Willoughby Hills with Heath Racela

Kim John Payne is an educational consultant and author of several books including Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of to Raise Calmer, Happier, More Secure Kids. For nearly three decades, Kim has served as a family counselor, consultant, and trainer for more than 200 public and independent schools . He believes that reducing the time commitments and physical stuff in a child’s l...

Larissa FastHorse is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and the first known Native American female playwright to have her work produced on Broadway. She wrote The Thanksgiving Play , a farcical look at four white people attempting to tell a culturally sensitive version of the Thanksgiving story to elementary students, which ran at the Hayes theater this past spring. Larissa joins Heath to discu...

Taylor Lorenz has been chronicling digital culture and social media for The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, The New York Times , and her current role at The Washington Post . She has made her name as an expert and well-sourced documentarian of the latest trends and cultural relevance of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vine, and TikTok. Taylor joins Heath to discuss her new book Extremely Onl...

Beth Hoffman is an author, journalist, and farmer. She spent much of her adult life in the San Francisco area as a journalist focused on writing about food and agriculture and a professor at the University of San Francisco. In her late 40s, Beth and her husband John decided to return to his family farm in Iowa to work as full time farmers. From that experience was born Beth’s book Bet the Farm: Th...

Saira Rao is an author, filmmaker, and activist. Along with Regina Jackson, Saira founded the group Race 2 Dinner in 2019, which encourages white women to have radically honest conversations about race. The dinners were so popular that Saira and Regina distilled their essence into the book White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better and the film Deconstructi...

Jane Wong is a poet, author, and professor of creative writing and literature at Western Washington University. Her new memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City is a series of essays about her life experience. She joins Heath to discuss the strained relationship she's had with her father after he left the family because of a gambling addiction, the influence of her mother on her own sense of beauty...

Sandra Goldmark is a theatrical set and costume designer, professor of sustainability at Barnard College, and the author of the book Fixation: How to Have Stuff Without Breaking the Planet . She joins Heath to discuss how owning things is part of being human, how her work as a theatrical designer informs her relationship to stuff, the parallels between the organic food movement and the reuse movem...

Jeff Jenkins is a travel blogger and influencer who founded Chubby Diaries after he noticed that there was a lack of content catering to plus size travelers. He has spent six years traveling the world now looking at ways to make travel more inclusive for all people. His new show Never Say Never premiered on Nat Geo and is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. On the show, Jeff pushes himself outside...

Luke Russert is the son of legendary Tim Russert of NBC News. When his father passed away unexpectedly in 2008, Luke followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a Capitol Hill reporter for NBC News. But it took him 8 years to realize that he wasn't fulfilled in that line of work. He then spent 3 years as a world traveler, visiting six continents to grapple with the grief of losing his father and...

Christian Cooper began birding when he was a young child and it's been a lifelong passion. Based in New York City, he frequents Central Park to watch for migrating species. After a viral incident in 2020, Christian was thrust into the spotlight, which he has turned into positive projects. His new show Extraordinary Birder recently premiered on Nat Geo Wild and his new book is Better Living Through...

Mark Ellison has been a New York City based carpenter for more than 40 years, working on some of the most custom renovation projects for some of the wealthiest people on the planet. He joins Heath to discuss his new book Building: A Carpenter’s Notes on Life & the Art of Good Work , which describes his philosophy on building and life and recounts the strange projects he's worked on in his career....

Ben Napier is the co-host of HGTV's Home Town and Home Town Takeover. He joins Heath to discuss the work that he and his wife Erin have done to make their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi a thriving city. He also talks about how he's taken the lessons learned in Laurel and translated them to Wetumpka, Alabama and Fort Morgan, Colorado. In addition to his work on HGTV, Ben once served as the preside...

