The RegenNarration Podcast

Send us a Text Message. A number of you have said last week’s episode was one of the best, with legendary Bioneers founders Nina Simons and Kenny Ausubel. So in honour of that, and in case you missed it, or haven’t heard through to the end, this week’s release is an excerpt of the last 20 minutes or so of a very rare public conversation with the two of them together. We pick it up where the conversation shifted gear, when I asked about the repeated uncanny happenings that have blessed their lives – including the magic tale of how Bioneers was saved (a story Nina doesn’t usually talk about in public). Then we go on to talk about the power of work to come with Bioneers, what they’ve got to say to us next generations at this time, and what we can do to create and receive better media. Listen for the interplay of the thunder storm that rolled in towards the end too. If you’ve come here first, tune into the full episode, ‘A Life’s Wisdom, Transformation & Romance, with legendary Bioneers founders Nina Simons & Kenny Ausubel’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes there too, along with a transcript, and a few photos on the episode website, with more on Patreon for subscribing members. Title slide image: Kenny & Nina from the 2018 Bioneers Conference (pic: Genevieve Russell). Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. This treasured and unique conversation is with the legendary founders of Bioneers, Nina Simons and Kenny Ausubel. Bioneers is a cultural phenomenon - an innovative nonprofit organization that has been highlighting breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet - for 34 years. What started as a somewhat reluctant conference in 1990 has become all sorts of other notable projects, including Bioneers Learning, and Bioneers radio and podcast. And there’s yet more to come. Nina and Kenny also continue to be award-winning authors and filmmakers. You might even recognise Kenny from an appearance in Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature documentary The 11th Hour, for which he was also a central advisor. And when Nina’s new book landed on my desk last year, it doubled my hopes to meet them both when we reached their town. The book, ‘Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership’, is in many ways, the culmination of Nina’s life’s work to date. We hear more about this and other culminating and transformative moments in their lives here – from the ‘mystery’ illness that nearly claimed Kenny’s life as a teen (that Western medicine had no answer for), to Nina’s walk through a Puebloan garden soon after the couple met. This was a very personal, at times riotous, and often revelatory wander through their life stories, with a literally thunderous finale. (Listen for the interplay of that storm towards the end!) It was an honour and joy to sit with them around the kitchen table of their beautiful adobe home in the mountains outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, for this rare public conversation with Nina and Kenny, together. This episode has chapter markers and a transcript, if you’d like to navigate the conversation that way (available on most apps now too). Recorded 20 June 2024. Title slide: Kenny, Nina & AJ (pic: Olivia Cheng). To see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Find More: A favourite episode on the Bioneers podcast: Undam the Klamath! How Tribes Led the Largest River Restoration Project in US History. Thanks for listening! Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Andrew Stone and I continued on for another 15 minutes off-record, but with the recorder still on. The conversation was so fascinating that I asked him if he was ok with it going out to you. So here’s a bonus 15 minutes with Andrew, where we went on to talk about his visit to Wendell Berry and their conversation on technology, some more uncanny connections, being part of the DMT studies in the ‘90s when psychedelics research restarted (and the story behind The Spirit Molecule on Netflix), and finally onto his work designing and building sustainable housing. If you’ve come here first, tune into the main episode with Andrew, ‘Tech Innovator to Mystic Farmer: Andrew Stone’s Path’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes too, along with a transcript, and a few photos on the episode website, with more on Patreon for subscribing members. Title slide image: Wendell Berry with Andrew’s ma Lib Stone (supplied). Find more: The portrait film of Wendell Berry, Look & See. Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Andrew Stone has been dubbed the ‘solar mystic farmer’, as a pioneering solar passive designer/builder, former software developer of some of the commonplace apps today working alongside luminaries like Steve Jobs, regenerative farmer with treasured links to Wendell Berry and his family, key presence in the psychedelics resurgence, and a generally fascinating guy. That was as much illustrated by the fact that when we met to record this episode, he was dressed to the nines as Robert Oppenheimer. You’ll hear why – and you can see him in that splendour on the title slide for this episode. We sat down amidst cottonwood seed falling like sun-drenched snow, magic adobe structures that appear to have spontaneously sprung out of the earth, and regenerating farmland his family has progressively acquired over the last 40 years, right in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I caught up with Andrew the day after he’d been helping others with adobe building and design, part of a power of work he does with community collectives like the People’s Energy Coop. There was much to talk about – about the past and future of all these technologies and techniques. All of which summed to an extremely entertaining and insightful conversation. This episode has chapter markers and a transcript, if you’d like to navigate the conversation that way (available on most apps now too). Recorded 16 June 2024. Title slide: Andrew Stone (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the website, and for more become a member via the Patreon page. With thanks to Laura & Ben at Grosz Co Lab, for the Americas tour insignia. