises but I’m starting to think the role of art is more about the relationship between consolation and hope as my friend and colleague Azul Caroline Duque suggests. Consolation and hope. So it’s no wonder that we are:Saturated, saturationI also understand the impulse to become enraged as Joan Sullivan tells us in e106 fire - what can we do about our collective indifference? :We’re just carrying on with our lives as if you know, la la la and nothing, nothing bad is happening. So there was this sense of rage. I mean, like, honestly, it’s surprising how strong it’d be in a violent rage just sort of coming outta me. I wanted to scream… SaturationSo how do we channel our apathy and our rage? (In between the chorus)Dr. Jennifer Atkinson’s Facing It podcast talks about the ‘emotional burden of climate change and why despair leaves so many people unable to respond to our existential threat’.Do you feel unable to respond to existential threats?Dr Atkinson reminds us that ‘our future remains unwritten, and by embracing the unknown we are better able to reframe our thinking in empowering ways’.She explains that ‘the so-called negative feelings that arise in response to ecological disruption (grief, anxiety, anger) can be seen as signs of emotional health, while ‘undesirable’ states, like uncertainty, are potential doorways to transformation. Climate anxiety might even be seen as a kind of superpower.’SaturationIn Generation Dread, Dr. Britt Wray reminds us that the age of eco-anxiety is upon us and that the afterglow of climate disasters radiate psychiatric trauma throughout the globe. She also notes that ‘on the flip side, the tumultuous feel­ings that are on the rise are completely valid, need tending to, and present a great opportunity for justice-oriented personal, environ­mental, and social transformation.‘So where do we go from here? How do we address our feelings of…SaturationDr Wray also suggests that ‘the positive in all this is that the torment comes bearing gifts. If you explore its depths, you’ll find a valve somewhere inside you that taps into the most existential part of yourself. Once you open it, a boundless stream of love, connection, and meaning will always be at your back, fuelling what you do.’Once you open it a boundless stream of love, connection, and meaning will always be at your back, fuelling what you do.(sound of two climate shows at once then fade out)How can we tap into our boundless streams of love, connection and meaning ?Saturation*CREDITSWith thanks to Jennifer Atkinson and Britt Wray for using their words. They are both inspiring leaders for me.This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔN in Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull 28 days of programming from September 7 to October 4 2023 showcasing local artistic practices. With thanks to the Centre de production DAÏMÔN production team: Manon, Coco, Philippe and Simon and DAÏMÔN’s funders and partners. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Indigenous People’s Solidarity Fund, in solidarity with National Day for Truth and Reconciliation *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inhere

while introducing a 5 minute recording of a bubbly stream I realized that the stream was flowing within meTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath)(In a hushed voice)This episode.. (silence)is about listening… (silence)to this stream… (silence)for 5 minutes…(silence)Enjoy*CREDITSThis episode was recorded by Lac St-Anne near Duhamel, Québec on August 18, 2023. I was on an e-bike ride in the backcountry when I heard this beautiful bubbly stream. When I kneeled in the mud to record the slate for the recording I realized that the introduction was all I needed. The rest of the recording is silent. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Ki Culture. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

a soundscape composition about soundscape composition at Rouge National Urban Park in TorontoTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(Bell and breath) (various field recordings from rouge national urban park)Me (at Rouge Park) :Lake Ontario, Rouge Park, Water, Train sound coming, go.On August 21, 2023 I joined composer Wendalyn Bartley and ecologist Leo Cabrera on a visit to the Rouge National Urban Park, which is centred around the Rouge River and its tributaries in the Greater Toronto Area. We were there to listen to soundscapes, such as what you’re hearing now, a train passing by.At the end of our listening session Leo asked me to explain how I create soundscape compositions, so this episode explores that question, accompanied by…(Sound of woman talking about ‘fishies’)soundscapes. So what is soundscape composition? Soundscape composition is a form of electroacoustic music characterized by the presence of recognizable environmental sounds and contexts … Claude (during field recording) Rouge National Park, August 21, about 7pm, I'm waiting for a train.And context is important here. For example, what do you hear now? I heard a swan, birds, voices echoing under a bridge, a bike just went by, there's rumble of the city in the background, and a baby crying, there’s some young people arriving and … and I hear someone dragging their feet a bit, making a lovely little sound.(train passing)Of course, I hear trains and now we’re in another space. What about this place? What’s the story here? And what would happen if I changed the story by cutting the low frequencies from this swan and these waves? And what if I made the train a bit more distant … and put it to the left?And what if I place that mom talking to her son about fishies in reverberation a little… on the right side.And how would you feel if there is no sound at all? You see, to me, soundscape composition and art in general, for that matter, is a game of illusion. Artists are constantly playing with our senses of perception and our understanding and interpretation of reality. So what I'm doing is inviting you to listen to reality - at least what my microphones captured that day - but also to fantasy, which are my manipulations of those sounds and it’s an interesting liminal zone but it’s also a very privileged space because not everyone who can afford to create and listen to soundscape compositions this way, right? I’m thinking in particular about living beings - human and non human - who cannot lower the volume of say, a rumbling train passing by their home every few minutes like this one I recorded in the park. (Loud train passes)Also, what about sounds that have disappeared from our acoustic environment? How can we remember and mourn sounds that have become extinct? What efforts can we make to bring some of them back? How can soundscape composition help with that? Now as I told Leo, my approach to soundscape composition is to ask a lot of questions… about the ethics of field recording, about positionality, about the added value of an artistic intervention in a given acoustic space.I also ask myself to whom am I accountable when I record and how can one create sound art that does not perpetuate cycles of extraction and exploitation that are quite literally killing us. So many questions….What do you think?I’ll end this episode with an excerpt from a conversation I had during the summer of 1990 with the late composer R. Murray Schafer, author of the Tuning of the World book and leader of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser university in Vancouver in the 1970’s. Murray and I were talking about microphones and listening:If the microphone replaces your ear, there’s something wrong. And as you see in a lot of our listening, the microphone has replaced the ear. The mere fact that for instance, we demand presence on all recorded sounds and they’re all close mic-ed, is a recognition of the fact that the microphone, which is an instrument for getting closeups, is respected more than our own sort of hearing experience. The fact that we can no longer listen to the distance. Now, if you’re going to get involved, really, with ecology in the environment, you have to rediscover how to listen to the distance, because an awful lot of the sounds you’re talking about are distant.I agree with Murray that we need to question our use of technology, for sure, but also learn to listen at a distance, with or without microphones. Listen… at a distance.(Woman talking)Fishy, where are you?*Thanks to Wendalyn and Leo, my collègues on the board of directors of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE) for joining me during this field recording trip. My thanks also to those who were recorded that day and a tip of the hat to Murray Schafer who continues to be present in our lives through his words and music.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive proc

i’ve always been comforted and relaxed by sounds that gradually slow downTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath)Slowing down sounds slow me down(layering of slowing down soundscape compositions from my simplesoundscapes podcast (2016-2019: e06 cycles (from first generation, not published) e42 fidget - ah, let us pay attention for a minute or two to the spinninge42fidget - red, yellow and bluee109 lake - slow slower stope11 arrival - the modulation of propeller as metaphor)Do slowing down sounds slow you down? CREDITSThis episode really does help me slow down. I hope it has a similar effect for you. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Stop Ecocide International. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

I improvised a story during a power outage at the cottage about sound without electricityTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath)It's Wednesday, July 12th, 2023. Yesterday, at 4.53 pm, the power went out at my cottage and I wanted to make this episode about our dependence on electricity.So here I am in an analog world, normally, with electricity, but without power, of course, there are no lights.In the cabin there's no pump to draw water, though there is a bit of water left in the tank, so I can use a little bit, but it will run out. Of course, there's a lake out front, so that's not a problem. My phone doesn't work either. It's now out of power. Importantly, food is being kept cold in the fridge, but of course it's not being refrigerated and in particular, the ice box is slowly getting warm. Without electricity, it does not work and there's no backup to refrigeration other than ice, which is the way that it used to be done. And there are other things that change, of course : lights in the cabin and the ability to charge batteries and all of that but there are other ways of living. There's lots of wood here and so I built a fire for lunch and it's still burning. Might still be good for dinner. My point is to take advantage of this opportunity of not having electricity, to think about the things that we might take for granted and that we perhaps don't need. Do I really need to charge my batteries all the time so that my phone works at my convenience? Are there other things that I could do with less of or not at all.I invite you to think about that and to listen to the sounds around you without electricity… I'm enjoying this moment of non-electricity, which changes my perception of time. I do have battery powered clocks, but I can't check my phone. I can't have the radio on to tell me about what's going on in the world so there's this sense of disconnection from that world, but it's also an opportunity to connect to this world. Of course, the electricity could go back on at any moment. It's almost been 24 hours now and it is very serious for those whose lives depend on the electricity in hospitals, but they have backups. I guess the ultimate backup is how we used to live so many years ago without electricity : living more by the sun and by our relationship to the land that's not mediated by electricity. I'll end with my bell again. Wishing you the pleasures of electricity and the pleasures of not having electricity.Are. You. Powerless? *CREDITSThis episode was recorded without any preparation hence is a bit rough around the edges but I liked the flow and fragility in my voice. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE). *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorde

i played back four episodes from this season at the same time and listened to how they interactTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE(bell and breath) Episode 105 stretches time(e105 ropes)Episode 101 releases tension(e101 tension)Episode 118 follows your shit(e118 shit)e116 mourns loss(e116 loss)How do you feel now?*I love to listen to the interplay of layered soundscapes : how they come in and out of each other like cloud formations, so I mixed 4 of my favorites from this season and you can hear the ci-existence of expanding ropes, plucked strings, flushing toilets and filtered ocean waves. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to ecoartspace. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

one morning I heard rhythmic water dripping from a gutter and improvised this poem(bell and breath)(Voice synchronized to sound of water drop)I am a drop of waterI am a drop of rainI am your bodyI am your pain (Repeated)Are you a drop of water?*CREDITSRecorded at the back deck of our home in Ottawa on August 13th, 2023. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Action Sandy Hill. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

while doing my qi gong one morning I heard roofers removing tiles and recalled simplesoundscape in 2016…TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE(bell + sound of roofers taking off tiles)While doing my daily qi gong on May 25, 2023 I was listening to roofers removing tiles on a nearby house. I’ve always been troubled and fascinated by the sound of deconstruction… of things being ripped apart… of the undoing of objects held together with glue, nails or screws. I sometimes feel the pain of the wood, metals and minerals. I sometimes feel like a part of me lives within these materials.I think about where these materials came from - their extraction from the earth - and how we treat them when they are no longer useful to us. I feel gratitude towards these living beings who provide us with shelter and comfort.Now I want to take you back to another encounter with deconstruction, in August of 2016, the very first recording of my simplesoundscapes project about mindful listening. Here is the recording from the very first episode of simplesoundsccapes: (beginning of simplesoundscapes pilot episode with nails being removed in background)This pilot episode of simplesoundscapes explores the ecological and philosophical implications of deconstruction. I have a lifelong interest in environmental issues, in particular with acoustic ecology and so when I heard both the violence and the poetry of siding being removed and nails being extracted from a wall on our cottage, I was compelled to record it and to start this podcast series called simplesoundscapes. So this particular recording was captured in mono on an ipad with the ipad on a window sill. It was recorded in August 2016 in Duhamel, Quebec. I invite you to think about the following question: ‘If construction is the art and science of building and deconstruction is its opposite, selective dismantlement, how then can we constructively deconstruct?’How can you constructively deconstruct?*CREDITSThanks to the roofers that I recorded and all the best with the development of green practices in your industry. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

my zen practice taught me that unhurried speech invites us to slow downEPISODE TRANSCRIPTION(bell and breath)When I was a student at the White Wind Zen Community in Ottawa I had the privilege of listening to recorded teachings by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. You can hear some his recording on wwzc.org.During these teisho, the roshi speaks very slowly, with a lot of silence between words, a bit like what I’m doing now.Silence between words.As well as words between silence.Now I love listening to spoken words at this kind of slow pace. It invites other sounds to permeate the acoustic space, such as the traffic that is in the background now, a bit of birdsong, muffled sounds. But we can also notice other things like our breath - it’s pace, depth, odor, weight - so many dimensions that we usually don't pay attention to and minute movements such as cracking of the floor from the weight of the chair, oscillations of light and so many details we normally don’t notice.I love the way spoken words linger in the air, hugging the clouds and floating down like rain or snow.I love the way unhurried speech invites us to slow down.So you might ask : how does the pace of speech relate to the sound of modernity?The sound of modernity is the opposite of slowness. It’s fast moving and generally saturated, isn’t it?Constant in overdrive, with technology accelerating our lives, faster and faster every day, We seem to have lost touch with slowness - there’s my phone reminded me to be fast.We’ve also lost touch with the notion, the feeling of distance. So I’m going to slowly walk away from this microphone, while repeating this narration again as an exercise in listening to slowness but also to distance. Thanks for listening. (Gets up and walks away)When I was a student at the White Wind Zen Community in Ottawa I had the privilege of listening to recordings of teachings, by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. You can hear some on wwzc.org.During these teisho, the roshi speaks very slowly, with a lot of silence between words, like I am speaking now.Silence between words.Words between silence.I love listening to spoken words at a slow pace…*For more information on the White Wind Zen Community, see https://wwzc.org/I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to White Wind Zen Community. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

an exercise where I invite listeners to stop what they are doing, listen and to enjoy the experience(unedited improvised narration)Listening is at the heart of this season of the conscient podcast. Specifically, listening to the sounds of modernity, but also listening to everything, all at once and noticing what is going on, usually a mix of systems collapse and resilient beauty. So today’s episode is a listening exercise. At the end of this recording I invite you to stop what you are doing for a few minutes and listen to what is around you. Try not to think or analyse what you hear. Just note what is happening and enjoy the experience. Try to let the sounds enter your body without passing judgment. Just listen. I invite you to stay where you are or move around. I’ll give you an example from where I am right now. It’s 5.30 am on May 17, 2023. I’m in an apartment in Montreal. I’m hearing a thin tic toc sound at a distance. Behind that I hear a faint birdsong outside the apartment. I also hear my voice reverberating in this room and the sound of my breath. I also hear and feel the sound of my blood passing through my veins. The more I listen the more I hear and feel connected to this space and this moment. I’m not listening to modernity. I am modernity. *This listening exercise was recorded on my iphone (poor sound quality) at 5.30am on May 16th, 2023 (I made a mistake and said May 17 on the recording) in one take in mp 3 format.I wrote the script a few minutes before recording it. I did not edit the recording or add the ‘bell and breath’ at the top. I wanted it to be from that moment, ‘as is’, in the spirit of the exercise. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to NAISA, New Adventures in Sound Art. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

a quote from robin parmar about speculative fiction that raises some questions(bell and breath)I love the sound of leaves dancing on hard surfaces. (sound of a leaf blowing)It’s poetic and kinetic and you’ll see in a minute how this sound relates to this episode about speculative fiction. With his kind permission, I will quote composer Robin Parmar, from a question he asked me at the end of my keynote presentation at the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology conference ‘Listening Pasts - Listening Futures’ on March 23rd, 2023 in Florida via Zoom. Here’s Robin question recorded from my microphone in the room:The problem with the future is that it's already happened. Hollywood, and increasingly the games industry, have already colonized popular imagination about what the future is and there have been so many post-apocalyptic scenarios played out on the screen. And in almost all of these, there's a heroic band of survivors who have to face their new world in a confrontational way, which just perpetuates the same narrative of what I prefer to call the industrial military entertainment complex. I don't, like you, I don’t give up hope, but I realize it’s a small leaf in the wind, because I'm not sure how we can compete with such a massive force of narrative that in a way has already written the story, or at least the story that people want to hear, because people have to want to hear the story for it to be a successful one.(sound of a leaf blowing)Robin mentions a small leaf in the wind as a metaphor for our feeling powerless when faced with creative forces around us shaping our collective imagination in ways we might not be aware of, or even desire…So I thought about Robin’s question and have come up with some questions of my own:(in English and in French)Has the future already happened in our minds and memory? / L'avenir a-t-il déjà eu lieu dans notre esprit et notre mémoire ? Do you feel like your imagination has been colonized? And if so, how would you know? / Avez-vous l'impression que votre imagination a été colonisée ? Et si oui, comment le sauriez-vous ?Do you know who your heroic band of survivors might be? And if so, could you identify with them? / Savez-vous qui pourrait être votre groupe héroïque de survivants ? Si oui, pourriez-vous vous identifier à eux ? In what ways do you think the industrial military entertainment complex affects us? How does it affect our minds? / De quelle manière pensez-vous que le complexe industriel militaire et de divertissement nous affecte. Comment affecte-il notre esprit ?I want to thank Robin for his question. Merci pour ta question, Robin.What kind of stories do you want to hear? / Quel genre d'histoires aimeriez-vous entendre ?*For more information on Robert Parmar’s work see http://robinparmar.com/paper-platial-phenomenology.html. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Howlround Theatre Commons https://howlround.com/. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and

