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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we discuss Finite and Infinite Games: a Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by the late professor of religion, James P. Carse. We wanted to discuss this book because there’s a great difference between the pop-culture reception of this book and some of the deeper themes, which pertain profoundly to worldviews and how they cause us to interface with the living world in one way or another. We discuss the issues with some of the pop-culture explanations, as popularized by Simon Sinek, and delve deeper into the lesser known topics that are touched on in the book. We discuss a more nuanced understanding of finite and infinite games, players, and the worldviews associated with each. We talk about how death is conceived within each worldview, as well as how Carse is inconsistent on this topic within the book. We discuss artistry, poeisis, and what it means to be a infinite player, inspiring people to express their genius rather than “winning” the game of creativity. We go over the difference between society and culture; what waste represents; and how our relationship with nature is oppositional under the finite worldview. We talk about the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, as well as sharing a few personal stories. Ultimately, we discuss the difference between the machine and the garden within this framework (and how that applies to our project), and we really try to expand on what people typically understand as finite and infinite games to give this framework the gravity it deserves.
To listen to the full episode, upgrade your subscription to “paid” for only $5 a month or join us on Patreon. It’s the best way to support the podcast, our short films, and the writing we’re producing. It takes a lot of expense, time, and energy to produce this project, so every bit helps! Thank you to everyone who is already supporting us.
Death in The Garden is a listener-supported project. To support the us, consider becoming paid subscriber.
Use coupon code DITG20 for 20% off your order, and try out The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter Whipped Tallow Balms today!
We’re for hire! Check out our videography website to check out our show reel and connect with us about video and documentary work.
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com
On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we discuss the incredibly fascinating, profound, and instructive book, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist. Following a similar structure to the book, we first talk about what brain lateralization is; what the difference between the left and right hemisphere is (along with the misconceptions); the importance of attention, metaphor, and theory of mind; and then we talk about why this concept of left brain dominance (with right brain primacy) is so important. We then dive into the history as McGilchrist lays it out in his expansive book, showing the oscillation between the right hemisphere being respected, and the left hemisphere taking control. Always orienting towards the distinction between manifestions of right and left hemisphere attitudes and behaviors, we discuss antiquity, Ancient and Classical Greece, Rome, the Renaissance and Reformation, the Enlightenment, Romanticism and the Industrial Revolution, Modernism and Postmodernism, ending on today, where the left hemisphere (which governs our impulse towards mechanical thinking, control, quantification, objectivication, among so many other qualities) has taken dominion, leaving our humanity and earth systems imperiled. Of course, we talk about death, and the fear of death, and its profound role in all of this, as the left hemisphere abhors death and all that is uncertain. We then discuss what we might be able to do in the face our awareness of this incredibly potent phenomenon, and how we might again, allow the right hemisphere to resume its rightful place as Master.
This book is profoundly important (perhaps one of the most important books of our time), so please buy it, read it, and come to your own conclusions.
To listen to the full episode, upgrade your subscription to “paid” for only $5 a month. It’s the best way to support the podcast, our short films, and the writing we’re producing. It takes a lot of expense, time, and energy to produce this project, so every bit helps! Thank you to everyone who is already supporting us.
Use coupon code DITG20 for 20% off your order, and try out The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter Whipped Tallow Balms today!
We’re for hire! Check out our videography website to check out our show reel and connect with us about video and documentary work.
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com
On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we discuss what we can learn from the Luddites and how the true meaning of what they stood for can be instructive for how we deal with the rise of A.I. and in our time. In addition to discussing the Luddites, we discuss other works of fiction from the industrial age. We talk about humanity’s proximity to technology, toolmaking, and therefore, machines, and what that means for us moving forward in a tech-entangled world. We discuss the problem of striving for efficiency at all costs, and how humans, and nature, are not “efficient”… and shouldn’t be. We discuss the virtues of “adequate technology” or, as the Luddites put it, “technologies of commonality.” We talk about the awkward tradeoffs that come with all technology, and discuss which lines we personally don’t want to cross in the A.I. age. We talk about the mythic qualities of A.I. and the ancient stories it conjures, such as Prometheus, Kabbalistic Golems, Frankenstein, and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. We discuss the pseudo-religious reasons for the development of A.I., the idea of creating a “divine” intelligence, and the apocalyptic fantasies that inspire some of the leaders of the field.