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Find More: A bonus episode with 15 fascinating minutes off-record with Andrew here or wherever you listen to podcasts. For more on the Puebloan peoples Andrew mentions, listen to the 6-part series on the history of the American south-west that Andrew’s wife Katie produced on The Children’s Hour, featured in episode 212. And to hear James and Joyce Skeet, tune into Spirit Farm, on episode Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. How does a local radio show run with and for children become a global phenomenon - with plenty of adult listeners too? All the more in an age of media disruption and decline, with the ongoing struggle of not only mainstream media models, but public and alternative ones too. In just six years, The Children’s Hour is approaching a listenership of one million people, heard on demand as a weekly podcast and on more than 160 stations in 6 countries. That stratospheric growth started with a pivot – when this local volunteer-run public radio show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, became a not-for-profit organisation with loftier ambitions. Katie Stone became its Executive Director, having been a volunteer for 17 years before that. Today Katie shares this incredible story with us, as we take a seat in the show’s renewably powered studio, alongside 15 year old announcer Amadeus Menendez. Amadeus started with the show as it pivoted, and has grown with it since he was nine. And as the awards roll in, the next generation’s ambitions become loftier still. Katie and Amadeus share how the show expanded globally, filling educational gaps and teaching media literacy and civics to children globally. Amadeus recounts his experiences engaging with experts like a NASA astronaut (in space!) and the treasurer of New Mexico. And together they emphasize the importance of positive, affirming messages and actionable responses to current events, ensuring that media educates and inspires without commercial influence, and across political divides. This episode has chapter markers and a transcript, if you’d like to navigate the conversation that way (available on most apps now too). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded 16 June 2024. Title slide: Katie & Amadeus at Sun Spot Studio after our conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Find More: 6-part series on the history of the American south-west ICKY: A Radio Musical Deb Haaland on The Children’s Hour (with photo of Amadeus at 9 years of age) Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Our final episode last year was titled Achieving Consensus and Commitment to do the ‘Impossible’. It featured Jeff Goebel, and drew an enormous response from listeners, a number of whom have continued to work with Jeff since. So when I knew we were heading to the States, I reached out to Jeff. And soon after, he got in touch to say he was going to be hosting a workshop soon - would I like to come and be part of it? Would I what! It was one fascinating and enlightening experience. In so many ways. So the morning after the workshop, Jeff and I sat down on the front porch at his beautiful place in New Mexico to chat about it. The first half is on the workshop, and in the back half we go on to talk about two other key issues. Firstly, how the processes Jeff runs can help transform how finance can work for more of the good stuff we well know is possible, in all sorts of areas. And secondly, how his current efforts are going, to attract major funding to build this capacity in people globally, in the process of addressing our toughest problems everywhere. More on Jeff: Jeff became a Holistic Management trainer with Allan Savory in the mid-80s. But pretty soon felt it was missing something, as did Allan. Then a series of uncanny events and outstanding successes in Jeff’s life, including a pivotal experience with First Nations, set him on a path of what he calls community consensus work. He is now globally renowned for developing a highly effective program of respectful listening, visioning, and planning that attains 100% consensus - and commitment - of all parties, in all sorts of contexts. And often where human conflict and land degradation are at their worst. This episode has chapter markers and a transcript, if you’d like to navigate the conversation that way (available on most apps now too). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded in Belén, New Mexico, on 30 May 2024. Title slide: AJ & Jeff during this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. The Navajo Diné Nation is the biggest First Nation in the US, crossing Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. There we connected with Diné elder James Skeet, and his brilliant wife Joyce - descendant of award-winning Mennonite farmers in Pennsylvania. Together, they founded Spirit Farm, and the educational non-profit Covenant Pathways. Spirit Farm is a demonstration and experiential farm focused on healing the high desert southwestern soil, and the communities living there. They do this by weaving insights from modern holistic management and regenerative agriculture, with the ancient wisdom of dryland farming and Native American cosmology. And they’ve created a suite of incredible value-add enterprises that importantly don’t perpetuate the commodisation of food, land and culture. While their education and employment programs bring others along with a range of experiences on the land, such that they’re now called upon around the country and the world. Which is part of where this conversation culminates - with the extraordinary sharing of spiritual stewardship with an African American community, and the profound implications – and inspiration - for all of us. We sat down together by an ancient spring and sweat lodge for this. And close with something special from the following morning. This episode has chapter markers and a transcript, if you’d like to navigate the conversation that way (available on most apps now). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded 27 May 2024. With thanks to podcast member Chris Diehl for introducing us. Title slide: Joyce & James Skeet at Spirit Farm (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Steve Mushin is an award-winning industrial designer and inventor, and an old mate from when we both were part of the team at CERES – the legendary community environment park in inner Melbourne. He’s also now the author of children’s book ‘Ultrawild: An audacious plan to rewild every city on earth’ (Allen & Unwin). Eight years in the making, it's an intricately illustrated book exploring visions for rapidly transforming cities to reverse climate change and species extinction. The book contains over 100 ludicrous sounding, and just maybe possible inventions, illustrated with over 1,000 drawings. It’s packed with curious facts on everything from how plants and fungi share resources and the soil engineering power of megafauna, to insect and mechanical flight, high-tech microbe-powered toilets and much more. It took me a little while to pry the book from my boy’s hands for a read. And it’s fair to say my brain was bending with the force of Steve’s lens on the world - always a welcome thing. Equally welcome were the parts of our conversation here where we delved into how rewilding might square with the rapid mass deployment of industrial technologies like renewables, EVs and so on. As well as how it might square with a vegan or omnivorous diet, with Steve firmly in the vegan camp, and me? Well, long-time listeners of this podcast will have heard some of my journey from vegetarian to omnivore, largely through the experience of the podcast. Yes, here’s a bit of the George Monbiot/Allan Savory stouch - without the stouch! Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode website), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read). Recorded online with Steve at home in Aotearoa New Zealand on 5 April 2024. Title slide: Steve at work (supplied). See more photos on the episode web page, and for more behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. Mirari, by Spoonbill (the YouTube film clip). The RegenNarration playlist, featuring music chosen by guests (with thanks to podcast member Josie Symons). Find more: And for the kids, Steve speaks with our young son about his book, on Yeshe Interviews – coming soon. Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. A couple of weeks ago, I received some big news. The California State Assembly unanimously passed what’s been dubbed the ‘Beaver Bill’. Yes, California is bringing the beaver back. For those who might not be fully across how big this news is, the beaver is a keystone species that assists in restoring watershed and ecosystem functions in areas that need them most. And in an era of warming, fire and desertification, and with insurers leaving the state in droves, recognition of this is growing here. That’s with thanks to the community that’s been building a campaign for 25 years. And this is just the tip of the beaver dam of what they’ve been up to in that time. The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) has just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and as it happens, has also just been announced as the 2024 Non-profit of the Year for its Senate District. It’s a wonderfully restored 80-acre residential, research, demonstration, advocacy and organizing center in Sonoma County, California, a bit over 50 miles north of San Francisco. And extending out from there, it develops strategies for regional-scale community resilience, working with tribes, non-government organizations, private landowners, and an array of agencies to achieve this, locally and internationally. So you can imagine how happy I was to meet one of its co-founders while we were in California, Brock Dolman. A man Judith Schwartz describes as an all-round brilliant natural historian, restoration practitioner, teacher and raconteur. All of that is in evidence in this conversation, as we trace Brock’s fascinating life journey from military child to adventurous seeker to founding the OAEC with some other ‘crazy people’ with little money. And how together they would become a powerhouse at bringing people together for increasingly remarkable regeneration. As always, head here for chapter markers. You can find a transcript there too (also available on Apple and some other apps), which is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded 9 May 2024. Title slide: Brock Dolman. See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. I had the pleasure of sitting down with David Bronner, the Cosmic Engagement Officer of the famed Dr Bronner’s, whose life story is as rich and foamy as the company's iconic soap. Since David became CEO of the top-selling brand of natural soaps, body care and food products in 1998, the company has grown from $4 million in revenue to well over $100 million, and all while continuing to change so much about the systems and stories we live by. In recent times, they’ve co-founded Regenerative Organic Certification, setting a whole new standard of global supply chain transformation. And here today David announces a new upcoming initiative called the Purpose Pledge, which follows on from last week’s conversation on regenerative finance with Esther Park uncannily well. But what really had me wondering, as I approached Bronner’s