Sara Olson-Smith is a pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa. She is the author of recent Bible studies in the Women of the ELCA's Gather Magazine. In her writing, teaching, and pastoral work she weaves together God's ancient stories in scripture with contemporary struggles, movements, and hopes. In community, we can (re)discover a Spirit-led life of freedom, joy, and care for one another and all creation. 

Brent Olson is a professor of Environmental Studies and co-director of the Institute for Mountain Research at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. His teaching and research is centered on the stories we tell about nature and their implications for our relationships to each-other and the non-human world. These relationships and stories are complex, varied, challenging, and embedded in legacies of slow violence.

In the midst of this injustice and trauma, he works to uncover and share the work of communities that are fostering hope, and the stories that nurture life in the scorched soil. Befitting the overlapping and cascading crises of the Anthropocene, his work refuses simple answers, easy optimism, or quick solutions, instead encouraging students, colleagues, and others to find a richer and deeper hope grounded in communities of knowledge and engagement rooted in playfulness and creativity.

To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org. The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. For questions and inquiries, contact [email protected].

Background music by lemonmusicstudio: Leva - Eternity.