Banyan Tree Launches New Storytelling Platform – Compass, with Change-Makers

Compass’ premier series of The Possibility Podcast covers stories on sustainability, meaning and intentional travel, with frontier disruptors and culture creators.

Captions (L-R): Host of The Possibility Podcast - Mukul Bhatia, 21 Year Old Full Time Changemaker Melati Wijsen, Sustainability Journalist and former editor-at-large of Vogue India Bandana Tewari, and founder of Local Futures Helena Norberg-Hodge.

As we navigate a world in transition, what does it mean to create a better future? The possibilities are endless, and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts seeks to guide people onward with the launch of its new storytelling platform, Compass.

Through podcasts, panels and interviews, Compass will spotlight personal narratives of frontier disruptors and change-makers as they share their creative journeys and rituals towards building a better planet. Each dialogue will introduce ways to experience the world through the lens of people who hail from diverse backgrounds, yet are united in their passion for reimagining the future while remaining grounded in their unique present and perspective.

Compass will launch this June 2022 with its first content series: The Possibility Podcast. It will be hosted by Award-Winning Storyteller and TEDx speaker Mukul Bhatia, a sustainability advocate whose work and vision have been lauded by international media like Forbes America, The New York Times, National Geographic TV, and GQ Magazine. Bhatia states, "We are in a historic period of transition, leading us to the enquiry to go inward and re-inspect purpose and pace. This brought us to create Compass, an intentional medium of slow storytelling, created after months of planning with sustainability mavericks at Banyan Tree HQ.” Mukul added, “As the host and creative producer, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to hold space for diverse voices from various industries and geographies, with shared human essence of envisioning a better planet.” Each of the podcast’s eight episodes will focus on changemakers, and their journey, our first four being:

• Twenty-one-year-old environmental activist and founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags Melati Wijsen from Bali, Indonesia. Honoured in Time Magazine’s most influential teens in the world and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists, Ms Wijsen has spoken on world stages like the United Nations (UN) and TED, and recently co-chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership committee. In the premier podcast, Melati reveals the everyday rituals of practical Sustainability, creating a movement for good, making her one of the most powerful changemakers on the planet.

• Author, and Storyteller Jessica Nabongo from Los Angeles, USA, is the first documented black woman to visit all 195 UN Member States. Her Instagram is filled with vividly inspiring, authentic stories of her interactions with the farthest cultures on the planet. In her episode, Jessica reveals lessons of kindness from her voyage, and shares the future possibility of a planet without borders.

• Sustainability Journalist, and Speaker Bandana Tewari, from Mumbai, India. Formerly the editor-at-large and fashion features director of Vogue India, Ms. Tewari has effortlessly narrated some of the most riveting stories of sustainability in fashion and propagated the art of living in Gandhian Context. This episode discusses the famed journalist’s cathartic move to Bali, and how it shaped her life.

• Linguist, author and filmmaker Helena Norberg-Hodge, from Byron Bay, Australia is the winner of Goi Peace Award, and founder of Local Futures Movement. She has spent her life researching in the wilderness of remote Himalayan cultures, empowering the localised economy in the region. Her eye-opening research is detailed in her book Ancient Futures; she discusses the possibilities of future created with ancient wisdom in mind.

For more information on Compass, visit www.banyantree.com/compass. The Possibility Podcast will debut on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts this May, with new episodes being introduced every two weeks until October 2022.