Living Myth Podcast

Michael Meade: The Heart of Transformation

Earth AncientsSep 30, 2026

Mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade argues that humanity is not facing the end of the world but the end of an era, a collective rite of passage he compares to the Hindu Kali Yuga and to a caterpillar dissolving inside its cocoon. Drawing on initiation rituals, ancient myth and his own months in military solitary confinement after refusing to fight in Vietnam, he says real transformation requires a change of heart, a reconnection with the soul and the guidance of genuine elders. Host Cliff Dunning also shares claims from Guatemalan Maya elders that there were once 260,000 ceremonial centers, and Meade warns that artificial intelligence reflects a loss of soul.