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Big Things Are Changing: West Australians of the Year at Grounded 2025
We talk about what it’s been like being West Aussies of the Year, and farmers. And go from there, once again, into some emotional and hilarious exchanges, on what’s emerging from the year, how different things feel now, and the call to all parties to rally now towards some bigger visions.
Weaved into all that, we also further explore the incredible week that was here in WA, including their three big events: from the launch of a new Alliance at Government House, to a tour on-farm ahead of the Regenerating Food Systems conference (featured on the podcast in recent weeks), through to their first enormous community showcase event.
As it happens, the new Alliance you’ll hear about has its first development workshop today – so more on that soon. There was so much to talk about. Let’s head back to the sun-drenched green of Galloway Springs farm.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
Where Knowledge Systems Meet, Country Heals: A Panel at Grounded Festival WA
02 Nov 2025
01:00:10
Straight after the Regenerating Food Systems conference you’ve been hearing from in recent weeks, we headed south for the Grounded Festival. It was my privilege to host proceedings there on the last day, in one of the two marquees by the lake, on the wonderful Galloway Springs Farm near Bridgetown. There were three panel conversations there that the team at Grounded has generously allowed me to share here.
Those panels happened to be such emotional, substantial and funny pinnacles of what had been an extraordinary week as a whole here in WA – from Government House, through the conference at the city Stadium, to this festival in the field.
These panel conversations offer something of a debrief on the week, some significant early outcomes and resolutions, and the spirit that had summed along the way.
First up, then, the morning panel, still reverberating for many, featuring three people who had been at the three major events – and some others - through the week:
West Australians of the Year, farmers and previous podcast guests, Di and Ian Haggerty; and
Noongar and Thin-ma Warriyanka woman and also a previous podcast guest, Heidi Mippy.
On the topic of First Nations Integration into the Food System. And how this yarn builds.
Title image: AJ, Heidi, Di and Ian on stage (pic: Alan Benson).
See more photos on the episode web page, including the illustration by Brenna Quinlan, and for more behind the scenes, become a supporting listener below.
If you’d like to see that image of the Wagyl on Heidi’s first visit to the Haggerty farm, head to episode 143.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
Tim Winton: With Ningaloo’s first kids book (& other big news)
24 Sep 2025
00:35:16
Tim Winton is regarded by many as the preeminent Australian writer of his generation. His awards could almost fill a book themselves now. And he’s come to Boorloo / Perth today to launch his first picture book in more than 20 years, and the first non-fiction picture book for children about Ningaloo reef, the world heritage treasure a thousand kilometres and some north of us here. It’s called Ningaloo: Australia’s Wild Wonder, spectacularly illustrated by award-winning Perth local Cindy Lane. And as it happens, it launches at the best and worst of times up at the reef.
Join me at the legendary local independent publisher Fremantle Press, for a chat with Tim about it all.
And if you happen to be in Perth ... ‘Ningaloo: Australia’s Wild Wonder’ will be launched in Perth tonight with the founder of the Telethon Kids Institute, former Australian of the Year, and Australian Living Treasure, epidemiologist Professor Fiona Stanley.
The book can be pre-ordered now, and will be in stores from the first week of October.
And if you happen to feel like hearing more of Tim and I in conversation, head to episode 162 on the extraordinary documentary about Ningaloo that Tim spearheaded a couple of years ago, and maybe even episode 17, way back in the beginning, just after the launch of the feature film adapted from his book Breath.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
205. Living Well As Society Transforms: With legendary writer Richard Heinberg
14 May 2024
01:05:47
Richard Heinberg is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates on the urgent need, and inviting prospects, of a transition away from fossil fuels. He’s the author of 14 books including some of the seminal works on our current energy and environmental crises. I remember reading The Party’s Over 20 years ago, and have followed Richard’s work right through to his most recent book (and excellent parallel podcast series), Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival – and what praise that one drew, from people like Bill McKibben, Joanna Macy, Wes Jackson, Maude Barlow, Peter Buffet, Dahr Jamail, Douglas Rushkoff and Dennis Meadows.
Richard also features in countless film and other productions, along with the online course developed with the Post Carbon Institute, where Richard is a founder and Senior Fellow. And seven years ago, Richard was kind enough to be a special guest on a panel event I brought together on energy transition, which attracted a couple of hundred people and later became episode 23 on this podcast. Richard is also an outstanding musician, with an extensive tour and back catalogue extending from the ‘60s. All the more reason that after the event we did in 2017, we resolved to catch up if I ever made it to Santa Rosa.
That’s where this sweeping conversation took place, on transformations in energy and food systems, us humans, and his own fascinating life. Culminating in Richard’s crystalised framing of the unprecedented challenge facing us, and how we might pull it off.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded by a restored Santa Rosa Creek on 30 April 2024.
Title slide: Richard & AJ in Santa Rosa (pic: Olivia Cheng).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
204 Extra. World Premiere Reading from 'Carbon: The Book Of Life', by Paul Hawken
09 May 2024
00:08:56
This special extra to episode 204 features the last handful of minutes with the legendary best-selling author Paul Hawken. This is where the episode culminated in Paul offering a world premiere reading of the rousing finale to his upcoming book, Carbon: The Book Of Life. The reading happened to be accompanied, too, by some notable sounds from around the garden and surrounding redwoods.
Head here for a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded at Paul's place in northern California on 27 April 2024.
Title slide: The nearby Muir Woods National Monument (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
The upcoming book puts carbon back into perspective, as no less than the centerpiece of life itself. If you’re anything like me, be prepared to have your mind blown. You won’t see, or perhaps more pointedly hear, the world the same way again. In some ways, this book feels like a legacy piece. And so too this podcast. Not that they’re the last we’ll hear from Paul (the next book is already in mind). But this feels like a very special moment in time with this extraordinary writer, journo, entrepreneur, consultant to world leaders, and so much more. And it culminates in a world premiere reading, of the rousing finale to the book – accompanied uncannily by some notable sounds from around the garden.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
The community in the Australian federal seat of Curtin elected the 7th new independent MP to parliament 2 years ago now, and the first and only (to date) in WA. In those two years, that community independent, Kate Chaney, has continued to drive a level of engagement and outcomes that no one I speak to has any memory of happening before. Perhaps it happened back when the major political parties first got going, when they had some membership to speak of? Today, less than 0.5% of Australians are members of a major party – not even the 1%!
In contrast, democracy is on the rise via this community independents movement. And here in Curtin, it’s resulted in multiple deliberative democratic processes, consistently brilliant outcomes, and some recent ground-breaking developments – from wellbeing economies, to climate, to transparent elections. But Kate’s expressed great fear too, based on what she’s seeing in parliament.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations.)
Recorded 19 April 2024.
Title slide: Kate & AJ in conversation (pic: Angie Hewitt).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
I’ve been promising some big news for a little while now. Well, earlier this week, on Earth Day, a special and unexpected launch took place.
Head here for a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded at San Francisco Airport on 22 April 2024.
Title slide: In the redwoods just outside San Francisco, where a woman passed us on the trail and wished us happy Earth Day. (The local radio station also played nature sounds all day.)
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
201. Echoes of Africa – A Journey to Our Human Heartbeat: With Lamine Sonko & Simon Edwards
22 Apr 2024
01:03:51
Lamine Sonko is an acclaimed composer, artistic director, performer and multi-instrumentalist continuing his family line of Guéwels. That’s a role inherited by certain members of traditional communities in Senegal who are tasked with communicating ancient storytelling and ‘songlines’ through dance, rhythms and song. And earlier this year, that converged with his role in Melbourne-based afro-beat band, the Afrobiotics, when he was joined by his five bandmates back in Senegal on a landmark tour. And one of those five blokes is an old mate I played in a rock band with in the ‘90s. Simon Edwards is an incredible guitarist, teacher, and soulful traveller. I’ve been wanting to speak with these guys for years, and when they happened to return from the tour while I was in Melbourne, it finally happened.
Connected to the band's journey, in 2018 Lamine embarked on a search for a deeper understanding of how ancient musical traditions are embodied by the Guéwel elders of Dakar, Senegal. The project, called 13:12, has culminated so far in a film, guided by Lamine’s mother, and a live theatre production that previewed at The National Theatre Sorano in Dakar on this tour. It was said to be ‘an unforgettable blend of joy, emotion, and ancestral presence’. And when the band converged on Dakar at the same time, there was profound revelation, connection and healing for visitors and locals alike.