To listen to the full episode, upgrade your subscription to “paid” for only $5 a month. It’s the best way to support the podcast, our short films, and the writing we’re producing. It takes a lot of expense, time, and energy to produce this project, so every bit helps! Thank you to everyone who is already supporting us.
Use coupon code DITG20 for 20% off your order, and try out The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter Whipped Tallow Balms today!
Sources:
Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and their War on the Industrial Revolution by Kirkpatrick Sale, 1995
Erewhon by Samuel Butler, 1872
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, 1909
“Why Artifical Intelligence Must Be Stopped Now” by Richard Heinberg, 2024
“The AI Boom Could Use a Shocking Amount of Electricity” by Lauren Leffer, 2023
“Darwin Among the Machines” by Samuel Butler, 1863
“The New AI-Powered Bing Is Threatening Users. That’s No Laughing Matter” by Bill Perrigo
Can Myth Teach Us Anything About the Race to Build Artificial General Intelligence? With Josh Schrei - Your Undivided Attention Podcast
“AI Ethics Surpass Human Judgment in New Moral Turing Test” by Georgia State University
“On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?” by Emily M. Bender, Timnit Gebru, Angelina McMillan-Major, and Margaret Mitchell, 2021
“I Wrote What? Google's AI-Powered Libel Machine” by Matt Taibbi, 2024
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com
On this episode of “Death in The Garden” we are sharing our conversation with Alex Leff, which was co-released for his podcast subscribers. Alex Leff is the creator and visionary behind Human Nature Odyssey, which is a cinematic audio journey through the fantastic and iconic book, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. He is also the creator of a beautiful film called Cycle of Memory, which takes the viewer on an intimate and compassionate journey through his family’s experience of their patriarch suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. We had an expansive conversation, discussing and admiring each other’s projects while also deepening our understanding of why we all find ourselves to be so curious about civilization and how to make the world a better place.
Check out his podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and please leave him a 5-star rating!
Paid subscribers should get the full audio and free subscribers should only get a preview of this conversation. If you’d like to listen to this podcast in full, as well as have access to our upcoming surprises, please become a paid subscriber today! You can support us for only $5 a month. We can only continue doing this project with your support!
(We know some of our free subscribers on Substack support us on Patreon - do not fret. You find the video here).
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” Maren is reading her recent piece, The Tales that Really Matter - Part I. In this audio essay, you’ll hear tracks and clips from The Lord of the Rings films by Peter Jackson, and music composed by Howard Shore. Additionally, you’ll hear original synth soundscapes inspired by Howard Shore’s compositions, from the songs “In Dreams”, “The Road Goes Ever On…, Pt. 1”, and “Samwise the Brave”.
All credit for movie clips and songs used goes to Peter Jackson et al. and Howard Shore.
This podcast is sponsored by The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter Whipped Tallow Balms. If you are in the market for clean, natural, and nourishing moisturizing healing balms for dry skin or other skin conditions, you have to try these tallow balms. Use coupon code DITG20 for 20% of your order! Try yours today.
If you’d like to keep DITG going, please consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack for only $5 a month. This will give you access to bonus material (some of which is very exciting and currently very secret) and allow us to continue doing this project. Thank you for being here.
Writing & Editing: Maren Morgan
Mastering: Jake Marquez
Songs used: “Gollum”, “Forth Eorlingas”, “Samwise the Brave”, “Caras Galadhon/ ‘Lament for Gandalf’”
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Welcome back to the “Death in The Garden” podcast! A lot changed for us over the past 4 months, and we’ve needed to take some time to figure out how to proceed with the film/podcast/writing project in light of a change in resources. But we’re back!
As a preface to what is to come, we’re sharing today a reading of a short myth-inspired tale that Maren wrote last year, which was inspired by the works of Daniel Quinn. The podcast, to follow, will be centered around audio essays, produced with original and licensed music and soundscapes, sound effects, and other audio elements, such as snippets of interviews we conduct. While conversational interviews will continue to happen, those interviews will be released only for paid subscribers on Substack and Patreon, though we plan to phase out Patreon in the coming months.
