The Burden of Culture with Gary Johns

Cultivate Farms with Sam Marwood

Title: Cultivate Farms - Rebuilding the Pathway to Farm Ownership Guest: Sam Marwood Recorded: April 2026 My guest today is Sam Marwood, founder of Cultivate Farms — an Australian farm transition organisation attempting to solve one of the deepest structural problems in modern agriculture: How do you keep farms alive, productive, and locally stewarded when the traditional pathway into ownership has almost completely collapsed? Cultivate Farms sits somewhere between a farm succession platform, an ownership innovation project, a transition advisory group, and a farm matchmaking network. Sam and his team work to connect retiring farmers, aspiring farmers, investors, and regional communities in order to create viable new pathways into agriculture through shared ownership models, succession planning, community investment, and long-term transition structures. Importantly, Sam is not advocating nostalgia or simply telling people to “go back to the land.” He is trying to engineer entirely new ownership pathways under modern conditions: rising land prices, ageing farmers, succession collapse, investor capital, and a generation increasingly locked out of entry. This conversation also touches on the philosophy of Wendell Berry, whose work has deeply influenced my thinking. Berry once wrote that “eating is an agricultural act,” meaning that no matter how abstract modern life becomes, we are never truly disconnected from the land and systems that sustain us. Modern economies are remarkably efficient at hiding those systems. Food appears from nowhere. Ownership concentrates elsewhere. Communities quietly decline. Productive life becomes something many people observe rather than participate in directly. What makes Cultivate Farms so compelling is that it attempts to rebuild a pathway back into stewardship, continuity, responsibility, and participation in something tangible and deeply real — not through nostalgia, but through institutional invention and out-of-the-box thinking. Sam has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of agriculture and conservation. He is the author of six books, including You Can Own a Farm, Ageing on Farm, Community Owned Farms, The Cultivate Farms Succession Guide, Your Farm Your Legacy, and No Better Place. Links and interview references: Cultivate Farms www.cultivatefarms.com [www.cultivatefarms.com ] Cultivate Farms Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms/ [https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms/ ] Cultivate Farms YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@CultivateFarms [https://www.youtube.com/@CultivateFarms ] NFSA Film Australia [https://www.youtube.com/@NFSAFilmAustralia/search?query=farms]

The War Against the Sun with William B. Grant

Title: The War Against the Sun Guest: William B. Grant Recorded: April 2026 For millions of years humans evolved under direct sunlight — skin, hormones, immune systems, and even our DNA all tuned to it. Yet modern dermatology declared the sun public enemy number one. Vitamin D, sunlight, and the hidden “war against the sun” — why avoiding sunlight may double your mortality and cancer risk. For millions of years humans evolved under direct sun exposure, yet modern dermatology and the $15-billion sunscreen industry declared the sun public enemy number one. In this episode we unpack the evolutionary blueprint that makes sunlight essential for health, the 1980s American Academy of Dermatology rebrand that turned dermatologists into sun-cancer warriors, and the uncomfortable data: despite decades of fear messaging, melanoma rates in the US and Australia have roughly doubled since the mid-1980s.Drawing from A Midwestern Doctor’s explosive editorial Dermatology’s Horrendous War Against the Sun, we explore diagnostic drift, chemical sunscreen absorption, and the dermatology market now exceeding $8 billion in the US alone. Physicist-turned-vitamin-D researcher William B. Grant joins the show to reveal why so many randomised trials on vitamin D fail (they ignore baseline levels and achieved serum levels), the real benefits for cancer, diabetes, pregnancy outcomes, and eight of the top ten causes of death, and why observational data tells a very different story from the official narrative. We close with a bigger question: what happens when we use sunscreen to override the ancient evolutionary bargain our bodies struck with the sun — trading circadian rhythm, nitric oxide, and natural protection for the illusion of unlimited exposure? A must-listen if you’ve ever questioned the sunscreen dogma or wondered whether the sun is actually the villain we’ve been told it is. Listen now and step back into the light. Links and interview references: Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center - https://www.sunarc.org/ [https://www.sunarc.org/ ] William B. Grant - Key Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Grant+WB&cauthor_id=11920550 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Grant+WB&cauthor_id=11920550 ] Dermatology's Disastrous War Against The Sun editorial by A Midwestern Doctor: https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/dermatologys-disastrous-war-against-f81 [https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/dermatologys-disastrous-war-against-f81 ] U.S. Dermatological Drugs Market Report: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-dermatological-drugs-market-report [https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-dermatological-drugs-market-report] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/dermatological-drugs-market/united-states [https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/dermatological-drugs-market/united-states] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/us-dermatological-drugs-market-analysis [https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/us-dermatological-drugs-market-analysis] Australia Dermatological Drugs Market: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/dermatological-drugs-market/australia [https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/dermatological-drugs-market/australia]