The word Guewel means 'to bring people together in a circle', and that’s what we did a few weeks ago at Simon’s place. In the still of a late evening, a certain stillness enveloped this conversation too, through to a very special live rendition at the end.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript. (The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded 14 March 2024. Dedicated to Lamine's mother, Guewel elder Oumy Sene.
Title slide: Lamine & Simon on stage with the Afrobiotics.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
200. The Land Does It For You: With 'The King' David Marsh
15 Apr 2024
01:40:20
Welcome to the bicentennial episode. And who better to mark the occasion than this legend of regenerative agriculture, David Marsh. To visit Allendale Farm is like stepping into an incredible rewilding of country – as a livestock farm! David’s been here for nearly 60 years, the first half of which he ran industrialised cropping and livestock farming, which continued to devastate the land, his bank account, his family’s health, and increasingly, his conscience. The second half, he ditched the cropping and started to run livestock regeneratively, letting the land do more of what it wanted to do. Now he sees birdlife akin to RAMSAR listed wetlands, 1500 new trees that seeded themselves, and myriad other extraordinary changes. And powering this enormous legacy, a family tragedy that continues to shape their lives in profound ways.
A long-held hope, my family visited David and his wife Mary near Boorowa in NSW a few weeks ago. I only half-jokingly wanted to call this episode ‘the do-nothing farmer’ – and even the ‘do-nothing and pay-nothing farmer’ - with reference to the deft, laid-back, ‘hands off’ approach David applies to the land, its self-organising regeneration so evident. But he thought that sounded a bit less than glorious, and insisted it’s more complex than that. I’ll let David explain, in a treasured exchange, in suitably golden twilight.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded at Allendale Farm on 10 March 2024.
Title slide: David & AJ ahead of this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
199. Deliberative Democracy: Nicole Curato on how to transcend political impasses on climate & everything else
08 Apr 2024
01:03:01
This podcast has been increasingly hearing about the extraordinary outcomes that can stem from deliberative democratic processes. I stillhear from listeners about past episodes with people like Jeff Goebel and Amanda Cahill.
So this week, we head to the nation’s capital to speak with someone I’ve been looking forward to meeting for years. Professor Nicole Curato is with the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. She’s also a prominent journalist, particularly in her former home country of the Philippines. She’s written op-eds for the New York Times, The Guardian & Al Jazeera. And she regularly collaborates with CNN Philippines, occasionally serving as a television presenter, and has hosted documentaries and produced podcasts.
Nicole explores how democratic innovations unfold in the aftermath of tragedies, including disasters, armed conflict, and urban crime. To that we might add increasing stresses like climate change, housing and political polarisation. Nicole is the author of Democracy in a Time of Misery: From Spectacular Tragedy to Deliberative Action. Which might just as well have been sub-titled, from spectacular tragedy to spectacular deliberative action, such is the nature of some of the stories she has to share - in terms of their outcomes in the world, and their life-changing effects on those involved. And in a context right now where democracy itself is on the line, and with it the possibility of coming together to produce more of the extraordinary outcomes we know we can, Nicole was the person I needed to speak with.
I suggested to Nicole that we meet in her favourite part of Canberra. She took us to Tilley’s. And what a place. No surprises then, that we wind up talking about how all this relates to social media, karaoke and Taylor Swift.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded in Canberra on 7 March 2024.
Title slide: Nicole Curato at Tilley’s, just before this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
198. Where the Reed Warbler Called, with award-winning writer & new farmer Sam Vincent
01 Apr 2024
01:06:08
Sam Vincent grew up on the farm where Charles Massy famously heard the call of the reed warbler for the first time in 150 years or so. But, like most millennials in his position, he wasn’t going to stay there. Until his old man now famously put his hand in a woodchipper. That’s when Sam left his inner-city life as a writer to help out, and unexpectedly found himself thinking differently about the farm, and his old man. Sam now runs Gollion Farm, with a suite of thriving enterprises, profound new connections with First Nations, and ongoing regeneration of country. And when he wrote a book about it all, called ‘My Father and Other Animals: How I took on the family farm’, it won the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction.
The book is billed as a ‘memoir about belonging, humility and regeneration – of land, family and culture’. Charles Massy calls it a delightful ‘must-read’, Anna Krien calls it ‘one of the most hopeful stories today’, and Billy Griffiths calls it a ‘rollicking comic memoir’.
A few weeks ago, we visited Sam at the family farm, just outside Canberra in the Yass Valley of NSW to chat about it.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded on 4 March 2024.
Title slide: Sam Vincent, under the crab apple tree (pic: Olivia Cheng).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
197. Jim Phillipson: From Ownership to Stewardship
25 Mar 2024
01:14:29
Late last year, I arrived at a quandary. I’d been hearing about how inaccessible land ownership is for younger folk, and how investment capital is still relatively slow to come on board the incredible broad scale potential of regenerative agriculture (notwithstanding often great intent). And I’d been hearing how even long-term legends in regen ag are still expected to be saddled with enormous debt and rates of return (to say nothing of squeezed prices), while they also regenerate the majority of the national and global estate on our behalf. Clearly all untenable. So I began to wonder out loud, what if there’s something fundamentally misplaced with the current approach to attracting investment in regeneration?
When thinking this aloud, I got some nodding heads and an introduction to Jim Phillipson, former pro-cycling champ, businessman, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Rendere Trust and Biodiversity Legacy. Join us as at Jim’s place as we delve into the transformative concept of stewardship over traditional land ownership. Jim's been helping people transition land and capital into stewardship models of ownership for a while now, having started with his own. And yep, he was advised this would never work. Here he shares his story and insights on how reshaping land titles to reflect stewardship can align investments with regenerative agriculture, potentially tapping all sorts of potential quickly, and how a related ethos is manifesting across media, politics, and reconciliation with First Nations.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and a transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded at Jim’s place, on regenerating land in Gippsland, Victoria (as a dust storm blew up from surrounding vegetable farms), 3 March 2024.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
This still feels like the funniest story told on the podcast over its eight and some years now. And right up there among the most moving too. I still laugh out loud when I think about the end of my yarn with Tyson Yunkaporta back in episode 70, when I asked him about his music story. And the emotions that surged in a touchstone moment just prior to that have been the subject of many a chat since. Funnily enough, I couldn’t actually remember that one followed the other. So here’s the last 15 minutes or so of my time with Tyson for episode 70 back in 2020.
Welcome to the 9th instalment of Vignettes from the Source, the new short form series featuring some of the unforgettable, transformative and often inexplicable moments my guests have shared over the years. Indeed, this one hits all three of those marks, and was front of mind when deciding to create this series.
Tyson belongs to the Apalech Clan from Western Cape York in far north Queensland, with community/cultural ties all over Australia. He is the author multiple books, including Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. He’s also a poet and artist carving traditional tools and weapons, processes that were central to writing the book.
If you’d like to hear or revisit this conversation in full, head to episode 70 – ‘Sand Talk: Indigenous thinking, saving the world & living creation’ (there are a bunch of links in those show notes too, and a very special photo from this conversation on that episode website).
Right now, we’re in the thick of the unprecedented series of international events that have gravitated together between Perth, the wheatbelt and Bridgetown here in WA. I’ll look forward to sharing some of what happens with you all afterwards, especially for those who can’t get here. For now, I hope you enjoy revisiting this one with Tyson.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
Zach Bush MD has become an internationally recognised educator on the microbiome, as it relates to human health, soil health, food systems, water systems, and regenerative living as a whole. The touchstone insight of Zach’s initial transformation was that we don’t need to solve each of our many increasingly prevalent diseases – we need to regenerate the source of our health and vitality. And he’s been startled by our regenerative capacity since embarking on a film project called Farmer’s Footprint back in 2018. It became a global phenomenon, prompting the creation of Farmer’s Footprint USA, Australia, UK, South Africa and New Zealand, so far, alongside a broader project called Project Biome.
Amongst all this, the transformations have continued for Zach. So this time, ahead of the Farmer’s Footprint Festival in NSW, I hoped to get to know more of the person behind the star. The feeling behind the public accolades and judgements. Along with what this doctor does when he tends intrinsic health, why farmers continue to be at the heart of his life calling, Zach’s intentions to run for President, his vision of a regenerative economy, his response to a charge of talking psychobabble, new films and courses, all culminating in the spiritual roots of it all, and a world first - Zach’s first live musical performance on a podcast.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers and transcript, also available on Apple and some other apps. (Note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read.)