HOUSEKEEPING:
If you want to support the project, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription on Substack.
The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter
Additionally, we are now sponsored by Jake’s parent’s small-business, The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter, which makes handmade grass-finished, pasture-raised whipped tallow balms - the best, all-natural skincare we’ve ever used! Use coupon code DITG20 at check-out to receive 20% off your order.
Check out The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter website (designed by us!).
If you’ve never tried tallow for skincare or are unsure which scent is your favorite, try out our .5 oz Starter Pack! This pack comes with all 6 of our scents, 1 of which has yet to be released in the other sizes.
Follow our Instagram for more info about tallow and deals (but, let’s be honest, our listeners get the best coupon regardless). We’re the media team for the business, so your support of Jake’s parents supports us, too!
ARQETYPE MEDIA
We have recently released a show reel, so if you’d like to check that out, head to our website, ARQETYPE MEDIA, for more info about how to work with us!
We have a lot of really cool things in the works right now (particularly for The Lord of the Rings nerds, but we’ll say no more on that), and can’t wait to release and share more about our upcoming projects as they unfold. Thank you for sticking around with us through all of the changes.
Before you leave, please, we beg of you, listen to this song by Nothing But Thieves:
In fact, just do yourself a favor and listen to every song by Nothing But Thieves.
Audio editing: Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan
Soundscapes: Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we spoke to author and farmer Chris Smaje about his new book Saying No to a Farm-Free Future which was written in response to George Monbiot’s book Regenesis. We talk about the dangers of the ecomodernist worldview, about how the narrative of progress inhibits practical solutions, and we discuss at length the importance of moving towards agrarian localism as a lifeway in order to weather the coming storms. We talk about the precariousness of urbanization, and how moving toward a more rural, local society offers resiliency. We talk about the issue of decoupling humans from nature, and how it’s imperative that we re-couple humans with nature in order to create a sustainable society. We talk about the problems with precision fermentation, as well as transitioning to a carbon-free society under the high-energy lifestyles we have today. We discuss at length what it means to become a good keystone species, and how doing so simultaneously heals our spiritual and cultural ills while also healing the environment. We discuss all of these topics in relation to Maren’s essay, The Quantitative Cosmology.
Check out Chris’ blog and be sure to order his books, Saying No to a Farm-Free Future: The Case for an Ecological Food System and Against Manufactured Foods and A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth. Also, follow Chris on Twitter.
If you want to support the project, please consider upgrading your subscription from free to paid on Substack or join our Patreon. To support us in another way, consider buying a print from our brand new Print Shop! Use code PRINTSHOP at check-out for 10% off until the end of September. For now, prints are only available in the United States and Canada.
Come see us at the Crestone Energy Fair!
Editing: Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan
Music: “Missed the Boat” by Modest Mouse
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden” we are joined by James Connolly, producer of the film series and dear friend, to discuss this recent “Barbenheimer” phenomenon to accompany the piece Maren wrote on the subject last week in her piece below:
On this far reaching discussion, we discuss both films and what they represent to each of us, as well as what they both say about the broader culture. We really allowed ourselves to riff and let the conversation lead where it needed to, which allowed us to discuss the historical background of Oppenheimer that comes from American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. We discussed our differing points of view about the effectiveness of Oppenheimer. We talked at length about the social-justice fraudulence that is Barbie, and the importance of critical thinking. We talked about how humans are ideological, and how we have be constantly vigilant so as to not become dogmatic. We also discussed at length the Luddites, as well as the early 20th century scientists, psychologists, educators, and engineers that (under the pretense of rationalism and morality) precipitated the “chain reaction” that will most likely lead to the collapse of civilization.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please like and share with the people in your life. If you’d like to continue the conversation in the comments below, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the Barbenheimer phenomenon. Thank you to everyone for listening, and a special thanks to all of our Patrons and paid subscribers for continuing to help support the work. If you’d like to support the film/podcast/writing project, please consider upgrading your subscription from free to paid.
Give James a follow on Instagram and Twitter.
