A show about relationships with the land
There are many ways to listen to the show: Listen live on CFRU 93.3 fm broadcasting from the University of Guelph Mondays at 6pm EST or listen to the podcast via Spotify, Apple, or just follow the rss feed.
Ep. 229 : A Mushroom Folk Tale
My room, my house, my bags are all full of books, twigs, fruits, feathers, seeds, nuts, and bits of mushrooms this time of year. So too my stomach, my dreams, and my heart. My bedroom is littered with naturalist books and books of fairy tales and myths which I pull out and read before I turn out the light. I love the folk tales because if you read them in the right light, they share stories of relationships with the land from before christian colonization. For me, of european descent, this gives insight to how my ancestors may have gotten to know the places they lived and who they depended on to live good lives in relation with the lands they lived with.
Ep. 226 : Lichens with Troy McMullin
Lichens been a draw for me for the last few years. When it comes to a diversity of lifeforms coming together in a fungal structure to draw down nutrients from the atmosphere, to beautify a landscape, to feed some of the largest land mammals down to sheltering some of the smallest arthropods, I’m hooked.
For many of us, the problem has been where to start, how to get into the lichens, how to identify them and how and where do we learn what roles and functions these forms of life have on the land?
In comes Dr. Troy McMullin, lichenologist, author of dozens of papers on lichens, describer of 10 species new to science, and author of the new book Lichens : The Macrolichens of Ontario and the Great Lakes Region of the United States out on Firefly Books.
Ep. 216 : Morel Mushrooms
Lately a lot of folks I know have been finding Morels in and around the city where I live. Possibly one of the most prized edible fungi on the planet, everyone seems very excited to bring them home and cook them into an ephemeral dish. If I find a bunch I may do the same, but until then I wanted to look into this amazing fruiting body a little bit more.
Ep. 202 : Baby Bird Identification with Linda Tuttle-Adams
It can be really hard to identify a baby bird, and that can be problematic in trying to identify the exact care needs the bird requires to flourish. Some birds may only feed their nestlings seeds, where as others require insects. Identification is key to the survival of many of the species of birds found across North America/Turtle Island every year. There are few resources and fewer accessible texts outside of academia to turn to, but with Linda Tuttle-Adam’s new book “Baby Bird Identification - A North American Guide” things just got easier.
Ep. 196 : Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada with Justin Kestler
Justin Kestler and I got to talk about his new book The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada. This concise book is a quick guide to interpreting the origin of hairs based on the morphology of scales along the cuticle (outer side) of the hair. It’s not like a fingerprint per se, which attempts to identify an individual human, but instead may help to identify a species. This is because the scale structure is different across species but not so much individuals of that species. Make sense?
We talked about the process of documenting the hair scales, acquiring the hairs, and a bit about ecological traits which might be indicated through the characteristics of the hairs. It was really fun to nerd out about the finer details of hairs. The book, and the interview have really pushed me to keep a hair journal and begin looking for a microscope. Maybe in the future…
Ep. 193 : Spiders of North America with Sarah Rose
I am overwhelmed sometimes by the sheer diversity and quantity of Spider species I encounter. So many! I take a ton of photos and bring them up on my computer hoping to try and identify a couple, and maybe write about who I am seeing out there, but the precious few who I have been successful in identifying are just that, the precious few.
It has been hard to find a good field guide to Spiders. When I recently I got a copy of Spiders of North America by Sarah Rose I was stoked.
Ep. 191 : Scat Finder with Dorcas Miller
Finding and identifying scat is definitely part of a trackers repertoire as scat is a gateway into the natural history of the animal who left it. It highlights which species the animal is in relationship with, can help identify where the animal has been, and more generally can teach us more about our land base, which really is the point of this show.
Dorcas and I share stories while I ask questions about her awesome new book. It was an honour to get to talk with Dorcas.
Ep. 188 : Ways of Being Alive by Baptiste Morizot
Baptiste Morizot has changed the way I look at the world. He has offered a depth to the nuance of my relationships by giving them words and concepts to draw from. He examines in great detail how we relate (in the familial/ancestral sense, and the geopolitical sense) to other life forms with whom we share the planet.
Ep. 178 : A discussion of On the Animal Trail by Baptiste Morizot with Julian Fisher
My friend Julian Fisher recommended a book to me he thought I would enjoy. It was Baptiste Morizot’s On the Animal Trail. I got it and I asked him if he would like to do a “book report, not a review” with me, where we could just have a good conversation about what we were thinking and learning about through reading the work. Julian is a philosopher, and I am a tracker. Why not share in the feast of ideas that is On the Animal Trail together?
Baptiste writes beautiful accounts of tracking non-human animals, and describes some lessons he/we have been offered by these cohabitants. He also asks us to look a little deeper into these lessons and into our relationships with these communities. Can tracking change how we see the world by changing the way we interact with the world? Can following animal trails help us find a deeper sense of belonging to place because we are more in tune to the relationships happening around us? Julian and I get into it.