Recorded in the northern rivers of NSW on 10 November 2023.
In case you're noting the bird sounds in my intro and outro, they were recorded on the Mornington Peninsula back in Victoria (visiting my brother's family).
Title slide: AJ and Zach on stage at the Farmer’s Footprint Australia Festival (pic: Olivia Katz).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
195. From Quarry to Oasis: Dominique Hes on the incredible story of Newport Lakes, circular economies & beyond
10 Mar 2024
01:05:54
Dr Dominique Hes is deeply embedded in the regenerative movement. A renowned educator, author of Designing for Hope, advisor on the Federal Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group, Chair of Greenfleet, and featured presence in some of Damon Gameau’s wonderful films, Dominique started working in regenerative development 20 years ago, and ‘sustainability’ for ten years before that. Her focus is on real projects, on the ground, in place. And today, we visit one of them. In her place. Newport Lakes. What was a quarry, is now an extraordinary landscape right in the inner-west of Melbourne. And all on the back of the community here. This is now the subject of Dominique’s next book. Which is just as well, as nobody I’ve spoken with in Melbourne even knows it exists.
So join us for a walk through Newport Lakes, as Dominique shares this incredible story with us, along with the story of her life - its transformations, hopes, struggles, breakthroughs, and regeneration reflected in this place.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded on 26 February 2024.
Title slide: Dominique at Newport Lakes as we pressed record (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
194. The Vital Transitions in Energy Beyond Electrifying Everything: Tim Fisher on sun, surf & sympathy
03 Mar 2024
01:03:12
Tim Fisher is the eldest son of the late Professor Frank Fisher. You’ve heard Frank’s name a bit on this podcast, legendary systems thinking educator in Australia – and good mate over the last dozen or so years of his life. Twice my good fortune was meeting Tim, and keeping in touch over the years. Tim is a wealth of experience, grace and salience in his own right. So, returning to Melbourne to see family for the first time in years, it seemed a good time to visit this extended family of sorts, and press record on a long-awaited chat about his fascinating life, dice with death, and vital work.
Tim has run publications across media platforms, government agencies and non-profits. He’s edited and written for the ABC, SBS, The Age, Broadsheet, Smith Journal, Surfing World, Surfer, Triple J, White Horses, Patagonia and more. As a board member of Psychology for a Safe Climate and a member of Surfers for Climate, he devotes much of his time to storytelling and communication around climate change. Especially on the bigger and often unseen picture of energy transition – including the opportunities and needs beyond electrifying everything. To that end, he’s currently Head of Communications at the Energy Efficiency Council, with the ear of the federal government, and a major conference in May featuring international keynote Amory Lovins.
We talk about all this – life, death, growing up with Frank, surf, media and energy transitions – and emerge with some consistent threads of success, and possibilities to go on with. You’ll hear some listener mail at the end too.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
193. Regenerating Life, the Movie: How to cool the planet, feed the world & live happily ever after, with John Feldman
25 Feb 2024
01:00:55
Regenerating Life is a new feature-length documentary that takes a fresh look at solving the climate crisis - and everything else. Internationally acclaimed New York filmmaker John Feldman recently premiered it in the US (where recent podcast guest Judith Schwartz featured on the panel). He’s now about to accompany its premiere in Europe.
The film shifts away from the narrative that burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of the climate crisis – seeing that as just one symptom, significant as it is, of humankind’s relentless destruction of nature as a whole. This is because it’s the vast biodiversity on this planet that regulates and balances the climate. And the key take home? We can and are reversing this destructive process by Regenerating Life.
The film is also a kind of tribute to a much-loved Aussie scientist, Walter Jehne. And John talks here about his own transformation with varied projects and other legends in systemic thinking over the decades. Some feature in this film, like Vandana Shiva, Wes Jackson, Didi Pershouse, Satish Kumar and Naima Penniman. At the close, a special feature, with music made for the film by John’s wife, renowned composer Sheila Silver.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
192. The River Is Our Blood: Kate McBride, Zach Bush MD & Dr Pran Yoganathan at the Reconnection Festival
19 Feb 2024
00:59:23
We’re back at the Reconnection Festival for the last of three inter-related panel conversations, each building on the other. This one's on health, and features explosive revelations about a ‘Motor Neuron Disease alley’ linked to pollution and river degeneration in Australia’s Riverina agricultural district. Akin to the ‘cancer alley’ of the Mississippi River that transformed the life of our international guest, Zach Bush MD. Zach went on to found US not-for-profit Farmer’s Footprint, and has now shepherded it to five countries so far, including Farmer’s Footprint Australia.
Australia’s MND alley is just part of what Kate McBride is reporting on, and living, as a researcher with The Australia Institute and 5th generation farmer, born and bred on the half-million-acre Tolarno Station on the Darling Barka River. She came to national prominence unintentionally as the river ran dry and ongoing fish kills have followed.
Dr Pran Yoganathan, a Gastroenterologist and renowned voice of the 'regenerative medical movement', and also now a farmer, shares his experiences within the medical system in this context.
Our guests bring to light the urgency of revisiting our approach to medicine and agriculture, and everything else, and how we can do it. We hear profound stories of embracing our cultural roots, generating greater community advocacy, and collaborating across diverse viewpoints, right into the halls of power.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded in the northern rivers of NSW on 11 November 2023.
Title slide: AJ, Zach, Pran & Kate (pic: Olivia Katz).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
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191. Huge Opportunity: Original Haggerty farm for sale
15 Feb 2024
00:22:10
Welcome to the first of our mid-week specials. This is one of the experiments I want to try this year. Short grab releases featuring particular opportunities, stories or updates. There are just so many coming on, I hope this helps you to access them, and all of us to build on them. As ever, you’ll let me know what you think!
First up then, a huge opportunity in the wheatbelt of WA. The Haggerty family have put their original ‘home’ property up for sale. This is where they developed the foundation of their globally renowned ‘natural intelligence farming’ model over a few decades. Here they share with us some of the what, why and how of the sale, along with a sense of the enormous possibilities on offer.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 8 February 2024.
Title slide: the view Ian talks about (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
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190. A Feast of Transformation: Laura Dalrymple, Matthew Evans & Darren Doherty at the Reconnection Festival
12 Feb 2024
00:58:21
Feast on our next conversation at the Reconnection Festival, the largest gathering of the regenerative movement in this country to date. This time, we’re talking food, for which the 800 people present were joined by a few more visionaries:
Laura Dalrymple, founder of the extraordinary Feather and Bone in Sydney
Matthew Evans, author, TV host & farmer at Fat Pig Farm in Tasmania, and
Darren Doherty, founder of the globally renowned Regrarians out of Central Victoria.
The general trajectory of the conversation was ‘what’s hot, what’s not, what’s working and what’s next?’ It broaches some of the tough stuff regarding how we navigate the complexities of the global food system to foster a healthier society and planet? This includes challenges related to meat debates, food production health crises, and economic barriers. We also delve into the treasure trove of stuff that’s working well. Which sums to a call to further reconnect with the journey of our food from farm to fork (and far beyond), even amidst financial hurdles and a world in flux.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded live at the Green Room stage of the BluesFest venue in the northern rivers of NSW on 11 November 2023.
Title slide L-R: Anthony, Darren, Matthew and Laura (pic: Olivia Katz).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
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189. Cultural Reconnection: Live with Dr Amanda Cahill, Jade Miles & Isira Aunty Jinta at the Reconnection Festival
05 Feb 2024
00:53:30
We head over to the eastern-most point of Australia this week, for the largest gathering of the regenerative movement in this country to date. Join us at the Reconnection Festival, staged by Farmer’s Footprint Australia in November last year. We sit with a panel of three visionary women, for a conversation on culture that laid a foundation for everything that followed. Two of our panellists are previous podcast guests: Dr Amanda Cahill, CEO and founder of The Next Economy, and Jade Miles, CEO of Sustainable Table and farmer and author at Black Barn Farm. They were joined here by Indigenous elder Isira, known as Aunty Jinta.
