The RegenNarration

Jodie Jackson is an author, yoga practitioner and media campaigner. Her first book is titled ‘You Are What You Read: why changing your media diet can change the world’. “Information is to the mind, what food is to the body”, she says. And after becoming a mother, and seeing the news affect even her small children, she wrote the children’s book ‘Little Ruffle and The World Beyond’. All this stemmed from years of looking deeply into the psychological impact of the news. Yes, she discovered no shortage of negative impacts from the barrage of negativity and misinformation. But she also discovered plenty of evidence of the beneficial effects of more constructive news on our wellbeing and society. Not ‘feel good’ puff pieces - more rigorous, whole-picture reporting. And there began Jodie’s at times deeply challenging journey of writing the books, speaking regularly, and just last week, launching a global News Literacy Network. The by-line for the network is ‘empowering a more accurate worldview’. It says on its website: ‘We must develop the necessary skills to stand guard at the doors of our own mind. Our personal wellbeing, and wellbeing of the world depends on it.’ I first came across Jodie in the terrific news outlet Reasons to be Cheerful a couple of years ago, via a profoundly consequential piece about the responsibilities of media during pandemics and other major disease outbreaks. In it she alluded to the book she’d just written. So I reached out. And after a few twists of fate, we just happened to get together for this conversation the day after the new Network launched. This conversation was recorded online with Jodie at home in London, on 16 August 2022.Title slide image: Jodie Jackson.Music: Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now. Find more:Jodie’s website.News Literacy Network.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This special extra with Kristy Stewart features 20 additional minutes or so from our conversation. We went on here to talk about innovative enterprise development and next generation opportunities, and working with government and communities to help open these up. On the one hand, we talked changes to zoning and other regulations that inhibit young people and others joining in with value-add enterprises. And beyond that, Kristy’s been part of her community coming together in an influential local process reminiscent of what’s powered the community independents movement currently transforming politics in Australia. And we look at some of the incredible impacts of the education programs Kristy is co-developing at the farm. Title slide image: Kristy Stewart at the native flowers garden, alongside one of the regenerated dams at the farm (holding a picture of just how badly degraded it had become) (pic: Anthony James).Music:Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:You can hear the rest of Kristy and I in conversation in the main episode: ‘An Agroforestry Revolution: Kristy Stewart on family, community and spiritual transformation’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes too, along with some photos and a couple of videos on the episode web page.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Kristy Stewart is a regenerative farmer, free-diver, and next generation community leader. Kristy is already impressing audiences, students and other farmers around the country. And in a sense, it’s no surprise, given her pioneering family stock. Her father is Andrew Stewart, award-winning co-founder with Rowan Reid, in 1993, of the world-renowned Otway Agroforestry Network, in the south-east of Australia. Charles Massy describes it as the flagship of not only a revolution in agroforestry, but in peer-led transformative learning. And the Stewart’s 575-acre farm, Yan Yan Gurt West, is an extraordinary exemplar of what’s possible, in its astounding regeneration of landscape, productivity and community. Now Kristy’s own transformative journey is shaping the next generation of far-reaching possibilities.Kristy talks here with such raw openness about a major transformation in her life, stemming from a journey to South America, and how she’s attempting to live that out. When Kristy subsequently found herself part of a panel conversation with Di Haggerty, she was compelled to spend time with Di at her place. And that’s when I got a call from Di, mid-last year while we were based at Ningaloo Reef, telling me of this impressive couple of sisters at her place, and that one of them was heading our way next – would we be up for meeting? Suffice to say, Kristy made an impression on us too. And a bit under a year later, we were fortunate enough to be visiting the Stewart family farm. So the first half of our conversation is on some of the incredible story of this family, the regeneration of a landscape, and the broader revolution in their region and beyond. Ground breaking enough. Then the second half of our chat is on Kristy’s transformation, a deepening family story, and how all that’s shaping her taking up the mantle with the next generation. This conversation was recorded at Yan Yan Gurt West farm in the Otways of Victoria, on 18 April 2022.Title slide image: Kristy Stewart at home on the farm (supplied).You can see more photos on the episode web page.Music: Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now.Find more:Stay tuned for a special extra to this episode, out next.Otway Agroforestry Network. Australian Agroforestry Foundation. An invitation to Yan Yan Gurt West farm.