Here is another bonus episode, this one is called 'Portrait of Robin Mathews'. It is 3 part unpublished radio program I created in 2005 in collaboration with Robin based on an interview I recorded with him in 2004. The program is a layered discussion about the history of political poetry in Canada, the role of the artist in society and family matters, in particular his relationship with me as my father-in-law. This program also includes Robin reading excerpts of his poetry as well as some of my soundscape compositions. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

e129 world listening day - what does world listening day mean to you?(bell and breath)Every July 18th is World Listening Day. It’s also composer and acoustic ecologist R. Murray Schafer’s birthday. Rest in peace Murray. Now World Listening Day 2023 proposes three very interesting listening prompts and I'll try to answer their questions in today's episode.Question 1What can we learn from the listening practices of all living beings?What can we learn from the listening practices of all living beings?It's a very good question and I would start by questioning who is the ‘we’ in this context. I would also question the assumption that other living beings have listening practices as we know them. ‘We’.This being said, this prompt made me think of a story told to me by composer Robert Normandeau in 1991 for my Marche sonore 1 radio program that I did for Radio-Canada. I quote it in episode 19 reality and I’ll play it back for you now. (e19 reality)· It’s a bit like taking a frog, which is a cold-blooded animal, and putting it in a jar of water and heating the water, little by little. The frog will get used to the temperature rising and rising, and it will not notice that the temperature has risen and one day the temperature will be too hot for it and it will die. Therefore, our civilization, in terms of sound, looks a bit like that, that is to say we get used to it, we get used to it, we get used to it and at some point, we are going to have punctured eardrums.Now the early 1990’s were a time of great environmental awakening and action, in particular the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. There was a sense that this was our last chance to change directions, to undo some of the wrongs of pollution. Ironically, things got much worse after 1992.Sadly, this window is now closed and we find ourselves in very hot water not feeling or responding to the heat, the smoke and other signals we are receiving and so we’re slowly boiling to death…(Bell)Question 2How can we deterritorialize listening practices?How can we deterritorialize listening practices?Dererrirorialize. De… terror. Deterritorialize. It’s a hard word to say.The notion of territory makes me think of stolen lands by colonial settlers, like myself, living in indigenous lands, unceded lands, such as the Algonquin-Anishinaabe nation, otherwise known as Ottawa.One form of deterritorialization is the land back movement.According to journalist and Canada Council for the Arts chair Jesse Wente (also see e107 harm) land back is :about the decision-making power. It’s about self-determination for our Peoples here that should include some access to the territories and resources in a more equitable fashion, and for us to have control over how that actually looks.What does land back sound like? Just last week I published an episode about decolonized listening 128 revisited. Here’s an an excerpt from that episode : On June 23, 2023 I had the pleasure, and the privilege, of attending ‘Listening to Lhq’a:lets’ (I hope I’m pronouncing that right), otherwise known as the city of Vancouver, at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Learning at the University of British Coumbia, which is situated l on the unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam Nation. A group of artists, all women, spoke about their week-long residency, organized by indigenous sound scholar and UBC professor Dr. Dylan Robinson. They shared a wide range of sensory engagements through listening to Lhq’a:lets: how our bodies listen through the haptics of vibration, about hearing and feeling the voices of our non-human relations, about how we can perceive the built environment with new perspectives – the air, waterways and earth that surround us. They spoke about their encounters with the trans-mountain pipeline, their dialogues with animals and birds, their encounters with haunting vibrations and their thoughts about the past, present and future sounds of this region. What they did not talk about was themselves, their accomplishments or the type of technology they used to extract and manipulate the sounds. None of that. There was also no reverence for say R. Murray Schafer or the World Soundscape Project, nor any nostalgia about the good old days when, say, the term ‘soundscape’ was invented. There was no disrespect either. They were listening from a different position. So I heard stories, poems, anecdotes, images, silences and prophecies… It was uplifting. (simplesoundscapes e03 bones) (Bell) Question 3When should we listen more?When should we listen more?I guess it depends on what kind of listening, doesn’t it? More listening with a colonial lens or colonial education is not helpful. Perhaps we could listen more to ourselves through listening to other living beings? Maybe we could listen more to the land and give back?Warm thanks to my colleagues at the World Listening Days for your thoughtful prompts and ongoing commitment to listening, by everyone, everywhere.What does world listening day mean to you?*For more informa

(bell and breath)(movement 1 of vancouver soundscape revisited, eagle)You’re listening to the first movement, eagle, of my 1996 soundscape composition, vancouver soundscape revisited.I describe the piece in the program note as :an impressionistic portrait of the musicality and poetry of past, present and future soundscapes of Vancouver composed using archival sounds dating from the World Soundscape Project in the early 1970’s and from recordings of Vancouver made in the early 1990’s by Bob MacNevin on behalf of the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU). My method was to select a few hundred sounds from the collection, which I edited and catalogued by spectrum, category, function, pitch, and context. I then experimented with various combinations and modifications of the material until interesting sonic alchemies were found…’For example, you can now hear the ubiquitous sound of rain in Vancouver, a distant train whistle, bird song, the rumble of the harbour and… the 9 o'clock gun.Let me tell you a short story.On June 23, 2023 I had the pleasure, and the privilege, of attending ‘Listening to Lhq’a:lets’ (I hope I’m pronouncing it right), otherwise known as the city of Vancouver, at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Learning at the University of British Coumbia, which is situated l on the unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam Nation.A group of artists, all women, spoke about their week-long residency, organized by indigenous sound scholar and UBC professor Dr. Dylan Robinson. They shared a wide range of sensory engagements through listening to Lhq’a:lets: how our bodies listen through the haptics of vibration, about hearing and feeling the voices of our non-human relations, about how we can perceive the built environment with new perspectives - the air, waterways and earth that surround us. They spoke about their encounters with the trans-mountain pipeline, their dialogues with animals and birds, their encounters with haunting vibrations and their thoughts about the past, present and future sounds of this region. What they did not talk about was themselves, their accomplishments or the type of technology they used to extract and manipulate the sounds. None of that. There was also no reverence for say R. Murray Schafer or the World Soundscape Project, nor any nostalgia about the good old days when, say, the term ‘soundscape’ was invented. There was no disrespect either. They were listening from a different position. So I heard stories, poems, anecdotes, images, silences and prophecies… It was uplifting. (excerpt from movement 2, fire)So when I listened back to my soundscape composition, I realized that my revisitation was mostly a, let’s call it, a reshuffling of the colonial deck chairs. Yes I cleverly combined horns, whistles, sirens, industrial and natural sounds as a commentary on the beauty and madness of contemporary urban life but my revisitation was from a very narrow point of view. I now realise that this music, my music, is inherently complicit with colonialism and that my creative gestures are actually further cycles of exploitation.In retrospect it might have been more useful for me to figure out how to repair the damage done to past, present and future soundscapes of Lhq’a:lets.What does decolonized listening sound like to you?*This event was part of the three-part Friday evening series, Artists Within the Anthropocene. Presented in partnership with the Belkin Art Gallery. Listening to Lhq’a:lets / Vancouver is also part of a week-long artist residency organized with The Score: Performing, Listening and Decolonization UBC Research Excellence Cluster, in partnership with the UBC School of Music and Evergreen. The six participating artists were Bonnie Devine, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Dolleen Manning, Lisa Myers, Astrida Neimanis, Lisa Ravensbergen and Rita Wong.With thanks to the six artists who represented their work on June 23 and to Dylan Robinson for his ongoing enquiries.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Full Circle. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize t

