Mind, Body, and Soil

In this episode, Kate sits down with author and journalist Rachel Slade to discuss her books Making It In America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the USA (and How It Got That Way) and Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastore, and the Sinking of El Faro. Rachel’s books are incredible explorations of humanity and she deftly weaves together complex threads. We focus on Making It In America in the episode. The book is so much about where trade, manufacturing, farming, immigration, the textile industry, unions, and the history of the hoodie itself meet. We start by exploring how manufacturing made America and touching on the complex series of events that led to the offshoring of the majority of American manufacturing after NAFTA. This episode is about grit and determination and a commitment to vision by American Roots, the hoodie company featured in the book, and what entrepreneurship means and what it might mean to manufacture in America once again. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about history, geopolotics, economics and the externalities of focusing solely on the bottom line. It’s about building and re-building community and networks of support and it’s about what it means for us, as humans, to make things by hand. We also talk about; Men’s mental health Supply chains Find Rachel: Making It in America Into the Raging Sea Articles + Essays Instagram: @rachelmslade Made in USA Brands Resources Mentioned: Fields of Gold by Madeleine Fairbairn: 90% of Everything by Rose George Eating Nafta Rachel on the Julian Dorey Podcast: Melanie Challenger’s On Extinction Also Check Out Episodes -Kate’s Solo on Resources -Melanie Challenger

In this week’s episode Kate sits down with the lovely, the ineffable, the effervescent May Lindstrom. Together they explore themes of grace, slowness, and the intricate dance between our inner and outer worlds. May shares many of her incredible stories and laces throughout them a call to live a life full of compassion and love and a cherishing of the everyday. She invites us to think about how we connect to ourselves and to nature, about what it might mean to grow old while integrating the perspectives of ourselves when we were younger, and to follow a north star of love. Throughout is a conversation about what it means to have a body that is bodying - whether that’s your body, a worm body, or to imagine all the other bodies that surround us. She also dives into frontloading pleasure, making a mess, and building something you really believe in. May’s words and wisdom shine in this episode that is really about coming home to yourself. Find May: May Lindstrom Skin Instagram: @maylindstromskin If you loved this episode: With Caroline Nelson With Lacey Jean Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food

In this episode, materials scientist and engineering professor Deb Chachra shares about infrastructure. Her book ‘How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems that Shape Our World’ is a multi-layered dive into infrastructure. In this episode, Deb and Kate explore ideas of how we move resources to bodies and waste away from bodies. It is a brief exploration of the rise of globalization and our telecommunications, physical infrastructure, and roads, but it is also an exploration of how access to energy is also access to agency. In it, the concept of ‘away’ is explored - whether it’s the away that we send our waste or the away from which we extract resources using human labor and the complexities of infrastructure’s harms and benefits. It’s also a re-imagining of what the future could look like, which Deb reminds us “is not inevitable” and how we can ask ourselves questions about our values and how we might shape the our care for people now and in the future. Infrastructure is a big and complex subject and Deb’s book deftly explores it. This episode is a small peek into her work. Find Deb: How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World by Deb Chachra Metafoundry Newsletter X: @debcha Instagram: @debcha Books Mentioned: Crossings by Ben Goldfarb Do Artifacts Have Politics? By Langdon Winner The Power Broker by Robert Moses Golden Gulag by Ruth Wilson Gilmore Other Episodes of Interest: With Ben Goldfarb Solo on Infrastructure Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool KateK20 for 20% off Herbal Face Food

Sand. It’s everywhere and it’s foundational to the built and digital worlds, yet we rarely see or think about it. Vince Beiser’s the World in a Grain tells the story of sand as it makes its way into the materials that make up our world: concrete, glass, silicon chips, and beyond. In this episode of the podcast, we explore some of the broader implications of sand - what it means to build worlds, how to grapple with the largesse of sand’s impact as we run out of this critical resource, and what, if anything, we can change in our relationship to sand. It’s about infrastructure, but it’s also about our relationship to infrastructure and how often the use of more resources begets the use of… more resources. We dive a little into the magic of sand, not just to house and transport us, but also the creation of the lens and how sand allows us to see things really small, really far away, and also really everyday - through glasses. We also talk about time, which sand is a measurement for and also a manifestation of, with the average grain of sand created over 200 million years. This is a conversation that will change the way you see and relate to your world. Find Vince: World in a Grain: the Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization Power Metal Newsletter X: @VinceBeiser Website Books Mentioned: Crossings and Eager by Ben Goldfarb Ninety Percent of Everything with Rose George Other Episodes of Interest: With Ben Goldfarb Solo on Infrastructure Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food

