The RegenNarration

I had this conversation with Tim Winton back in 2018, but it’s been front of mind for me again in recent weeks, as we enter a moment of reckoning on gender-related inequality and violence – certainly in a big way in Australia right now, and of course more broadly in the wake of the #MeToo movement, and so many others over a long period of time. It also continues to invoke a kind of personal reckoning. You’ll hear more from me on this at the start of this episode. To many of you, Tim won’t need an introduction. He is one of the world’s most brilliant, authentic and awarded writers, and is regarded as a National Living Treasure here in Australia. For those less aware of Tim, his brief publisher bio is below.Tim and I both reveal some pretty raw parts of our journeys here, in recovering a masculinity worth the term. And this framed the back half of our conversation on his ongoing efforts to help protect the World Heritage listed Ningaloo Reef. Particularly, at this time, Exmouth Gulf – in effect, the Reef’s nursery. This episode comes to you from back on the shores of Exmouth Gulf, which looks doubly magnificent in the wake of the recent successes of the Protect Ningaloo project. But the future of this region, and so many others, is still so bound up in our culture of damaged masculinity. Our national parliament is enough to demonstrate that. But of course, it’s not just about parliament, it’s about the systems and stories across the board that have generated, perpetrated and legitimised this for too long.Back in May 2018, I wondered if Tim agreed that the grounds for positive change seemed to be getting more fertile. And here we are now, with gutsy women taking a stand everywhere, and gutsy men looking to do what’s right. In this context, at this moment, it feels like the wisdom Tim brings to the table here is worth releasing into the world again.Tim Winton has published twenty-nine books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.Title slide image: Tim Winton (source).Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Find more:Books by Tim Winton.The Shepherd’s Hut.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 is an excerpt from episode 80 featuring the last 20 minutes or so of my conversation with award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Nicol Ragland. How does Bill Gates’ recent ‘intervention’ in food systems differ from what we really need? And how are some First Nations people saying ‘no thanks’ to that intervention? These questions lead our conversation through Nicol’s work with Regenerate Oklahoma, some of her transformative experiences with Indigenous peoples around the world, and what that might mean for re-conceptualising our relationship with land. She goes on to rib me a little on the topic of trust, reveals how she (almost) stood in the recent federal election, and all this culminates with an awesome exchange on the wisdom of elders.Title slide: B&W shot of the Hadza (pic: Nicol Ragland).Music:Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, Regenerative Media: What if it’s not about solving but maintaining a connection? You’ll find a selection of Nicol’s spectacular photos on that web page too. 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 is a special extra to episode 80 with award-winning filmmaker, Nicol Ragland. We hear more of Nicol’s personal journey from childhood and artist, through to formative experiences with Indigenous cultures around the world. We explore this in parallel to the growing movement in solutions journalism and regenerative media, and where it all could take us. Particularly if married with the sort of education model she’s witnessed right here in Australia, with Terry McCosker and his team at RCS.Title slide: In Australia with RCS Australia (pic: Nicol Ragland).Music:The Great Unwind, by William Tyler off his album Modern Country.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, ‘Regenerative Media: What if it’s not about solving but maintaining a connection?’ You’ll find a selection of Nicol’s spectacular photos on that episode web page too. And if you want to hear the episode with Terry McCosker, you can find it here.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!

Nicol Ragland is an award-winning film maker and photographer from the US. I first came across Nicol when she directed the spectacular short film, Farmer’s Footprint, featuring Dr Zach Bush and a group of regenerative farmers including Gabe Brown. It echoed so many of the stories you hear on this podcast, and elsewhere, of both the litany of issues in the wake of ‘big agriculture’ and its related systems, and the often-surprising pace of recovery among those communities able to step out from under that boot heel. Nicol might be thought of as part of a growing movement of solutions journalism or regenerative media. But she still thinks too few producers understand the influence of propaganda and well financed algorithms. And what we can do about it.Nicol was born and raised in Oklahoma and Colorado, but couldn’t wait to get out of there. After eighteen years in Los Angeles, though, she recently circled back to her “red dirt roots”. She wrote a blog about why, talking of the power of reconnection with country, health and communities. And she lamented that so much of our deepening political divides are between rural and urban folk, concluding with the question: “What if it’s not about solving but about maintaining a connection?” This conversation was recorded on the morning of 16 March 2021 (Australian time).Title slide: Nicol and companion (supplied). You’ll find a selection of Nicol’s spectacular photos on the episode web page too.Music:Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Find more:Tune into the special extra with Nicol, 'If we could do this across the globe'.Nicol’s website. The Farmer’s Footprint short film (20 minutes).Regenerate Oklahoma.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 is an excerpt from episode 79 featuring the last 20 minutes or so of my conversation with Keith Bradby, CEO of Gondwana Link. We explore the machinations of change, from intuition and leaps of faith, through to connecting all kinds of people and places, across all kinds of political and cultural divides. We then delve into what this means for the economics and politics of change, including how to keep carbon in context. And we close with how to keep ourselves from being distracted by the causes of our problems, to focus more on what matters most. Title slide: Keith Bradby (pic: Ami Vitale).You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, ‘Gondwana Link: The most exciting restoration at scale in Australia, with Keith Bradby’.You’ll find a series of photos on that episode web page too. 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!