Editing: Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan
Music: “The 1975” by the 1975
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we had a conversation with Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen of Nordic Animism, a project which aims to recover Euro-traditional animist knowledge and share it with a contemporary audience as a means of understanding ourselves, our kinship relations with other-than-humans, and ultimately working towards a resilient future for all life on earth. Rune is a Danish historian of religion, which an extensive background of fieldwork studying contemporary animist religions. Nordic Animism “bridges scholarship with cultural activism,” and Rune discusses many of the social issues that are most relevant in our times through an animist and mythic lens.
We talked about what animism is, and what it means to be in kinship relationships with the rest of the living community. We discuss the role of violence, death, and eating as something we can’t avoid, even within kinship relations, and the challenges that brings. We discuss the desacralization of our relationships with animals and plants which once held totemic value, and how that played a role in opening us up for the industrialization of food production. We discuss ecofascism, and the importance of uplifting heritage and cultural uniqueness consciously. We talk about the entanglement of white supremacy and colonialism in our collective histories, and how to engage with Euro-traditional ecological knowledge with consideration of the modern context. We break down the difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation, discussing how conscious cultural exchange is imperative in the globalized world that we all now live in. We talk about the complexity of being descendants of settlers, and how to be respectful of history while still seeking belonging in the places we live. Finally, we talk about Ragnarok and the Year of Aun, two Nordic myths that can help us understand our current societal and ecological predicaments.
Follow Rune on Instagram and Twitter, but especially check out his YouTube Channel. To get you started, check out the video below, which we mentioned in the episode:
Please like, subscribe, and share this podcast if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to financially support the multimedia project Death in The Garden, please consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack, or joining our Patreon.
Editing: Maren Morgan & Jake Marquez
Music: “Helvegen” by Wardruna
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we’re sharing a more produced podcast version of the recording of The Quantitative Cosmology: The Historical Precedent for George Monbiot's Worldview and its Implications Today for our podcast listeners who might not be subscribed to our Substack.
In this essay, I (Maren) explore the historical roots of the mechanistic, reductionistic, and ultimately quantitative worldview that undergirds society today and dictates how we understand the world. I use George Monbiot and his book Regenesis as a jumping off point to discuss how this worldview was first concieved by Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle; was gestated in the thousands of years following with Ptolemaic mathematics; was ultimately born through Kepler and Galileo; and was raised lovingly by Bacon and Descartes. I break down how this worldview has disenchanted and abstracted our connection to life itself, to the point where we deny our own felt experience if it isn’t backed up by numbers and data, as was evident (to me) in reading Monbiot’s book. At the end, I discuss the utility of this worldview, and deeply question the path we’re on, which is taking for granted this worldview as the only way of understanding the world, and our place within it.
We hope you enjoy this reading, and please, if you haven’t, subscribe to our Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber so we are more able to produce essays and researched content like this in the future. Or if you’d prefer, consider joining our Patreon community. We just created a new tier for $3 a month, which is less than a cup of coffee and helps cover some of Patreon’s fees! Editing: Jake Marquez & Maren Morgan
Music: “Dusty Room” by Evgeny Grinko
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we had the pleasure of interviewing Helena Norberg-Hodge, linguist, author, and filmmaker behind the incredible localization organization, Local Futures. She has written several books, such as Ancient Futures and Local is Our Future: Steps to an Economics of Happiness.
In this expansive interview we discuss the broad impacts of globalization and development and how it has atomized our society, standardized our cultural diversity, and laid waste to the biodiversity of the ecosystems from which we depend. We discuss how colonization continues to sever community-reliance, and the importance of emphasizing human-scale local knowledge systems in our quest to create a more just world outside of the global corporate economic structure. We talk about how important it is for us to continually educate ourselves on the global context we all live under, as well as gaining intimate local knowledge which informs how we move through our landscapes and communities. Helena breaks down the myth of the “Global Village” and how this corporate ploy has led to the insane economic system of highly destructive comparative advantage that we see today. Above all, we talk about the importance of liberating our minds from the strictures of the story of mechanization, standardization, globalization, and atomization that exists ambiently in our culture, informing our “solutioneering” and detracting from our ability to create lasting, meaningful change.