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Kate Fenech is an impressive 15 year old student who’s found herself part of the extraordinary SS4C movement (the School Strikes for Climate), with growing passions for marine science and regenerative farming. I met her when we were both late conscripts to a premiere screening of Regenerating Australia in Busselton, WA, that ended up becoming a unique post-film dialogue. The film’s director, Damon Gameau, was a late withdrawal, as was young activist and author, Bella Burgemeister. So Kate and I stepped into the breach, and that seemed to set up a vibe among the 75 or so people present of, ‘well I guess it’s just us!’ And to tell you the truth, for a while, I wondered if the whole thing was going to bomb. I’ve never hosted an event with an audience that was so pin-drop quiet. But that silence turned out to be more a measure of how much people were listening and contemplating, as just about everybody stayed, and we even drifted over time a little, for what became a frank, vital and ultimately wonderful community conversation.3.45m - A short welcome from me 5.20m - A pre-recorded introduction to the film by Damon. (Damon actually came to feel that this was the most impactful part of the film tour, more than the film itself.) You can find the image Damon is talking to, on the episode webpage – that link’s in the show notes10.35m - In conversation with Kate Fenech22.15m - Our all-in dialogue startsThis conversation was recorded in the week leading up to Australia’s recent transformative federal election, at Orana Cinema in Busselton WA, on 16 May 2022.Title slide image: Anthony James and Kate Fenech at the Orana Cinema in Busselton, WA (pic: Jennifer Seccull).You can see more photos on the episode web page, including the image Damon talks to in introducing the film.Music: Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the film Regenerating Australia. Find more:School Strike 4 Climate Australia.Regenerating Australia is available for community screenings now (and grant applications, requests for materials etc.).Community Independents Project.You can hear my conversation with Jess Beckerling on the cessation of native logging in WA in episode 105.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Dr Valerie Brown is a Visiting Professor at the renowned Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University, and an international figure in the field of collective thinking, with a list of awards and accolades as long as your leg. But what brought me to her door was hearing doyen of regenerative agriculture, Charlie Massy, defer to her over the years. Charles was among her first students in the pioneering Human Ecology course in 1974 (a course the university establishment tried to have shut down). And when he returned to do the PhD that became the best-selling book Call of the Reed Warbler, Valerie was his supervisor. She’s “one of Australia’s greats”, he says. So after visiting the Massy farm earlier this year, Valerie was kind enough to welcome me to her place, up in the road in Canberra, for this conversation.Incidentally, my guest from episode 85, Cathy McGowan, was also a student of Val’s – and features here in a great story. But there was another milestone on my way to Val’s place too, that also goes back to the 70s. My old mate and mentor Professor Frank Fisher used to talk of the Fenner crew, and gifted me one of the many trailblazing books Val co-wrote, called Tackling Wicked Problems, published back in 2010. Though here, Valerie talks of how her work has progressed far beyond that, drawing on her considerable impact globally, including hundreds of workshops on collective learning as a tool for transformational change. This conversation was recorded in Canberra, 5 April 2022 (a month and a bit before the transformative federal election that resulted in so many more female independent MPs).Title slide image: In the backyard with Valerie Brown, at home in Canberra (pic: Anthony James).Music: Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now.Find more:The ABC Australian Story episode on Charles Massy features Valerie. Valerie’s extended bio, on her Collective Thinking website.And at the Fenner School.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Today’s episode features the legendary author, advisor and media producer, Hazel Henderson. Hazel has had such a big impact on so many, including yours truly. In my case, it has stemmed from over two decades following her work, and two hours of unhurried conversation for this podcast back in 2019. At the end of that conversation, Hazel invited me to visit if ever I was in Florida. And though I haven’t travelled overseas for 15 years, with emissions and other things in mind, I couldn’t help but wonder if one day that might be possible. Two months ago, however, the sad news arrived that Hazel had passed away, at the age of 89. So this episode is a tribute to Hazel, drawn from our 2-part conversation almost three years ago – essentially, it’s the first 25 minutes or so of part 1 and the last 20 minutes or so of part 2. So it starts at the start, giving