Place and Purpose

Greg and Obi invite Director of California Department of Parks and Recreation, Armando Quintero, onto the program. An experienced parks professional with expertise in park operations, outdoor education, equity and access, and diversity and inclusion in hiring and retention, Armando Quintero has a degree in environmental science and biology. He was executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research I...

When we embarked on the journey to create PLACE AND PURPOSE, our goal was simple yet profound: to immerse ourselves in the essence of a single location and use it as a lens through which to explore the complexities of our world. Now, as we approach our 23rd episode, we find ourselves reflecting on the incredible journey we've undertaken. We've asked countless questions, delved into a myr...

Greg and Obi invite author Manjula Martin onto the show. Manjula is author of the national bestseller The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History. She is coauthor of Fruit Trees for Every Garden, which won the 2020 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Martin edited the anthology Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living, and she was formerly managing editor of the...

Join us for an inspiring episode as our two esteemed hosts, Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann, dive into and explore Greg's newest book: THE FORGETTERS (Heyday 2024). 

Greg and Obi invite special guests Layel Camargo and Niko Alexandre from the Shelterwood Collective onto the show.  ABOUT LAYEL Layel is Yaqui and Mayo of the Sonoran Desert. As a transgender and gender non-conforming person, they’ve dedicated the last decade advancing climate justice through storytelling by creating campaigns like ‘Climate Woke’ with The Center For Cultural Power and supporting m...

Greg and Obi invite artist and illustrator Eric Wilder onto the show. Eric was trained early in his life as a traditional singer and storyteller by grandparents, Sidney and Essie Parrish of the Kashia Pomo people. Eric has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge through his art, stories, and practice of both traditional and contemporary native culture. He has served as a consultant on historic...

Join us for an insightful and inspiring episode as our two esteemed hosts, Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann, come together to reflect on the events of the past year and kick off the new year. Together, Greg and Obi will engage in a thoughtful discussion that delves into the highs and lows of the past year, sharing personal anecdotes and lessons learned, reflecting on the future, their aspirations, and...

Greg and Obi are joined by professor Adina Merenlender. Adina is a Professor of Cooperative Extension in Conservation Science at University of California, Berkeley in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Department, and is an internationally recognized conservation biologist known for land-use planning, watershed science, landscape connectivity, and naturalist and stewardship training...

Greg and Obi invite public lands policy expert Caryl Hart onto the show. Caryl Hart, PhD is an attorney and expert in public lands and park policy, with over 25 years of advocacy, scholarship and administrative experience. She is currently Vice Chair of the California Coastal Commission where she has served since 2019. Also, she serves as Chair of the Great Redwood Trail Agency. Dr. Hart served fo...

Greg and Obi sit down to talk with Rebecca Solnit, a writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe. Her books include Orwell’s Roses ; Recollections of My Nonexistence ; Hope in the Dark ; Men Explain Things to Me ; A Paradise Built in He...

Greg and Obi invite California's Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot onto the show. Secretary Crowfoot oversees an agency of over 25,000 employees spread across 26 departments, commissions, and conservancies. His agency is charged with stewarding California’s forests and natural lands, rivers and water supplies, and coast and ocean. It also protects natural places, wildlife and biodi...

Greg and Obi invite publisher Steve Wasserman onto Place and Purpose. Wasserman is former editorial director of Times Books/Random House, publisher of Hill & Wang and The Noonday Press at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and served as editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He is currently the publisher for Heyday, based in Berkeley, CA. This episode originally streamed live on YouTube on Aug...

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. This episode streamed live on YouTube Live. The video replay is available on YouTube after the live broadcast, and audio-only versions are available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and others.

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. This episode streamed live on YouTube Live. The video replay is available on YouTube after the live broadcast, and audio-only versions are available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and others.

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. This episode streamed live on YouTube Live. The video replay is available on YouTube after the live broadcast, and audio-only versions are available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and others.

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. They will explore their role as caretakers of California's old stories and what these narratives might have to say to and about the people of twenty-first century California. More than allegory, the agents of these stories offer applicability in regard to being of and from this place and how to experience it...

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. They analyze some traditional stories of seasonality, share  observations of what is going on in the more-than-human world, and discuss some policy points and cultural trends that are shaping 2023. Register for our mailing list to qualify to win a free book from Greg and Obi. Winner is chosen live during each epi...

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain. In addition to talking about all things seasonal, Greg and Obi will also be discussing the story "Coyote Creates People" from How a Mountain was Made by Greg (Heyday). They will dive into how this story illuminates the wisdom to be found in a dynamically changing world and how that wisdom can aid us in...

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain.

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain.

Recorded live on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at 10am PST ,  Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast from Sonoma Mountain.

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live, video-podcast. This time broadcasting from Greg’s farm in Northern California. Learn more at: placeandpurpose.live

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continue their live-podcast from the backcountry of Sonoma Mountain. This time, the two discuss the coming of fall, harvest, and other topics related to California's seasonal history, ecology, and indigenous wisdom. 

Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann launch their live, video-podcast from the backcountry of Sonoma Mountain. Called “Place & Purpose”, this 12-part series will cover a vast range of topics exploring what it is to be from California. Ranging from historic policy to traditional ecological knowledge, from scientific innovation to indigenous criticism, join Greg and Obi for this first discussion and the...