Biophilic Solutions: Nature Has the Answers

We’ll be back next week with an exciting new interview, but this week, we wanted to revisit one of our favorite episodes with Tim Lenton, Chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter and a founding director of the Global Systems Institute. Tim is best known for his work on positive tipping points . When we hear the phrase “tipping point,” we tend to think of disaste...

Death and decay are among the most natural processes that exist. And yet, we often approach them with fear rather than recognizing them as part of the natural world. In her new book, Carrying the Bones: Rituals for a Dying World , writer, multimedia artist, and professor Eileen Elizabeth explores the ways we mourn, not only for the people we’ve lost, but for relationships, places, ecosystems, trad...

Asphalt and concrete. Not exactly the sexiest topics in the world, but think about it: pavement is everywhere we look. From roads and highways to schoolyards and massive parking lots, it’s such a ubiquitous part of our environment that we hardly even notice it anymore. And there’s a reason for that. Pavement makes roads safer and provides ADA accessible sidewalks. But it also comes with a signific...

How do we continue to care for the living world when so much around us feels uncertain? On this episode of Biophilic Solutions , Monica Olsen talks with Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder, author of Mother, Creature, Kin: What We Learn from Nature’s Mothers in a Time of Unraveling . Chelsea’s book asks us to rethink what it means to care for each other, for the places we call home, and for the more-than-hu...

What can mushrooms teach us about becoming better humans? How can doula work, in the literal and metaphorical senses, help us navigate the uncertainty of the near future? These are just two of the compelling questions we’re exploring today alongside Madison Murphy Barney.  Madison is a Two Spirit Shoshone sister, a doula, author, and a public-health storyteller. She holds a master’s degree from Ha...

This week on the podcast, we’re revisiting a 2022 conversation with urban policy expert Diana Lind, author of Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing . In this episode, we explored the rise of the single-family home and the many challenges that come with it: the isolation created by large homes on expansive plots of land, outdated zoning, high energy use for relatively few...

Research suggests we spend close to 90% of our lives indoors. While we all need more time outside, there's another part of the solution: designing the places where we live and work to better support our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Monica Olsen sits down with two of the UK's leading voices in biophilic design: Oliver Heath, an expert in regenerative and wellbeing-led design for...

After five seasons of Biophilic Solutions , which ideas have stood the test of time? In this special compilation episode, Monica Olsen revisits some of the most impactful conversations from the podcast to uncover the common thread connecting the most powerful solutions to today's biggest challenges. From climate scientist Tim Lenton's hopeful vision of positive tipping points to Helena N...

What can our evolutionary past teach us about living healthier, more connected lives today? In this episode, Monica sits down with Andie Edwards, creator of the popular Instagram account Ancestral Habits , to explore how hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution continue to shape our bodies, minds, and relationship with the natural world. Together, they discuss evolutionary mismatch, our b...

How do the places we inhabit shape our sense of meaning, connection, and well-being? In this episode, Monica sits down with architect, author, and placemaker Dr. Phill Tabb for a wide-ranging conversation on the relationship between place, spirituality, and human flourishing. Together, they explore how thoughtful design, biophilia, ritual, awe, and sensory experience can help create environments t...

In this episode, we explore a question that feels more urgent than ever: what if healing ourselves and healing the planet are deeply interconnected? Monica is joined by author Lindsay Branham, whose book Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees chronicles her personal journey through chronic illness and toward a deeper relationship with the natural world. Guest co-host Florence Williams,...

On this episode of Biophilic Solutions , Monica Olsen is joined by wildlife conservationist and author Beth Pratt alongside special guest co-host Tim Beatley for a conversation about urban wildlife, national parks, and the future of conservation in our cities. As California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation, Beth shares the story behind the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife...

Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, has become shorthand for one of the most urgent environmental justice crises in the United States. Lined with more than a hundred petrochemical plants, it’s often talked about in terms of statistics and headlines. But in the new podcast The Corridor , those abstractions start to fall away, revealing something much more huma...