The Burden of Culture with Gary Johns

Title: The Burden of Culture - Why Money Can't Fix Australia's Indigenous Divide Guest: Gary Johns Recorded: January 2026 In this podcast episode, Gary Johns, a former Labor politician and author of The Burden of Culture: How to Dismantle the Aboriginal Industry and Give Hope to Its Victims (published in 2022 by Connor Court Publishing), explores the challenges facing Aboriginal communities in Australia. Drawing from his book's central thesis, Johns critiques initiatives that aim to preserve Indigenous cultures but often perpetuate dependency and societal division. He argues that the dominant push for collective self-determination among Indigenous groups contrasts sharply with the individual freedoms available to non-Indigenous Australians, raising questions about whether such models truly serve personal circumstances or hinder growth. Johns highlights the financial realities, noting an estimated $5.3 billion spent annually on Indigenous programs amid patterns of corruption and mismanagement. He emphasizes the presumption that Aboriginal-run organizations inherently perform better, which he believes leads to a lack of accountability and systemic failures. Reflecting on societal apathy, Johns points to the 2023 Voice referendum as an example where the public rejected proposals that could create divisions, allowing ineffective policies to persist. He advocates for recognizing the achievements of Indigenous individuals who succeed outside collective frameworks, urging a re-evaluation of reconciliation efforts to prioritize empowerment over patronage. The Burden of Culture serves as the foundation for this interview, offering a provocative examination of how well-intentioned policies can trap generations in cycles of dependency. Johns draws on his political experience to propose dismantling the 'Aboriginal industry'—a network of programs and organizations that, in his view, prioritize institutional growth over genuine progress. The book challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about funding inefficiencies, cultural romanticism, and the need for policies that foster self-reliance and socioeconomic mobility. Listen for a detailed discussion on rethinking self-determination, the impact of government spending, and pathways to real change in Indigenous affairs. Links and interview references: The Burden of Culture by Gary Johns - https://quadrant.org.au/product/the-burden-of-culture/ [https://quadrant.org.au/product/the-burden-of-culture/ ] Close the Gap Research (CtGR), is a not-for-profit organistion dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of Aboriginal people facing adversity. https://closethegapresearch.org.au/ [https://closethegapresearch.org.au/] Ending the Civil War on Race and Culture https://democracyfirst.org.au/civilwar/ [https://democracyfirst.org.au/civilwar/] IPA Research Confirms $40 Billion Indigenous Spend Claim Correct https://ipa.org.au/read/ipa-research-confirms-40-billion-indigenous-spend-claim-correct [https://ipa.org.au/read/ipa-research-confirms-40-billion-indigenous-spend-claim-correct ] Commonwealth employee among three people charged over alleged multi-million-dollar fraud scheme. https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2025-11-15/commonwealth-employee-among-three-people-charged-over-alleged-multi-million-dollar-fraud-scheme [https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2025-11-15/commonwealth-employee-among-three-people-charged-over-alleged-multi-million-dollar-fraud-scheme ]

Roots Over Screens with Jake Wolki

Title: Roots Over Screens – Farm Life as The Cure for Urban Nature Deficit Guest: Jake Wolki Recorded: October 2025 "Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds." These are the words written by Thomas Jefferson an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States. Jefferson throughout his life remained a strong advocate for agrarian life, viewing it as the foundation of a virtuous and more importantly independent society. He believed that farming fostered moral character, self-reliance as well as positive societal outcomes, such as stronger communities and reduced corruption compared to urban or manufacturing lifestyles. What I like about his philosophy is he saw farming not just as an economic activity, not just as a mechanical process but as a path to ethical living, contentment, better family dynamics and personal fulfilment. The body of literature exploring the benefits of raising children in farm or rural settings is growing. There’s a lot of young farmers, homesteaders sharing their experiences online transparently where you can see how different young kids are when given the opportunity to engage in real life, in real work, letting their human instincts express themselves to their full potential. A cornerstone of this discussion is Richard Louv's concept of "nature-deficit disorder," introduced in his 2005 book titled Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In this book the author argues that this disconnection from nature is resulting in diminished sensory experiences leading to attention difficulties, increased obesity rates and emotional issues like anxiety or even depression. In contrast he argues that farm settings offer real and deeply immersive exposure to nature through daily interactions with animals, soil, weather and cycles of growth and harvest which subsequent research links to improved physical health, emotional resilience and different cognitive benefits like enhanced focus and creativity. Studies building on Louv’s work demonstrate that children with regular outdoor time in natural environments exhibit fewer ADHD symptoms, better mood regulation and stronger problem-solving skills positioning farm life and farm work as an antidote to urban “nature depravation”. Simply put farm-raised kids, by engaging in authentic tasks like tending livestock, planting crops, collecting eggs and so on, develop a deeper sense of connection to the real world, which supports their long-term well-being. In modern sustainable farming families, children are absolutely central, gaining socialization and ethical values from community involvement, which counters urban fragmentation and promotes a deep sense of belonging. To talk about all this and give us a perspective from the ground level as somebody who is in the thick of it, running a big farming operation and being quite successful at it I have invited somebody who I personally find quite inspirational. My guest today is Jake Wolki. Jake runs a beautiful regenerative farm near Albury on the New South Wales and Victorian border. Over the last few years Jake and his family have been on an incredible journey of transformation, learning and growth. A father of 3, soon to be 4 children, a dedicated husband, an innovator and all-round super interesting guy I think Jake the perfect person to tell us why raising kids in a real farm setting at least for some is far superior to mainstream urban model. Wolki Farm Store - https://wolkifarm.com.au/ [https://wolkifarm.com.au/ ] Jacob Wolki’s X - https://x.com/JakeWolki [https://x.com/JakeWolki ] Wolki Farm YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@wolkifarm [https://www.youtube.com/@wolkifarm] Wendell Berry’s The Unsettling of America - https://kyl.neocities.org/books/[SOC%20BER]%20the%20unsettling%20of%20america.pdf [https://kyl.neocities.org/books/[SOC%20BER]%20the%20unsettling%20of%20america.pdf ] Richard Louv - https://richardlouv.com/ [https://richardlouv.com/ ]

