The Wild Spectacle Podcast

Ep #12 | Michelle Dowd | Forager

Show Notes Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast limited series with host Janisse Ray [https://www.janisseray.com] about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters. Michelle Dowd [https://www.michelledowd.org/] is the author of Forager: Field Notes on Surviving a Family Cult [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michelle-dowd/forager/9781643751856/]. The book showcases her life growing up on an isolated mountain in California as part of an apocalyptic cult, called The Field, started by her grandfather. In the Angeles National Forest she learned to identify flora and fauna, navigate by the stars, forage for edible plants, and care for the earth. Her memoir details how she found her way out of poverty and illness by drawing on the gifts of the wilderness. What saves her, ultimately, is her biblical relationship with the natural world. Michelle is a contributor toThe New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/at-home/coronavirus-create-your-own-night-sky.html?referringSource=articleShare], The Los Angeles Book Review [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/david-foster-wallace-said-i-spoke-to-him-like-he-was-a-dog/],  [https://catapult.co/stories/essay-when-i-left-the-cult-i-was-raised-in-i-learned-what-family-could-be-michelle-dowd]The Alpinist [http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web19f/wfeature-climate-change-the-thing-with-feathers?src=longreads], and other fine publications. A journalism professor at Chaffey College, she founded their award-winning literary journal, The Chaffey Review [http://www.thebreezepaper.com/the-chaffey-review] and has been named lecturer of the year. Highlights 2:30—Michelle chooses an 8 on the wild scale. Find out her three reasons why. 3:26—She tells about her wildest experience, living off and sleeping on the land when she was 16 years old. 4:09—“In my case I did not hunt.” 5:45—Why Michelle was afraid to talk about her childhood for a long time. 6:10—Embarrassment and shame. 7:00—How the cult used the latrine while on mission trips to Mexico. 7:27—Michelle’s feelings on the proselytizing she was asked to do as a child. 8:39—What her yard looks like. 9:00—She has never used a pesticide of any sort. 9:15—Concerns about the word “natural.” 10:30—The question Michelle asks herself every day. 10:55—Michelle suggests a surprising way to rewild. 11:20—Finding a relationship with the earth through the feet. 11:37—How this changes your relationship with the sky. 12:00—How we can become more comfortable eating wild food. “Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”             -Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire Thank you for listening. Please give this show a thumbs-up, leave a comment, post it on your socials, and/or forward it to your friends. Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans [https://tupress.org/9781595349576/wild-spectacle/]inspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. Or you may order at www.janisseray.com/bookshop. Find Janisse on Facebook at Janisse Ray [https://www.facebook.com/ReadJanisseRay/] and on Instagram @janisseray_writer [https://www.instagram.com/janisseray_writer/]. Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive. We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch at Janisse Ray’s website, janisseray.com/contact. Go Out & Play If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself. Let’s get wild!

Ep #11 | Susan Cerulean | Being with Shorebirds

Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast series with host Janisse Ray about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters. I want to welcome you to the show with a very special guest, the writer and my dear friend Susan Cerulean. Susan and I met in the mid-80s in Tallahassee, Florida, started a writing group, and basically still carry it on with a decades-long conversation about nature writing. In 2006 she published Tracking Desire: A Journey after Swallow-tailed Kites, which was named an Editors’ Choice title by Audubon magazine. Her book Coming to Pass: Florida’s Coastal Islands in a Gulf of Change was followed by I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird, which Terry Tempest Williams called “an elegant memoir of devotion and imagination.” Susan has worked ceaselessly on behalf of wildness—she is especially drawn to the coast and to birds. Highlights 2:20—Susan explains her place on the wild chart. 3:40—She talks about her book I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird. 4:45—This was a day when her father was in hospice and she was getting a “breather of a day.” 5:56—The bird in the middle was a red knot. 6:20—A short reading from the book. 7:40—Beside the dying bird’s head was a sanderling. At the rear flank was a second red knot. Nearby were two lesser yellowlegs. 9:00—These four birds were vigil birds. 10:30—“They were just being with.” 11:44—“We all continued to breathe.” 12:00—Shorebirds tie our planet together with their journeys. 13:15—Janisse talks about two words that particularly moved her. 14:08—Susan names the common spectacles she sees around her home. 14:49—The day cedar waxwings arrive & the day they leave. 15:10—A mulberry tree is a place of gathering. 16:16—The word that names Susan’s role in the world. 18:07—Think about your place as a bioregion. How does the place define herself? 20:50—Final advice. “Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”             -Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire Thank You for Listening If you like what we’re doing here, give this show a thumbs-up, post it on your socials, and/or forward it to your friends. Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans inspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. Or you may order a signed copy here [https://www.janisseray.com/store/p26/WILD_SPECTACLE_%7C_Paperback.html].  Find Janisse on Facebook at “Janisse Ray, Author” and on Instagram @janisseray_writer. Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive. We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch [https://www.janisseray.com/contact.html]. Go See Some Nature If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself.