This was one of my favourite conversations last year, and in many ways lays a foundation for this year too. There are profound insights shared here into the cultural bedrock necessary for nurturing life on Earth. Our guests faced some wrenching dilemmas at the time too, providing a powerful launching point for exploring what might actually offer ways through our most trenchant impasses, to beneficial transformations.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded live in the northern rivers of NSW on 11 November 2023.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
188. The Regeneration Rhapsody: Success Stories of Soil & Spirit from the Margaret River Conference (Day 2)
29 Jan 2024
00:49:42
Join us at the grand finale of the 2023 Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River WA. Following on from last week, today we’re with another all-star panel. And again, we’ve no predetermined agenda, but to reflect on what had gone before, and what might come next.
Dr Judi Earl is a national treasure, having conducted the first studies describing the benefits to pasture from planned grazing. She has been a Holistic Management educator since 2002, and showcases the capacity of grazing animals to regenerate land on her 454 hectare property in NSW.
Rowan Reid is a global figurehead in agroforestry. He’s a co-founder of one of Australia’s most successful Landcare groups, the Otway Agroforestry Network, in southern Victoria. More than 12,000 visitors have toured his Bambra Agroforestry Farm, which is set up as a 42-hectare outdoor classroom for farmers, scientists, students and tree lovers.
Kristy Stewart is a young leader who was born and raised up the road from Rowan Reid at Yan Yan Gurt West, an award-winning sheep and agroforestry farm of 575 acres, on Wadawurrung and Gadubanud Country. You might remember Kristy from episode 132 out at the family farm, or facilitating for Nicole Masters in her workshop last year.
Grant Sims runs the family farm in Victoria, which has been no-till since the early 80’s. When Grant came back to the farm full time he started looking at ways to improve the life and function of the soil through biology. Today he is one of this country’s most popular speakers and trainers on the topic.
Our guests are not just talking about change; they're living it, transforming the very soil we stand on, food we eat, water we drink, clothes we wear, air we breathe, livelihoods we make, and communities we belong to.
Head here for chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript (AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 7 September 2023.
Title slide L-R: Kristy, Rowan, Grant & Judi (pic: Daniela Tommasi).
See more photos on the website, and for more behind the scenes, become a paid subscriber below.
Music: Wadandi Boodja, by The Nomadics, off their latest album.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
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187. The Regenerative Era Ignites: Tales from the 2023 Margaret River Conference (Day 1)
22 Jan 2024
01:20:26
Welcome to the new year. And welcome to a new world, where soil renews and pastures flourish, where every bite of food embodies a philosophy of renewal. The Regenerative Era blooms, and with it, a transformative approach to our landscapes and the very sustenance of life. Join us on a journey to Margaret River, where the 2023 Regenerative Agriculture Conference ignited a beacon of hope and inspiration with a turnout of passionate souls exceeding 300. This episode is your exclusive pass to the heart of a movement, with regenerative systems pioneers forming an all-star panel that pulled no punches and had plenty of laughs along the way:
Dr Terry McCosker OAM, founder of RCS Australia and one of the great innovators of Australian agriculture for over 55 years;
Dianne & Ian Haggerty, globally renowned pioneers in WA’s wheatbelt;
Heidi Mippy, award-winning Noongar and Thiin-Mah Warriyangka woman who has worked in community development for over 25 years, runs a business, and has a chapter in the best-selling book Rising Matriarch;
And Rod O’Bree from Yanget Farm, whose work has been described as taking Peter Andrews’ famed Natural Sequence Farming to the next level - to say nothing of his work regenerating supply chains.
This episode isn't just a recount of a conference; it's an immersion into an era that redefines our relationship with nature, a blueprint for a future where regeneration is not just a concept but a living, breathing reality.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on Apple and some other apps, and the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect).
Recorded on 6 September 2023.
Title slide L-R: Heidi, Terry, Rod, Ian & Di (pic: Daniela Tommasi).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
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He Could Have His Ridiculous Festival: A Grounded vignette with Matthew Evans & Sadie Chrestman
09 Sep 2025
00:20:59
We’re just days away now from what’s been loosely dubbed ‘Regen Week’ over here in WA, an unprecedented series of international events that have gravitated together between Perth, the wheatbelt and Bridgetown. I’ll look forward to sharing some of what happens with you all afterwards, especially for those who can’t get here. Right now, though, on the back of last week’s episode focused on the centrepiece of the week, RegenWA’s major conference at Perth Stadium, it felt irresistible to release this excerpt in anticipation of the climax to the week – the first Grounded Festival in WA.
Welcome to the 8th instalment of Vignettes from the Source, the new short form series featuring some of the unforgettable, transformative and often inexplicable moments my guests have shared over the years.
This vignette is drawn from the conversation I had with farmer, author and founder of Grounded, Matthew Evans, and his partner, farmer and teacher, Sadie Chrestman, just after the very first Grounded had been staged at their place, Fat Pig Farm, in Tasmania last December. We pick it up with Matthew a little over ten minutes in, before Sadie joins us five minutes later.
It was raw, fun, and so endearingly candid. Unforgettable, really. So, on the cusp of the next edition of the festival, here’s 15 minutes with Matthew and Sadie – followed by five minutes of extraordinary music alongside a story about how it played out at that first festival.
If you’d like to hear or revisit this conversation in full, head to episode 247 – ‘Celebrating Grounded Festival: Behind the scenes’ (there are a bunch of links in those show notes too, and a very special photo from this conversation on that episode website).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
186. 2023 RegenNarration Soundtrack: Highlights from our guests this year
20 Dec 2023
00:45:38
Welcome to the customary package of highlights from another brilliant array of guests throughout 2023, accompanied by some of the music and sounds of Country heard along the way. Our guests were farmers, artists, First Nations, entrepreneurs, investors, former miners, migrants, health professionals, writers, journalists, facilitators, producers, consultants, researchers, diplomats, political economists, permaculturalists, market gardeners, chefs and more; some famous, many not, of all ages, from right around Australia and the world. It’s all put together here in what sums to a feast of uplift, fun, beauty, guts and love.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
185. Achieving Consensus & Commitment to do the ‘Impossible’, with Jeff Goebel
12 Dec 2023
01:29:04
Welcome to a very special final episode for 2023. After seven years of this podcast, covering many inspiring stories, there’s clearly no mystery as to how we go about regeneration. So why is the macro story, if you like, the big picture - extinctions, emissions, inequality, health - still going the wrong way? Is there something we’re missing, for all our regenerative efforts? Something that doesn’t just help a few of us on regenerative trajectories, but all of us? Something that changes what happens, not just in the margins, but all over?
Throughout the last 18 months or so, in particular, a thread has emerged on the podcast that suggests there is indeed that something, and we know how to go about that too. And my guest today, Jeff Goebel, has been at it longer than most. You might remember my recent guest on ep175, the award-winning author of The Reindeer Chronicles, Judith Schwartz, talking about him. She wrote up an incredible story in that book, of community transformation guided by Jeff, and was so inspired by it she has since set up a new initiative with him.
Jeff Goebel became a Holistic Management trainer with Allan Savory in the mid-80s. But pretty soon felt it was missing something, as did Allan. Then a series of uncanny events and outstanding successes in Jeff’s life, including a pivotal experience with First Nations, set him on a path of what he calls community consensus work. He is now globally renowned for developing a highly effective program of respectful listening, visioning, and planning that attains 100% consensus - and commitment - of all parties, in all sorts of contexts. And often where human conflict and land degradation are at their worst.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 8 December 2023.
Title slide: Jeff Goebel on Navajo land in 2013.
Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
184. After Former Ambassador’s Climate Hunger Strike: Gregory Andrews on its extraordinary & complex outcomes
05 Dec 2023
01:10:50
D’harawal man Gregory Andrews is the Former Ambassador and first Threatened Species Commissioner of Australia who went on Climate Hunger Strike outside Australia’s federal parliament for, as he put it, my kids and country. On the 16th day, he was hospitalised. And while Gregory began his recovery, a community vigil of sorts kicked in, with people taking Gregory’s place, fasting for a day each. And that’s just a hint of some of the extraordinary insight and power sparked by Gregory’s experience - as indeed the history of these sorts of experiences has often found. Though not all progressive voices, in this instance, including my federal independent MP, as it happens, Kate Chaney, were in support.
We talk about all this in what became a very personal exchange about the value of what we can give of our lives, in these times.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 27 November 2023.
Title slide: Gregory on his back patio amongst the trees in Canberra during this conversation.
Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.
