The RegenNarration

This bonus travelogue traces a walk through Concord, Massachusetts, as we step into the living neighbourhood behind some of the most influential American writers and ideas.  Last week, we celebrated the 300th episode with a visit to the legendary site of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, where he wrote the famous book going by the pond’s name. The next day, we drifted into...

Walden Pond looks like the postcard version of New England, though the first thing I notice is the sound. A semi-trailer growls past, a train snaps by the lake, and a plane cuts the sky. That friction is exactly why I wanted to record this 300th-episode pilgrimage from one of the most iconic places in conservation history, where Henry David Thoreau lived for two years and turned detailed journals...

Three West Australian farmers sit down for a sharp, honest Q&A that cuts through the glossy version of “regenerative agriculture” and gets into the real work: what happens when your new practice fails, your numbers get tight, and the supply chain refuses to reward better outcomes. Jake Ryan, Tom Mitchell, and Rod O’Bree share the mindset shifts that keep them moving, from treating mistakes as...

A barley grower sees his farm logo on a beer can prototype and gets emotional, not because it looks cool, but because it represents a long journey to a certified sustainable, low-emissions supply web that holds up under scrutiny. From the stage at the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River back in 2023, we trace how this story runs from soil to sip and why “walk the walk” matters mo...

Many might think the hardest part of community conflict is finding the “right” solution. What if it’s often something deeper: listening well enough that a solution can even appear? We’re fresh off the Murray River / Dungala here in Robinvale, Victoria, as our first Confluence journey winds up. And a bloke who came up a bit during a transformative week of paddling, firesides and other yarns was Jef...

Last week’s very special guest was legendary rancher from Chihuahua, Mexico, Alejandro Carrillo. The episode was titled Re-Greening the Largest Hot Desert in North America with Donkeys, Love & Water . In doing that, Alejandro says donkeys have been a ‘secret weapon’. Sound familiar? That’s what Chris Henggeler at Kachana Station has been arguing is the backbone of the extraordinary regeneratio...

The Chihuahuan desert could sound like a place you endure, not a place you regenerate, yet Alejandro Carrillo has seen grasslands, birds and beauty take the place of erosion and rocks on the family’s Las Damas Ranch . Conservation organisations now seek this ranch out. And the broader region is now regarded as a regenerative hotspot. Here we unpack how livestock management, a lineage of too-little...

A room full of farmers, food system and other folk. Elders through to young voices. Wadandi Boodja underfoot. A simple, radical idea on the table: put life at the centre of every act and decision, and watch how agriculture transforms from a driver of degradation into a catalyst for healing land, health, and community. That’s the energy we carry back to Margaret River as we share a short presentati...

A life on the edge can sharpen your senses. That’s the unmistakable feeling of hearing Allan Savory recount the untold stories in and around Unsavory , his new memoir spanning childhood, wildlife, war, political exile, and the birth of Holistic Management - the extraordinary global movement regenerating the world’s grasslands, and by extension, everything else.  Allan shares why he resisted writin...

Now for something a bit different, and really special. Today we’re off to seaside Maine, in the far north east of the US, to visit Rachel Carson ’s summer cottage. Here was where Rachel wrote much of her last few books. It was a place she loved, and where she also soaked up her last days in Maine with best friend Dorothy.  It did feel like something of a pilgrimage, visiting the spirit of the woma...

A line of turbulence marks the edge of a burn scar, and the plane starts to buck. That jolt becomes a metaphor for the entire conversation: when we strip biology, we disrupt wind, heat, and water. Restore it, and everything changes. We link Perth to the wet season Kimberley and a bright winter’s day in Beijing to ask a practical question with planetary stakes: how do we turn knowledge into actual...

We’re off to Parliament House in Canberra today. But don’t let that put you off. Hot off the press, the Regenerative Food & Farming Alliance (RFFA) has just launched there.  The Alliance has been brought together with many a guest on this podcast over the years. Though one woman behind it all – and so much else – is someone I have been looking forward to having on the podcast since we met a fe...