you my full introduction to Hazel, and the priceless, unassuming nature of how our conversation began – with a personal exchange on how we were going about life, media, connection and learning. Then it’s over to her beginnings, for what became a much-loved, pioneering and globally recognised life. And it culminates with some profound poignance that blew me away when listening back to it now. Title slide image: Hazel Henderson at the outset, and towards the end (with EF Schumacher in the photo on the wall), of her public life (photos supplied – the latter taken by Vicki Robin).Music: The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The acoustic interlude about half way through is Cycles, by Simon Edwards (guitarist from the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra).The tune accompanying the outro is by Jeremiah Johnson.What If? (Impact: the Musical), by Jacqueline Emerson & co. – watch the film clip.Find more:A tribute to Hazel.Donate in honour of Hazel, and to assist with the collating of her life’s work (all Hazel’s books are also available electronically on this page, in exchange for that donation).If you’d like to hear the full 2-part conversation I shared with Hazel back in 2019 (and follow some additional links), head to episodes 49 and 50. Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Jade Miles is an author, podcaster, farmer, organiser, speaker, and a few other things besides. I first came across Jade’s podcast, Futuresteading, back when it started. Then last year, the visual extravaganza of Futuresteading the book came along - sub-titled ‘live like tomorrow matters: practical skills, recipes and rituals for a simpler life’. It draws on Jade’s family life at Black Barn Farm – which features an incredible orchard of around 100 varieties of heritage fruit and berries, along with nursery, and workshop space in the Black Barn. Jade has also more recently become the CEO of Sustainable Table – so we get the inside story here of that transformative work and Fund we’ve heard a bit about in recent episodes.Jade is one terrific communicator and connector. And here there is also some pretty raw, honest and grounded reflection. We start with the fascinating and at times funny back story of their journey to becoming farmers, before exploring that inside story of Sustainable Table. Then standby for our chat about her book and podcast, particularly the one episode that shook her for days - with Tyson Yunkaporta. And that’s our take off point for exploring her profound experiments with ritual at home, deeply felt mother’s dilemma on education and rites of passage, and her emotional connection with her music selection – one that comes full circle to her life’s beginnings.This conversation was recorded at Black Barn Farm in Stanley, Victoria, on 29 March 2022.Title slide image: Jade Miles during our raspberry walk at the farm (pic: Anthony James). You can see more photos on the episode web page. Music:Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now. Find more:Black Barn Farm. Futuresteading, the book. Futuresteading, the podcast (where btw, you can hear more of Jade and I in conversation, on episode 5 of series 5, 4 July 2022 – though it was recorded after our visit to Black Barn). Sustainable Table Fund. And if you’d like to hear the conversation I had with Jake Claro from Vermont, that’s episode 51, ‘Farm to Plate: Regenerating a state’s economy through food, land and culture’.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

 You might remember Ian Congdon and Courtney Young from one of the great stories we heard about last year, on how this young family is changing the face of farming - and milling - in Australia. That’s through their incredibly delicious enterprise Woodstock Flour, and Courtney’s spectacular art. As it happens, our conversation last year took place on the day they finished building the first Australian mill in who knows how long. And coincidentally, it was also settlement day for the purchase of their own farm. So after we visited Serenity and Kirsten for the last episode, we dropped in to meet Ian and Courtney in person at that farm. And again, while just intending to say hi, another riveting chat over dinner compelled us to sit down and put something on record for you all.What we found was another uplifting sighter of a brilliant couple continuing to manifest transformative visions. We start here with the first item of huge news – their major grant success from the Sustainable Table Fund. That’s the ground-breaking Fund we heard about in the last episode, and from Tanya Massy earlier this year. This represents a big step towards creating a local regenerative grains economy in their region. Then we delve into their attempt at an innovative renewable energy set up, their artistic and practical explorations of what it means to be land-owners now in the context of Aboriginal dispossession, and the many opportunities for others to join in these regenerative efforts. We also talk briefly about the changes in farming they’re observing with rapidly escalating input costs, some profound and entertaining experiments milling native grains from Black Duck Foods, and let’s just say a unique music selection on Ian’s part.This conversation was recorded on their farm near Rutherglen, Victoria, on 31 March 