[Full Length] The Inner Lives of Fungi — with Giuliana Furci

“What fungi have shown me is that we can't, and we don't have to do, anything alone. They question the limits of individual existence.”

- Giuliana Furci

SYNOPSIS:

Introducing Giuliana Furci. The woman who has been chosen by the fungi. The mother who is in love with the mold that grows on lemons. The founder and CEO of the Fungi Foundation, a Harvard University Associate, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy (!), and Co-Chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee.

We travel through the day in the life of a fungi; how moving beyond plant and animal-centric language transforms our perception of the world; what it’s like to be on a bone-chilling fungal expedition in Patagonia; what the fungi can teach us about loneliness and rot; the perils around fungal IP, and why you should always go pee behind trees #thefutureisfungi

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GUEST BIO:

Giuliana Furci is foundress and CEO of the Fungi Foundation. She is a Harvard University Associate, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy, Co-Chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee, and author of several titles including a series of field guides to Chilean fungi and co-author of titles such as the 1st State of the World’s Fungi. Giuliana has held consulting positions in U.S. philanthropic foundations as well as full-time positions in international and Chilean marine conservation non-profits. She sits on the Board of Fundación Acción Fauna, and on the Advisory Board of Myco-Medica Life Sciences and of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN).

QUOTES:

• What’s common with all fungi is that they live inside their food. Fungi cannot exist without another, and so they are organisms that are never alone.

• You need to tune into the intuition of a place, and then there will be a compulsion to go in a certain direction — and you find something astonishing!

• Every time I encounter a fungus, I feel plenitude. Even with mould on a lemon, I feel profound love.

• What fungi have shown me is that we can't, and we don't have to do, anything alone. They question the limits of individual existence.

• Fungi teach us how important it is to let things rot - ideas, ideals, relationships. Decomposition is the only way we can recompose.

SHOW NOTES:

• The Fungi Foundation 

• Giuliana Furci personal website 

• Video: Let Things Rot 

• Fungi Foundation: What you see matters 

• NYT: Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus

LINKS:

FUNGI RESOURCE PAGE

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