Today on Mushroom Hour we are going spelunking with the gracious Dr. Greg Brick. Dr. Brick has worked as a hydrogeologist with environmental consulting firms, at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and has taught geology at local colleges and universities. He has edited the Journal of Spelean History for the past 20 years. He has published more than 200 articles about caves and was the recipient of the 2005 Cave History Award from the National Speleological Society. His has written for books including his most recent, "Minnesota Underground", co-authored with Doris Green and released in 2019. He served as co-editor of "Caves and Karst of the Upper Midwest", a textbook covering Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. His work has been featured in National Geographic Adventure magazine as well as on the History Channel. He has led guided tours of caves for the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education. Today he is taking us on a subterranean journey into the centuries-old caves of Mushroom Valley near St. Paul Minnesota!   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Caves, Karsts and Crevices   
• Natural Caves, Artificial Caves, Anthropogenic Caves   
• Exploring Caves & Claustrophobic Limitations   
• US Geography of Caves & Karsts   
• Human Cultures & Caves – Lore and Culture Around Caves    
• Hollow Earth Theory   
• The Underexplored Underground    
• Minnesota’s Mushroom Valley    
• Mole People of the NY Subway   
• Mushroom Farming from the Paris Catacombs to Minnesota     
• Economic Ecosystem that Supported Mushroom Farming in Caves   
• Subterranean Nightclubs - Mystic Caverns & Castle Royal    
• Conservation & Biodiversity in Cave Systems     
• LIDAR & Future of Exploring the Underworld    

EPISODE RESOURCES:    

• Website: https://drgregbrick.com/   
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GregBrick   
• Carver's Cave: https://drgregbrick.com/carvers-cave-wakan-tipi/   
• David J. Weary & Daniel H. Doctor's Cave Map of the US:  https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1156/pdf/of2014-1156.pdf   
• Mystic Caverns & Castle Royal: https://twincitiesmusichighlights.net/venues/castle-royal/   

Today on Mushroom Hour we are blessed once more by the presence of Mycomaterial Specialist Ashley Granter. Along with Biofashion Designer Aurelie Fontan, Ashley is a founder of Osmose Studios - a multidisciplinary design studio dedicated to exploring how society should draw inspiration and processes from Mother nature. Working with mycelium as well as natural dyes and fabrics, they aim to bring forward beautiful design that doesn’t cost the planet and actually fosters the regeneration of lost ecosystems.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Birth of Osmose Studios    
• Working with Classic Biomaterials in New Ways    
• Fashion, Materials, Regenerative Design    
• Future of Biomaterials Rooted in Technologies of the Past?   
• Product Design Grounded in Consumer Experience    
• Dresses Made with Kombucha & Mycelium Leather   
• Interior Design made with Mycelium    
• Diverse Landscape of the Biomaterials Industry    
• Scaling Sustainably and Decentralized – like a Fungus   
• Integrating Waste Streams into New Materials    
• Genetic Modification vs Directed Evolution    
• Business’ Role in Preserving Ecosystems and Biodiversity   
• Biomaterials as a Craft vs Mass Production   
• Working with Your Life Partner as a Business Partner    

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Osmose Studio IG: https://www.instagram.com/osmose_labs/   
• Armillaria (fungal genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria   
• Cantharellus (fungal genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharellus   
• Francis Crick's books: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/francis-crick/219274/   
• "Synthetic Aesthetics" by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg: https://www.daisyginsberg.com/work/synthetic-aesthetics-book    

Today on Mushroom Hour we are honored by the presence of Dr. César Marin – Researcher and Academic at the Center for Research and Innovation for Climate Change, School of Sciences, Santo Tomas University in Chile. Among his many accomplished roles, César has been a Postdoc at the Department of Mycorrhizal Symbioses, at the Czech Academy of Sciences, a Researcher at the Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences of the University of O’Higgins and at the Department of Ecosystems and Environment, of the School of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile AND Professor of “Soil, Ecosystems, and Global Change” at the Open University of Recoleta. Dr. Marin is the founder and lead of the South American Mycorrhizal Research Network, he is on the Board of Directors of the International Mycorrhiza Society, one of the initial members/Network laboratory of the Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (SoilBON), and a Research Associate of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the International Mycorrhiza Society Newsletter, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment and of the Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology section, Scientific Adviser of FungiFest, and collaborator on Skype a Scientist.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Mycorrhizal Ecology   
• Underground Nutrient Economy   
• The Oldest Tree in the World   
• How Mineral Availability Shapes Fungal Ecologies in Soil   
• Starting a Research Career in Chile   
• Emerging Mycology Research in South America   
• Undiscovered Biodiversity    
• Living with Political Violence in Colombia   
• How Science can Diffuse Violence and Contribute to Positive Social Change   
• South American Mycorrhizal Research Network   
• Protecting Land Based on Below-Ground Biodiversity   
• Fungal Allies & Adapting to a Changing Environment    
• Multilevel Natural Selection Theory   
• How to Think About the Practice of Science   