Californian HQ, was how David feels about the iconic All-One company ethos and legacy, 76 years in, given the state of the world today. Having emerged from the tragedy of the Holocaust at the hands of David’s inspired grandfather Emanuel, and knowing that amongst the company’s trailblazing regenerative supply chains are communities in both Palestine and Israel, this was a profound opener to our conversation. We go on to talk about their deep involvement in plant medicine and the psychedelics resurgence, and how it relates to David’s personal healing – and even how he returned to work at the company. Then there’s the capping of executive pay and giving to others all profits they don’t need, how to grapple with ‘regen washing’, David’s ‘big journey’ as a vegan now advocating for regenerative agriculture, and finally, the breaking news. As always, head here for chapter markers if you’d like to see an overview or navigate the conversation that way. You can find a transcript there too (also available on Apple and some other apps), which is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded on 16 May 2024. Title slide: AJ & David, after the yarn (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. With thanks to Mel from Dr Bronner’s Australia, and everyone at Bronner’s HQ. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. For all the great regenerative work bubbling up everywhere right now, it seems fair to say that finance and investment in it is lagging a little. As my guest today puts it, we often hear about how farmers and land managers need to change, for example, but we hear less often about how finance and investment needs to change. It’s why a major report and project was launched online in Australia last year by Sustainable Table, ‘Regenerating Investment in Food and Farming’. I hosted a conversation at that launch, which you might remember became episode 161. I never forgot it. So as soon as we knew we were coming to the US / Turtle Island, I asked Esther Park if she’d be up for meeting in person, to dig deeper into her paradigm changing work as CEO of Cienaga Capital. Key to this story, too, is another pioneering woman you’ll hear about, Sallie Calhoun. 23 years ago, Sallie and her partner acquired Paicines Ranch, originally named Rancho Cienega de los Paicines. They subsequently set in tow a remarkable regeneration of the land, an array of enterprises, and learning journeys for people – including other investors and philanthropists. Sallie later founded Cienaga Capital, and recruited Esther to the lead role. Also key to this story, in all manner of unexpected ways, is Esther’s Korean ancestry. Head here for chapter markers if you’d like to see an overview or navigate the conversation that way. You can find a transcript there too (also available on Apple and some other apps), which is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read. Recorded at UCB, Berkeley, on 3 May 2024. Title slide: Esther Park where we started our conversation (pic: Anthony James). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Richard Heinberg is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates on the urgent need, and inviting prospects, of a transition away from fossil fuels. He’s the author of 14 books including some of the seminal works on our current energy and environmental crises. I remember reading The Party’s Over 20 years ago, and have followed Richard’s work right through to his most recent book (and excellent parallel podcast series), Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival – and what praise that one drew, from people like Bill McKibben, Joanna Macy, Wes Jackson, Maude Barlow, Peter Buffet, Dahr Jamail, Douglas Rushkoff and Dennis Meadows. Richard also features in countless film and other productions, along with the online course developed with the Post Carbon Institute, where Richard is a founder and Senior Fellow. And seven years ago, Richard was kind enough to be a special guest on a panel event I brought together on energy transition, which attracted a couple of hundred people and later became episode 23 on this podcast. Richard is also an outstanding musician, with an extensive tour and back catalogue extending from the ‘60s. All the more reason that after the event we did in 2017, we resolved to catch up if I ever made it to Santa Rosa. That’s where this sweeping conversation took place, on transformations in energy and food systems, us humans, and his own fascinating life. Culminating in Richard’s crystalised framing of the unprecedented challenge facing us, and how we might pull it off. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded by a restored Santa Rosa Creek on 30 April 2024. Title slide: Richard & AJ in Santa Rosa (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. This special extra to episode 204 features the last handful of minutes with the legendary best-selling author Paul Hawken. This is where the episode culminated in Paul offering a world premiere reading of the rousing finale to his upcoming book, Carbon: The Book Of Life. The reading happened to be accompanied, too, by some notable sounds from around the garden and surrounding redwoods. Head here for a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded at Paul's place in northern California on 27 April 2024. Title slide: The nearby Muir Woods National Monument (pic: Anthony James). Hear the full episode, and see more photos, on the episode web page. And to see and hear more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Paul Hawken is the legendary author behind myriad best-sellers, including most recently Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation, and before it, Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. Both books were accompanied by comprehensive online portals that continue to engage people from all walks, all around the world. Paul’s