Ep. 176 : Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats with Dr. Cylita Guy
When I began reading it I realized Dr. Cylita Guy’s new book Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats I realized that it is more than what it seems. Cylita has written about how eight different researchers go about conducting their research along with how they themselves, as individuals, some as BIPOC scientists, interact with and encounter their work.
There are stories of late night encounters with the police, and of a scientist observing birds in park being asked to leave because other park goers were “uncomfortable” likely because the scientist was a Black woman. There are stories of urban ecology researchers that reflect the urban human population dynamics which, in some ways, are comparable to the wilds they work to understand. Life blooms everywhere, and within these pages I read the stories of the broad ecologies which I am not only witness to, but also apart of.
Ep. 174 : The True Cost of Coal with the Beehive Collective
The massive Beehive Collective posters were a big part of my culturation and activist upbringing. Every punk house, infoshop, or radical space I encountered had one. But despite seeing them so often, these black and white billboards were still a little mysterious and the narrative a bit illusive.
When Saku and D came through this past week they brought with them a simplified key, a song, a Seussian poem detailing the narrative of the work, which made it much more approachable to a broader, and younger audience. Inspired by their own child and the desire to teach them about what has been going on in the world, they put together a new book detailing the true cost of coal.
Ep. 173 : Cartoonist and Author Rosemary Mosco
I really appreciate when I can meet someone who can take something despised and vilified and transform it into a beautiful focal point, braiding together natural history, human history, and urban ecology. Rosemary Mosco is someone who does this on the regular.
I got to talk with Rosemary about her own connections with nature, her award winning comic birdandmoon, really diving deep into Pigeons (Columba livia) and her new book A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching.
Ep. 170 : Early Autumn Update
The seasons are changing and it’s getting a little more obvious everyday. I have been watching life turn over the past couple of weeks and it’s been lovely. I went out on Saturday, sat under a Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), and watched the wind move through the grass.
This weeks show I try my best to share what I have been learning about in regards to my local landbase, as well as trying to remember some of the highlights from my lost interview with Olivia Messinger Carril and Joseph S. Wilson about their book Common Bees of Eastern North America. It wasn’t the same, but it was ok. And the book is still just as good. I am grateful for that.
Ep. 168 : Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests with Casey McFarland
Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello & David Moskowitz have come together to revamp the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Nests. In one (kinda thick) package they managed to fit descriptions of over 650 bird species along with beautiful high quality photos of many examples of the varied avian architectures discussed.
Casey McFarland joined me for a great conversation on what it took to make the book happen. We discuss the legacy Hal H. Harrisons work and how his book inspired a lot of what Casey, Matt, and David wrote, but also they were determined to find new practices that weren’t as invasive in their search for beautiful shots of nests and eggs.
Shout outs to Matt Monjello and David Moskowitz who could not be apart of the interview.
Ep. 164 : Cultural histories of Raccoons with Daniel Heath Justice
Who would have thought that a small woodland creature would have made such an impact on the land, hearts, minds, and cultures of those who have encountered them.
Author, professor and animal nerd Daniel Heath Justice helps us navigate the wild cultural impacts and impressions of Raccoons. Raccoons are imprinted on the imaginary as “category-defying, rule-breaking and boundary-breaching beings”. They are models for both lean, resilient, images of the noble wild as well as pestilent dumpster dwelling “trash pandas”. Queer creatures indeed.
Ep. 156 : WITCHBODY with Sabrina Scott
Can we imagine a living piece of trash? Can we remember that magic exists and flows through all things, including that trash, the sidewalk, the tires sunk in the bottom of the river? Maybe respect and honour are not just for the pretty things, the magical things like a candle, or a plant, or the multitude of stars.
Sabrina Scott asks us to take all beings into account, allowing for their identities to remind us that the world is a breathing, heaving, mass of being - from our own bodies we hold so high, down to the vaccines and microbes which populate all things.
Ep. 153 : The Nature of Oaks with Doug Tallamy
Doug Tallamy’s new book “The Nature of Oaks : The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees” is a month-by-month study of the ecology of Oaks. A perennial dive into the cycling inhabitants and visitors to Oaks throughout the year. While not quite a field guide, the book does offer detailed explanations, accompanied by large colour photographs, on a multitude of various insect and bird species who are interacting with the Oak.
This book, and interview, are full of natural history of the Oaks, as well as a call to action for those who have the means to plant an Oak.
Ep. 142 : Raptor Prey Remains with Ed Drewitt
For Episode 142 I get to talk to Ed Drewitt, naturalist, Peregrine Falcon researcher, and author of Raptor Prey Remains : A guide to identifying what’s been eaten by a bird of prey. We talk about raptor ecology on the broad sense and also get focus on Peregrines.
It was a nice and relaxed interview, with Ed sharing so much of what he has learned through his years of observation and study, and how his book can help those who are getting started in the world of tracking birds of prey by learning to correctly identify that which they prey upon.
Other platforms where you can listen to the show :
As well as : Breaker : Overcast : Pocket casts : RadioPublic