Episode 108: Shrishtee Bajpai | Earthy Governance in Stormy Times

What does it mean to practice democracy not just with people, but with rivers, forests, mountains, and the more-than-human world?

In this episode, I’m in conversation with Shrishtee Bajpai—researcher, activist, and writer working on Earthy Governance, interspecies justice, and radical alternatives to dominant systems.

Shrishtee’s work emerges from her deep relationship with the river she grew up alongside in North India—one of the most polluted rivers in the world. That grief and love have shaped her life’s path: exploring how communities can co-create governance with rivers, mountains, and forests, and what it means to truly listen to the more-than-human world.

We speak about:

• 🌊 Collapse and continuity: why collapse is not just arriving but has long been lived in the Global South.

• 🐝 Earthy governance: how communities take decisions in dialogue with forests, deities, bees, and rivers.

• 🌳 Radical democracy: power rooted in place, not just parliaments.

• 💔 Absurdities of modernity: the schizophrenia of cultures that worship rivers as goddesses while polluting them.

• 👂 The invitation: how we might awaken our collective capacity to listen to the more-than-human world.

Shrishtee reminds us: democracy is not only about human voices—it’s about rivers, mountains, winds, and creatures who have always spoken, if only we slow down to hear.

Do let us know how this lands for you

Available on all podcast platforms.

We had a few audio glitches on this recording, some internet troubles but have done what we can to clean up.