Note: the podcast recording was improvised based on this script and therefore has additional material.This 127th episode of the conscient podcast marks the halfway point of season 4, which, as you might recall, is called Sounding Modernity and explores what modernity might sound like, how it affects us and what we can do about it.. Maybe…A heads up that this episode is 57 minutes in duration because it is part of the ‘afield’ series of framework radio in Estonia. The season began on January 1 with e101 tension:(Beginning of e101)I was thinking about the tensions in our lives and the art of finding balance points… So I went for a sound walk in Vancouver and came upon a piece of fishing line. I brought it home, strung it up and recorded myself plucking it…(cross fade to the end of e101)Listeners might recall that each episode this season ends with a question:How do you feel now?‘How do you feel now’ is actually at the heart of this project. How do one perceive the sounds of our modern world? What does it feel like to absorb these sounds into our bodies? How can we change the way we listen? How can we move away from the madness of modernity? And if, tragically, we are unable to step away, at the very least, how can we help prepare future generations for what is coming? How can art help? How can listening help? Are we helpless?(Silence then ocean sounds) I’ve received some interesting responses and reactions to the first 26 episodes and 6 blogs of the project so far, in various forms and channels, for example, this poem from artist and educator Carolina Duque (also known as Azul), submitted on January 3, 2023, about her experience with e101 tension :I walked down the sea line of San Andrés Island, in the Caribbean, as I listened.ListenedFelt the tensiontensIonI grew up on this island. I notice the shoreline getting smaller.I notice the corals turning grey. I notice the buildings growing taller. The overlapping reggaeton and vallenato music from competing speakers.I notice everything getting louder.I notice theTens – ion.I notice the menus saying fish is scarce.I noticeIn my lungs the tension. In my eyes the tension.In my waves, in my feet.The tension.(Ocean sound fade out)My response : I was reading Jenny Odell’s ‘How To Do Nothing’ book today and came upon this sentence that relates to your response. I quote: ‘I hold up bioregionalism as a model for how we might begin to think again about place’ (end of quote), which to me means that we need to be stewards of the land, wherever we are, in collaboration with all living beings. I documented almost all of the feedback I received from listeners in my monthly conscient blog on conscient.ca. I am grateful for these gifts of knowledge and insight. (e102 aesthetics)Most episodes in this podcast are about the relationship between art and the ecological crisis. For example, in e102 aesthetics:The problem with beauty is that it can distract us from reality. Sit with me, please, take a moment. Sit and listen…I’ve also integrated soundscape compositions in and around the narrative, for example, from e103 heat:(end of e103)This thing is smart. Everything talks to each other. I would just leave it on auto and let it choose what it wants to do. What does decarbonization sound like to you?How do we decarbonize our lifestyles? One way is to rethink the way we use energy in day to day life, for example, in e110 - drain, I talk about water : (beginning of e110)It goes down the drain (again) and into the sewer system to be processed and dumped into the Ottawa river, then it evaporates into the sky and it rains back into our lakes and rivers, bringing with it with many pollutants, and then is pumped into our homes, in our bodies and heated until… A friend, artist Maria Gomez, shared this response to e110 on March 6:Only the water doesn’t stay in the Ottawa region, as it travels south in the moist of the clouds all the way to the Patagonia glaciers, and in ocean currents to Asia and its skies and then it travels up the Arctic… the water I bathe in contains my cells that are distributed around the world, and particles from the world touch me in the water.I responded:It’s true that water travels in us, through us and beyond. The sound of water can be either pleasant or a signal of danger but either way we need to listen and understand the language of water…Some episodes call upon quotes from previous episode such as photographer Joan Sullivan in e96 from season 3 which I used in e106 fire : (near the end of e106)And it suddenly dawned on me that I, my hands, weren’t shaking up because of the cold, but because of an anger, you know, this deep, profound anger about our collective indifference in the face of climate breakdown. Wait, we're just carrying on with our lives as if you know, la la la and nothing, nothing bad happening. So there was this sense of rage. I mean, like, honestly, it's surprising how strong it'd be in a violent rage just sort of coming outta me. I wanted to scream,

(soundscapes of east vancouver at c. 5am)I can’t sleep tonight. What about you? I love nighttime soundscapes. They’re so bareboned, minimal, like the rumble that you hear now, mostly from Vancouver harbour, but also the industrial area here in east vancouver.So I'm up, recording, listening, figuring out what keeps me up at night, this night, other nights, when I listen and try to understand... Sometimes I feel like I can hear inaudible sounds, like the polar ice caps melting…(homeless person walking by with wagon)But of course what I'm hearing here is the life around me. A homeless person just walked by with their wagon of survival materials and that's what happens at night. Life unfolds and people try to survive. Some are dormant and some are very active, like the raccoons who are doing their work. But back to the ice melting, that's what I find bewildering is this state between awakeness and sleep. A kind of dream state where I'm not sure what exactly I'm hearing and my imagination kind of takes over, so, I do sometimes feel like I'm listening to things like the ice melting up north in the arctic or feeling the trees around me growing. What is the sound of a tree growing? What are those kinds of things. They don't always wake me, but they sometimes keep me up at night in wonder and I worry about this fragile world…Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023, 5.12am. What keeps you up at night?*The soundscape for this episode was recorded at 5.07 am in Vancouver on May 3, 2023.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the The Only Animal theatre company. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell)I take stock of climate news by reading the headlines of the excellent daily newspaper, national observer, for example, on Tuesday April 25th, 2023 these were the headlines : ‘We might have a coverup problem’: MPs grill Alberta Energy Regulator CEO over oil sands tailings leaks(sound of dripping and filtering from simplesoundscapes e34 goutte)‘Meet the man turning mushrooms into meat’(quiet field with crickets)‘How the pandemic challenged libertarianism’(crowd at protest)‘Tide-powered clean energy could help West Coast communities ditch diesel’(beach in Cuba and truck in Ottawa)‘Hands off the Greenbelt rally turns up heat on Ford government’(Anti-Ford government greenbelt policy rally in Ottawa)‘A wake-up call to oilsands industry to ensure that all necessary measures are in place to prevent future wildlife tragedies’(loon at lake in Papineau-Labelle reserve and coyotes in Mono, Ontario)‘Shocking new federal research reveals Alberta oilsands may be vastly underestimating greenhouse gas emissions’(hiss of gas meter in Ottawa, pavement machine in Ottawa, drone of ferry in Vancouver)‘What How to Blow up a Pipeline won’t teach you’(Lynn Canyon forest, North Vancouver)How do you respond to climate news?*This episode involves my reading the headlines of the National Observer newspaper on Tuesday April 25th, 2023 accompanied by field recording from my collection. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the National Observer news service. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

I decided to go for a walk this morning here in Kitchener, Ontario. A soundwalk.. Just because it's something to do; to be connected to a place. This is a settlement of course : a city.What I try to do is listen to sounds past, present, and future at the same time. How does one do that? It’s mostly about feeling our way through what was here, and what I assume was forested lands. What is here now is mostly asphalt, brick houses and a few trees. In the future, one could hope that it would come back to a more natural state, in one way or another, but it might also just become what the planet is becoming, which is devastated by climate change and living with the consequences of tipping points that we will have passed. So listening in that sense is important to our everyday lives because it can inform us to understand the past, experience the present and anticipate the future. So what's happening here now? It's a very windy day. It's almost too much for this recorder. I’m just walking on the street, noticing as much as I can and feeling the wind on my skin, of course. You can hear that there are birds. It’s February 26th, 2023, and there are all kinds of little things going on, rattling…The trees speak to us in their language and I am walking with you, listening. That's what a soundwalk is. Of course, the sound of cars are inevitable in the city and it's nice when they're spaced out like that because they can be quite beautiful, when they're not too numerous. Though the relationship of gas powered vehicles to the environment is an ongoing concern. I'm always on that edge between appreciating the beauty of something and realizing its origins such as the impact of the manufacturing and use of these devices. I try not to pass judgment. I try simply to be in this moment and when it occurs, then I just let that information inform my being in the world. My question is : how do you soundwalk?*This episode was recorded on February 26, 2023 in Kitchener Ontario. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Anishnabeg Outreach in Kitchener. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(Bell and breath) I sometimes try to map out, on a piece of blank paper like this, where I think humanity is at with the ecological crisis…This helps me, among other things, to come to terms with reality. I decided to share this exercise with you, listeners of the conscient podcast, in case you have similar thoughts. I’ll start on the left with mitigation, which is the act of reducing the severity, or painfulness, of an activity. In this case, we are mitigating our own self-destruction. The second part of my map is adaptation which is the modification of our behaviour that makes us more resilient. In other words, adapting to disasters and catastrophe as the new normal. Adapting to new circumstances. Now the third part of my map is called a tipping point line, which is the point when unstoppable changes take place. A kind of tipping into a point of no return. Some say we’re already there, others that we’re very close. But either way the tipping point is a critical moment and it’s one we need to be aware of. Next is survival which is about continuing to live in spite of extremely difficult circumstances. It makes me think of the film Thelma and Louise, some of you might know, the very last scene, when their car drives off a cliff. I think humanity is like that, in free fall and that some of us might survive. The last element of my map is recovery which is a bit more positive, but the recovery happens after the catastrophe and the disasters that are coming. Recovery is that return to a normal and healthy state, where we recover knowledge and skills that are required, or draw upon new knowledge in order to live in harmony with all living beings on earth. It’s ironic and tragic that we actually could do this now but we chose not to. So these are the five elements on my map: mitigation, adaptation, tipping point line, survival and recovery, but the problem is that I’m wrong. The map is wrong. The truth is that I don’t know. There are endless possibilities and dimensions that I’m not yet able to conceive or understand and yet sometimes, somehow, I can feel them.So I’m done with drawing maps and speculating with thoughts and ideas. Instead, I’m going to listen to the intelligence of my body, to the intelligence of non-human beings around me, to other forms of knowledge and beings that are emerging, and see where that takes me. Thanks for listening.Oh and my question is…What possibilities do you not yet know?*This episode is a bit raw. I wrote the text in one draft and then recorded it right away before editing it too much. I leave it up to the you to determine where their own point of recovery might be: before or after the tipping point line…I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Deep Adaptation Forum. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive proc