Our relationship to resources shapes the world. Our food, our clothing, our devices, our building materials and the infrastructure that underpins moving them from place to place. On this podcast, we've explored a lot around food as a resource - its impact on land and human health and some of the inputs and externalities of our food system. Now, I'd like to take a turn to explore some other resources and the ubiquitous, yet unseen, infrastructure that moves them to us and our waste products away from us. Coming episodes will be filled with this exploration and so I want to give us a little primer on why this became so interesting to me and why it matters. Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food

In this episode of the podcast, Kate sits down with author and poet Melanie Challenger to discuss her two books How to Be Animal and On Extinction. Melanie also hosted the beautiful podcast ‘Psychosphere’ exploring the minds of animals outside of the human animal. This episode explores our disconnection with nature and how it begins in childhood and how it might separate us from the truth that we, as humans, are also animals. It explores what it might mean to come home to the realization that we are animals. Death, mortality, and grief and their roles in our animal bodies are explored as is our human superpower ability to love. This is big episode with a lot of beautiful explorations into what it really means to be human. Find Melanie: How to Be Animal by Melanie Challenger On Extinction by Melanie Challenger Galatea by Melanie Challenger Resources Mentioned: Animals in the Room Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool KateK20 for 20% off Herbal Face Food

In this episode, I (Kate Kavanaugh) sit down with Cole Mannix of Old Salt Co-Op to talk about vertically integrating the agriculture of the middle with systems that are built to serve ranchers and consumers alike. Cole talks about his innovative business (and funding) structure, the upcoming Old Salt Festival in Helmville, Montana in June (I went last year and spoiler alert: it’s amazing) and the business they’re building to serve a regional food system. At least, those were all the topics that brought us to the table to talk. But what came out was something a bit different - it was about what it means to live a good life and a good death, about how limits can give us surprising freedom, and what it means to build a business that you can truly live in. This episode is about taking risks and dreaming really big dreams, really digging into what it means to build bridges and communities, and about what we might leave our children. Cole, with a varied background in biology, philosophy, and theology who grew up on the Mannix Family Ranch, had a lot to say, and to be honest, I just sat and listened. Find Cole and Old Salt: Old Salt Festival Instagram Old Salt Coop Instagram Old Salt Outpost Instagram Old Salt Co-Op Festival Early Bird Tickets Old Salt Co-Op Old Salt Producer Webinars Resources Mentioned: The Cross and the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth The Haimish Line Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool KateK20 for 20% off Herbal Face Food

Robby Sansom is one of the founders of Force of Nature Meats and has a mind for marrying the qualitative with the quantitative. In this episode, Robby and Kate explore what it means to build sustainable business models, try to make really massive numbers a little bit more tangible, and speak candidly about the meat industry. It’s an episode that explores candidly everything about the tight-margined meat business, competition between smaller and larger shareholders within the industry, and what it might mean to have a triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet. Find Robby: Instagram: @forceofnaturemeats What Good Shall I Do Conference (April 19+20) Episode with Katie Forrest from FoN Resources Mentioned: The Tracker by Tom Brown Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool KateK20 for 20% off Herbal Face Food

Lily Nichols returns to the podcast to discuss what it means to optimize for fertility - and for vitality. This episode is for everyone: men, women, people trying to conceive and not! Lily’s new book “Real Food for Fertility,” centers on how whole foods can enhance fertility. The book is backed by extensive research with over 2,500 citations and comes recommended for those looking to improve their health. In the episode, Kate and Lily draw attention to the similarities between soil, animal, and human health, as well as the negative effects of modern living that underscore the critical role of preconception health. Tune in for a discussion that includes explorations on egg/sperm quality, menstruation as a vital sign, amino acids, vegetarian diets in pregnancy, micronutrient balance, and more! Find Lily: Instagram: @lilynicholrdn First Episode with Lily Real Food for Fertility Real Food for Pregnancy Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Irene Lyon’s SmartBody SmartMind Program (Feb 13-Feb22nd): Sign Up Here Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food MINDBODYSOIL_15 for 15% off Redmond Real Salt

In this episode, Kate sits down with author Ben Goldfarb to discuss the profound effects of beavers and humans on ecosystems, particularly through the construction of roads and habitats. Ben Goldfarb is the author of Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet and Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. In this episode we explore a world filled with paradox, interconnectedness, and circularity. It’s a dialogue about the differences, and similarities, in how beavers and humans approach world building that uncovers thoughts on our built vs natural worlds and the implications for the future, the environment, and our communities. Ben shares some about the history of roads and how they bring us both closer to and further away from nature and from one another. Simultaneously, we explore how roads tend to beget more roads, just like how beaver dams tend to beget a more interconnected ecology. This is a big conversation, a fantastic interview that spans topics large and small to give listeners an idea of how we might build a better path forward. Find Ben: X (formerly Twitter): @ben_a_goldfarb Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet Eager: The Suprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food MINDBODYSOIL_15 for 15% off Redmond Real Salt

