House of Life (Asim & Tom)

What if sustainability isn’t just about the environment… but about how we think, how we live, and how we challenge the systems around us?

What if true sustainability means breaking free from dogmatic thinking… and opening our minds to deeper, more radical ideas?

We’ve been on parallel tracks—both of us, in our own ways, have broken out of the echo chamber. And now, we’re coming together to explore the edges of our thinking.

Welcome to House of Life—a podcast where we push beyond the surface and into the intersections of sustainability, philosophy, spirituality, and politics.

We ask the big questions:

* What does it really mean to live sustainably?

* How do our beliefs shape the world we create?

* And how can we live better—not just for ourselves, but for a future worth believing in?

We’re not here for easy answers. We’re here for the real conversations—the ones that challenge us, inspire us, and take us beyond the limits of our own thinking.

It’s about reimagining how we live and how we can create a better world.

So if you’re ready to rethink sustainability… and explore the deeper questions of life join us on House of Life.

New episodes coming soon. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In the debut episode of House of Life, hosts Asim Hussain and Tom Greenwood pull sustainability out of its usual carbon-counting box and wrestle with its deeper meaning. From the flow of power and privilege, to the lessons of Hopi cosmology, they explore why saving the planet isn’t just about tech fixes—it’s about rethinking who we are, how we decide, and what we owe the living world. Expect mind-bending detours through chakras, assembly theory, and radical democracy, plus a hard look at energy’s future: fusion dreams, fossil fuel traps, and the messy politics of who controls it all. This isn’t your average green podcast—it’s a call to reimagine everything, from the ground up.

Chapters

00:00 - Defining Sustainability

02:59 - Spectrum of Power and Sustainability

05:51 - The Human-Centric View of Sustainability

08:42 - Hierarchy of Needs and Sustainability

11:41 - Chakras and Their Relation to Human Needs

14:37 - The Living World and Sustainability

17:30 - Beyond Human-Centric Sustainability

20:16 - Interconnectedness of Life and Sustainability

22:32 - The Complexity of Nature and Human Understanding

23:51 - Assembly Theory and the Definition of Life

25:48 - The Evolution of Humanity and Its Path Dependence

29:15 - Hopi Cosmology and the Cycle of Worlds

32:21 - Learning from Myths and Cataclysms

39:36 - Sustainability and Our Relationship with Nature

48:34 - The Future of Energy: Fusion vs. Fossil Fuels

49:31 - The Control of Energy: Renewables and Distribution

50:18 - Reframing Fossil Fuels: Efficiency and Waste

52:18 - Collective Decision-Making: Power Dynamics in Energy Use

53:42 - Imagining Alternatives: The Future Beyond Sustainability

57:34 - Adapting Systems: Governance and Decision-Making

59:43 - Lessons from History: Democracy and Power Dynamics

01:02:38 - Radical Democracy: Rethinking Governance

01:07:32 - The Mechanisms of Power: Voting and Representation

01:13:02 - The Flow of Power: Sustainability and Human Care

In Episode 2 of House of Life, Asim Hussain and Tom Greenwood continue their exploration of sustainability by exploring what it really means to live in harmony and whether humanity and the Earth have a hierarchy of needs that mirrors our needs as individuals. This leads down a rabbit hole into staged alien invasions, the high stakes of nuclear war, the need for sustainability to be pro-peace, media propaganda and the role of advertising in fragmenting our minds, our society and fuelling mindless consumption. Expect more unexpected detours in the quest to gain deeper insights into what it means to create a better world and how we might get there.

Chapters

00:00 - Defining Sustainability: A Personal Journey

02:52 - Unity and Separation: The Spiritual Perspective

06:28 - Chakras and Societal Balance

10:12 - The Earth as a Living System

13:53 - Creation and Destruction: The Cycle of Life

19:02 - The Nature of Life and Machines

21:38 - Tribalism and Alien Encounters

23:33 - The Conspiracy of Unity: A Fake Alien Invasion?

24:32 - UFOs and the Unexplained

27:56 - Theories of Time Travel and Future Beings

32:39 - Philosophical Connections: Sustainability and Existence

36:19 - The Casualty of War: Nuclear Threats and Apathy

39:01 - The Intersection of Peace and Sustainability

43:01 - The Consequences of War on Society

46:18 - The Ethics of War and Governance

50:39 - Media's Role in War Perception

59:35 - The Attention Economy and Polarization

01:03:41 - The Role of Social Media in Society

01:06:02 - Advertising: The Double-Edged Sword

01:08:46 - The Impact of Algorithms on Content Consumption

01:10:33 - The Nature of Advertising and Its Effects

01:16:02 - Rethinking Advertising: A Necessary Evil?

01:19:43 - Defining Sustainability and Its Broader Implications

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Hi, it’s Tom and Asim

Thanks so much for subscribing to our House of Life podcast. We really appreciate you tuning in and exploring new perspectives with us.

We’re back for Episode 3 and this time we kick off with Tom recounting his recent time at the Monroe Institute, a consciousness research hub infamous for its CIA-linked out-of-body experiments. Expecting a chilled meditation retreat, Tom found himself in an intense, tech-assisted dive into altered states that was exhausting yet also fun and fascinating. This leads into a conversation about subconscious layers, collective consciousness, and whether we’re all one entity playing a cosmic game. From near-death tales to the paradox of birth, we wrestle with life’s big mysteries: Are we eternal souls on a joyride or students in Earth’s soul school?

Oh, but isn’t this supposed to be a sustainability podcast? Fear not, as somehow our journey through human consciousness leads us back to sustainability, where we explore personal responsibility versus systemic blame and land on the need for first principles—core values like unity and agency—to help us navigate a noisy and polarised world without losing ourselves.

It’s another rollercoaster ride to stretch our thinking outside of our habitual patterns and we hope it provides you with a new sense of possibility and wonder.

If you enjoyed the episode, here are a few ideas to take it further:

* Explore your subconscious

* Try a free meditation on the Monroe Institute’s ‘Expand’ app. See if anything bubbles up from your subconscious? Share your experience in the Substack comments.

* Craft your first principles

* Pick one value (e.g., unity, honesty) as a personal sustainability lens. Test it: How does it shape your perception of a news story or a friend’s rant? Let us know.

* Listen to other perspectives

* Have a calm, respectful chat with someone you disagree with. Ask them for their perspective on an issue that matters to you and listen. Ask question to understand them better, without pushing your own views. How does it feel? Does it bring any new insights?

* Ponder the One

* Imagine you’re a single consciousness living every life—a worm, a sparrow, yourself. How would that change your priorities in life?

We’d love to hear from you so please do leave us comments with your thoughts, or Substack or maybe share your thoughts on LinkedIn and tag us in. Thanks again!

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