(bell and breath)(Sounds of forest in winter with icicles)Sometimes we just have to stop and listen. Without passing judgement. Just listen….Sometimes we just have to stop and listen*Recorded at our cottage in Duhamel, Québec on December 30th, 2022.Thanks to the forest and the frozen rain for this wonderful soundscape.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to equiterre *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell)(humming to urban drones) This is Dr. Decibel. Your sonic superhero on the unseated ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations otherwise known as… Well, I think you know where I am.(plane passing by)You have a problem here people. The low frequencies are excessive : traffic, industry, ventilation. Layers and layers of rumble and I hate rumble. Rumbleeeee is not something that I enjoy, so I’m going to use my superpowers today to reduce the amount of rumble in your city.Ruuuuumble… (imitation of rumbling sounds)And I'm gonna do that with my superpowers. Now, it's hard to remove low frequencies from an environment where they're everywhere, but I can do it and I'll show you. You should be able to hear it. The tricky thing for me is that it takes a lot of energy to do that. So here we go. Mmmmmmmm (grunting)Can you hear a difference? Let me try again Mmmmmmmm (grunting)one more time, with all my might Rumble. remove yourselves. return. this. environment. to it’s. natural. state.(fade out of low frequencies)I don't feel so well. I might have absorbed too many low frequencies…*In this episode I improvised a speech by a superhero, dr, decibel, who wants to remove some of the rumble in the city of Vancouver so that other sounds can emerge. This improvisation was recorded on March 7, 2023 at Stanley Park, Vancouver. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Wolf WIllow Institute for Systems Learning. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell and breath)(sounds of a subway car throughout)Sometimes we just have to stop and listen. Without passing judgement. Just listen….Sometimes we just have to stop and listen.*Recorded on February 2, 2023 at 1.43pm between the Georges-Vanier, Lucien-L’Allier, Bonaventure and Square Victoria stops of the Montreal metro.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Montreal City Mission. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

In this episode I invite you to listen to a construction site, unaltered and raw. How does the sound of construction affect you?*This episode was recorded at the corner of Frances St and Salsbury Drive, Vancouver on March 6, 2023 at 10.10am.Thanks to the construction workers for use of their sounds. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Pancreatic Cancer Canada. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell and breath)where does your shit go?(toilet flush 1)where does your shit go?(toilet flush 2)where does your shit go?(toilet flush 3)where does your shit go?(toilet flush 4)where does your shit go?*These four toilet flushes were recorded in Peterborough, Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario Thanks to the sanitary workers around the world who literally clean up our shit. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Ecology Ottawa. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(in memoriam Robin Mathews : November 1, 1931 - April 25, 2023)(bell)(Deeper Into the Forest (2023) poem by Robin Mathews, narrated by Robin Mathews with sound design from field recordings by me)Deeper Into the ForestLights flash in the skies above.Voices sound….As if coming over a hill,As if connected to bodiesOut of reach,(perhaps, even, the products of imagination)Except… you know the voices,You recognize (or think you recognize)The lights.You know the messageEven before it is uttered.The pathway you walk upon is narrow, rough.It leads deeper into the forest….It leads down a steep hillsideTo water … to the water's edgeAnd down into the water … down …Into it and under itWhere another forest growsOf a richness you do not expect to see.You do not expect to walkUnder the branches of that forest -Branches above your head MovingAs if guided by unseen currents Of wind … or of water ….Overhead … there is something like a surfaceYou can never reach;And above that surface there are voices - Or a simulacrum of voices -As if coming from over a hill, distant, unclear…Or as if connected tenuously to bodiesOut of reach.You know the voicesAnd you know they cannot shape wordsThat will break the surface over your head.Lights flash in the skies above,Dart through the water.But words do not form.The surface above you(which you cannot break through)Closes…And the voices, as if caught in a settling wind,Diminish … and then cease.In the darkness that moves toward youAs if it were a living creatureThe voices fade away … or seem to fade away…And you know the surface above your headWill not break.The voices beyond the surfaceWill grow distant and imperfectAnd you, quite alone, will move deeper into the forestWhere sounds occur … almost as if voicesAre reaching for communication, As if coming from over a hill, distant, unclear,As if connected tenuously to bodiesOut of reach.You know the voicesAnd you know they cannot shape wordsthat will break the surface over your head.Lights flash in the skies above, Dart through the water. But words do not form.The surface above you,Which you cannot break through.Closes….In the darkness that moves toward youAs if a living creatureThe voices fade away … or seem to fade away,And you know the surface above your headWill not break.The voices beyond the surface Will grow distant and imperfectAnd you, quite alone, will move deeper into the forest. *This poem was written on January 1, 2023 by my father in law, the poet, playwright, literary critic, political activist, and educator Robin Mathews at age 91. The poem relates to ‘Sounding Modernity’ by the way it evokes our ability to remember and feel our environment. This episode is dedicated to him and his wife Esther Mathews with thanks to the Mathews family.A short bonus episode is also available with a conversation with Robin about the poem. Robin is a Canadian icon who is regarded as a Canadian nationalist par excellence. For over 60 years Mathews fought for Canadians of all races and origins-–and for Canadian independence. His contributions to the preservation, development and promotion of Canadian culture are exceptional and unique. For more information see:https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robin-mathewshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Mathews_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadianization_movementhttps://abcbookworld.com/writer/mathews-robin/I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in

