Nora Bateson: Living Systems, Warm Data & the Ecology of Communication

In this episode, Julien Devaureix speaks with Nora Bateson, filmmaker, writer, and president of theInternational Bateson Institute. Together they explore how to navigate today’s complex world through systems thinking, relational approaches, and Nora’s concept of warm data. Drawing from her book Combining, Nora shares why solutions can’t be isolated, how identity and intergenerational living shape our future, and why cultivating an ecology of communication is key to creating authentic hope and thriving life.

Episode timestamps

00:00 Introduction & Nora’s background; perceiving interdependencies in living systems

04:14 The “meadow” metaphor and the relational nature of complexity

16:59 Problems of reductionism in education and society

34:25 Excerpts from Combining: the idea of combining vs. combined

43:26 Rethinking problems and solutions; cultivating an ecology of communication

54:02 Double binds, transcontextual issues, and aiming for possibility & vitality

01:00:50 Warm data and the lost art of intergenerational living

01:06::06 False hope vs. real hope; culture and unexpected change

01:10:05 The role of art, weirdness, and creativity in shaping the future

01:15:23 Closing poem Mama Now: reflections on parenting, integrity, and uncertainty

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