EPISODE RESOURCES:    

• Dr. César Marin Website: https://cesar-marin.com/   
• SPUN: https://www.spun.earth/   
• SoilBON: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/soilbon   
• South American Mycorrhizal Research Network: https://southmycorrhizas.org/  
• "Gran Abuelo" tree in Chile: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-cypress-in-chile-could-soon-break-the-record-for-worlds-oldest-tree   
• Butyriboletus loyo (fungus): https://www.ffungi.org/blog/butyriboletus-loyo-surviving-extinction   
• Cortinarius magellanicus (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_magellanicus   
• Rhizoglomus cacao (fungus): https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/nova_hedwigia/detail/115/101684/Rhizoglomus_cacao_a_new_species_of_the_Glomeraceae?af=crossref

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by magnanimous mycological scholar Dr. Keith Seifert, adjunct professor in the biology department at Carleton University. Dr. Seifert has spent more than forty years studying fungi on five continents. At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, he did research on microscopic fungi from farms, forests, food and the built environment to reduce toxins and diseases affecting plants and animals. He was president of the International Mycological Association, an executive editor of Mycologia, and associate editor of several other scientific journals. Dr. Seifert is here to dive into his debut book The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi – Exploring the Microscopic World in Our Forests, Homes and Bodies. In this marvelous book, he invites us to see our world as one full of microbial ecological succession, symbiotic interactions with fungi and maybe an understanding that this epoch could truly be considered the mycocene.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Descending into the Hidden Kingdom   
• Spectrum of Symbioses   
• The Lives of Endophytes    
• Holobionts   
• Fungi and Human Agriculture   
• Mycotoxins   
• Ancient History of Fungal Domestication – Beer, Bread & Cheese   
• Rot to Fermentation Continuum   
• Invasive Species, Biopiracy, Biocolonialism   
• Human Houses as Ecosystems   
• Mold Colonies in Our Homes   
• Dandruff, Candida & Fungi in the Human Microbiome   
• Amphibian Apocalypse   
• A World Powered by Fungi    

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• "The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi": https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-hidden-kingdom-of-fungi-exploring-the-microscopic-world-in-our-forests-homes-and-bodies-keith-seifert/17251543?ean=9781771646628   
• Keith Seifert iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/77976   
• Keith Seifert ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keith-Seifert-2   
• "I Contain Multitudes": https://edyong.me/i-contain-multitudes   
• Phytophthora infestans (Irish Potato Famine Pathogen): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans   
• UG-99 Wheat Rust: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ug99   
• Escovopsis aspergilloides: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escovopsis_aspergilloides   
• "When Darwin Comes to Town": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34930832-darwin-comes-to-town   
• "The Song of the Dodo": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12868099    

Irene Antonez is a Prague based Russian/Ukrainian artist and musician, who works in the genre of bio art and botanical/mycological illustration with a focus on fungi and microorganisms. She holds two Masters' degrees: in Future Design and in Fine Art. Irene draws inspiration from her microscopic research of fungi as well as mushroom hunting, ethnomycology, ethnobotany, old scientific illustration books as well as from her family history of " mushroom obsession". She uses a microscope to explore the invisible world of tiny organisms that we typically overlook. Irene believes that it’s highly important to emphasize the spirit or « soul » in each living being no matter its scale or size. In her artwork, Irene plays with combinations of various scales to show the beauty and importance of tiny, microscopic creatures to the World. She is constantly engaged in various mushroom-related projects all around the world. She has been a guest speaker at mycological events like the Hawaii Mushroom Conference and has her artwork displayed in exhibitions both in Prague and internationally.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Growing up in a Mycophilic Culture   
• Family Love of Art & Music   
• Future Design   
• Ethnomycology    
• Psychedelics & Artistic Expression   
• Traveling through Microscopic Worlds   
• The Soul and Spirit of Microorganisms   
• Scale & Perspective
• Flow & Curiosity   
• Becoming a Fungal Ambassador   
• Inspiring Mycological Awakenings   
• Early Art Exhibitions   
• Immersion into Audio & Visual Artwork   
• Mushroom Foraging in Prague   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Irene Antonez Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/IreneAntonezArt?ref=search_shop_redirect   
• Irene Antonez IG: https://www.instagram.com/irene_antonez_art/   
• Mikhail Vishnevsky (inspiration): https://golden.com/wiki/Vishnevsky%2C_Mikhail_Vladimirovich-DZKYXW5   
• Rhodotus palmatus: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/rhodotus_palmatus.html   
•  Hydnellum peckii: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii   
• "The Invention of Nature" (book): https://www.andreawulf.com/about-the-invention-of-nature.html   
• "Entangled Life" (book): https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life   