a conversation between robin and myself about the origins of this poem (in memoriam Robin Mathews : November 1, 1931 - April 25, 2023)(in memoriam Robin Mathews : November 1, 1931 - April 25, 2023)Transcription of bonus episodeRobinThat's a funny poem. ClaudeWhat's it about, do you think? What do you remember it being about? Do you recognize it as your own? ? RobinI do recognize it, but I don't know where it came from. ClaudeWell, you wrote it just a few weeks ago on January 1st. You talked something about the grimms myths, that deeper into the woods is a reference to that. Does that ring a bell? RobinYeah. Grimm's fairy tales, I think has the line and they went deeper into the forest. ClaudeRight. So that might have been an inspiration. RobinMight have. Without even connecting to it. ClaudeWell, what I'll try to do is to illustrate it a bit with sound. RobinOh, neat. ClaudeYeah with some wind sounds and some of the, the sort of distant voices. It's a beautiful poem. Thank you. RobinOh, good. I’m so pleased. Where did these things come from, eh? ClaudeYeah, from the poet. It's a bit of haunting poem because it has these illusions to going under water and distant voicesRobinAnd being aloneClaudeMaybe that's the way you were feeling on that day. RobinDon't ask me ClaudeI mean, poetry is like that, right? It just comes out and you're not sure exactly what you're feeling but the words are there RobinAnd the idea that the surface is up there somewhere and you're under it, you know? ClaudeWe've had a lot of conversations over the years about poetry and political poetry. I don't know if you remember, but we did a number of interviews and you read a lot of your poems as well. I RobinYou've got them, have you? ClaudeYeah, I have them. You know, so maybe I'll publish some of them if that's okay with you and make them available. RobinYeah.ClaudeYou sent us postcards over the years you used to paint on a postcard and then write a little note and send them in the mail and so we have a whole bunch of them at home of your paintings. RobinYeah. I remember. I don't know why I stopped doing that. It's kind of fun to get original postcards. ClaudeAnd we collected them. Maybe you ran outta landscape.. RobinOr paint. ClaudeOr paint or postcards… *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell and breath)(muffled sound of ocean waves)This recording filters out all high and mid-range frequencies that I captured of ocean waves at Canaveral National Seashore in Florida, on March 23, 2023 around midnight while doing an impromptu soundwalk with colleagues from the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology conference Listenng Pasts - Listening Futures.Why did I do this? I invite you to sit with the loss of these upper and mid frequencies as a metaphor for the loss of biodiversity on earth.I don’t mean to inflict undue pain hereIn any way. Rather my point is to invite you to sit with this sound. To sit with the trouble, as Donna Haraway would say.And I suggest you try to avoid enjoying it as an aesthetic experience or getting used to it as the new normal.It’s not normal.Luckily all I have to do to bring back the high frequencies is turn a button and you could experience the rich splendour of this soundscape…but I’m not going to do that.What does ecological loss sound like where you live?*Thanks to the Atlantic ocean for allowing me to record your waves and to filter your sounds in order to help raise awareness within human communities about the perils of our behaviour to your great waters and all of its living beings. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the National Parks Conservation Association. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell)I got up this morning, or I was awoken rather by the most beautiful sound. It was a snow plow, very gently pushing the snow from the sidewalk. It was a beep and I could hear it, at a distance, and now it's passed. So I decided to take out my microphone and, and record. It made me think about my friend and colleague Eric La Casa in France, who I've known for a long time, and is a very accomplished sound artist, and who often records quite ordinary sounds spaces - but they're not ordinary at all - especially in the hands of a sound artist like Eric, who has a way of capturing subtle sounds and patterns of sounds and layers of sound that are very meaningful and artistically interesting. So I was thinking of Eric as this sound came and left, and my microphone was off, but my ears were open, and so I wanted to record what's going on on my street this morning at about 5:00 AM and to see what's out there without passing judgment on what's good or bad but just spending, as Eric often does, recording, soundscapes as they are and allowing us to not only listen to them, but to feel the space and to consider the larger context of what these sounds are telling us, and in the context of this project, sounding modernity, it's important to listen to all sounds, to be open to them constantly, and not necessarily with a lot of effort, but certainly with an openness to hearing what the spaces around us are saying in their own language and to be attentive to that, with or without microphones. In this case, I will record a bit of the street sound. Thanks for listening.(sound of window opening and street sound)*Thanks to Éric La Casa for his complicity and our long friendship. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to Harmony House Ottawa. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(Claude Schryer n 2023)It's March 6, 2023 and I’m at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver. About 2 years ago, I went for a long soundwalk with climate activist, and now politician, Anjali Appadurai, which became episode 23 of season 2 of this podcast. It was the first time that Anjali did a soundwalk and it was a very powerful moment for me because I've often thought back about what Anjali said that day. It has informed my work as a climate activist and on the role of art in the climate emergency. I encourage you to read, to listen to it. Today, we are going to hear an excerpt from that conversation, near the end, about the issue of privilege which comes back again and again in this sounding modernity season. So here’s Anjali from our soundwalk in 2021….(Anjali Appadurai in 2021)This really meshes with what I was talking about. It circles back to the beginning of the conversation when we were talking about who's the ‘we’ and that privilege is the central question to that. Looking at the issue as this multi-layered thing and looking at it as a spectrum of history. What have the power dynamics been? Say you can take a slice of history, say the last 500 years. What were the advantages? Privilege can go back as far as you wanted to go back, right? And of course it's so nuanced. Not every white guy has this much privilege, but you do have a privilege that goes back hundreds of years and I think one aspect of privilege, one that a lot of people leave out is this economic aspect, right, of class and resources. And that is not often talked about in the climate conversation, but it's a huge piece of it. Because when we talk about the extinction of our species, this extinction doesn't happen overnight. It happens in a spectrum. Who are the last ones standing? Those with the most resources and who are the first ones to go? It's those with the least, the most disenfranchised. So I don't think you can talk about climate without talking about privilege ultimately. And I think it's on each of us to unpack that for ourselves and to bring that into the conversation. (Claude in 2023)Back in 2023 again now. I’m going to skip ahead to another excerpt of our conversation from 2021 with Anjali. This time she talks about privilege in a more global context. (Anjali in 2021)I'll just leave with one more thought. There's a lot of framing about how to divide up in an equitable way, the remaining emissions, the sort of carbon budget of the world. So the carbon budget is a framing in and of itself and then there's this other framing that floats around the right to atmospheric space and how, if you look at atmospheric space as a human right, and if you divide up how much we have left in the world, how many people have way more than what would be their fair share, how many people have way less? And that's a deep question of privilege as well. And talking about the global north, I mean, that really plays into our global privilege.(Claude in 2023)My question for you is ‘what are the privileges in your life?’*This episode is an excerpt from e23 appadurai – what does a just transition look like?. Thanks to Anjali for her permission to use our 2021 conversation in this context. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Climate Emergency Unit.For more information on Anjali's work see : https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjali-appadurai-44645a69/ *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all s

(Jacek Smolicki)The ultimate question I'm asking is how can we move away from soundwalk as a kind of framed aesthetic experience or artistic experience and turn it into an existential practice or basically something that is just ingrained in our everyday life and we don't have to frame it anymore. It's just basically part of our way of living. (Claude Schryer)Can you give an example of that? (Jacek Smolicki)An academic example would be the concepts developed by Steven Feld, acoustemology, where basically listening, a kind of sonic way of being in the world is part of your culture, part of existence. You don't tell yourself, okay, I will listen to the world more carefully from now for another hour, and then I can just return back to my everyday life but you basically just keep listening, right? A kind of sonic sensitivity is one of the most important ways of understanding the world as opposed to being pushed to the background and only lifted up during those kinds of frame situations such as a soundwalk. (Claude Schryer)I've been sound walking in an analytical way, so I'll try to make sense of the sounds and where they are and what they're about but there's also an absorption factor where you allow the sounds to speak to you in their own language, right? As opposed to sort of rationally figuring them out. So, if we stop here and listen, what are you hearing? (Jacek Smolicki)I hear a coexistence of culture and nature and at the same time a kind of friction between two realms that in fact are just one realm and we kind of try to maybe separate them. We talked a little bit about this positionality and we hear the whistle of the train. From one perspective, we heard some people here referring to that sound as being very calming and reassuring, but if you think of indigenous people, that sound might mean a completely different thing. It's a form of bordering and creating, some kind of a division, of cutting the land and deciding how the land is to be traversed and utilized. So it definitely has a violent connotation if we look from that perspective and if we listen from that perspective. I think that this is some kind of sensitivity that I'm aiming at, also, while teaching, to be able to also take that thought into consideration when we try to value or kind of assign value to different sounds. I think Dylan Robinson is talking about oscillation. I think he calls it to be able to constantly oscillate, to move from one way of understanding sound to another. And basically by doing that it destabilizing certain certainties that characterizes our way of listening and, and by doing that, becoming open to those other understandings and perceptions… (Claude Schryer)And asking questions. You know, we were on a panel together a few days ago (Stetson University) when we were asking the question, how can listening help the world that is in crisis? and it's an open-ended question because with listening everybody has their own way of listening, but there are certainly deeper ways of listening that we can learn and unlearn as we work our way through these issues. (Jacek Smolicki)Exactly and that we've been talking a lot about hope. We've been talking a lot about how this openness is almost inherently good. I have that feeling. People talk about if we open up our listening and if we invite other perspectives, then we are doing something good. But I think that opening comes with certain responsibilities too, right? I like to think of it in a way that the more open we become to those different perspectives, the more troubled, actually, we should become more concerned rather than content and calm, so there's this disruptive aspect to listening that Hildegard Westerkamp has been writing about, but as we open ourselves, as we include other perspectives, we at the same time disrupted something, right? That we at the same time should be calling ourselves to action and becoming more responsible. So, there's some kind of an obligation I think that should follow that act of opening and deepening our listening. (Claude Schryer)I agree. Thank you for this moment. We will listen again.*This episode with artist Jacek Smolicki was recorded on Friday March 24th, 2023 at 8.44 am at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It’s a soundwalk about soundwalking but also about the role of acoustic ecology in the ecological crisis. After completing our first 5 minute conversation (e113 part 1) we heard a passing train and continued our conversation, which is this episode (part 2).I encourage listeners to do your own soundwalks. There are many guides and methods. One of my favorites is Soundwalking by Hildegard Westerkamp but also Jacek's new book Soundwalking through space, time and technologies.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and

