Episode 61: Paul Hanley

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson. In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick. In this episode, I'm joined by multi-award-winning writer, Paul Hanley, who has written thousands of articles and several books mainly about the environment, sustainable development, and agriculture. Paul tells us how he became a Baha'i, and about the extraordinary life of Richard St. Barbe Baker, the first global conservationist. We also discuss population growth, urban farming, how everything is interconnected, and the need for an ethical revolution in the world. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation! Some of Paul Hanley's books are: - Eleven: https://amzn.to/2PUDQ5Z - Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist: https://amzn.to/3vbF8cM - Richard St. Barbe Baker: Child of the Trees: https://amzn.to/2OFVDNq - The Spirit of Agriculture: https://amzn.to/3qBxo08 * Baha'i Blog interview about 'Eleven': https://bit.ly/2OHTSiO * Baha'i Blog interview about 'Man of the Trees': https://bit.ly/3t5yTFK * Paul and his group received the Food System Vision 2050 prize: https://bit.ly/3eu6R2K * Find out more about 'Men of the Trees' here: https://bit.ly/3esZhFi * Find out more about: - The Universal House of Justice: https://bit.ly/3erOPhB - Shoghi Effendi: https://bit.ly/3rCOeNM - Abdu'l-Baha: https://bit.ly/2Ok3tN8 - The Bab: https://bit.ly/3tc1nNV​ - Baha'u'llah: https://bit.ly/38roigm - The Shrine of the Bab: https://bit.ly/3vdUqOj - Baha'i Pioneering: https://bit.ly/2N944kc - The Three Protagonists: https://bit.ly/3veFmjl - Baha'i Firesides: https://bit.ly/3epOMmb - Importance of Service in the Baha’i Faith: https://bit.ly/3rDjg82 - Baha'i World Centre: http://www.bwc.org/ * Paul shares this quote from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi: "We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions." * Film: Frontiers of Learning: https://bit.ly/3by4fyU * Film: Light to the World: https://bit.ly/3bAm8x5 * Film: The Man Who Stopped the Desert: https://amzn.to/2OFib0N * Paul mentions Rattan Lal: https://bit.ly/3etcxKo * Rainn mentions Mahnaz Javid: https://bit.ly/3l66igL * Paul mentions Richard St. Barbe Baker's book called Sahara Challenge: https://amzn.to/2MUlfWs * Rainn shares this quote from a letter from The Universal House of Justice: "Every choice a Baha’i makes—as employee or employer, producer or consumer, borrower or lender, benefactor or beneficiary—leaves a trace, and the moral duty to lead a coherent life demands that one’s economic decisions be in accordance with lofty ideals, that the purity of one’s aims be matched by the purity of one’s actions to fulfil those aims. Naturally, the friends habitually look to the teachings to set the standard to which to aspire. But the community’s deepening engagement with society means that the economic dimension of social existence must receive ever more concentrated attention." - Read the full letter here: https://bit.ly/3t7xcHJ - Listen to an audio reading of this letter here: https://bit.ly/3cjPrmv Be sure to subscribe to the Baha’i Blogcast for more episodes on: * YouTube: http://bit.ly/2JTNmBO​ * iTunes: http://apple.co/2leHPHL​ * Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/30dX0G4​ * Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2IXRAnb​ If you would like to find out more about the Baha'i Faith visit BAHAI.ORG, and for more great Baha'i-inspired content, check out BAHAIBLOG.NET: http://bahaiblog.net/​ Thanks for listening! -Rainn Wilson