Climate change can feel overwhelming, especially for those already deeply attuned to the natural world. Alongside that awareness often comes anxiety, grief, and a lingering question: how do we move from overwhelm to action? In this episode, we’re joined by climate leader and author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson to explore her fantastic new book Climate Wayfinding . In it, Katharine offers a hopeful fram...

As we welcome a new season of Biophilic Solutions , we’re also sharing a bittersweet farewell to our wonderful co-host, Jennifer Walsh. From the very beginning, Jennifer has brought a thoughtful, grounded perspective to nearly every conversation, drawing on her work as a business leader and expert on biophilia.  The silver lining is that she’s stepping away precisely because her message is resonat...

Is it important to understand the cultural context of a place? And how can landscape architects help us feel more connected to the natural world? This week, we’re revisiting our most popular episode ever, a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation with Alfie Vick on Native American ethnobotany, environmental ethics, and the delicate balance between wildness and order. Alfie is the Georgia Power Profe...

Today, we’re revisiting a favorite from the Biophilic Solutions archive: a thoughtful conversation on beauty, the brain, and our relationship to nature with Anjan Chatterjee. In this episode, we explore whether our aesthetic preferences are culturally shaped or more universal, why nature brings deep calm to some people while evoking unease in others, and how researchers are beginning to measure th...

We’re excited to bring back a favorite conversation from 2021 with the incomparable Florence Williams. Florence is, of course, the acclaimed author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative , a book that beautifully explores the science behind nature’s profound effect on our minds, bodies, and sense of connection. It’s biophilia in its purest form. In this episod...

As we gear up to launch another season of incredible guest interviews we’re revisiting a few of our most beloved episodes, starting with the fabulous Doug Tallamy. Over the course of his career, Doug has become a leading voice helping people understand why native plants matter and how simple and accessible it can be to support biodiversity right in your backyard. In this conversation, we talk abou...

In a world where many of us feel increasingly disconnected from the Earth and from one another, author Lyanda Lynn Haupt offers us a way back. Through her blend of science, nature, and spiritual insight, she invites us to slow down, pay attention, and rediscover the wildness of everyday life. Her award-winning book Rooted explores what it means to cultivate inner wisdom and a deep sense of belongi...

What does it mean to truly love the natural world? And what happens when we start listening deeply to it? In this episode, we sit down with author and activist Maria Rodale to explore the themes in her latest book, Love, Nature, Magic : Shamanic Journeys into the Heart of My Garden. A lifelong advocate for organic living and regenerative agriculture, Maria has carried forward her family’s legacy a...

We think a lot about how people make us feel, but what about the places we spend our time in? In this episode, we explore how architecture and design influence our physical and mental well-being, from hospitals and workplaces to the spaces we move through every day. Our guest, Tye Farrow, is a world-renowned architect and pioneer at the intersection of neuroscience and design. His new book, Constr...

In a time of deep political division and environmental crisis, what would it look like to design a democracy that’s truly in harmony with the natural world? In this episode, we revisit a powerful 2022 conversation with David Orr , Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, editor of Democracy in a Hotter Time , and one of the leading voices at the intersection of ecology, education, and po...

Modern life often leaves us on the treadmill of constant striving, chasing markers of success that don’t necessarily bring fulfillment. But what happens when you step off that treadmill and reimagine what’s possible? Our guest this week, Steve Nygren, did exactly that. As the founder and visionary behind Serenbe, a biophilic community just outside Atlanta, Steve has spent decades exploring how the...

Regenerative agriculture isn’t new. To quote today’s guest, it’s an “exciting old thing.” Yet in the modern world, this ancient, innate wisdom often feels forgotten, and the consequences show up in our food system, in our health, and in the climate. At its core, the challenge isn’t just about farming practices, it’s about how we see ourselves in relation to the land. In this episode, Monica sits d...