Ep #10 | Susan Usha Dermond | A Shedding Snake

Show Notes Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast series with host Janisse Ray about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters. Bio Susan Usha Dermond is a teacher. She began her career teaching English in public high schools, then pivoted and taught for many years in the Education for Life system, mostly in the fourth through ninth grades at the first Living Wisdom School at Ananda Village in northern California. She is the author of a handbook for teachers and parents, Calm and Compassionate Children (Random House). She lives in the Sierra foothills of northern California in an intentional community based on yoga and meditation principles.  Her favorite activities are gardening, reading, and watching tufted titmice. Highlights 2:20—Susan names how wild she is. 3:00—The story begins. 4:05—“I noticed a little movement.” 4:55—The snake looks as if it has crawled through ashes. 6:00—“I was one with everything.” 7:05—We talk about people who animals trust. 8:15—Why Susan doesn’t put up feeders. 8:50—She names her favorite bird. 10:35—Susan names a very different way to rewild. 11:25—She calls for planting living growing things other than grass as space and cover for wildlife. “Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”             -Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire Thank you for listening. If you like what we’re doing here, give this show a thumbs-up, post it on your socials, and/or forward it to your friends. Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humansinspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. Or you may order at www.janisseray.com/bookshop. Find Janisse on Facebook at “Janisse Ray, Author” and on Instagram @janisseray_writer. Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive. We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch at Janisse Ray’s website, janisseray.com/contact. Get Outside Today If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself. Let’s get wild!

Ep #9 | Gary Grossman | Swimming with Fishes

Show Notes Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast series with host Janisse Ray about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters. Ep #9 | Gary Grossman | Swimming with Fishes  Gary is a scholar and multi-dimensional creator from Athens, Georgia. Gary recently retired as distinguished research professor of animal ecology at the University of Georgia, with most of his work in the area of fisheries. His graphic memoir is My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey. He is a poet, musician, and a lover of sustainable writing pens. Highlights 2:10—Gary chooses his place on the wild chart. 3:15—He donned a mask and snorkel and stuck his head in a California stream. 3:50—“It was an eye-opening experience.” 4:00—Deer Creek in the Sacramento Valley. 4:20—Gary speaks of the high biodiversity of the southern U.S.  4:30—Salamanders in Appalachia. 4:40—The number of fish species he would see in Appalachia. 5:18—He defines a microhabitat in stream ecology. 6:12—Streams in the West are typically quite clear. 6:45—Why humans are fascinated by fish. 7:00—There are more fish species than all other species vertebrates combined. 7:28—The strangeness of fish. 8:18—Riffle sculpin & tulle perch & rainbow trout & more 8:58—Why, if you walk up on a stream, the fish scatter. 9:15—But if you’re in the water, you’re a log. They don’t recognize you as danger. 9:55—As if Gary was seeing reality for the first time. 10:40—Nature in Athens, Georgia. 11:05—He speaks of mindfulness. Be in the moment. 12:25—Gary offers his tips on how we might rewild ourselves. 13:00—Place yourself in habitats where there are things to see. 13:10—The restoration of peregrine falcons. 13:40—The practice of studying nature. 14:20—The two books from which Gary learned how to forage.    “Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”             -Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire   Thank you for listening.  If you like what we’re doing here, give this show a thumbs-up, post it on your socials, and/or forward it to your friends.   Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans inspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. Or you may order at www.janisseray.com/bookshop.   Find Janisse on Facebook at “Janisse Ray, Author” and on Instagram @janisseray_writer.  Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive.  We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch at Janisse Ray’s website, janisseray.com/contact.  Go See Some Nature  If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself. Let’s get wild!

Ep #8 | Roseanna Almaee-Nejadi | Fog People

Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast series with host Janisse Ray about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters. Bio of Guest Roseanna is an activist who lives in the Olympic Peninsula, in Port Townsend, Washington. She is a full-time volunteer. Born in Texas, she spent 30 years as an educator, teaching English and reading, most of that time spent at Darton College and Albany State University. There she was editor of the Flint River Review. She and her husband retired to the Pacific Northwest, where she serves on many boards and committees aimed at making the world a better place. She is a poet and a keen observer of nature. Roseanna’s hyphenated surname is pronounced All my ee-Neigh jaw dee. Note Roseanna and I had trouble with a bit of distortion during the recording. Although she moved closer to her modem, we were not able to eliminate all of it. I apologize for any flaws you hear in the sound. Highlights 2:00—How Roseanna’s wildness comes out. 2:43—We think of fog as a blanket. 3:13—Fog was not just a blanket in fairy tales and mythology. 3:38—She is sitting in Snoqualmie Pass next to a dropoff thousands of feet deep. Here is a short video [https://www.yahoo.com/video/fog-waterfall-rolls-over-washingtons-111645072.html] captured by Seth Yates of fog rolling like a waterfall in Snoqualmie. 4:17—“I sense something or someone over my left shoulder.” 6:45—You can’t see the end of your car. 7:30—Something is very different about the fog in the Pacific Northwest. 8:00—Microclimates change the way fog acts in a place. 9:08—La Push, in the rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula, is home to the Quileute Nation [https://quileutenation.org/history/]. 9:23—Everything is alive, everything is sentient. 9:37—Roseanna lives among the fog people. 10:15—Three hundred deer people live in the city limits of Port Townsend. Here is a Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/PTDeer/] for the deer, filled with interesting photos. 11:30—How to get out in nature, even if you’re not athletic. 12:33—A plea that you not cut your lawn so often. “Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”             -Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire Thank You for Listening If you like what we’re doing here, give this show a thumbs-up, post it on your socials, and/or forward it to your friends. Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humansinspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. You may order a signed copy here [https://www.janisseray.com/store/p26/WILD_SPECTACLE_%7C_Paperback.html]. Find Janisse on Facebook at “Janisse Ray, Author” and on Instagram @janisseray_writer. Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive. We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch [https://www.janisseray.com/contact.html]. Enjoy Nature If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself. Let’s get wild!