This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Jenny Odell, initially aired in February of 2021. Our attention has operated as currency for the past couple of decades, but with the invasiveness of social media and technology, our ability to exit and enter the attention economy has been severely hindered. As we feel pressure to post and comment on everything for an unknown audience, do we inherently limit our capacity for complexity and vulnerability? And what are the extended ramifications o...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 330•Transcript available on Metacast This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with john a. powell, originally aired in May 2019. If you enjoy this week’s episode, make sure you listen to the first episode in our special series The Edges in the Middle , which features a conversation between john a. powell and Báyò Akómoláfé . Now more than ever, we are reminded of the vital importance of creating practices that strengthen and recognize our shared humanity. However, in order to do so, we must examine the systems, ideologies, and...
Apr 05, 2023•58 min•Ep 329•Transcript available on Metacast For The Wild is honored to present a series of conversations entitled, “The Edges in the Middle,” in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. In the first of these conversations, Báyò Akómoláfé speaks with john a. powell, Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute. Speaking on the theme “When ‘just getting along’ isn't enough: Is belonging possible in a world rooted in othering?,” Báyò and john contemplate the ontological weight of our desire for belonging....
Mar 29, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Tyson Yunkaporta originally aired in May of 2021. Struggling to change actual conditions, many have settled for changing the perceptions of the world around us. Tyson Yunkaporta begins by sharing the connections between perception, the branding of our identities, and the many forms of capital that become available and valuable in a perception-obsessed society. As we welcome the call to change our conditions and participate in the great “thousand...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 328•Transcript available on Metacast Rising against growing wealth inequality and resource consolidation, guest Morgan Curtis asks how we might, rather, shape our world in reciprocity, mutual aid, and intentional community. This week, Ayana and Morgan dive deep into the need for repair, healing, and acknowledgement as we face the historical roots of modern inequity. Morgan centers her work by listening deeply to the call for radical change. This heartfelt and expansive conversation calls for us to unlearn the ways racial capitalism...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr•Ep 327•Transcript available on Metacast Gabes Torres offers her thoughtful wisdom in this conversation that weaves through healing, interconnection, and embodiment. Focusing on holistic healing and mental health support, Gabes lucidly describes the ways our individual health and well-being are dependent upon our connections and the structures of the societies in which we reside. Together Ayana and Gabes dream of what we may be free towards (not just free from) as we divest from extractive mindsets. Reverberating on a call to expand lo...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 326•Transcript available on Metacast Rosemary Gladstar calls forth deep gratitude and mindfulness for the plant world as she walks with us through the world of herbalism in this precious episode. Reminding listeners of the value of connecting to the wellspring of Earth, Rosemary contemplates the ways plants shape us and make us into companions when we work with them. Woven throughout the conversation is an understanding that the Earth has a destiny of its own, one we cannot completely comprehend within our human lifespans. Rosemary...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 325•Transcript available on Metacast Giving listeners a glimpse into his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World , guest Malcolm Harris joins Ayana in a vast conversation dealing with the shape and form of Palo Alto’s specific place alongside overarching systems of capital. Cutting through the romanticization and myth that surrounds much of the allure around California as place and as metaphor, Malcolm offers well-rooted thought touching on the history of Stanford University, the internet, Palo Alto’...