Find more: Lyrebird Dreaming, Gregory’s website, including the Climate Hunger Strike petition outlining his 5 demands of the government.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
183. Alessandro Pelizzon: On the EU adopting ecocide laws, & media to believe in
30 Nov 2023
00:45:10
Earlier this year, Associate Professor in Law, Alessandro Pelizzon, was on the podcast talking about some of the latest global paradigm shifting developments in our legal systems. A couple of weeks ago, there was another such development. The EU is going to criminalise severe environmental harms ‘comparable to ecocide’. And related to that, it’s also broaching post-growth economies. All part of broader shifts in deciding what we value most, and how our systems can best change to reflect that.
With this in mind, we also go on to talk about what Alessandro is observing in our media systems - the emergence of a new phase of ‘climate-denialism’, and from some people who have great appeal to many of us, and in a variety of ways, from Elon Musk to Jordan Peterson. How to make sense of that? And to what extent might this be related to the paradigm shifts above?
That leads us to the broader question, what do we do about media? We compare notes on what’s been brewing on and around the podcast lately. And to close, we get a brief update on the Resonant Earth project that Alessandro has co-founded and talked about last time.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 24 November 2023.
Title slide: from a media release about the EU agreement (source).
Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
182. My Eulogy for a Friend & Systems Thinking Legend: Celebrating the 80th birthday of Professor Frank Fisher
27 Nov 2023
00:12:55
Today is a special release ahead of this week’s scheduled episode. It was recorded with a full house of over 400 people in the main theatre at Federation Square in Melbourne, for the memorial service of my late great mate and mentor, and legend in systems thinking – and practice – in this country, Professor Frank Fisher. Mine was a humble opener for a few beautiful eulogies offered on the day.
Today would be, or is, Frank’s 80th birthday. I’ve commemorated the occasion in recent years with episodes featuring fittingly special guests – from the late Hazel Henderson, to the still thriving Allan Savory, Charlie Massy and Paul Hawken. This time, for the big 8-0, I’d been imagining Frank still being here, wondering where our conversations and experiences may have gone over the years. And that took me back to this event, and the best tribute story I could muster at the time. And hard as it was, there did seem to be a bit of magic about.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This was recorded on 15 September 2012, with deep gratitude to friend and film-maker Chris Grose, who gave so much of himself without notice, to film hours of footage of Frank in the months before he died, along with this event.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
181. Revolutionising Perceptions, Repurposing Donkeys & Restoring Country: With Brooke Purvis, co-founder of the Last Stop Donkey Program
21 Nov 2023
00:45:29
Brooke Purvis is a podcast listener who reached out after hearing the most recent episode with Chris Henggeler from Kachana Station last month. She wondered if she could help with the ‘donkey situation’ there. It turns out she’s co-founded something called the Last Stop Donkey Program, out of Singleton in the Hunter Valley of NSW.
Brooke and husband Heath say they saw many people looking to purchase donkeys in an attempt to combat growing stock losses from dingo attacks, as donkeys are renowned for their stock protecting capabilities. Their website explains: ‘There was only one problem, donkeys are hard to come by. However, in the Northern Territory and Queensland they are classified as pests and eradication measures are in place, usually aerial culling.’ Well, we know we can add WA to the culling list, of course.
So, partnering with the local school, would you believe, the Last Stop Donkey Program was born - taking in wild donkeys, re-socialising them, and training prospective owners before they purchase the donkeys. But that doesn’t begin to describe what’s happening there, only two years in. From broader education and even donkey therapy programs, to enormously positive ramifications for country and those stewarding it. From the promise of major financial benefits to farmers and the public coffers, to revolutionising how we might view so-called ‘pest’ animals in this country – right through to our Apex predator, the dingo.
Along the way, the donkeys are transforming this former horse-riding champ, and the growing number of people the program is reaching. And offering the ultimate prospect of stitching our landscapes and communities back together again.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded on 20 November 2023.
Title slide: donkey (supplied).
Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
161 Excerpt. We Can Create a New Normal: Live panel launch for Regenerating Investment in Food & Farming
16 Nov 2023
00:43:15
This is an excerpt of one of the most pivotal conversations on the podcast this year. So many conversations since, and attempts to navigate the paradigm change talked about here, have come back to this launch event, and the stories expressed in it. Having just returned from the Re:Connection Festival in the northern rivers, and a little tour around it, I’ll have more out on the podcast soon about some of this trailblazing work going on.
This conversation marked the launch of a major report and project by not-for-profit outfit, Sustainable Table (you might remember Jade Miles, current CEO, talking about it on last week’s episode). I’m joined here by two international guests – the CEO of Cienega Capital, Esther Park, and the CEO of Steward, Dan Miller. And alongside us are co-founder of the global Wellbeing Economy Alliance, Dr Katherine Trebeck, and regenerative farmer and lead author of the Regenerating Investment in Food and Farming report, Tanya Massy.
We pick it up from about the 40 minute mark, where the panel is gathering steam with some ‘real game changers’ coming on, including stories from around the world on how and where paradigm changes in investment are being achieved right now. Then there’s Q&A featuring other prominent folk around Australia, re-framing questions of scale, working in or outside existing systems, and vital processes of learning and transformation.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded online with live audience while I was at the Massy farm, Severn Park, on 20 April 2023.
Title slide: regeneration of food and farming in action (source: Sustainable Table).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
180. We're Very Close to a Tipping Point: Rachel Ward & Jade Miles, live in Margaret River
07 Nov 2023
00:48:31
Rachel Ward is a famed actress, film-maker and now farmer. Jade Miles is the CEO of Sustainable Table, author of Futuresteading, and steward of the incredible Black Barn Farm. We shared this conversation with a live audience after a screening of Rachel’s brilliant documentary, Rachel’s Farm. It was a curtain raiser to the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River WA, and the penultimate event of Rachel’s film tour of 30 or so locations around the country.
That lent a certain perspective to this conversation – a kind of overview of the movement, and the country. And that met Jade’s vantage point, also touring the country and researching the world with a different lens, as CEO of Sustainable Table. You might recall their launch event which became episode 161 earlier this year, Regenerating Investment in Food & Farming.
Unsurprisingly, talking with these two women at this time resulted in a very personal, hard-hitting, and inspired take on where things are at, what’s coming down the line, and the stories helping to make it happen.
You’ll hear the 3 of us in conversation for the first 15 minutes or so, then we interweave into our chat a handful of questions from the audience - who are also among the regenerative pioneers in this country.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded on 5 September 2023.
Title slide: Jade Miles and Rachel Ward on stage (pic: Olivia Cheng).
Music: Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.
Find more: To screen the film, gain access to resources etc., head to the Rachel’s Farm website.
You can hear Rachel and Anthony in conversation just before the film’s premiere and tour, with Rachel’s co-star Mick Green, in episode 168.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
170 Excerpt. Don’t Ask People to Pick a Side, with Tim Hollo
01 Nov 2023
00:29:35
It’s all go here now for the upcoming RE:CONNECTION Festival. But there are other reasons for this excerpt today. So many of my conversations these days, including after the Voice Referendum here in Australia, for example, come back to this part of episode 170 with Tim Hollo, author of ‘Living Democracy: An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it’. And particularly the part where he said:
“And I asked Amanda if there was a secret ingredient that sits behind it [the incredible success stories she’s worked on]. And what she told me has just echoed in my head forever since. And she just said simply, ‘don’t ask people to pick a side’.”
We go on to talk here about the late great Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for economics. I had never heard of her till just prior to this episode. But she’s a big part of Tim’s book, and I later learned a big influence on previous guest Charles Massy, and an upcoming guest Charles introduced me to, former investment banker Justyn Walsh.
A number of people said to me at the time that this episode completely changed the way they think and feel about what’s possible. Perhaps this excerpt can help us through this particular moment, and guide us back, or further, to the work that we know actually does bring people together and, quite often, results in outcomes that are genuinely extraordinary - but on the other hand, could very well become the norm.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded on Little Black Mountain in Canberra on 17 April 2023.
Title slide: overlooking the nation’s capital Canberra, on another walk up a hill (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
179. Coming to a Head in the Kimberley (Part 2): Chris Henggeler on the donkey situation, wildlife management & microbiome mysteries
24 Oct 2023
00:49:51
Welcome to part two of Coming to a Head in the Kimberley, featuring one of the great stories of regeneration, and one of the most spectacular regions in the world, at a time when both are acutely on the line. Join us back at Kachana Station in the East Kimberley, with award-winning regenerative pastoralist Chris Henggeler.