Gondwana Link has been called “the most exciting thing that is happening in restoration in Australia, if not the world.” It’s a one thousand kilometre stretch of country extending right across the south of Western Australia. This globally recognised biodiversity hotspot had been little understood, and devastatingly cleared. But not all of it. And Gondwana Link is restoring and re-connecting these land and seascapes, their communities, and their cultures. Hundreds of people, dozens of groups, private and public landholders, investors and more. One of the outstanding successes has been the First Nations-led restoration of Nowanup – and all on the back of a handshake. That seems like the big story here – the trust and re-connection, that bears the fruit of restoration. And you’ll find Keith Bradby right in the thick of it.Keith has been at the heart of Gondwana Link since it began nearly twenty years ago – and really, long before that. He’s the CEO of the organisation, has worked in business and as senior staff to cabinet ministers across the political spectrum, and exudes a love of connecting people and places. A walking ecology. Well, we all are really, but Keith sets a standard. His pivotal achievements read as long as your leg, playing key roles in developing the WA Landcare Network (he’s currently Chair), halting widespread clearing, and recrafting regional economies - both in Australia and now around the world.Among his many accolades, Keith’s been awarded the Great Southern Development Commission’s Medal of Excellence in Natural Resource Management in 2005, and an Order of Australia Medal in 2015.This conversation was recorded at one of the magnificent restoration sites at Twin Creeks, on 4 March 2021.Title slide: Keith Bradby (pic supplied). You'll find a series of other photos on the episode web page too, including a particularly uncanny one.Note: the quote at the top of this episode description was from Professor Richard Hobbs – an internationally recognised ecologist.Music:Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Find more:On Keith Bradby.Gondwana Link.Get involved.Gondwana Link’s video channel, featuring a series of short videos. A short video profile on Gondwana Link featuring Keith, at the Twin Creeks site, produced by Luke Sweet for Clean State WA. This short animation, with 2 million views and counting, is one of Keith’s favourite outlines oSend 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 an excerpt from episode 78 featuring the last 25 minutes of my conversation with leading holistic farmers, Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus. We explore what it takes to regenerate country, community and custodianship. And to kick that off, I raise a section of the recent popular TV series here in Australia, Fight for Planet A, that had me squirming in my seat. We then delve into some fascinating work around the health of ancient cultures relative to our modern ‘lifestyle’ afflictions, and how we might harness the ‘best of both worlds’. We close with Jeff’s run for parliament and an invitation to join Jeff and Michelle on their custodial journey.Title slide: regenerated pasture at Southampton (pic: Justin Wolfgang).You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, ‘Growing Food & Farmers – for 500 Years!’ You’ll find a series of photos on that episode web page too. 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!

Marking Jeff's run for Parliament at the West Australian state election today, this is a special extra to episode 78 with Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus. It’s a stretch of eight minutes or so that starts with Jeff describing the extraordinary and instructive experience of the day Southampton burned. And it closes with a collective reflection on notions of responsibility, stewardship and the long game. Title slide: The burned out shell of the historic Southampton Homestead (pic: Anthony James).Music:The Great Unwind, by William Tyler off his album Modern Country.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, ‘Growing Food & Farmers – for 500 Years!’ You’ll find a series of photos on that episode web page too. 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!

Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus are bringing chicken farming back to earth, and playing a part in rebirthing opportunities for communities and regions everywhere. They’ll say they’re doing nothing particularly new, but they’re finding a way to regenerate country, community and economy in an unprecedented context of crises. For them, most recently, an horrific bushfire devastated their historic Southampton Homestead and Farm. We explore their soulful and award-winning journey of recovery, as they form part of a leading trend in farming – tending healthy people, animals and country, while reclaiming the terms of trade. That means taking back responsibility for the growing, processing and value-adding of all the food on the farm, and bringing it directly to the community. Jeff is a former corporate, now first-generation farmer with his wife Michelle. He had regenerated this land once already, after arriving in 2006 to a landscape devastated by pine plantations, before that horrific bushfire razed the place to the ground in 2013. He felt the call to go again, as an old friend came back into his life and ultimately became his wife. And together, they’re creating an incredible story, with their hand-reared chicken and other animals on perennial pastures, insects and sunshine.Now Jeff is standing for parliament at this month’s state election and, much like the Haggerty’s in episode 68, they’re inviting the return of farmers and others back on country, to scale the regeneration together, rather than as individual empires. They’re “growing food and farmers”, reclaiming the story of people and nature from Hobbesian nightmares, and restoring custodianship on country as our way out - creating the new system, as a means of emerging from the old.This conversation was recorded on location at Southampton Homestead and Farm on 3 December 2020.Title slide: Jeff on the farm (pic: Anthony James). You'll see more photos on the episode website.Music:Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.Find more:Tune into the special extra with Jeff and Michelle.Southampton Homestead website.2015 short film by Regrarians with Jeff and Michelle, ‘After the Fire’.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 is an excerpt from episode 77 featuring the last 15 minutes or so of my conversation with the award-winning director of ‘That Sugar Film’ and ‘2040’, Damon Gameau. We pick up on what Damon says has been the most rewarding, promising and important part of his work with both films – working with kids and teachers in education. One million young people have engaged with the 2040 film and initiatives alone. And its upcoming US TV release is still to come. We go on to talk about a number of other stories that are changing the story this year, our experience of an extraordinary generation of elders, and a reflection on what might just be needed most right now.Title slide: Damon Gameau in conscious company (supplied).You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode, ‘2021: Approaching Regenerative Tipping Points’. 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!