The Hero’s Journey℠ Podcast

We all want to eat food, but we don’t necessarily have the wherewithal to learn where and from whom our food came. That is where good storytelling comes in. Today, our guest is the Emmy and James Beard Award Winning Sophia Roe. Sophia is a chef, writer, and the founder of Apartment Miso. In this episode we go deep into Sophia’s background and how that informs her advocacy today, her relationship w...

For our season finale, we have Andrea Rogers, a Senior Litigation Attorney at Our Children’s Trust. For over a decade, Andrea has been successfully litigating in the climate space and serves as co-counsel in Juliana v. United States , Held v. State of Montana , and Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation , and supports a number of other youth-led cases. In light of the most recent win...

“If you’re going to fight for anything, you should fight for freedom of speech.”  Today on the pod, we have the inimitable journalist Carey Gillam. Carey shares her Kansan origins, what drew her to journalism in the first place, her career trajectory from national correspondent to uncovering Monsanto’s wrongdoings, how she’s stayed resilient in the face of corporate pushback, the value of non-prof...

All environmental entrepreneurs listen up! Today we had the pleasure of speaking with the CEO and Founder of Symbrosia, Alexia Akbay. Alexia is a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 2022 class in Social Impact and Symbrosia is a CleanTech startup reducing livestock methane emissions with seaweed. We discuss Alexia’s background, how her seaweed product works and where it originated from, what she’s le...

If Elon Musk can put a gas station in a garage, why can’t you put a landfill in your kitchen? Joining us today is Matt Bertilli, CEO of eco-friendly company Lomi Home Composter- the first countertop composting appliance on the market. Does that sound too good to be true? Ashley certainly agrees, but she bought Lomi anyways and now has the greenest lawn in the neighborhood, sans chemicals. In this...

When you prioritize diversity over specialization, amazing transformations can take place. Paula Daniels, our guest today has activated this theory of change throughout her career and spearheaded institutional change on local and national scales. Currently, Paula is the Co-founder, Chief of What’s Next, and Founding Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing. In this episode, we discuss Paula’s...

Within the non-profit industrial complex, communities of color are chronically underfunded. This is a problem today’s guest, Iara Peng is working to solve. Iara is the founder and CEO of JustFund, an online portal democratizing philanthropy by connecting grantmakers directly to organizations. In this fascinating episode, we learn about Iara’s personal relationship with concepts of democracy, why s...

How do we overcome the personal and industrial inertia that keeps our society stagnant? The answer according to today’s guest, Senator Chris Lee, is with wholesale change. Chris Lee is a State Senator in Hawaii and was the youngest member ever elected to the Hawaii State Legislature. He has authored laws making Hawaii the first state to commit to 100% renewable energy and a carbon negative economy...

On today’s podcast we have San Diego’s clean energy godmother Nicole Capretz. Nicole is an environmental attorney, the founder and CEO of the Climate Action Campaign, and the primary author of San Diego’s 100% clean energy action plan. Nicole has been doing climate work and activism before people knew or cared about climate change. If you or someone you know is interested in politics, civil servic...

The less news coverage you have, the less accountability. In a society where local news outlets are collapsing, news is becoming more and more consolidated, news mistrust is at an all time high, and outlets are dependent on corporate funding, choosing to be an independent investigative journalist is an act of serious heroism. Today,  we have Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor-in-chief of...

What is the Hero’s Journey? Why has everyone heard of it? Why is it the title of this podcast? Who is Joseph Campbell? Today we have the Executive Director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, John Bucher to spill all the tea. In this thoughtful conversation, Julia and John talk about everything from his personal relationship with the Hero’s Journey, our collective Hero’s Journey, Joseph Campbell’s...

What happens when 21 Gen Z leaders step up to demand the US government take action on climate? How has Juliana v. United States transformed the climate conversation in the US? Let’s find out together! In this special episode of The Hero's Journey, we hosted a live conversation with youth plaintiffs and a lawyer from the landmark climate case Juliana v. United States. In this case, 21 youth pla...