2022.Title slide image: Sunset at the Woodstock Flour farm near Rutherglen, Victoria (pic: Anthony James).You can find more photos on the episode web page, and a further selection of pics on the page of our first conversation together last year, on episode 89 (link below).Music:Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now.Find more:Woodstock Flour.Courtney’s art.You can hear more of Courtney, Ian and I in conversation in episode 89: ‘A NatSend us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is a profound personal and collective story right at the heart of systemic and cultural change. Serenity Hill and Kirsten Larsen are regenerative farmers and co-founders of the Open Food Network. You might remember my conversation with Kirsten online two years ago, as Covid took hold, and Open Food Network took off. At that stage, they’d experienced a tenfold increase in both people signing up to the platform and in turnover, while spanning over a dozen countries. A lot has happened since, too, with the Network, with the trailblazing land ownership and succession model we touched on last time, and on a transformative personal level. So when our family visited theirs recently, we had to pull up a pew on the front porch together, and press record.Our conversation starts with a very frank and vital conversation about land, ownership and money, and how investment can work best for those doing the actual work of regeneration. From there we delve into other ways to enable more of that work, including more values-based supply networks. And that leads us to where this pioneering couple is currently exploring further layers of personal transformation. Oh, and how over a decade ago, Serenity foresaw the independents movement that has just transformed Australia’s parliament. More on the Open Food Network: it’s a not-for-profit, global collaboration building food distribution systems that are fair, local and transparent. The Network’s flagship open source platform enables new, ethical supply chains. And in the wake of COVID-19 has gone to a whole new level, as producers look for alternative ways to sell quality produce, and eaters look for alternative ways to access it.This conversation was recorded in Violet Town, Victoria, on 29 March 2022.Title slide image: Serenity and Kirsten (L-R), just before pressing record on this conversation (Anthony’s foot just makes it into this slide – the full photo can be viewed on the episode web page, along with a couple of photos on the farm) (pic: Olivia Cheng).Music:Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now. Find more:Open Food Network.And the farm, Pukawidgee. The pivotal survey being run currently by the Network. Sustainable Table Fund.Send us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Paul Cleary is a best-selling author and journalist who’s just written an incredible book – certainly a must read for any Aussie, and every West Aussie, with implications that arguably extend far beyond. It’s called ‘Title Fight: How the Yindjibarndi battled and defeated a mining giant’. The back cover bills it as ‘a David and Goliath story set in the ancient landscape of the Pilbara’. That’s in the north-west, here in WA. And the mining giant is Fortescue Metals Group (or FMG), led by billionaire Chairman Andrew Forrest. In the face of that company’s staggering array of unscrupulous tactics, intimidation and exploitation, the Yindjibarndi people and their leader Michael Woodley, prevailed through to the highest court in the land. And this story is far from done at the closing of that back cover.The implications of this extraordinary triumph continue to be enormous, for the Yindjibarndi, for Forrest and FMG, and for communities, economies and landscapes everywhere. For the Yindjibarndi have not just won a pivotal legal battle, they are demonstrating a model of holistic development that feels instructive for us all. And all based on deciding for themselves what sort of culture, community and commerce they want to create. This story is so relevant to not just how to stop Forrest and FMG (and anyone else) from such ongoing disregard for Australian and Aboriginal culture, heritage and law. But for what this might mean for the renewable energy transition and other laudable initiatives that Forrest and his Foundation are engaged with, and for the nearby flashpoint of Woodside’s Scarborough Gas proposal (and others), among the greatest rock art site in the world.This conversation was recorded by in Russell Square, Northbridge, in inner city Perth, on Whadjuk Noongar Country, 20 June 2022.Title slide: Paul Cleary, just before pressing record on this conversation (pic: Anthony James).You can also see the transcendent image of Ned Cheedy, aged 106, with Michael Woodley’s grandson, from the back cover of Paul’s book, on the episode web page.Music:Regeneration, composed by Amelia Barden, from the soundtrack of the new film Regenerating Australia, available for community screenings now. Find more:Title Fight: How the Yindjibarndi Battled and Defeated a Mining Giant Paul Cleary on LinkedInThe Great Native Title Swindle short video mentioned in the conversation, featuring the notorious 2011 meetSend us a textSupport the showThe 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 find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!