Feb 22, 2023•58 min•Ep 324•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Ayana is joined by Francesca Lia Block in a heartfelt conversation recognizing the search for self and love through magic, literature, and deeply-felt presence. Francesca brings listeners into her writing practices as she navigates centering beauty in a world of intensity. Moving through the depths of empathy, pleasure, and presence, Francesca considers passion as a practice of gratitude to the world around us. As she discusses her most recent book House of Hearts , with Ayana, she em...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr•Ep 323•Transcript available on Metacast For The Wild is honored to be “episode swapping” with the How to Survive the End of the World podcast, hosted by adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown this week! Known for “learning from the apocalypse with grace, rigor, and curiosity” this episode, initially released in May 2022 is all about love. “What is it? Why does it happen? Why does it hurt so bad? Why does it feel so good? And how might it help us survive as a species? All these questions and more get introduced, and some of them start t...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Grounding this conversation within Teotitlan del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico, guest Samuel Bautista Lazo, brings listeners into an insightful conversation on the value of craftwork that connects us to the past and plants seeds for the future. Here, Samuel outlines the weaving traditions of the Benzaa people, offering insight into a trade and lifeway shaped intimately by ancestry and the land. Through his family’s weaving business, Samuel emphasizes the importance of creating connection and meaning w...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 322•Transcript available on Metacast How do we sustain nourishing roots in a time of displacement? This week, guest Alynda Mariposa Segarra invites listeners to examine their relationship to place, comfort, and survival as they discuss their newest album LIFE ON EARTH. Through the art form of music, Alynda holds together the complexities that come with wanting and needing to run away from oppressive systems while simultaneously having to confront what is happening right in front of us. Tapping into these themes, Alynda discusses th...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr•Ep 321•Transcript available on Metacast Calling listeners into a magnetic conversation about the power of photography and storytelling, guest Josué Rivas (Mexika and Otomí) opens up new ways of understanding art and creation. With so much capitalistic pressure on modern day creators, photography and content creation often slip into extractive mindsets. Josué invites us to challenge extractive and colonial lenses by embracing the overwhelming force of the creative urge. Humanity yearns to tell its stories. How might we break apart from...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 320•Transcript available on Metacast Bringing us into his world of nature, awe, and magical poetry, guest Jarod K. Anderson reminds us that our human journey is worthy of just as much love and affection as the natural world around us. When we come to nature with intention, how might it guide us towards love and inspiration? In a time where so many of us are feeling lost, confused, and not connected to a purpose, we often abdicate our power to make meaning in favor of buying prepackaged narratives about who we are based on what we c...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 319•Transcript available on Metacast Guided by her new book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto and fervent calls for real, deep rest, this week returning guest Tricia Hersey joins Ayana to unwind the complicated ties of exhaustion and exploitation. Tricia’s words serve as incantations against the brainwashing of grind culture as she and Ayana investigate the systems that benefit from keeping us operating. Drawing deep inspiration from her ancestors, histories of marronage, and long standing traditions of Black resistance, Tricia leans...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 318•Transcript available on Metacast This week, guest Veda Austin invites us to consider and grow closer to water – as both a preciously vital and often overlooked life source. Veda’s work researching and making art with water has allowed her an intimate look into water’s role on Earth and within our lives. Water is our companion, and more than just companion, it is what makes us. We are continually obliged to water, and it to us, as we are in an interdependent relationship with it. Veda calls us to investigate our liquid selves – ...
Dec 28, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep 317•Transcript available on Metacast In spirit of the Winter Solstice and holiday season, For The Wild is taking a break this week. We hope you are taking great care of yourself as we near the end of this calendar year. We also want to share some updates about what you can expect from the Podcast and our Patreon in 2023. Since we released our first episode in September of 2014, we've been so blessed to create and curate our weekly episodes as offerings to the times in which we live. We remain in deep gratitude to our guests wh...
Dec 21, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week For The Wild Podcast presents Part Two of a two-part conversation between guest host brontë velez and Dr. Tiffany Lethabo King. Circumferencing Dr. Tiffany Lethabo King’s book The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies , brontë and Tiffany explore sacred laughter, Black and Indigenous feminism, sexuality, liberation, ceremony, and protocol. This week we are cradled to explore where Black and Indigenous relations can meet beyond the wound. Part Two spans further i...
Dec 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep 316•Transcript available on Metacast This week For The Wild Podcast presents Part One of a two-part conversation between brontë velez and Dr. Tiffany Lethabo King. Circumferencing Dr. Tiffany Lethabo King’s book The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies , brontë and Tiffany explore sacred laughter, Black and Indigenous feminism, sexuality, liberation, ceremony, and protocol. This simultaneously intimate and expansive dialogue allows us to rethink the stories and structures we’ve been told regarding Black and...
Dec 07, 2022•56 min•Ep 315•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Ayana is joined by Dalit American civil rights activist Thenmozi Soundararajan in a profound conversation detailing the wounds of caste within the United States and across the world. Thenmozhi brings just conviction and soul-filled commitment to the fight to annihilate caste-based supremacy. The very involvement within systems of punishment, carcerality, and discrimination deepens a wound that separates us from each other and from the broad web of life. Speaking to the ways that carry...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep 314•Transcript available on Metacast We’re taking a pause this week from our regular episodes to share a special snippet from our first Slow Study with Bayo Akomolafe. This offering originates from Bayo’s course “ We Will Dance With Mountains: Into The Cracks!” and is an edited curation of recorded lectures, prayers, musical accompaniments, and practice prompts offered by Bayo and co-conspirators. This week’s preview includes a brief portion from Session One, as well as the corresponding practice prompt by Jiordi Rosales. Each sess...