"Whatever it is you're promoting, practice what you preach," -advice from today's guest, Miyoko Schinner. Founder of Miyoko’s Creamery, Miyoko is an epicurean activist working to transform dairy products through its evolution away from animal milk to plant milk, and has dedicated her life to inspiring others to adopt a compassion lifestyle through food and awareness of the animal...

When we tend to our inner gardens, we are better able to transform the outer world. Inner work is something our last guest of the season, Center for Food Safety Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell believes we must prioritize in order to be effective activists. This episode covers a wide scope of topics. Andrew and Ashley discuss his heroic journey from pianist to lawyer, the impact of his mentors,...

For today’s show, Ashley is delighted to be joined by the Center for Food Safety’s Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell to have a fascinating conversation with another world-renowned eco warrior, Vandana Shiva. Vandana Shiva is a quantum physicist, ecologist, activist, teacher, author and more. In this episode, Vandana and Andrew go deep into how the patenting of life and the antiglobalization movem...

We are the earth, and the earth moves through today’s guest by singing songs to empower us all to embrace our own earth warrior. Hila the Killa is an eco-rapper, educator, and comedian hailing from New York City. Growing up in the city, Hila was not regularly exposed to nature, but when she was, she found an all-consuming adoration for it. In this episode, Hila, Ashley, and Julia discuss how burni...

On today’s episode our guest is a vanguard, an activist, organizer, father, ordained chaplain, and a former farmworker. Baldemar Velasquez is the founder of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and an internationally recognized leader in the farmworker and immigrant rights movement. For the better part of his young life, Baldemar worked in the fields with his family, exposed to the harsh rea...

When you are engaged with world issues, it can feel more upsetting to keep quiet than to speak up. For our guest Sharon Lerner, reporting on and exposing powerful actors serves as her activist playground. Sharon Lerner is an investigative journalist at ProPublica and worked at The Intercept for 7 years prior. In this episode, Ashley and Sharon discuss the role of investigative journalism and story...

How does the earth want to move through you? In conversation with nature meditation teacher Mark Coleman, this episode is “soul food” for activists. Mark sees his work today as a quiet, rather than direct, form of activism that helps others deepen their relationship with nature. Contemplative activism sparks the realization that what we do is an expression of the Earth, and shines light on how we...

On today’s episode, we have the food movement “fairy godmother”, professor and prize-winning author Marion Nestle. With a doctorate in Molecular Biology, Marion didn’t know she was signing up for a career dedicated to food. But when she was assigned to teach a class in nutrition, what she learned about the food industry and its impact on public health transformed her trajectory. In this conversati...

“One never knows the impact that one’s activism can have.” On today’s episode, we have bestselling author, advocate, funder, and founder of Real Food Media, Anna Lappé. Anna has dedicated her life to critiquing and unpacking dominant food, health, and hunger narratives while also exposing industry tactics that keep us confused and paralyzed. In this powerful episode, Anna and Ashley discuss Anna’s...

Our relationship with the environment changes when we look at the land as a teacher and the animals as our elders. In today’s episode, Latrice Tatsey and Liz Carlisle share insights on being in relationship to the land. Why is it important that indigenous communities lead this work? How different would this work be if we acted with the next generation in mind? Latrice Tatsey is a member of the Ams...

What does a community value when it prioritizes the health of a grass lawn over the health of the collective? What is the relationship between activism, audacity, and low hanging fruit? On today’s episode, we speak with Mackenzie Feldman, founder of Herbicide-Free Cal and Re:wild Your Campus (formerly Herbicide-Free Campus). Mackenzie and Ashley’s conversation covers the decolonization of aestheti...

Are we undervaluing the role of the courts in enacting social change? What does it mean to codify a harm into the law? With two conflicting visions about the planet and our food systems at the nexus, how can food law pivot us towards a brighter future? All that and more in today’s episode with CFS’ very own Legal Director George Kimbrell. In this episode, George and Ashley dive deep into public in...

Not all heroes wear shoes. That is the case with our first guest Charlie Tebbutt, a pioneering environmental lawyer who has spent decades suing corporations across over half of the country, defending citizens directly impacted by industrial pollution. Charlie shares his journey from activist to litigator and the value of standing up and standing out. In conversation with our host, Ashley Lukens, t...