Podcasts

Who Would You Like to Hear on the Podcast?

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Podcasts
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Image: Library of Congress

If I had to assign a letter grade for my ability to email, schedule and book guests for the podcast I’d have give myself a big “F.” Which is why, dear readers and listeners, you have not had a Root Simple podcast in a few months. I’m hoping to have some more time to address this problem which is why I’m asking for your input. Who would you like me to have on the podcast? What subjects would you like me to tackle? Would you like to be on the podcast? Leave a comment or send us an email at [email protected]!

The image shows the onerous process of  “uploading” a podcast to Apple’s vast podcast warehouse.

127 Apocalypse Now with Father Mark Kowalewski

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Age of Limits, Podcasts, Thoughtstylings

This podcast conversation with Fr. Mark Kowalewski, dean of St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles, needs a longer introduction than usual because it might, at first, seem off-topic. But I think it’s safe to say that within the DNA of the urban homesteading, permaculture and ecological movements is a concern with how the world might end and the possibility of either hastening, postponing or avoiding the collapse of human civilization. Then there’s the fact that a significant portion of U.S. government officials believe in some form of a “rapture.”

Of course there are many divergent opinions on the nature of this end, everything from climate change, to energy depletion, to nuclear war to more fringy ideas such as near term extinction. I’ve always been interested in the stories that our cultures tell about the end of the world and what those stories say about present realities. Behind, on one end, the grim future of Mad Max, to another extreme, the techno optimist Mars colony fantasies of Silicon Valley executives is a ghost that haunts our imaginations about the end of things. That ghost, at least in the West, is John of Patmos and his hallucinatory book of Revelation.

Fr. Mark Kowalewski

I think it’s unfortunately too rare in our culture these days to consider the theological underpinning of the stories we tell. In this conversation Fr. Mark discusses everything from mainstream, orthodox views of apocalyptic literature to fundamentalist and evangelical notions of a “rapture.” We conclude with what these stories tell about our relationship to creation and to human culture. During the podcast Fr. Mark references:

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

126 The Wild Yards Project with David Newsom

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Gardening, Native Plants, Podcasts
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On the podcast this week Kelly and I talk to David Newsom about his Wild Yards Project. The goal of the Wild Yards Project is “to give you the inspiration and resources to re-wild your yard and to help others around you to do the same. 10,000 Species a Year Lost. 40 Million Acres of Lawn in the US. The New Wilderness Begins at Home.” During the conversation David mentions:

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

125 Green Burials with the Green Reaper Elizabeth Fournier

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Podcasts
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This week on the podcast Kelly and I talk to undertaker, funeral home owner and author of The Green Burial Guidebook Elizabeth Fournier. Elizabeth, known affectionately as the “Green Reaper,” owns and operates Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, Oregon (we’re not making that up). She serves on the Advisory Board for the Green Burial Council. You can find her online at the Green Reaper.  During the podcast we discuss:

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

124 Adam Brock on Forming Nurtured Networks

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Podcasts
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When I wrote a post lamenting the difficulties of forming and sustaining groups I got an email from Adam Brock, author of Change Here Now, a book which uses architect Christopher Alexander idea of a “pattern language” to find solutions to the many challenges in front of us. A large section of the book develops a pattern language for what Adam calls, “nurtured networks.”

From his bio: Adam Brock is a Denver-based facilitator, entrepreneur and designer. His work lies at the intersection of urban agriculture, sustainable business, and social change. He is a certified permaculture designer and a co-chair of Denver’s Sustainable Food Policy Council. Adam currently serves as Director of Social Enterprise at Joining Vision and Action, Denver’s premier consulting firm for social change organizations. Adam’s website is AdamBrock.me. During the podcast Adam mentions:

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.