Welcome to the 10th year of the podcast! And thank you. As an entirely listener supported show, it only happens thanks to listeners like you.  To start off the year, another form of thanks, and tribute, to a guest from 2023 who was so wonderful, as much for his brilliance as his grace. I’m talking of the late Manchán Magan , acclaimed Irish travel writer, documentary maker, radio producer, theatre...

Just one final highlight from last year, before we kick off the new series. Well, it was actually from 2024, but an excerpt of it was played last year, when the latest book from 5x New York Times best-selling author and friend, Paul Hawken, was released - Carbon: The Book of Life .  That 2024 episode and 2025 excerpt featured Paul doing a world premiere reading of the final passage of the book, in...

Ok, just a couple more bite size highlights from last year. Well, this one was actually from a few years ago, but an excerpt of it was played last year - titled A Laugh, a Cry and a Touchstone Moment, featuring Tyson Yunkaporta. And indeed, this passage in particular might still be the most moving and funny of the entire podcast. Certainly, the opening gambit has continued to come up in conversati...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode concludes with this incredibly special and personal group of episodes, from the heart of Mayan culture, Guatemala, Central America. This was actually the first series recorded in 2025, but took a lot more time to produce given the episodes released in both Spanish and English. And it was so worth it. Here are the...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with some pinnacle moments from the huge week in Western Australia on our return home. Here are the voices, places and tunes you're hearing: 0m - Oral McGuire ( ep 279 ), Noongar leader, with possibly the quote of the Regenerative Food Systems conference, Perth Stadium WA 0.28 - My day's summ...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with the final series recorded in the US, perhaps our most moving visit of all, at Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet Nation, with Long Time Charging Woman, Kim Paul, and colleague Andrew Berger. With an additional episode featuring a couple of filmmakers behind the documentary filmed on Blackfeet Nation, Bring...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with a couple of West Australians spread across the state, one very famous, one should be. Here are the voices, places and tunes you're hearing: 0m - Stuart McAlpine ( ep 272 ), award-winning farmer from the WA wheatbelt, with his own track Country Cousin (ahead of a major regenerative food system...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with two of the most extraordinary ancient places and cultures we visited. And last stop with a legend and friend in California. Here are the voices, places and tunes you're hearing: 0m - Dana Scott ( ep 264 and 265 ), Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, with Chauen , by Angel Salazar (from Artlist). 1.38 -...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with the trinity of episodes (and bonus extra) from the Osage Nation in current day Oklahoma.  It was an exceptional opportunity to speak with the Chief, featuring a powerful exchange capped by some funny anecdotes (one of each is in this clip). And Jann's breathtaking music accompanies the lot he...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with two of the guests with the greatest soundscapes of the year.  I just love the sound and spirit of African American elder, Lorenzo Washington, captured in this clip. And the clip from Christopher, with one of the great urban restoration stories, became somewhat of a catch phrase for our American jo...

Welcome back to our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode . These were a few of the best community-generated stories of the year, strongly among the listener favourites. I love this particular mini-highlight reel - the way the music plays off what these folk have to say, culminating in Jenny treating us to an impromptu rendition of an old Irish hymn. Unf...

Our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode continues, with these snippets from ep 252 , the most popular episode of the year. 0m - Patrick MacManaway, in Burlington, Vermont 0.41 -  Hours , by Patrick Sebag (from Artlist). 1.19 - Patrick MacManaway plays the penny whistle Title image: Patrick on-location in his home town of Burlington, Vermont, USA. To ac...

Welcome back to our curtain-raiser series of bite size highlights drawn from the 2025 wrap up episode . Today you're hearing Dan Kittredge, in excited revelation, then song, from Michigan. And a little from me celebrating episode 250 , down the road in Maryland. Love it when guests take off with the closing tune. Dan Kittredge, exhibit A in 2025. (Should have got him to sing at the end of the...