(Claude Schryer)Jacek, what is soundwalking? (Jacek Smolicki)That's a very broad question, but I'll try to answer from two perspectives: my own and from what is kind of more generally considered soundwalking. So, to quote Hildegard Westerkamp, one of the pioneers of that practice, basically, a soundwalk is any kind of excursion into an environment which is motivated by us listening to it. Whether we do it with or without technologies or whether we do it on our own or in a group and the point of soundwalking is to connect or reconnect us with the environment, with how it sounds at the very moment to kind of reaching this sense of immersion in the here and now. My approach to sound is slightly different. I treat soundscapes as a kind of gateways to not only the momentary - the way that the sound expresses itself in the moment or the sound expresses events that happen at the moment - but also as gateways into the past and into the future. I like to kind of expand the perspective of soundwalking and use it as a kind of a vehicle to move us between different scales, between different temporalities and between different standpoints or different angles from which we can engage in this act of connecting with the environment. And the way I do it is by encouraging people to listen with whatever listening capacities they have, but also through technologies. And, as a scholar in media, in communications and within a personal interest in technological developments within sonogram, I'm trying to treat technologies as our companions rather than enemies or something that is alien to our human nature and try to build kind organic synergies between the way we implement technologies in our lives and in our ways of understanding nature around us. (Claude Schryer)And all the ethical ramifications of that…(Jacek Smolicki)Exactly and of course, ethical ramifications, so I like to call my approach to soundwalking as kind of a kind of transversal listening or hybrid listening where basically listening becomes like a vector that cuts through different layers of the environment in a kind of geological material sense, but also in a temporal sense. So as we stand here for example, we're not standing only here in this particular geography, but we are at the same time kind of benefiting from other geographies that surround us and we can actually hear, for instance, air traffic and through that sound we can connect with very distant geographies in a most direct sense, the geographies from which those planes arrive or are destined to, but we can also think of the plans around us as some of them are not necessarily native to this geography, right? They come from somewhere else. They pertain to different histories of, for instance, colonization and so on. And the same applies to temporalities. The sounds we hear today are here for some reason, right? They have roots in other sonic events that might not be directly accessible to us and this is also why I like to encourage imagination as a kind of natural component to soundwalking and listening and to enable a more speculative approach to how we listen. So instead of really trying to dissect and understand all the sounds around us to also think more imaginatively about what kinds of sounds existed before we stepped into that environment and what kind of sounds might exist in the future also because of our actions at the very moment.(Claude Schryer)We're doing a soundwalk now here, mostly talking about sound walking, but it's an experience and I've done it over the years and I encourage my listeners to do it because it's a very rewarding practice and it's one you can do anywhere, anytime. So before we run out of time, what would be a good question for people to ask themselves or to keep in mind as they soundwalk? (Jacek Smolicki)I think one important question would be what is my position within the soundscapes that I'm working through and how do I approach the soundscape? What kind of associations dominate my way of experiencing it, for instance, and start basically there and then trying to maybe gradually leave that zone and consider other ways of positioning ourselves in the soundscapes and by doing that, acknowledging the possibilities of other perspectives on the soundscapes and other ways of understanding and coexisting with it. (Claude Schryer)In other words, what is my position in listening ?*This episode with artist Jacek Smolicki was recorded on Friday March 24th, 2023 at 8.38am at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It’s a soundwalk about soundwalking but also about the role of acoustic ecology in the ecological crisis. After completing our 5 minute conversation we heard a passing train and continued our conversation, which is part 2 of this episode.I encourage listeners to do your own soundwalks. There are many guides and methods. One of my favorites is Soundwalking by Hildegard Westerkamp and also Jacek's book Soundwalking through time, space and technolog

(various layered excerpts from my soundscape compositions throughout this episode) Conclusion 1 : we need to face reality and learn how to unlearnMayer Hillman, e01: ‘We’re doomed. The outcome is death, and it’s the end of most life on the planet because we’re so dependent on the burning of fossil fuels. There are no means of reversing the process which is melting the polar ice caps. And very few appear to be prepared to say so.’Joan Sullivan, e01 terrified ‘even if we are doomed, and I think we are, I refuse to do nothing…’ Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective : ‘we need to walk a tightrope between desperate hope and reckless hopelessness, balancing rational and relational rigour.' Conclusion 2: we need to develop and implement a radical theory of change through the artsDavid Haley, e19 : ‘we now need aesthetics to sensitize us to other ways of life and we need artists to sensitize us to the shape of things to come.Jen Rae, e19 : ‘The thing about a preparedness mindset is that you are thinking into the future and so if one of those scenarios happens, you’ve already mentally prepared in some sort of way for it’. David Maggs, e109: ’If we only speak with our arts, and do not listen with them first, revelation is replaced by dictation…’ Conclusion 3: we need to transition out of modernityGesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective : ‘We are part of a much wider metabolism, and this metabolism is sick. There is a lot of shit for us to deal with: personal, collective, historical, systemic. Our fragilities are a big part of it. This shit needs to pass, so that it can be composted into new forms of life, no longer based on the illusion of separability.’Eric Beinhocker: e19: ‘Humankind is in a race between two tipping points. The first is when the Earth’s ecosystems and the life they contain tip into irreversible collapse due to climate change. The second is when the fight for climate action tips from being just one of many political concerns to becoming a mass social movement. The existential question is, which tipping point will we hit first? Conclusion 4 : we need to change the storyGeorge Monbiot, Out of the Wreckage: ‘Despair is the state we fall into when our imagination fails. When we have no stories that describe the present and guide the future, hope evaporates. Political failure is, in essence, a failure of imagination. Without a new story that is positive and propositional, rather than reactive and oppositional, nothing changes. With such a story everything changes’. George Marshall, e01 : ‘we need passionate storytellers to break habitual patterns, discover alternative values and consider new perspectives’. Conclusion 5 : we need to connect our effortsTodd Dufresne, e19: ‘whoever survives these experiences will have a renewed appreciation for nature, for the external world, and for the necessity of collectivism in the face of mass extinction.’Asad Rehman, Green Dreamer podcast (e378) : ‘Our goal is to keep our ideas and policies alive for when the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable’. George Monbiot, tweet November 13, 2021 : ‘We have no choice but to raise the scale of civil disobedience until we have built the greatest mass movement in history.’My question to you is ‘how can listening help’?*This episode is longer than the usual 5 minutes because that’s how long (8m 30s) it took to tell this story.This episode is a selection of quotes and findings from my learning and unlearning journey about art and the ecological crisis that I presented during my keynote speech to the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology ‘Listening Pasts - Listening Futures’ conference on March 24, 2023 at the Atlantic Centre for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I warmly thank the authors I have quoted.I also thank the Canada Council for the Arts for their support of the Sounding Modernity project and travel funds to attend the conference. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to Atlantic Center For The Arts. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary k

(bell, breath and occasional balloon sounds)Me : have you ever had the feeling that you were being observed?Observer : I’m observing you. Me: Who are you and what are you observing? Observer: Ah, well, I’m a part of you and I’m observing the traps that you fall into.Me: Traps?Observer : Do you remember the Facing Human Wrongs course you took during the summer of 2022Me: Ya.Observer: The one about navigating paradoxes and complexities of social and global change and all those trappings along the way?Me: Ya, I remember. Easier said than done, though.Observer: YupMe: So. What are you observing? Observer : Well, what can I say? I notice that you’ve fallen into a trap called ‘exit fixation’ which is where people feel a strong urge to walk out on an existing commitment. For example, when someone realises that the path they are on is full of paradoxes, contradictions, and complicities. Often their first response is to find an immediate exit in hopes of a more fulfilling and/or more innocent alternative or maybe even an ideal community with whom to continue this work. Me: Like an escape?Observer: Ya, something like thatMe: BTW where are those balloon sounds coming from?Observer : Oh, that’s from your imaginationMe: hum. It sounds like …Observer: (laughter) it could be anything Me: OK. Anyway, what else do you see?Observer: Well. I also see a trap called proselytizing which happens when people try to teach and convince others that a particular issue of interest should be the most important thing for everyone. Me: Wait a second, I do that all the time as a climate activist and with my art and ecology podcast and… Observer :(interrupting) of course you do and well you should - no worries - but, the danger is that your work could be perceived as an effort to assert ‘moral high ground’ and while this trap may be driven by a genuine passion for an issue, and you certainly are passionate about your work, it has the potential to impose onto others in a way that does not respect their own un/learning journey, and often actually has the opposite effect, pushing people away rather than inviting them in. Me: ok. Ya, I see. Let me think about that.Observer: Sure and when this trap occurs, it can be useful to ask, you know, why do I need to teach or convince or inspire others about my learning experience? Where is this perceived need stemming from? And if you really feel you need to bring something to the attention of others, maybe you can ask yourself: What is the most pedagogically responsible and effective thing to do so that your message can land?Me: ok. What else? Observer: I also see some virtue signalling and self-righteousness trappings, which is when you assert yourself as having the best, most righteous, most critical, most insightful, most creative, most valid or, the most marginalised perspective. Observer: This approach tends to be focused on wanting to be seen in a certain way by others or by oneself, and may be motivated by a desire to minimize or deny one’s complicity in harm. Me: maybe subconsciously, but it’s a catch 22, isn’it ?Observer: (interrupting) more like a labyrinth or a dilemma that you need to sit with… You remember when Donna Haraway says that we need to ‘stay with the trouble’. Something like that. (silence) ok. one last trap?Me: SureObserver: This is a tough one for you. Me: hum…Observer: Hey I need you to be strong here buddy, okMe: Ya ya ya I’m listening Observer:. It’s called spiritual bypassing and it happens when spiritual ideas or practices are used to sidestep, avoid, or escape sitting with analyses of historical and systemic violence and the difficulties of one’s complicity in historic and systemic harm. Do you know what I mean? Me: Yes I think I do but I don’t think I do this.Observer: (interrupting) maybe not consciously but spiritual bypassing often manifests itself alongside with cultural appropriation which is something you think about every time you record a soundscape with that microphone of yours, right? Me: I see what you mean. You’re quite a good observer. Observer: thank you but right back at you. Think of me as a guardian angel.Me: Or the devil… Observer: Whatever (laughter) Now one of the dangers with spiritual bypassing is to project interpretations of ‘oneness’ that erase the realities of historical and systemic inequalities, and interpretations of ‘Enlightenment’ that tend to reinforce exceptionalism and you tend to do that…Me: Yes, sure, I do, but it’s all part of being an artist.. Observer: (interrupting) True but that does not necessarily make it right, does it? Something to think about...Me: (interrupting) That’s a lot to think about, to learn and unlearn.Observer: what are the traps in your life? *This episode is longer than the usual 5 minutes ( 7 minutes) because that’s how long it took to tell this story.This episode comes from learnings I received from taking the Facing Human Wrongs course during the summer of 2022 with support from Azul Carolina Duque.The sound of

