The RegenNarration

‘A brilliant exploration of wildness in both nature and humankind.’ That's what Alice Winn said about the new book by Cal Flyn . Cal is an award-winning writer from the Highlands of Scotland, and the book is called The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness .  A five-year odyssey she sometimes thought would kill her, Cal travelled the world exploring the concept of wilderness as it ‘shi...

A plant that gives you salt and sugar. A forest “supermarket without the bills.” And a business model that treats farmers, foragers, and fishers like artists with a world stage, not beneficiaries waiting for help. We’re live at the 2026 Grounded Festival in the Otways with Helianti Hilman , founder of Javara , following her mission to help revive Indonesia’s rich food culture and turn food biodive...

This is somewhat of a momentous occasion. Liz Carlisle wrote a book called Healing Grounds a few years ago, and a listener brought it to my attention. Just as it was for Liz, it’s been really significant for me. Initially setting out to test regenerative agriculture’s claims on carbon and climate restoration, a bigger picture opened up. And a line from the last page has stayed with me since – ‘thi...

What happens when a regenerative farmer decides the land deserves a soundtrack? Cathy Briant joins us alongside Australian music legend Charles Jenkins (of Icecream Hands and other fame) to tell the story behind Country’s Calling , the album launched at the recent Grounded Festival . Country's Calling stemmed from the trials in Cathy's journey to becoming a regenerative farmer in Victori...

Soil can change fast, but what about people? We're coming to you live from the 2026 Grounded Festival on the extraordinary Yan Yan Gurt West Farm, stewarded by the Stewart family, in the Otways of Victoria, Australia. It’s early on day 1, the marquee Ironbark Tent is full, and we’re joined by global figurehead in agroecology, author of For The Love of Soil, and founder of the CREATE program w...

Birds chirping in the background of an interview might sound like a small detail, but a listener voicemail reminds us it can be the difference between a nice conversation and a felt sense of real regeneration. We’re back in the mailbag sharing the messages that have come in from subscribers, land workers, authors, career changers and long-time listeners, and what those reflections reveal about sto...

The Colorado River is treated much like plumbing on a map, but out on the ground it’s a living system with thresholds, memories, and consequences. I’m joined by award-winning photographer, filmmaker and adventurer, Pete McBride , whose latest book Witness to Water: One Photographer's Mission to Defend the Colorado River traces two decades of unexpected reporting and personal reckonings on the...

Clouds, soil moisture, and plant life are doing more climate work than most of us were ever taught and ignoring them leaves a huge gap in how we respond to warming. Here's the keynote from Dr. Katie Ross , at the recent Australian Water Association conference , that connects climate science to the living landscape, making the case that the climate “stands on two legs”: the familiar atmospheri...

Water policy often gets framed as engineering, compliance, and competing demands. Then Sheryl Hedges steps up at the Australian Water Association conference and resets the baseline: for First Nations people, water is not a resource, it’s a living being that carries memory, knowledge, and songlines. That single shift turns “allocation” into responsibility, and it turns river health into a measure o...

Back in March, Dr Katie Ross and I ran a canoe journey along the Murray/Dungala River, Australia’s longest, most regulated and mythologised river - to, as the bill put it, listen, witness, and create, in deep immersion and deep time. Could that help change the story of a magnificent but sorely ailing River and its communities? By changing our stories? By asking the River even?  We headed to the co...

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...