We pick up the conversation from part one here, on the latest with the donkey situation. Since we last visited Kachana, the state department that ordered the donkeys at Kachana be shot as pests, and the Henggeler family that has geared their behavior towards regeneration, have been in mediation at the State Administrative Tribunal. The Tribunal’s adjudication on that appeal is due before year’s end. It will carry with it the fate of the donkeys at Kachana, and with that the fate of a potential game-changer in regeneration at scale across the region – at a time when it’s desperately needed.
We talk here about the latest developments, research, language, history and other complexities on the matter - including the donkeys the Henggelers do shoot at Kachana. And we end up comparing notes on Chris’s related personal efforts with some paradigm changing health practices.
This thoughtful dialogue plunges into the intricate ties between biodiversity and domestication, sparking intriguing debates on managing both wild and domestic animals. We ponder over the immense significance of local wisdom and nature-informed decision-making in sculpting our future. It's an enlightening journey that challenges our understanding of relationships and responsibility, both towards ourselves and our planet.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect).
This episode was recorded at Kachana Station on 23 August 2023.
Title slide: Kachana Station (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
Instigating an International Convergence in WA: With RegenWA Chair, Stuart McAlpine
02 Sep 2025
00:36:11
It’s fitting that my first Aussie guest back home would be this bloke. Stuart McAlpine is a multiple award winning wheatbelt farmer over here in WA, who’s just been named as a finalist in the prestigious national Bob Hawke LandCare Award. I’ve long looked forward to having him on the podcast, having met him as part of the group that organised the first major RegenWA conference staged at Perth Stadium back in 2019 (it was my honour to be MC for that group of people). Six years on, we’re on the cusp of RegenWA’s second major conference (Regenerating Food Systems), back at Perth Stadium, and I couldn’t have said ‘yes, I’ll be home for this’ quick enough, when invited to be MC again.
This time around, the conference will feature two days not one, and a full week of satellite events have spontaneously gravitated to its orbit. And this time, RegenWA is running its conference having become an independent not for profit organisation, with Stuart as its inaugural Chair. He’s also been a paid subscriber of this podcast for nearly four years, so you can imagine how humbling that is.
Ideally, of course, we’d be at the farm. But given we’ve just got home from a big journey with the pod, and given the conference, satellite events and award announcement are just a couple of weeks away now, we thought we’d jump online for a quick yarn to help gear up for this potentially pivotal moment in time.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
179. Coming to a Head in the Kimberley: Chris Henggeler on regenerating consciousness, community & Country
18 Oct 2023
01:06:35
Chris Henggeler and his family manage Kachana Station in the East Kimberley, only accessible by foot or air. They took responsibility for this desertified and abandoned country, and have achieved some incredible regeneration, culminating last year in a State Soil Health Champion award. Yet with still vast lands desertifying around them, and so much opportunity to build on models like Kachana, we recorded an episode out there two years ago titled Wanted Land Doctors. Now the second most popular episode on this podcast, it was a powerful invitation for the next generations to join the fray, and how the rest of us can help them do it. But there is trouble afoot.
The regeneration at Kachana Station has incorporated and relied on not just cattle, but wild donkeys. The bond these animals share with this Station family is clear. But just before we recorded that episode two years ago, the state department ordered the family to gun them down as pests. The Henggelers appealed the order. And the State Tribunal process adjudicating on that appeal is coming to a head in a few weeks.
In parallel, you could say, the Kimberley itself is coming to a head. Forecast to suffer unliveable heat in the coming decades, with ‘climate refugees’ already heading south, and worsening floods like this year's at Fitzroy Crossing.
So this week, Chris and I draw some of the broader patterns together. And we hear the latest on how they're being turned around at Kachana, and beyond. That leads us to a deep dive on some of the best stories, thinking and intuitive wisdom we’re coming across, that are helping more heads and hearts come together across divides, to make more of the good stuff happen.
Next week, part 2 of this episode will feature a full and telling update on the donkey situation.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect).
Recorded on 23 August 2023.
Title slide: Chris Henggeler & friends (pic: Anthony James).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
178. Navigating the Emotional Echoes of the Referendum: Heidi Mippy, on the Voice to Parliament & beyond
10 Oct 2023
00:56:01
Heidi Mippy is a Noongar and Thiin-Mah Warriyangka woman, and a pioneer in Aboriginal education support and community development. For over 25 years, Heidi’s been leading and sharing in many brilliant success stories, with renowned integrity, smarts and spirit. Here, Heidi joins Anthony in the lead up to Australia’s national referendum on an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament this weekend, with no predetermined agenda, clear cut positions, or knowledge of what each other was thinking, going in. We hope this very personal and raw conversation adds something to your deliberations too, as the referendum approaches, and beyond.
In an atmosphere charged with emotions and complexities, Heidi and Anthony unravel layers of history, government initiatives, and community expectations. From the polarising conversations within the community to the anxieties that cloud the day after the referendum. We also examine the potential of the referendum, and the Uluru Statement as a whole, and the challenges that loom ahead either way.
But this isn't just about the referendum. It's about the power of community, the potency of 'what ifs', and how to harness that together to finally address our most urgent of needs, and realise our greatest of opportunities.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded online on 9 October 2023. And produced with human intelligence.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
177. Bunuba Elder Jimmy Dillon Andrews, on Jandamarra, spiritual power & building cultural enterprise
04 Oct 2023
00:56:05
Welcome back to Fitzroy Crossing. Jimmy Dillon Andrews is a highly respected Bunuba elder and founder of Bungoolee Tours, nationally renowned for the cultural experiences it guides people through. These include journeys deep beneath the limestone of the Napier Range into Tunnel Creek, and through the heart of the incredible Windjana Gorge, carved from a 35O million year old Devonian Reef. The spiritual significance of these places to the Bunuba people is immense, having tended all this for at least 46,000 years.
They’re also central to the legend of famed Aboriginal warrior Jandamarra. Jimmy is a descendent of Jandamarra, describing him as a ‘man of magical power’. The story of Jandamarra is one of this Country’s most gripping and important ones, that still too few of us know about. So we’re fortunate to hear Jimmy share it here. Along with some other stories foundational to this Country, from footy, to of course the extraordinary flood this year.
We go on to explore the keys to his enterprise success, and his visions for the future (along with the Voice referendum). And all with Jimmy’s unhurried, quietly spoken gravitas - as if whispering long-accrued secrets of Country. Join us, on a now dry patch of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River bed, by the old Fitzroy Crossing.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded on the bed of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River at the old Fitzroy Crossing on 9 August 2023.
Title slide: Jimmy Dillon Andrews during the conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng).
For more photos of the Martuwarra and Fitzroy Crossing, see the episode web page of ep.176 with Natalie Davey. And tune into the conversation for more on the flood and brilliant regenerative efforts.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
176. The Water has Passed but the Earth has Shifted: Natalie Davey on listening to Country
27 Sep 2023
01:24:54
Welcome to a very special episode, months in the making. Natalie Davey was last on the podcast nearly 2 years ago. It’s still the sixth most popular episode. Natalie is a community leader from Fitzroy Crossing, with Bunuba-Walmajarri, English and Scottish heritage. She’s a Traditional Custodian of the magnificent Martuwarra Fitzroy River. She’s also a broadcaster with the local Wangki radio, an artist, educator, and former ranger. She was the first Indigenous Chair, too, of highly respected not-for-profit Environs Kimberley – until her life was turned upside down by the worst flood event in West Australian recorded history at the start of this year.
Many will be familiar with the extraordinary unprecedented rainfall. But what you might not be familiar with is that while the water has passed, the earth has shifted. Figuratively, and literally. Some things that weren’t washed away, like the enormous Fitzroy Crossing bridge, were buried.
Coming into Fitzroy this time, we’d been wondering if there was a fuller story to tell. We found so much more than expected. Like what part our land management may have played in the damage. How community mobilised ahead of designated agencies in some crucial ways. The art and meaning that has flowed from disaster. How competing narratives confuse causes for solutions. And ultimately, how there are ways the community is responding successfully to not only the flood but, in related ways, to other issues like the youth crime waves that have been splashed across national media.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded by the Martuwarra Fitzroy River on 8 August 2023.
Title slide: Natalie Davey & Anthony James (pic: Olivia Cheng).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
156 Excerpt. Daniel Christian Wahl: ‘It’s the change of being that ultimately makes a difference’
20 Sep 2023
00:30:11
A very special episode from flood-ravaged Fitzroy Crossing, with Traditional Custodian of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, Natalie Davey, has been weeks in the making and is almost finished. Stay tuned for that next week!