In this episode, Kate sits down with Dr. Julia Skinner to discuss all manner of things, as it tends to be when two generalists sit down together. Julia’s work is multi-disciplinary, weaving together threads of her interests into a celebration of creative practice, fermentation, food history, the history of libraries, and beyond. The conversation explores the cultivation of both process and practice for creatives and how it can be made tactile in the art of fermentation. Julia, a writing and creative coach, shares what it takes to make a container for transformation of self, or cabbage, or community, or your creative goals and how play and celebration can facilitate and deepen that practice. We also discuss some of the structures and stories we’re told from society and culture about creative practice (amongst other things) and how we might begin to reframe and dismantle them into something that is joyful. It is also about doing away with the idea of failure altogether, if not for ourselves, than for the sake of the community we’re collaborating with. At it’s heart, this about transformation, process, and cultivation and is the perfect antidote to hustle culture’s idea of goals. We also talk about: Somatic Experiencing and Embodiment Creating Ferments Find Julia: Email: Julia@root-kitchens.com Instagram: @yourrootsandbranches, @bookishjulia, @rootkitchens Roots + Branches Our Fermented Lives Oracle Deck Books Mentioned: Range by David Epstein The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm True Home of Wool Herbal Face Food Redmond Real Salt

Scott Carney makes his second appearance on the podcast to talk about his new book Dream: the Art and Science of Slumber. It's a deliciously short book that reframes sleep. It's a little bit science and a little bit art and it manages to quote Jurassic Park once, so it's a big win. In this episode, Scott and I chase some rabbits around ideas related to sleep. Have we couched sleep in the language of economic productivity and forgotten what it is to dream? Does our sleep distill our life into emotions and do those exist to form the basis of our memories and who we are in waking life? What does the spectrum between sleep and wake say about our consciousness? We also touch in on Scott's dreams of anacondas and what a rumen does anyway. This is a podcast that gives you, amongst many things, permission to dream. Find Scott: Scott's Most Recent Book: Dream: the Art and Science of Slumber Scott's YouTube Scott's Instagram: @sgcarney Scott's Other Books Previous MBS Episode with Scott Books Mentioned: the Experience Machine by Andy Clark Saving Time by Jenny Odell Now by Richard Muller Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman Yoga Nidra by Kamini Desai Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Connect with Kate: Instagram email: kate@groundworkcollective.com Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of WoolHerbal Face FoodRedmond Real Salt

In this solo episode, Kate dives into those spaces that are neither here nor there, the "in betweens", exploring the idea that when we set goals now (point a) for a place in the future (point b), the real gift is the process that unfolds in between. With that in mind, Kate explores the tension between not wanting to fall into the hustle and productivity-driven culture of goal setting but also enjoying, frankly, the process of evaluation and setting goals. This is also an exploration of Type 2 fun, that space between not enjoying something in the moment and enjoying it immensely looking back on it. There are some notes on words and how naming something can guide us and a little invitation for the new year and how to get on a waitlist for Kate's latest offering. This is a fun and relatively short episode. Find Kate: Subscribe to the Mind, Body, and Soil Podcast Instagram Resources: Crown Shyness MBS episode with Ed Roberson MBS episode with Erin Pata MBS episode with Anthony Gustin Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool

In this episode Kate is joined by author Rebecca Clarren to explore her book Cost of Free Land; Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance. The Cost of Free Land explores an entwined history; one of Rebecca’s Jewish ancestors and their land in South Dakota and the Lakota that had been forced off that land by the US government. In the podcast, Rebecca explores the profound role of storytelling and history in shaping cultural narratives across different communities within the broader tapestry of history in America - touching on both the stories passed down through her family and the stories she uncovers through the course of the book in speaking with members of the Lakota Nation and uncovering history. They discuss the importance of the stories that are told and those that remain untold, considering their lasting impact on future generations and how personal and cultural narratives intertwine to inform our understanding of the present. Throughout, the deep complexities, and atrocities, of history and the intergenerational effects of historical events are explored - illuminating the stories we may not have heard in classrooms or textbooks and what actions and responsibilities we can take as we work towards healing. Find Rebecca Clarren: The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance Instagram: @rclarren Website Resources Mentioned: Reconciliation Rising Indian Land Tenure Foundation Landback Books Mentioned: Hitler’s American Model by James Whitman Learning from the Germans by Susan Neiman Caste by Isabel Wilkerson Control by Adam Rutherford Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