Nov 23, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast What can the forest teach us of grief, of joy, of humanity? This week, poet and scientist Maya Khosla invites listeners into the forests of Northern California to find deep reverence for the power of biodiversity. Maya’s expertise on wildfires shines through this deep and well-informed conversation as she and Ayana share a love for the forest and deep-seated awe for the complexity of forest life. Maya introduces listeners to the science behind forest fires and urges us to see fire as not simply ...
Nov 16, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep 313•Transcript available on Metacast In this winding and lucid conversation, guest Sophie Strand invites us to investigate our relationality, to embrace rot and decay, to welcome our demons to the dinner table, and to prepare for uncertain futures with tenderness. Sophie brings to light the wisdom of the compost heap. What myths do we need for modernity, what wisdom is sedimented within our bodies? Sophie and Ayana tap into deep lines of thought and myth, weaving together conversations and concepts from thousands of years of human ...
Nov 09, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep 312•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode centered around global consciousness and rooted local action, returning guest Dr. Vandana Shiva reminds us of the power of commitment in the fight for the Earth. Reflecting on her lifetime of devotion to the land, Vandana highlights the value of paying deep attention and of bearing witness to the interconnectedness of Earth. These thoughts deeply counter the modern state of media and movements that fleetingly follow trends without deep connections to justice and connection. Toget...
Nov 02, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep 311•Transcript available on Metacast “With a prayer to imagine beyond the current structures and systems, and kind of weave ourselves into, and be wrapped inside of, the invisible cloak that is interdependence, that is mutual aid, that supports us to reach towards each other and reach towards a vision of mutually flourishing life.” This powerful vision is shared by this week’s guest, Dori Midnight. In this sweet, meaningful, and meandering conversation, Dori discusses magical and liberatory practices, ancestral Jewish healing tradi...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep 310•Transcript available on Metacast It’s undeniable that right now we are in a rapidly changing and complex relationship with the consumption, production, and reality of drugs, substances, and medicines, and their usage. This week, guest Ismail Lourido Ali, J.D. guides listeners through an overview of where we are in our relationship with drugs in the American context, and how this relationship is indicative of our relationship with the Earth and with humanity broadly.We cannot move to a healthy and healing relationship with subst...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep 309•Transcript available on Metacast This Slow Study Course is a series of lectures and practice prompts from Bayo Akomolafe's 2021 edition of "We Will Dance With Mountains: Into the Cracks!" wherein 1000+ people gathered. It is a carnivalesque course in postactivism, a matter of fissures, fault lines, cracks, openings, seismic shifts, endings, and fugitive marronage. This learning journey is available for you to explore from home at your own pleasurable pace. Visit our website at forthewild.world to learn more. Supp...
Oct 14, 2022•5 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast The Mountain Valley Pipeline, which runs through West Virginia to Virginia is on the verge of completion following intense legislative and legal battles. This episode reminds us of the danger in this, and amidst such battles, Appalachians Against Pipelines shows us what might be possible if we allow ourselves to imagine a world outside of extraction. Lark Elodea joins Ayana to discuss the relentless and direct activism Appalachians Against Pipelines has been doing to stop the pipeline, build com...
Oct 12, 2022•58 min•Ep 308•Transcript available on Metacast This week guest Tusha Yakovleva calls on us to remember our millennium-old relationship with weedy beings and the gifts of wild and invasive plants. It’s estimated that worldwide spending on invasive species exceeds one trillion dollars annually. But if we were to cease our violent relationship with weeds and invasive species, what might we find? Cultural cooperation between plants and people? A whole slew of plant-relatives that are thriving in increasingly challenging landscapes? We are challe...
Oct 05, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep 307•Transcript available on Metacast This week, guest Yoalli Rodriguez brings us to the Chacahua-Pastoría Lagoons in Oaxaca, Mexico, to investigate deep connections with land, ongoing colonial violence, and the grief that comes alongside loving a place. The Chacahua-Pastoría Lagoons have long been vital spaces for Black and Indigenous communities, but continued colonial strategies have altered and quartered off the landscape in favor of nationalist and capitalist interests. The conversation dives deep into an understanding of Mesti...
Sep 28, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep 306•Transcript available on Metacast 