next book is a more personal volume – perhaps his most personal. It’s called Carbon: The book of life. And ahead of its release, it was my privilege to join him at his place just outside San Francisco, to talk about the book, and so much else, in what might be his most personal podcast too. You might say the upcoming book puts carbon back into perspective, as no less than the centerpiece of life itself. If you’re anything like me, be prepared to have your mind blown. You won’t see, or perhaps more pointedly hear, the world the same way again. In some ways, this book feels like a legacy piece. And so too this podcast. Not that they’re the last we’ll hear from Paul (the next book is already in mind). But this feels like a very special moment in time with this extraordinary writer, journo, entrepreneur, consultant to world leaders, and so much more. And it culminates in a world premiere reading, of the rousing finale to the book – accompanied uncannily by some notable sounds from around the garden. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded 27 April 2024. Title slide: Paul & AJ in conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. Cascade Falls in Mill Valley. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Find more: Hear the most popular episode ever on this podcast, my conversation with Paul on the release of Regeneration, for episode 96. And my previous conversation with Paul, in late 2022 from the Kimberley, is on episode 145, Regeneration: A Year On. Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. The community in the Australian federal seat of Curtin elected the 7th new independent MP to parliament 2 years ago now, and the first and only (to date) in WA. In those two years, that community independent, Kate Chaney, has continued to drive a level of engagement and outcomes that no one I speak to has any memory of happening before. Perhaps it happened back when the major political parties first got going, when they had some membership to speak of? Today, less than 0.5% of Australians are members of a major party – not even the 1%! In contrast, democracy is on the rise via this community independents movement. And here in Curtin, it’s resulted in multiple deliberative democratic processes, consistently brilliant outcomes, and some recent ground-breaking developments – from wellbeing economies, to climate, to transparent elections. But Kate’s expressed great fear too, based on what she’s seeing in parliament. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations.) Recorded 19 April 2024. Title slide: Kate & AJ in conversation (pic: Angie Hewitt). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons). Find more: Curtin’s Pathway to Net Zero: Making our community healthier, fairer and more liveable as we address climate change. Upcoming events. Kate’s article on the Fair & Transparent Elections Bill. My articles: We Can’t Keep Adding Cars to Our Roads – Is It Time to Say Goodbye?, on the World Economic Forum website Cutting Back on Electricity is the Cleanest Power Source of All – As Our Household Shows Enough’s Enough: Buying More Stuff Isn’t Always the Answer to Happiness Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. I’ve been promising some big news for a little while now. Well, earlier this week, on Earth Day, a special and unexpected launch took place. Head here for a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded at San Francisco Airport on 22 April 2024. Title slide: In the redwoods just outside San Francisco, where a woman passed us on the trail and wished us happy Earth Day. (The local radio station also played nature sounds all day.) To see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, featuring music chosen by guests (with thanks to podcast member Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Lamine Sonko is an acclaimed composer, artistic director, performer and multi-instrumentalist continuing his family line of Guéwels. That’s a role inherited by certain members of traditional communities in Senegal who are tasked with communicating ancient storytelling and ‘songlines’ through dance, rhythms and song. And earlier this year, that converged with his role in Melbourne-based afro-beat band, the Afrobiotics, when he was joined by his five bandmates back in Senegal on a landmark tour. And one of those five blokes is an old mate I played in a rock band with in the ‘90s. Simon Edwards is an incredible guitarist, teacher, and soulful traveller. I’ve been wanting to speak with these guys for years, and when they happened to return from the tour while I was in Melbourne, it finally happened. Connected to the band's journey, in 2018 Lamine embarked on a search for a deeper understanding of how ancient musical traditions are embodied by the Guéwel elders of Dakar, Senegal. The project, called 13:12, has culminated so far in a film, guided by Lamine’s mother, and a live theatre production that previewed at The National Theatre Sorano in Dakar on this tour. It was said to be ‘an unforgettable blend of joy, emotion, and ancestral presence’. And when the band converged on Dakar at the same time, there was profound revelation, connection and healing for visitors and locals alike. The word Guewel means 'to bring people together in a circle', and that’s what we did a few weeks ago at Simon’s place. In the still of a late evening, a certain stillness enveloped this conversation too, through to a very special live rendition at the end. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript. (The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access for those who need or like to read.) Recorded 14 March 2024. Dedicated to Lamine's mother, Guewel elder Oumy Sene. Title slide: Lamine & Simon on stage with the Afrobiotics. See more photos on the website, and for more behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Disco Dakar, by the Afrobiotics. Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (with thanks to podcast Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the bicentennial episode. And who better to mark the occasion than this legend of regenerative agriculture, David Marsh. To visit Allendale Farm is like stepping into an incredible rewilding of country – as a livestock farm! David’s been here for nearly 60 years, the first half of which he ran industrialised cropping and livestock farming, which continued to devastate the land, his bank account, his family’s health, and increasingly, his conscience. The second half, he ditched the cropping and started to run livestock regeneratively, letting the land do more of what it wanted to do. Now he sees birdlife akin to RAMSAR listed wetlands, 1500 new trees that seeded themselves, and myriad other extraordinary changes. And powering this enormous legacy, a family tragedy that continues to shape their lives in profound ways. A long-held hope, my family visited David and his wife Mary near Boorowa in NSW a few weeks ago. I only half-jokingly wanted to call this episode ‘the do-nothing farmer’ – and even the ‘do-nothing and pay-nothing farmer’ - with reference to the deft, laid-back, ‘hands off’ approach David applies to the land, its self-organising regeneration so evident. But he thought that sounded a bit less than glorious, and insisted it’s more complex than that. I’ll let David explain, in a treasured exchange, in suitably golden twilight. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded at Allendale Farm on 10 March 2024. Title slide: David & AJ ahead of this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, featuring music chosen by guests (with thanks to podcast member Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. This podcast has been increasingly hearing about the extraordinary outcomes that can stem from deliberative democratic processes. I still hear from listeners about past episodes with people like Jeff Goebel and Amanda Cahill. So this week, we head to the nation’s capital to speak with someone I’ve been looking forward to meeting for years. Professor Nicole Curato is with the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. She’s also a prominent journalist, particularly in her former home country of the Philippines. She’s written op-eds for the New York Times, The Guardian & Al Jazeera. And she regularly collaborates with CNN Philippines, occasionally serving as a television presenter, and has hosted documentaries and produced podcasts. Nicole explores how democratic innovations unfold in the aftermath of tragedies, including disasters, armed conflict, and urban crime. To that we might add increasing stresses like climate change, housing and political polarisation. Nicole is the author of Democracy in a Time of Misery: From Spectacular Tragedy to Deliberative Action. Which might just as well have been sub-titled, from spectacular tragedy to spectacular deliberative action, such is the nature of some of the stories she has to share - in terms of their outcomes in the world, and their life-changing effects on those involved. And in a context right now where democracy itself is on the line, and with it the possibility of coming together to produce more of the extraordinary outcomes we know we can, Nicole was the person I needed to speak with. I suggested to Nicole that we meet in her favourite part of Canberra. She took us to Tilley’s. And what a place. No surprises then, that we wind up talking about how all this relates to social media, karaoke and Taylor Swift. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded in Canberra on 7 March 2024. Title slide: Nicole Curato at Tilley’s, just before this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng). To see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!

Send us a Text Message. Sam Vincent grew up on the farm where Charles Massy famously heard the call of the reed warbler for the first time in 150 years or so. But, like most millennials in his position, he wasn’t going to stay there. Until his old man now famously put his hand in a woodchipper. That’s when Sam left his inner-city life as a writer to help out, and unexpectedly found himself thinking differently about the farm, and his old man. Sam now runs Gollion Farm, with a suite of thriving enterprises, profound new connections with First Nations, and ongoing regeneration of country. And when he wrote a book about it all, called ‘My Father and Other Animals: How I took on the family farm’, it won the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. The book is billed as a ‘memoir about belonging, humility and regeneration – of land, family and culture’. Charles Massy calls it a delightful ‘must-read’, Anna Krien calls it ‘one of the most hopeful stories today’, and Billy Griffiths calls it a ‘rollicking comic memoir’. A few weeks ago, we visited Sam at the family farm, just outside Canberra in the Yass Valley of NSW to chat about it. Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.) Recorded on 4 March 2024. Title slide: Sam Vincent, under the crab apple tree (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page. Music: Green Shoots, by The Nomadics. Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from the film Regenerating Australia. The RegenNarration playlist, featuring music chosen by guests (with thanks to podcast member Josie Symons). Support the Show. The RegenNarration podcast is independent, ad-free & freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you too value what you hear, please consider joining them by clicking the link above or heading to our website. Become a member to connect with your host, other listeners & benefits, via our Patreon page. Visit The RegenNarration shop to wave the flag. And please keep sharing the podcast with friends. It all helps. Thanks for your support!