In this episode, Kate is joined by Dan Egan, author of the Devil’s Element: Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance. Why phosphorus? Phosphorus is vital for life on Earth and plays a pivotal role in fertilizers that sustain agriculture. However, it’s also a finite resource where its overuse in fertilizers has led to significant environmental concerns such as toxic algae blooms. The history of phosphorus, from its isolation as an element, to its sordid history and its various applications, including warfare, is explored. Somehow, phosphorous is at the heart of our food system, the conception of the soap opera, the Clean Water Act, and the children’s rhyme “Shelly sells seashells by the seashore.” Its history is nothing short of sordid and it is “the gravest natural resource shortage you’ve never heard of.” Dan and Kate also explore future sources of phosphorous and whether or not waste is really waste at all. This is an essential part of understanding agricultural systems and a great interview. Find Dan -the Devil’s Element: Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance Resources Mentioned: Farmer’s of Forty Centuries: Organic Farming in China, Korea, and Japan by F. H. King Interview with Dan on Sustainable Dish Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

This week, Kate sits down with author Cat Bohannan to talk about her book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. This conversation takes you on a captivating journey through the intricacies of human evolution viewed through the stories our bodies have to tell - and the female body in particular. In this podcast, they explore elements of the book as well as exploring what it means to look at the narrative arc of female bodies through deep time. We look at how our evolution is a product of environment, culture, behaviors, context, and bodies exploring topics like menopause and menstruation, tool use, mating behaviors, and so much more. Cat shares a message of agency and empowerment and what it might mean to think about how the human species might evolve from here. Find Cat: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution X (Twitter): @catbohannon Books Mentioned in the Podcast: Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken Skin: A Natural History by Nina Jablonsky Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip

Lindsey Browne Davis is a writer, hunter, entrepreneur, and naturalist. Based in Salt Lake City, Lindsey draws from her experiences farming, foraging, hunting, and running businesses to talk candidly about chasing our dreams, even when it feels almost impossible. This is a wide ranging and inspiring podcast where we discuss the overlap between stewarding land and our own bodies, building connection with our ecosystem, failing, hunting, and being a citizen scientist. Lindsey has a way of explaining both the terrain around her and her inner terrain with aplomb. We explore ecosystem services and how to be of service to your ecosystem. She also talks about her hope for her (now born!) baby and what life may look like as a mother and hunter both. Find Lindsey @lindsey.browne.davisWebsite Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

Hey. It’s Kate. I’ve been absent and I want to talk some about why and what it means to be in a challenging season of life. So often we hear from people once they reach the other side of challenge - but we rarely hear from them when they’re in the thick of it. Well, I’m in the thick of it, and so this vulnerable episode is three parts: where I’ve been and what’s going on, how I’ve been literally and figuratively putting one foot in front of the other, and where the podcast is going (hint: it’s coming back! I need it and maybe you do, too.) This is a vulnerable episode that I’m a little waffly on releasing, but feel strongly that there is a call to share honestly. It is also an exploration of walking as a practice of moving through hard times. Why walking as exercise, as a practice, as a meditation? I answer all that and more in today’s episode. RESOURCES Wanderlust by Rebecca SolnitMountains of the Mind by Robert MacFarlaneThe Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

Irene joins the Mind, Body, and Soil podcast for her third visit to discuss what it means to become apprenticed to your body. Better yet, a little tardiness on Kate’s part at the beginning of the episode allows Kate and Irene to explore in real time the difference between a regulated and dysregulated nervous system. In it, the idea of “window of tolerance” is teased apart. All in all this is a short and sweet episode about connecting in with your body. RESOURCES SmartBody SmartMind Program21 Day Nervous System Tune-UpPart 1Part 2Kate’s Interview on Irene’s YouTube Support the Podcast: Substack Leave a one-time Tip Current Discounts for MBS listeners: Farm TrueHome of Wool 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

In this episode, Kate gives us an update about regional food systems through the lens of her butcher shop, Western Daughters, and the decision of whether or not to close. What does it mean to support regenerative food systems as a food business - and where does financial sustainability come into the conversation? Kate leads us through the struggles each shareholder in the supply chain, including the consumer, is facing as she sees it. This leads in to an excellent panel that she was on in Helmville, Montana at the Old Salt Festival. Hosted by Mountain and Prairie podcast host Ed Roberson, the panel features Kate, Cole Mannix from Old Salt Co-Op, Dan Miller from Steward, and Wyatt Nelson of Wild West Local Foods. Together, they explore what it means to build a resilient, regional food system and all the triumphs and hurdles that are presented along the way for producers, consumers, distributors, and beyond. SPONSORED BY SUNDRIES FARM GARLIC sundriesfarm.com Support the Podcast: Substack Patreon Leave a one-time Tip