(sound of bath draining, at first with a strong oscillating rhythm followed by water flowing and silence)It goes down the drain (again) and into the sewer system to be processed and dumped into the Ottawa river, then it evaporates into the sky and it rains back into our lakes and rivers, bringing with it with many pollutants, and then is pumped into our homes, in our bodies and heated until… (repeated and improvised)Where does your bathwater go? *The rhythm comes from this sound of my bathtub draining, which occurs from the pressure on the tub that creates an oscillation. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to the Ottawa Riverkeeper. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026

(bell and breath)On December 19th, 2022 I read David Maggs’ Art and the Ouija Board? blog, as part of his Metcalf Foundation Fellow on Arts and Society.I was struck by this section in particular:Like a Ouija board or a dowsing wand, art is the capacity to pay attention to the world in unusual ways, a capacity to attend to the world in terms of the aesthetic. To make sense of life through lines, shapes, patterns, forms, colours, textures, rhythms, harmonies, imagery, and more. As Canadian poet Don McKay puts it, “Poetry returns from the business of naming with listening folded inside of it.” If we only speak with our arts, and do not listen with them first, revelation is replaced by dictation, and we can expect our audiences to engage with us as pamphlets or punditry. While not without purpose (no doubt didactic art can inform), information engages at the level of knowledge, whereas transformation requires engagement at the level of being, giving art a value proposition few can rival in this age of unprecedented need…(3 minute ‘A Soundwalk in the Rain of St. John’s, NFLD’ 1992 by Claude Schryer)Thank you David. Thank you David for your series of blogs on the relationship between art and transformation. Now David is from Newfoundland, which reminded me of a piece I recorded on July 2nd, 1992, at 2.20pm called A Soundwalk in the Rain of St. John’s, NFLD where I was a radio artist in residence at Sound Symposium 6. Of course, an interesting debate is whether the sounds of the environment are music or whether they're noise. And I guess that depends principally on your interest in hearing them as music or not. What we hear now is a combination of traffic sounds and water falling on concrete and grass and falling through trees. And once in a while a drop falls directly on the microphone. It's quite loud and quite noisy, but I find it quite beautiful to listen to. And as I listen more and more, I hear little differences in how the rain sounds as it falls and different kinds of materials, how the traffic changes, how this space, Memorial University, is in fact an acoustic space with a lot of activity, a lot of different kinds of sound activity. And so we'll try to hear it. The rain, of course, is a problem because it really is dominant and it's a powerful natural phenomenon that we basically can't avoid. So we're probably better off listening to it and enjoying it. Of course, that's from my perspective as a person from another part of the country, Montreal, where it probably rains less than here in St. John's but I'm particularly interested in discovering this part of the world, this province, and seeing how it sounds. So rain is a part of your life here and it's quite fascinating. It's quiet though, and, and it's a little gray here….How can we listen through art?*Thanks to David Maggs and the Metcalf Foundation for your important work. David and I were co-founders of the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) and have had many fruitful exchanges over the years. I admire his courage and encourage you to subscribe to his Dispatches (at the bottom of the page)I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to the First Light St-John’s Friendship Centre. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a fre

(Sound of fire)This is another fireside storytelling episode, this time by a wood stove at our cottage. Thanks for joining me. Pull up a chair… As I mentioned in episode 106, sometimes, when I get discouraged I like to build a fire, like this, to lift my spirits and to re-energize. (Sound of fire) Today’s story is an excerpt from Part 1, Warm Up : Into The Future from Vanessa Andreotti’s Hospicing Modernity book, written by the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective. I first heard this story, in audio form, while driving through a severe snowstorm on January 19th 2022.(rumble of car)The road was very slippery. I could hardly see. I probably should have stopped but I was mesmerized by the story and kept driving through the storm, not knowing how my trip or this story might end. I recall that the story inhabited my body and my spirit that day, where it remains. I believe that stories,, including speculative fiction, have that ability to sit with us and guide us through life.So, this story places you on December 10 2048, one hundred years after the universal declaration of human rights. You are in a 3D virtual reality world conference where people are gathered to decide the direction of education after a period of catastrophic events. I’ll read you a short excerpt now from the end.In the period between 2038 and 2047, we finally accepted that we were part of the problem and needed to engage with our painful reality to avoid being wiped out. The Mars colony tragically failed in 2038, destroying our hopes for life on another planet. In 2039, a massive event made us all suddenly recognize the enormous cost of our mistakes. Finally we could see that we were addicted to arrogance, consumption, and unaccountable autonomy. We realized that we needed mass rehabilitation. We grasped the gravity of the fact that we were only three billion people left on the planet. We understood that we had caused the extinction of 70% of all species - and the extinction of all life in entire regions of the earth - and we were extremely close to causing our own. We recognized that planet Earth is alive and we are part of the metabolism, not the center of the world or a special species. We also worked out that humanity is capable of both horrendous and wonderful things. We started to face our own and others’ humanity in all its complexity and be taught by the human wrongs we had inflicted upon each other, upon other beings, and upon the planet. Then we all had to learn quickly, collectively, and without schools or moral manifestos:To heal intellectually, emotionally, collectively, economically, ecologically, and politically;To abolish colonial and racial violence, inequality, hierarchies of worth and separations; To center the earth and decenter our egos, identities, human narratives, and separations;To age and die in generative ways;To care for, rather than compete with, everything and everyone;To plant, repurpose technology, compost, repair, and regenerate everything;To prioritize the common good for humans, non humans, and the planet;To use words and conversation carefully and wisely, with humility and maturity;To own up, sober up, clean up, grow up, show up, and exist differently.What speculative fiction stories inhabit you?*Thanks to the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective for use of the story in this context and to collective member Azul Carolina Duque for her advice.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to the South American Indigenous Network Emergency Fund. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppr

(bell and breath)Today's episode does not have any sound other than my voice and a series of silences. And I think you’ll understand why in a minute.(Silence)Writer and broadcaster Jesse Wente, author of Unreconciled, became the first indigenous person to chair the Canada Council for the Arts during the summer of 2020, a few weeks before I retired from the Council. (Silence)In an August 6, 2020 interview with the Toronto Star, I was deeply moved by what Jesse said. The way I view work now within colonial structures and institutions is harm reduction. Ultimately, the goal for me is to reduce the harm the Canada Council causes, not just to my community but to any community that suffers under colonialism, which is really all of us on some level, and to make it somewhat easier to exist, work, live and participate.(Silence)I invite you to think about this statement. In fact, I invite you to explore your feelings about this statement. (Silence)Jesse goes on in that same Toronto Star interview to say :What does the new world look like? How do we support that? How will we be nimble enough to be comfortable not knowing and yet developing policy around not knowing? With artists and the cultural sector, even though we’ll be among the last to restart, I think we have a fairly significant role to play in helping to define what recovery and restoration look like.(Silence)Now I could not find a sound in our modern world to respectfully accompany Jesse’s words and his questions. (Silence)The only sound, or absence of sound, so to speak, that made sense to me was silence. (Silence)Jesse asks us to think about what the role of the arts sector in helping to define what recovery and restoration look like, and if I may add, what it might sound like. (Silence)Jesse also invites us to imagine what a new world might look, or sound like.(Silence)My question for you is ‘What do you not know?’*I would like to thank Jesse Wente for his kind permission to use his quotations from this interview in this context. Thanks also to the article authors Karen Fricker and Carly Maga and the Toronto Star and the Canada Council for the Arts.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026