J.R. Jamison is joined by author and educator Jill Christman to discuss her new memoir, The Heart Folds Early, a story of transformation through tragedy, and an examination of the ways in which great loss can make us simultaneously fearful and intrepid.

Emerging from a childhood that included both devastating sexual abuse and the sustaining joy of being deeply (if imperfectly) loved, Jill Christman’s sights were set on building and protecting her own happy family—until her fiancé was killed in a car accident. In The Heart Folds Early, Christman examines the mournful recklessness of the young widow she was against the backdrop of her later marriage and new motherhood, including the choice to end a half-term pregnancy when a routine ultrasound revealed her baby boy had just half a heart.

Courageous, clear-eyed, tender, and unexpectedly funny, Christman reflects on her life and asks: What happens when we’re afraid the worst thing will happen and then, sometimes, it does? And how do we carry life and death in our bodies and survive with our hearts intact?

J.R. Jamison is joined by Trina Moyles to explore the fragility of our relationships with human and nonhuman species alike, and the imperative to protect the wild—along with the people we hold closest—through her new memoir, Black Bear. 

After years of working for human rights organizations, Trina Moyles returned to northern Alberta for a job as a fire tower lookout, while her brother Brendan worked in the oil sands, vulnerable to a boom-and-bust economy and substance addiction. When she was assigned to a tower in a wildlife corridor, bears were alarmingly visible and plentiful, wandering meters away on the other side of an electrified fence surrounding the tower. Over four summers, Trina begins to move beyond fear and observe the extraordinary essence of the maligned black bear—a keystone species who is as subject to the environmental consequences of the oil economy as humans. At the same time, she searches for common ground with Brendan on the land that bonded them. 

J.R. Jamison sits down with Samantha Ellis to journey through time, language, and cultural connectivity as the two explore her new memoir, Always Carry Salt. 

The daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees, Samantha grew up surrounded by the noisy, vivid, hot sounds of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic; a language that’s on the verge of extinction. Now, raising her own family, she questions how to pass on this heritage without passing on the trauma of displacement. Always Carry Salt is a life-affirming tale of resilience and repair, the healing power of our ancestor's music, stories, and recipes, and a moving meditation on the words and traditions that shape us. 

Guest host Kelsey Timmerman “talks story” with Kaua’i educator and cultural practitioner Malia Chun. Together they explore how Hawaiian stories carry genealogy, belonging, environmental knowledge, and resistance—and why reconnecting with our own roots shapes how we move through the world. Malia invites listeners to reflect on their ancestors, their land, and what it means to be a good ancestor today.

J.R. Jamison is joined by writer and editor Fiona Robertson, whose latest memoir of grief, hope, and love explores Britain’s standing stones and the solace of their offerings in times of darkness, and lessons learned on endurance, survival, joy, and the luminous reminder of what it means to exist on this earth. 

J.R. Jamison explores the everyday impacts of injustice in health through the stories of those on the frontlines in Baltimore, Maryland, touching on barriers to care in Black, Brown, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities; challenges with mental health and housing; and the influence of identity, community, and culture on wellbeing. 

Later, J.R. is joined by the Facing (In)Justice in Health project organizers Mindi B. Levin and Dr. Stéphie Dulièpre, along with Dr. David Fakunle, the founder and CEO of DiscoverME/RecoverME, an organization that utilizes the African oral tradition to empower use of storytelling for healing and growth. 

Photo credit: Dr. David Fakunle

Kelsey Timmerman is joined by singer-songwriter Cliff Ritchey to discuss his new album, The Long Haul, and the stories behind his music that have been inspired by global travels and the simple country life of Markleville, Indiana—where gravel roads, sunsets, and stillness seep into his melodies of home.

Photo credits: Kelsey Timmerman for Patagonia Books. 

J.R. Jamison is joined by David Ambroz to discuss his memoir, A Place Called Home, a story about growing up homeless in New York, Ambroz’s subsequent years in foster care, and eventually becoming an attorney with a vision to change the laws that affect children in poverty. Hillary Rodham Clinton praised A Place Called Home “[as a book that will] redouble your efforts to fight the systems of poverty that have plagued America for too long.”

Photo credits: David Ambroz (by Austin Hargrave)

J.R. Jamison is joined by former co-host Kelsey Timmerman to discuss his latest book, Regenerating Earth: Farmers Working with Nature to Feed Our Future, and later Kelsey sits down with an Indiana farmer to explore how he’s working to build a local food system while healing the land through regenerative farming practices. 

Music in this episode - 

"I Leaned My Back Against an Oak (after The Water is Wide)" by Axletree
Licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.
From the Free Music Archive.

J.R. Jamison explores aging through the stories of those aged 60 to 95 who look back at their careers and accomplishments, and discuss times of war and peace; strength and bravery; struggle and tenacity; and the secrets to life and living in the golden years.  

Special guests: Molly Flodder, editor of Life After 60: The Golden Years?, and Dr. Jacquelyn Frank, a leading gerontologist and anthropologist whose research focuses on aging in place.