Today is an excerpt of episode 156 featuring the last 25 minutes or so with globally renowned writer, educator and consultant, Daniel Christian Wahl, at a very sensitive time in his life. Our conversation was ostensibly winding up, but some deep personal reflections on life, language and place, learning, schooling and parenting, and the power of transformation, gathered their own momentum.
We pick it up with Daniel’s deeply felt experience as a newcomer to his home in Mallorca (the Anne we’re talking about is mutual friend, Aboriginal elder Anne Poelina). We go on to compare notes about parenting, learning and schooling for regeneration, that went on to explore general processes of connection and transformation. And the power we scarcely realise we can access by working in these ways.
Here’s part of the blurb from the full episode:
Daniel Christian Wahl is the world-renowned author of Designing Regenerative Cultures, still being translated into various languages years after release. Daniel’s also called himself a consultant, educator, activist, speaker, blogger, weaver, catalyst - he’s also become a farmer of sorts, which you’ll hear more about today, along with some other very interesting and relevant parts of his life – like marine biology, martial arts, permaculture, his ongoing learning with elders, and how he looks to live it all, in what has become his home in Mallorca, Spain.
To hear the conversation in full, tune into episode 156, where you'll also find a few links.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded online with Daniel at home in Mallorca, on 15 March 2023.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
150 Excerpt. Carol Sanford, as No More Gold Stars comes out (& brief update)
12 Sep 2023
00:23:59
What a week at the regenerative agriculture conference in Margaret River. Fair to say we’re still buzzing, and recovering. More on that later. Normal podcasting will resume next week, but this week has actually been lined up for a while – in anticipation of that recovery, and the release of a very special book.
Carol Sanford’s new – and sadly last – book is out this week. It’s called No More Gold Stars: Regenerating Capacity to Think for Ourselves. You might remember her talking about it back at the start of the year in a profound 150th episode, that drew such a wave of response from so many of you.
This is an excerpt of that episode featuring the last 20 minutes or so of our conversation. We pick it up at a particularly poignant and funny moment, where Carol is talking about one of her many great success stories in engaging with business globally in education and leadership. This led to my voicing a hint of doubt about the capacity of big business to change adequately, given the way the systems and structures are oriented. I was summarily admonished, in a way I enjoyed then, and recount still.
Here’s part of the blurb from the full episode:
Starting the year with Carol Sanford feels incredibly special. She’s been at the heart of what we might call the ‘regenerative paradigm’ for decades. Friends and colleagues have spoken about her with me for years, right up until the end of last year. And last month, a previous guest and author of Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta, featured Carol on his podcast. That’s when I learned the sad news that she has only a few months to live. When I wrote to her expressing my care and respect, and to see if she’d possibly be up for a chat with another Aussie podcaster, she said sure, but ‘I am declining and so can’t wait long.’ Days later, we shared this conversation.
To hear the conversation in full tune into episode 150, A Regenerative Life: Carol Sanford on living, dying & changing paradigms, where you'll also find a few links.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded on 2 February 2023.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
169 Excerpt. Matilda Brown & Scott Gooding on the Power of Food in Healing, Business & Regeneration
05 Sep 2023
00:28:47
We’ve landed in Margaret River, ahead of its major regenerative agriculture conference, with a live Q&A screening of Rachel’s Farm raising the curtain tonight. Anthony will be hosting director Rachel Ward, in conversation with another previous guest on the podcast, Jade Miles. In the film, Rachel raises the rest of the picture of regeneration – regenerating supply chains. And this is where her daughter Matilda (featuring profoundly in the film also), and her partner Scott Gooding, have taken up the mantle. Though that came after some uninterested mocking of mother, and sharing some traumatic health troubles and startling nutrition-led recoveries.
This is an excerpt of episode 169 featuring the last 25 minutes or so of our conversation, recorded at dusk on the family farm earlier this year – having recorded with Rachel for episode 168 earlier that day. We pick it up with Scott's healing journey. And follow that into the creation - and re-creation - of The Good Farm Shop.
Here’s part of the blurb from the full episode:
Join us in this heart-warming conversation with Matilda Brown, daughter of renowned actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, and Scott Gooding, ‘celebrity chef’ and author of The Sustainable Diet. Together, they share their unexpected journey into the world of regenerative farming, their thoughts on food sovereignty, and how their combined passion for cooking, creativity, and healthy, sustainable living, led to the creation of the Good Farm Shop.
To hear the conversation in full, head to episode 169 (see the link below).
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
This conversation was recorded on 10 April 2023.
Title slide: Matilda, Scott & Anthony (pic: Matilda Brown).
Find more: Tune into the full episode 169, Feeding Change: Matilda Brown & Scott Gooding's Nutrition-Led Journey to The Good Farm Shop, where you'll also find some photos and a few links.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
167 Excerpt. Next Generation Farming: North Arm Farms' Seven-Way Cooperative, Community Ties & Organic Decertification
28 Aug 2023
00:28:47
We’re now heading south from the Kimberley towards Margaret River for the regenerative agriculture conference next week. One brilliant couple who’ll be there, and who appear in the film Rachel’s Farm being shown on the eve of the conference, is Kaycee Simuong and Tom Macindoe. This is an excerpt of episode 167 featuring the last 25 minutes or so of our conversation, recorded after visiting Rachel, up the Valley at their 400 acre farm of forest and grassland regeneration, with extraordinary market garden.
Here’s part of the blurb from the full episode:
Tom and Kaycee are descendents of Scottish highlanders and Lao rice farmers (& somewhat accidental refugees) respectively. And as it happens, Kaycee spent some formative time in the Kimberley (at Mornington) when she was 19. Now she’s with Tom running Mandarin Bend Farm, in the beautiful Nambucca Valley, Gumbaynggirr Country, on the mid-north coast of NSW. But not only that. With a bunch of neighbouring producers, they’ve gone on to start the North Arm Farms coop – a unique food to market set up, with deep community roots, stewardship ethos, and enterprise model that sends 100% of what we spend on our food directly to the farmers. This is where we pick up the conversation.
To hear the conversation in full, head to episode 167 (see the link below).
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
168 Excerpt. At Rachel’s Farm, with Rachel Ward & Mick Green
23 Aug 2023
00:53:42
We’re back at Kachana Station this week, the site of the second most listened to episode on this podcast. And we've just recorded an update from here that will be out soon. But as recent guest Rachel Ward makes her way around the country, screening her new film and speaking with communities, news has arrived she’ll be doing likewise ahead of the major regenerative agriculture conference in Margaret River WA in a couple of weeks now. Episode 168 featured two chapters in effect – the first was with Rachel alone, and in the second we were joined by regenerative farming co-conspirator, and co-star in the film, Mick Green. This excerpt is that second chapter, recorded at Rachel’s farm earlier this year.
Here’s the opening blurb from episode 168:
Imagine transforming a cattle farm and family retreat into a carbon-sequestering biodiversity haven. What would it take? And how and why would you do it if you're a famed actress and filmmaker? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Rachel Ward, who embarked on this journey alongside former industrialised farmer and coal miner Mick Green. Their story is now the first Australian feature film on regenerative agriculture, and Rachel's first documentary. 'Rachel's Farm' has just premiered to acclaim in Sydney and Santa Barbara, and Rachel is about to tour the film around the country.
To hear the conversation in full, including ‘chapter one’ with Rachel and host Anthony, head to episode 168 (see the link below).
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Find more: Tune into the full episode 168, where you'll also find some photos and a few links, including the film trailer and tour dates.
Join us at the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023 – you can get tix for the Rachel’s Farm screening on the Tuesday evening, 5 September, on the program web page. Rachel will be in conversation with Anthony James on the night, along with
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
154 Excerpt. Rosemary Morrow on Incorporating Global Wisdom into Modern Permaculture for Systemic Change
14 Aug 2023
00:28:08
We’ve been recording in Fitzroy Crossing this week, and reflecting on the blessing of hearing from a number of elders here in the Kimberley. This includes one of the recordings from Fitzroy which will be out soon. And today, as we prepare to leave this permaculture paradise of recent guest, Wendy Albert, and head back to Kachana Station, it brought to mind another permaculture legend who cut her teeth here in the Kimberley – as a 15 year old jillaroo back in the ‘50s.