Be sure to follow Local Futures on Instagram and Twitter, and consider participating in the Planet Local Summit in Bristol, Sept. 29 - Oct. 1.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with the people in your life. You can support the podcast by leaving us a 5-star rating and subscribing to the show. If you’d like to financially support the project, consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack or joining our Patreon. Thanks for listening.
Editing: Maren Morgan
Music: “SING” by My Chemical Romance
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we are pleased to share with you the first in our new series of podcasts entitled “A 30,000 ft. View with James Connolly”. James Connolly is the producer of Sacred Cow and Death in The Garden, a chef, an artist, and an all around brilliant guy. On this episode, James interviews the author of We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism, Andy Campbell.
In the intro, we all discuss the convergence of the rise of Qanon, incel culture, and the Proud Boys, and the extremism that is coming from these areas of the culture. We discuss the white supremacy that is latent in the early conservation movement, bleeding into the modern environmental movement, and how these things intersect with right-wing extremism. We talk about the films This Place Rules and TFW no GF and the docuseries Into the Storm, discussing the role of meaninglessness and chaos in these movements. We talk about how a history of white supremacy has lead us to these movements where a fear of being “replaced” or rendered “redundant” by society has manifested in white nationalism, ecofascism, and other brands of extremism. We talk about authoritarianism, and how the extremes on both ends of the political spectrum come together in the middle. We also discuss how often conspiracy theories in their wildness obscure the truths that need to be investigated within them.
In the interview, James and Andy discuss specific details of the Proud Boys. They go into the lead-up to Jan 6, the main actors, and go into the overall history of the Proud Boys coming onto the scene and the cultural impact it has had.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com/subscribe -
For our 50th podcast, we decided it would be a good time for us to speak candidly about where we have come from, where we are going, and where we are now with the project: not only as an update to those who have been following us for a long time, but as a way to introduce ourselves to everyone who is new to Death in The Garden. We discuss the creative process, and the challenges that come when one feels that they need to commodify themselves in order to stay “relevant” or to feel important. We talk about recognizing our personal limitations, and our awareness that growth and mastery take time, energy, and focus. We explain our current creative process with the film/book, and discuss how important it is for us to feel like we can put all of our energy into those long-form pieces. We discuss how the creative process is like a conception, a gestating, and a birth, and the death and fear that comes with that sort of transformation. We also talk about growth, collaboration, and where the project will go beyond the film and book.
We also break down the ways that the podcast is going to change, namely through the introduction of a new series which will be entitled “A 30,000 ft. View with James Connolly.” James Connolly, who is not only our mentor and friend, is the producer of Sacred Cow and Death in The Garden. In these episodes, we will share new and interesting conversations about a myriad of topics that are part of the larger web of the transcontextual world we live in: from white supremacy, to effective altruism, to Davos men, and beyond. These episodes will include a conversational intro between the three of us, and then will follow into a interview James has hosted with an author, journalist, researcher, or artist who is an expert on whatever given topic.
We’re not going anywhere: we’re just honoring our creative process, focusing deeply on the creation of the film series and book, and will be so happy and grateful to share writing and podcasts with you as our creativity and curiosity flourishes. Thank you all for being here.
Editing: Jake Marquez
Music: “Love It If We Made It” by The 1975
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden”, we are sharing a reading of our recent Substack piece entitled The Terrible and the Tantalizing: Grappling with AI, Machine Learning, and the Future of Art, where we discuss the emergence of AI “art” and the ramifications it is having for artists. In this essay, we discuss what art is and isn’t, and whether or not we’re comfortable with the definition being subsumed by “machines and the unaccountable corporations at their helms.” We talk about Luddism, and how AI “art” threatens to render artists redundant, just as factories rendered the Luddites, artisanal weavers, redundant, and how we ought to reclaim that oft misunderstood and maligned title. We talk about shifting baseline syndrome, and how, as a culture, we’ve gotten used to the cheapened version of everything; from food, to furniture, to art itself. In the end, we talk about the grief for all that the machine takes from us, and call for all of us to stand up for what we still have left: human creativity, and human-made art.
Links to things mentioned in the essay:
* Steven Zapata Video Essay entitled The End of Art: An Argument Against Image AIs
* “Echoes” by Pink Floyd AI generated music video
* Destino by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney
* The Yes Men Fix the World
* Marques Brownlee Video entitled The Truth about AI Getting “Creative”
Support the project by joining our Patreon or consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack. Thank you so much for your attention!