Nick Offerman is an actor, woodworker, author, and touring humorist. On the 100th episode of the podcast, Nick joins Heath to discuss his approach to comedy in his live stage show, his scholarship of the works of Wendell Berry, and why he thinks nearly all of our problems can be solved with love. Get full access to Willoughby Hills at heathracela.substack.com/subscribe

Matt Sexton is a landscape and drone photographer who began taking pictures of landmarks around his hometown of Cleveland during the pandemic. He has gained a fast following on social media for the optimistic portrait that he paints of the city as well as for how he looks to other world cities to make Cleveland a better place. Matt joins Heath to discuss his process for selecting photo subjects, h...

Bethanee Bemis is a museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the curator of the new exhibit Mirror, Mirror: Reflections of America in Disney Parks. She’s also the author of the book Disney Theme Parks and America’s National Narratives, Mirror Mirror For Us All. She joins Heath to discuss how Disney has reflected and impacted American culture from the time of t...

Architect Sarah Susanka is the author of the Not So Big House series of books, which advocate for building smaller homes of a higher quality, rather than focusing solely on square footage. She joins Heath to discuss 25 years since the publication of her first book, the parallels between a Not So Big House and the New Urbanist movement, and her own architectural influences. Sarah also discusses her...

Architecture and design critic Alexandra Lange is the author of “Meet Me By the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall.” She joins Heath to discuss the problems malls tried to solve, strange modern malls like New Jersey’s American Dream, and why malls hold so much potential for our future needs. Get full access to Willoughby Hills at heathracela.substack.com/subscribe

Alejandra Ramos is a chef, food writer, and television personality who hosts the new PBS competitive cooking series The Great American Recipe.  Alejandra joins Heath to discuss the filming of her new show during the pandemic, the evolving definition of American food, plus her journey to sharing recipes on TV and her work as a contirbutor to TODAY. This is a public episode. If you would like to dis...

Elizabeth Almeida is the founder and owner of Fat Moon Mushrooms, a certified organic grower in the Boston area.  She joins Heath to discuss how she kept her mushroom farm afloat during the pandemic, the importance of a resilient local food system, and the wisdom waiting to be discovered in the forest. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

Jennifer Reitman founded DAME Magazine as a woman-owned and operated online publication with smart features about contemporary issues.  She joins Heath to discuss the challenges of running an independent media company, how she finds and cultivates talented writers, dealing with the exhaustion that many readers feel from the news, and the role of social media and self-publishing platforms on our in...

For more than 30 years, Wally Feresten has played an important role in iconic comedy shows like Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and the Amber Ruffin Show, where he leads the team that writes and holds the cue cards for every episode.  Wally joins Heath to discuss the technical aspects of the job, what it's been like appearing in frequent cameos during A Closer Look, and the busin...

Dr. Steven Gundry was a cardiothoracic surgeon before focusing his practice on how diet can cause or prevent certain autoimmune diseases.  He joins Heath to talk about Heath's experience with the Plant Paradox diet over the last sixth months and he also shares research from his new book Unlocking the Keto Code. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or g...

UK-based puppeteer Warrick Brownlow-Pike is best known in the US for playing Gonger on Sesame Street, but he's also had a long career on CBBC playing Dodge the Dog and other characters.  Warrick joins Heath to discuss puppeteering at home durng the quarantine, plus how he developed his craft from an early age, and how he got to Sesame Street. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss...

After a long hiatus, Heath returns for a conversation with maker Jimmy DiResta to discuss his new Netflix series Making Fun.  Jimmy talks about how the show originated with an Instagram post, the challenges of getting it made during the pandemic, and his thoughts on being his own boss and living on a farm in Upstate New York. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other s...

House flippers and renovators Jon Pierre and Mary Tjon-Joe-Pin return to HGTV this month with their new series Two Steps Home.  They join Heath to discuss filming the show during the pandemic, giving up their full time jobs to become house flippers, their path to HGTV stardom, and working with Erin and Ben Napier on Home Town Takeover in Wetumpka, Alabama.  This is a public episode. If you would l...