This is an excerpt of episode 154 with Rowe, featuring the last 20 minutes or so of our conversation. It was recorded near Fremantle WA late last year, when she was touring her new, fully revised, classic tome of the ‘90s - the Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture. It even closes with Rowe reciting some old station songs from her time in the Kimberley, before a few of her favourite people, in the Formidable Vegetable band, lend us a song to go out with (celebrating their new album launch at the time).
We pick up the conversation from where Rowe talks of permaculture needing to take next steps now – to go from being an ‘alternative’ to becoming part of the way things are generally done. She lays down the gauntlet for those who are ready to embrace a journey that explores the transformative power of permaculture and its potential to instigate systemic change. And explores how coming together with the wisdom of traditional cultures can help lead to planetary restoration.
Rowe goes on to talk about the courage of various women that have inspired her. There are tales of bravery and endurance from the Quaker women during the Vietnam War, Las Abuelas of Argentina, and the Black Sash women in Africa. We also hear about the crucial role she sees in engaging with local governments. And as we wrap up, we chat about who's taking up the mantle of Rosemary's enormous legacy, and the unique part music plays in connecting us across cultures and traditions.
To hear the conversation in full, head to episode 154 (see the link below).
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
Murujuga Achieves World Heritage Status: And a Complex Celebration
26 Aug 2025
00:18:10
After years of work led by traditional custodians, Murujuga on the north-west coast of Australia became a World Heritage listed site last month, with its ancient rock art recognised as a ‘masterpiece of human creative genius’.
You might remember our visit there, in the heat of December 2021, when I spoke with Clinton Walker, Ngarluma/Yindjibarndi man, Traditional Custodian of Murujuga, and CEO and Founder of the award-winning Ngurrangga Tours. I was actually only able to release the conversation in full for the first time in January this year. And while more than one million petroglyphs, some dating back about 40,000 years, should have meant the judgement was as near a shoe-in as possible, industry expansion plans were creating tension.
In the end, the Australian government managed to negotiate to have its cake and eat it too, achieving both World Heritage and industry expansion for the area. It’s a moment of undeniable and deserved celebration, and yet the tensions remain about the limits of protection World Heritage might afford.
Welcome to the 7th instalment of Vignettes from the Source, the short form series featuring some of the unforgettable, transformative and often inexplicable moments my guests have shared over the years.
We pick up this 15 minute slice of the conversation with Clinton about seven minutes into the full episode. It forms a powerful snap shot of the place, why it is now World Heritage listed, what it means to the people there, and the uncertainly that remains.
If you’d like to hear or revisit this conversation in full, including Clinton’s brilliant story, head to episode 245 – ‘Cultural Economies at the Greatest Rock Art Gallery in the World’ (links in the show notes, and photos on the website of the original partial release for episode 109).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
152 Excerpt. It’s Re-Connection: Zach Bush, Ella Noah Bancroft & Tanya Massy, live in Byron Bay
07 Aug 2023
00:27:54
There was some big news last week. The Farmer’s Footprint Australia team announced they’ll be staging a major festival in November. It will feature the return to these shores of Zach Bush, with Charles Eisenstein beaming in online, alongside a host of brilliant Australian speakers and artists. To get us in the mood, keep the connections alive from last year’s tour, and just in case you missed it, here’s an excerpt of the last 25 minutes or so of the panel conversation that brought the house down in Byron Bay in December last year. This is Zach Bush, Ella Noah Bancroft and Tanya Massy, hosted in conversation by Anthony James.
To hear the conversation in full, head to episode 152 (see the link below).
Ella Noah Bancroft is a Bundjalung woman and founder of The Returning. Tanya Massy is a regenerative farmer and award-winning writer. You can more about Ella and Tanya at the start of the full episode 152.
And for those less familiar with Zach, he’s the highly decorated physician who’s become globally renowned for his work on the microbiome as the basis of all human and planetary health. He’s since become a co-founder of Farmer’s Footprint, a not-for-profit in the US supporting farmers who are regenerating their landscapes to produce healthy, nutrient-dense food for a healthy planet. And last year, Zach supported Blair Beattie and the growing team here, to launch Farmer’s Footprint Australia.
This part of the conversation takes an exciting turn as we explore the shift in the current paradigm. We examine what it means for companies like Nestle to be calling on Zach to help spearhead change, and how municipalities like Byron Bay could become the keystones of change in Australia. We also chat about the benefits of reconnecting with First Nations and local farmers, including via a proposed new model of farmland investment, one centered on creating diverse stewards of the land rather than corporate ownership or extraction. Finally, we bask in the healing power of nature and music. We shed light on how nature can help us understand our belief systems, express ourselves, and restore our nervous systems.
Head here for chapter markers (or to the embedded player on the episode web page), and an imperfect AI-generated transcript of this conversation.
Recorded in the Byron Bay Community Centre theatre, on 6 December 2022.
Title slide: Anthony introducing proceedings (pic: Elle Jeffrey).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
175. Doing the Impossible: Judith Schwartz on transcending our impasses to heal the earth & each other
01 Aug 2023
01:22:44
Ten years ago now, award-winning writer and journalist, Judith Schwartz wrote the book ‘Cows Save the Planet: and Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth'. Then came 'Water In Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World'. And then, a few years ago, in an extraordinary global tour of earth repair, came 'The Reindeer Chronicles: and Other Inspiring Stories of Working With Nature to Heal the Earth'. That award-winning book featured stories from Norway, Spain, Hawai’i, New Mexico, the Middle East, and Australia – Kachana Station, in fact, the 200,000 acre station in the East Kimberley that’s the subject of the 2nd most listened to episode on this podcast – and a critical flashpoint right now.
Among Judy’s stories, there’s something in particular about the one from New Mexico that stands to assist all the others, and what’s to come. It’s a story that’s shaped the next phase of Judith’s life in some ways, and is arguably the leading edge of what we need most right now. Given the stories of regeneration in every sphere are everywhere now, we can say we do broadly know what to do, and who can help the rest of us join in. So what’s stopping us? And how can we get beyond the entrenched beliefs and patterns that are holding us back?
Some of what Judy’s written up, and has gone on with personally since, is almost too amazing to be true. Indeed, as we’ve heard on this podcast recently from people like Tim Hollo, Amanda Cahill, and Katherine Trebeck, we do know of processes too, that answer those crucial questions. And one consistent thread in these processes, is how contemplating the apparently impossible can change everything. Interestingly, it’s also consistent with processes that elite athletes are increasingly engaging in. Judy calls it the approach of thinking ‘wouldn’t it be cool if …?’ And hearing how Judy’s own path of deep healing has converged with these bigger stories of regeneration, even how she’s become a black belt in her 60s, that does sound cool.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
Recorded at the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation on 28 July 2023 Australian time.
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.
174. The Ambassador: Wendy Albert’s permaculture paradise, systemic regeneration & legendary Kimberley life
25 Jul 2023
01:26:21
Join us on an insightful journey with Kimberley legend Wendy Albert, a woman who's lived an extraordinary life, challenging the status quo and advocating for sustainable living. From her early years growing up on a farm, to joining Mother Teresa's sisterhood, Wendy's experiences have shaped her into a fierce advocate for food security and sustainable agriculture in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and beyond.
Wendy is the owner/manager of Kimberley Cottages, and Windjana Wellness and Sustainability Services. And this is where we are blessed to be based when we’re up this way - rained upon daily by tropical fruit, veg and herbs. And inspired by this septuagenarian great grandmother enabling it all. In some ways, she’s still just gearing up, and continuing to invite others in to make more of the running on the foundations laid. But how all this came to be, is another story. Well, many!
Wendy’s ultimate migration to the Kimberley came after a chance meeting in Central Australia with the late great musician and actor Stephen ‘Baamba’ Albert. Eulogised as the ‘Patron Saint of Broome’, Stephen was a co-creator of iconic theatre and film productions like Bran Nue Dae.
All the while, Wendy herself was continuing to blaze other trails in Broome, and later here - from the phenomenal Kimberley Bookshop and Magabala Books, to a pivotal Royal Commission, and on to the transformation of a landscape and health-centered food systems over profit-driven ones. And on that, we hear how the former can have enormous effects on youth crime epidemics too, and a cautionary tone on new slogans like 'green ammonia'.
Join us at Wendy's place, on a beautiful sunny morning amidst this season’s tropical bounty.
Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).
The RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road, and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll also find my writing).
You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.