Are you craving more curious, compassionate, and creative conversations about the state of our planet and our role in its well-being?

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EPISODES

SERIES INTRODUCTION | SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Are you ready for a new perspective on sustainability? Authentic interviews with essential guides? Compassionate conversations about the state of our soil and soul? Get ready for Regenerative Spaces' first episode, coming out next week! In the meantime, here’s an introduction to what’s ahead.

Episode 1 | what is regenerative spaces? | September 7, 2023

In this first episode, Stacy provides background for her eight-part series on sustainability, ecological health, and the “inside job” of climate change. After decades studying the social ecosystems in American schools, she shifted to considering the ecosystems on her family’s 300-acre avocado farm. She was led to new questions: what makes for a thriving environment, whether in the classroom or the garden? Join us as we embark on a journey into regenerative possibilities.

Episode 2 | Rodger Savory on Holistic Management | September 14, 2023

In the first interview of the series, Stacy sits down with pastoralist and environmental expert Rodger Savory for a discussion on Holistic Management. We often think of the environment in terms of separate categories, but Holistic Managements draws our attention to all the ways that ecological systems are interconnected. Every element of an ecosystem must be supported for it to go through a healthy life cycle: from plants to fungi, worms to flocks of sheep. Join the conversation to learn more about the history of holistic thought, its application to farms the world over, and the virtues of pastoral living.

Episode 3 | cultivating energy with paul fraser | September 21, 2023

What, exactly, are “vibes?” Is that the same as energy? And what is the connection between the internal pool of energy within us and the external sea that constitutes nature? This week, Stacy sits down with Paul Fraser, who has spent nearly three decades practicing and teaching medical Qigong, a broad system of exercises that helps cultivate the essential spirit in all things. Paul relates his journey to Qigong and its rich, millennia-long history, and also recounts the time he found communion with a family of black bears; Stacy finds ways of tying our interpersonal experiences of Qi to the land on her farm. Listen in for a crash course into harmonizing heaven, earth, and humanity.

episode 4 | tom cole and warren brush on resilient agriculture | September 28,2023

Coming from different backgrounds, both Tom Cole and Warren Brush became experts in permaculture design and practice, and spent decades in food sustainability before ever meeting one another in their shared hometown. Warren co-founded Quail Springs, among many other organizations, which has pioneered self-sustaining models for human life and ecological development. Tom, in addition to consulting for numerous food security programs, co-founded African Women Rising with his wife Linda Eckerbom Cole, a global NGO that has helped women displaced by conflict establish sustainable food systems for their communities. After these two Santa Barbara locals finally crossed paths, they put their 60+ years of expertise into prototyping, testing, and launching a revolutionary perma-garden model with refugees from Northern Uganda with implications for the whole continent — possibly the world. Tune in to learn more about what the future holds for ecological empowerment in this moment of planetary crisis, some of the roadblocks typical NGO’s face with sustainability programming and training, and how Tom and Warren have managed to circumnavigate those hurdles, bring food security to refugees, while restoring the land.  

EPISODE 5 | the ecology of schools with jose caballero | october 5, 2023

If you know anything about Santa Barbara High School and its students, chances are you probably know something about Jose Caballero — the AP Environmental Science teacher. For over two decades, Jose has not only introduced complex ecosystems to young learners, but also fostered the school’s student-led community garden. This week, Stacy sits down with master teacher Jose to dive into all the connections between the ecosystems that constitute our planet and the ecosystems that constitute our schools. Jose’s pedagogy runs counter to our current educational philosophy of data-driven productivity, increasingly constricted school day, and transient leadership. For Jose, a healthy classroom is one that centers egalitarianism, maximizes the voices of students, and addresses the root causes of academic dispassion. Tune in for some regenerative back-to-school philosophy!

EPISODE 6 | PLANTING FOR SUCCESS WITH COREY WELLES | OCTOBER 12, 2023

Thirty years ago, the exotic gardens of Madame Ganna Walska’s Santa Barbara estate were barely clinging to life. When those 37+ acres were relaunched as Lotusland — now a prize-winning botanic garden — ag experts’ best advice was to poison unwanted species and ramp up growth with chemical fertilizers. Sustainability expert Corey Welles had a different idea: how would it look if we worked with nature, not against it, to create a resilient ecosystem that could withstand Santa Barbara’s challenging climate? Three decades later, Corey Welles is at the forefront of a revolution in regenerative horticulture which seeks to supplant “big-Ag” advice for more ecological, adaptable practices. His expertise has been sourced by the botanic gardens of Berkeley, Descanso, the Huntington, and the Getty. Tune in to learn about the soil’s “gut health,” encounter unlikely connections between horticulture and Taoism, and learn a tip or two for your garden at home.

episode 7 | the wisdom of bees with melissa cronshaw | October 19, 2023

When Melissa was five, she shared all she learned from taking care of her own bee hive with her fellow, first-grade classmates. Now, Melissa tends to hundreds of hives across Santa Barbara county and leads groundbreaking educational programming on the essential role bees play in ecological health. Stacy sits down with Melissa this week to think critically about colonies: how they function, what they can (and can’t do) to help your crop, and the singular importance of understanding hives in a broader environmental context. Melissa’s philosophy runs against typical, big-agro policy in her refusal to use chemicals to respond to difficulties with her hives. As she illustrates in this episode, nature finds a way of creating solutions - we just have to start paying closer attention. Tune in to learn about the complex social lives of honey bees, the dangers of terminating weeds in your backyard, and all the problems with the movement to “Save the Bees.”

Connect with Melissa at melissasbees.org or on Instagram at @melissasbeees.

Articles mentioned during the episode: ‘Honeybees are voracious’: is it time to put the brakes on the boom in beekeeping? | "The Beekeepers who don’t want you to buy more bees" | "Is Beekeeping Wrong?"

California Field Guides: California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists | Common Bees in California Gardens | Common Plants to Attract California Native Bees

episode 8 | Finding Internal Harmony with Minka Robinson Stevens | october 26, 2023

Minka Robinson Stevens has been immersed in flora for as long as she can remember, but her relationship with the natural world - and her internal world - forever changed after encountering traditional East Asian medicine: from acupuncture to dermatology, massage to qigong. Minka owns and runs Points of Health Acupuncture, a medicinal clinic in Santa Barbara and one of the few in the United States with an integrated herbal pharmacy. Today, Stacy sits down with Minka to catch a glimpse of these millennia-long traditions and better understand their views of the natural world. Where we often find ourselves forced to constantly grow, traditional medicine emphasizes cycles of growth and contraction. Where we might expect cure-all’s for our bodily health, traditional medicine shows us that a cure in one context is a poison in another. Join us in this last episode of the season to learn about the ever-shifting world of elements, the most beneficial foods for autumn, and practices that can turn your body into a regenerative space.

Follow Minka on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pointsofhealthsb/

Website: https://www.pointsofhealth.org/ 

Autumn Practices (Blog): https://www.pointsofhealth.org/blog/autumn-tcm 

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