After Virtue with Tom Angier

Title: After Virtue - Why the West Risks Collapse Without Heeding MacIntyre's Moral Wake-Up Call Guest: Tom Angier Recorded: October 2025 A couple of years ago, an algorithm on a book-selling website recommended a title to me—I can't recall exactly where, but it doesn't matter. It arrived amid 30 other books and sat untouched on my shelf for nearly two years, gathering dust in my ever-growing pile of "must-reads." I'm a slow reader; on a good day, I manage 30-40 pages. My appetite for books far outpaces my ability to finish them, hence the dusty towers in my office.When I finally opened it earlier this year, it felt like discovering a map explaining our modern world's deep polarization and fractures. The material seemed fresh, though rooted in the works of philosophical giants like Aristotle and Aquinas. The book is After Virtue, written by Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre in 1981. MacIntyre, a Scottish-American philosopher born in Glasgow in 1929 to a family of doctors, was a restless thinker. Instilled with a sharp intellect and questioning spirit by his parents, he began as a Marxist, critiquing capitalism's alienating effects. He evolved through encounters with Wittgenstein, Aristotle, and Thomism, converting to Catholicism in the 1980s. By the late 1970s, he saw modern moral philosophy in crisis—debates reduced to emotive outbursts, lacking shared foundations or civility. This led to After Virtue, where he argued the Enlightenment's pursuit of universal reason shattered traditional ethics, leaving "emotivism": "good" reduced to personal preference shouted loudest. Upon release, After Virtue sparked a sensation in academic circles. Communitarians and conservatives praised it—thinkers like Charles Taylor and Michael Sandel lauded its revival of virtue ethics and critique of individualism as a lifeline for community morality. Catholics and traditionalists hailed its nods to Aristotle and Aquinas. Liberals criticized it as pessimistic and anti-progressive for dismissing Kant and Nietzsche. MacIntyre revives virtue ethics, emphasizing traits like justice, courage, and honesty cultivated through social practices, not rules. Morality emerges from narratives and traditions, offering meaning amid relativism. He warns Western society resembles post-Roman Europe: civilized but morally bankrupt, heading to barbarism without intervention. I finished After Virtue as news broke of MacIntyre's death on May 21, 2025, at 96. May his soul rest in peace. I'd normally interview the author, but instead found someone insightful to discuss it. The book helps navigate our hyper-complex world, so I wanted to share its message. My guest is Tom Angier, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town. Tom's research focuses on Aristotelian and neo-Aristotelian ethics and politics. Recent works: monograph on Natural Law Theory; edited The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics (2019) and The Cambridge Handbook to Natural Law and Human Rights (2023); upcoming Human Nature, Human Goods: A Theory of Natural Perfectionism (February 2026). Links and interview references: After Virtue https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/after-virtue-9781780936253/ [https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/after-virtue-9781780936253/ ] Whose Justice? Which Rationality? https://www.amazon.com.au/Whose-Justice-Rationality-Alasdair-MacIntyre/dp/0268019444 [https://www.amazon.com.au/Whose-Justice-Rationality-Alasdair-MacIntyre/dp/0268019444 ] Human Nature, Human Goods, A Theory of Natural Perfectionism - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/human-nature-human%20goods/CA87A9BFF30D8516D271DF5D7C08CAD4 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/human-nature-human%20goods/CA87A9BFF30D8516D271DF5D7C08CAD4 ] The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-natural-law-ethics/066446693DDE09647A73FA19FEF2142F [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-natural-law-ethics/066446693DDE09647A73FA19FEF2142F ] The Cambridge Handbook to Natural Law and Human - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-natural-law-and-human-rights/B1E1CEC2C502A8CA72DBB9F33FE29D90 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-natural-law-and-human-rights/B1E1CEC2C502A8CA72DBB9F33FE29D90 ]