Spring Creek Podcast

Welcome to "Luminaries," a new podcast series produced by the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University. Sometimes we come across a piece of writing, art, or music so vivid and brilliant it leaves us unequivocally changed. "Luminaries" invites guests who love the planet to share a personal story about a piece of writing or art that inspires or sustains their environmental thinking or work. ...

This episode of Inner Nature is a warm exchange between old friends, Erin Geesaman Rabke and Leilani Navar, who, throughout this hour, weave together deep ecology, taoist cosmology, and the wondrous physical and emotional experience of being alive in a living world.  Erin Geesaman Rabke describes herself as a somatic naturalist—a practitioner who integrates embodiment methods for healing into indi...

In this episode of Inner Nature, we join Lyla June Johnston and Riane Eisler. Their conversation takes us across the globe and throughout the annals of time, from a deeply ancient, harmonious, Neolithic settlement to the devastation of Nazi Europe, and from the pre-colonial mound-building societies of the Muskogee right up to present day. Throughout, they contrast systems of partnership, kinship,...

In this episode of Inner Nature , Patricia Jennings, who goes by "Tish," and Owsley Brown offer insights on their work as collaborators for the Compassionate Schools Project , a curriculum that integrates empathy and mindfulness into elementary school education. Youth today, they say, are facing higher levels of anxiety and depression than previous generations in part due to rapid social and envir...

In this episode of Inner Nature, Dekila Chungyalpa speaks with long-time friend Mary Evelyn Tucker about a much-needed paradigm shift that would allow us to better hold space for the mystery and sacredness of our deeply interconnected planet. The mystery we're immersed in on this planet is extraordinary, yet conventional worldviews and strictly scientific understandings tend to be reductionist and...

In this episode of Inner Nature , David James Duncan talks with Fred Bahnson. Both David and Fred developed and deepened their own contemplative practices among the peaks of mountains and on the banks of western rivers, which in turn led them to lives of activism and advocacy. During this conversation, they invite us to consider many questions: Where do we find hope? And why is it necessary for su...

In the second episode of Inner Nature, which is part 2 of a 2-part conversation, Kritee Kanko and Kaira Jewel Lingo highlight the importance of creating small, local communities for processing grief and anger, practicing mindfulness, and taking climate action. The conversation also invites a broader perspective on the environmental crisis, as they discuss climate breakdown in terms of its spiritua...

In the first episode of Inner Nature , which is part 1 of a 2-part conversation, Kritee Kanko and Kaira Jewel Lingo set a foundation for understanding the mutuality and reciprocity of contemplative practice and environmental action. They invite us to consider many questions: How might we meet and hold personal and collective grief, anger, and trauma? How can we deepen our sense of "interbeing," or...

Welcome to the Inner Nature series—a collection of conversations between thought-leaders exploring the intersection of contemplative practice and environmental action. Over eight episodes, released once a month, we'll explore how we can tend to our inner lives so we have the creativity and clarity to imagine the future we know is possible and the mental and emotional stamina to work toward that vi...