Editing: Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan
Music: “Echoes” by Pink Floyd
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we talked with pastoralist advocate, ethnoveterinarian, and author Ilse Köhler-Rollefson about her new book, Hoofprints on the Land. We absolutely loved Ilse’s book, and were honored to discuss it in detail with her. We talked about sedentarization being used as a tool of colonial control, the importance of decolonized animal science, the brutality of factory farming, and the fallacy of eliminating livestock as a means to rewild. We discuss field slaughtering and the importance of connecting with death. We talk about 30x30 and how fortress conservation harms human-coupled ecosystems by severing the relationships between pastoralist and indigenous peoples from nature. We talk about how both sides of the livestock debate (plant-based and industrial animal ag proponents) both have a tendency to reduce animals into input-output machines, measuring their value based on efficiency and their ability to convert nutrients into food— comparing that with the reverence and respect pastoralists have for their herds as members of a mutually beneficial co-creative team. Overall, we discussed how pastoralism is the way of the future, and how important it is to protect and learn from those who steward lifeway that is under threat around the world.
You can purchase a copy of Hoofprints on the Land here. Please buy her book, and give Ilse a follow on Twitter. Support Ilse’s NGO, Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan here and check out the League for Pastoral Peoples here.
If you would like to financially support DITG, please consider signing up for a paid subscription to Substack or joining our Patreon. If that isn’t in your budget, a share/review/or a comment goes a long way, as well!
Editing: Jake Marquez
Music: “Go Do” by Jónsi
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden”, we share our film interview with Stephen Corry, former CEO of Survival International, indigenous rights activist, and author of Tribal Peoples: For Tomorrow’s World. On this episode we discuss how land theft, assimilation, and sedentarization are threatening indigenous cultures worldwide in the name of homogenizing culture under a Western colonial paradigm. We talk about how dangerous this is, and how important it is for there to be diversity of cultures and lifeways in the world. We talk about the goodness in human nature, and how shame-based propaganda that makes us hate humanity is a useful diversion which makes us more susceptible to accepting false solutions, such as industrial veganism, 30x30 proposals, and electric vehicles. Stephen dispels the Myth of Pristine Wilderness and how it’s been used to promote conservation and “protected areas” as a panacea to climate change, as well as questioning why the internet and military industrial complex are somehow immune to scrutiny within the topic of climate change. We break down the problems of individualism, consumerism, and the overall crisis of identity occurring in the West. We discuss the fragilities of the homogenized, anti-local ideology that has arisen from settler civilization, and talk about how the real solutions will be local, context specific, and grounded in relationship.
Please give Stephen a follow on Twitter, and follow Survival International on Instagram and Twitter as well. Read Stephen’s piece, A Deluge of Things: Von Humbolt, Da Vinci, and The Confounding of Nature and Scapegoats and Holy Cows: Climate Activism and Livestock.
Support the project - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deathinthegarden
Editing: Jake Marquez
Music: “Give Us the Wind” by Future Islands
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we’re sharing our interview with our friend, fellow podcast host, up-and-coming author, educator, and farmer/gardener, Derrick Weston. Derrick is the co-host of the Food and Faith Podcast alongside Anna Woofenden, and the pair’s book The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration will be available soon! We had the pleasure of doing this interview at Rockrose City Farm, a beautiful community garden space in Baltimore, where Derrick stewards plots with volunteers and other community members, cultivating food that is donated to food pantries. In this conversation, we discuss food accessibility, and the long history of food apartheid in this country, and how food is related to all of the social justice issues we face as a species. We discuss Christianity and how his faith and understanding of Jesus’ teachings informs how he understands his place in the world as a steward. We discuss the long shadow of slavery, and how racism, dispossession from land, and the systemic narrativizing which separates people from culture is not a thing of the past. We talk about how reconnecting with the land through food is an avenue of of liberation from these deeply engrained systems of oppression. We also discuss the importance of regenerative agriculture being more than a “program”— it needs to have an incredibly strong ethic at it’s foundation which honors the indigenous wisdom traditions it comes from in order to not be subsumed by the same capitalistic structures that created the problem in the first place. Above all, we talk about how the problems we face today, whether it’s consumerism, disconnection, or dislocation, all stem from severed relationships: between each other, and all of Creation. Our crisis of meaning is a crisis of belonging. Circumambulating that idea, we name the relationships that need to be repaired, and discuss visions for the future.
You can find Derrick on Instagram and Twitter, and if you’d like to listen to us on his podcast (among many other brilliant conversations), check out the Food and Faith Podcast!
Editing: Jake Marquez and Maren MorganMusic: “Holocene” by Bon Iver
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This episode is a little something different. On this episode of the podcast, we’re sharing a reading of Maren’s recent Substack piece entitled The Legacy of the '“Men Who Pulled Bread From Air” which breaks down the legacy of the Haber-Bosch process, The Green Revolution, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in food systems. The piece discusses the states of emergency that bred these periods of innovation, as well as the ramifications that have befallen the planet due to them. Trying to understand where we come from as well as where we are going, Maren gives a history lesson and poses some important questions. Are we going down the right path? Should we continue down the road of high-tech, hyper-industrial agriculture? What sort of food system is aligned with living on Earth sustainably forever?
Understanding where we come from is an important first step on figuring out where to go. The industrial food system is only 100 years old. Is it our fate to be tethered to it forever? Are there viable alternatives to turn to? Do we need to continue down a path of control, uniformity, and chemicals?
We hope you enjoy this reading, and please, if you haven’t, subscribe to our Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber so we are more able to produce essays and researched content like this in the future. Or if you’d prefer, consider joining our Patreon community. We just created a new tier for $3 a month, which is less than a cup of coffee and helps cover some of Patreon’s fees!
Editing: Jake MarquezMusic: “Reckoner” by Radiohead
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On this episode, we talk to our friend and previous podcast guest Daniel Griffith, a farmer, father, author, poet, and food systems visionary. We wanted to talk to Daniel again to share his experience applying for the USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodity Program grant, and ultimately being denied. We discuss the problems of titanic multinational agribusiness corporations that were granted funding, and we talk about the importance of grass-roots small-scale organizations defining regenerative agriculture in local contexts. We talk about how the solutions to our agricultural woes will not come from the top — that small, human-scale farms hold the key to a healthy food system. We discuss the problems of carbon fundamentalism in our understanding of food system transformation, the precarities of our current system, and the importance of self-determination, diversity, equity, and locality moving foreword. Additionally, we talk about the problems that small-scale farmers face and how the system sets them up for failure. We also discuss Commons Provisions, a step in Daniel’s greater vision towards a food system where people can access hyper-local meats from small-scale regenerative farmers without over-extending the land and the farmers themselves.
Pre-order Daniel’s new book, Dark Cloud Country, and support the Kickstarter Campaign to publish it by clicking here, and buy his book Wild Like Flowers. Follow Daniel on Instagram here and his farm here.
Editing: Jake MarquezMusic: “Broken Together” by Sofa Surfers ft. Mani Obeya
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On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we share our in-person film interview with writer Paul Kingsnorth, creator of the Abbey of Misrule and author of many acclaimed books, such as Alexandria, Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist, and Savage Gods. In this interview we discuss broadly the Machine, a metaphor for the mechanized, atomizing, and ruthlessly extractive society we live in today and how it impacts us spiritually, psychologically, and physically. We discuss the process of unseating the sacred from the “throne” at the center of our societies, and how we’ve supplanted it with technology, reason, and above all, money. We dissect some of the oft forgotten aspects of colonization which were intrinsically tied to industrialism, exploring how colonialism of the enclosure of lands preceded the enclosure of the means of production but being forged from the same story, and how this same story continues today. We discuss at length the story of the Garden of Eden and what we can learn from its metaphors. And finally, we talk about the unlikelihood of turning this ship around, but the importance of recognizing the story of the Machine is a lie, and perhaps only thereafter, we can start living a different way.
If you enjoy this podcast, please share it widely. Additionally, give us a follow on Substack to engage with our written work, and if you’d like to support our film project financially, please consider a paid subscription or joining our Patreon.
Editing: Jake Marquez
Outro music: “The Goose and The Common” by The Quiggs
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