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to be joined by Gabrielle Cerberville, aka @chaoticforager. Gabrielle is a wild food educator, mycophagist, permaculturist, and interdisciplinary artist. Her entertaining educational videos on Tiktok, where she shares her knowledge of edible plants and fungi, have been viewed by millions worldwide. She has lectured extensively on the importance of ecological awareness and land knowledge and believes that ethics and knowledge must go hand-in-hand to support a sustainable future.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Growing Up in the Mountains of PA   
• Developing Mushroom Identification Superpowers   
• Underrated Edible Fungi   
• Puffball Superstar   
• Expanding the Wild Culinary Repertoire     
• Adventures in Kalamazoo   
• Becoming TikTok Famous   
• Foraging as an Evolving Practice   
• Social Media vs Entertainment Media   
• Success & Mental Health Tips for Social Media   
• Artistic, Acoustic, Ecological Explorations   
• Elevating Mainstream Fungal Understandings   
• Chaotic Future Plans   
• Embracing the Human Role as Nature's Stewards   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Chaotic Forager Website: https://chaoticforager.com/   
• Gabrielle's Creative Alchemy: https://gabriellecerberville.com/   
• Chaotic Forager TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/chaoticforager/   
• Chaotic Forager IG: https://www.instagram.com/chaoticforager/   
• Armillaria tabescens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_tabescens   
• Tylopilus alboater: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylopilus_alboater   
• Calvatia gigantea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia_gigantea   
• Lab Girl (Book): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25733983-lab-girl   
• Braiding Sweetgrass (Book): https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass   

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of Dr. Michael J. Hathaway - Professor of Anthropology at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Associate Member of the School for International Studies, and the Director of SFU's David Lam Centre for Asian Studies. He is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and author of What a Mushroom Lives For (2022) and Environmental Winds (2013). Hathaway is a cultural anthropologist with two central interests. First, he is deeply interested in China’s place in the modern world, looking at how little-known dynamics there have created world-spanning effects in surprising realms such as feminism, environmentalism, and Indigenous rights. His aim is to disrupt the typical assumptions that globalization emerges solely from the West. Second, Hathaway is doing what he can to foster a transformation in scientific understandings based on colonial assumptions of the natural world. For a quarter-century, Hathaway has lived in, worked, and traveled in China and increasingly in Japan, where he has explored the entangled and emerging worlds of transnational environmentalism and Indigenous rights. More recently, Hathaway has been exploring hidden histories of Indigenous-led activism across the Pacific Rim and how they have shaped the contemporary world. Today we’re going to dive into his newest book, “What a Mushroom Lives For”.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Environmentalism and Indigenous Rights in China   
• The Mushroom at the End of the World   
• Matsutake World Research Group   
• New Relationships with Biology    
• Human Exceptionalism   
• World Making   
• Thinking Like a Mushroom   
• Umwelt   
• Matsutake’s Economic Ecosystem   
• The Yi People & Their Fungal Economy   
• Entanglements of Yaks, Mushrooms, Barley, Trees and Public Policy   
• How Matsutake Continually Shapes Cultures and Economies into the Future    
• Efforts to Cultivate Matsutake   
• Can Shifting Ecological Worldviews Shape the Future?   

EPISODE RESOURCES:    

• Michael J. Hathaway Website: https://www.michaeljhathaway.net/   
• "What a Mushroom Lives For" (book): https://www.amazon.com/What-Mushroom-Lives-Matsutake-Worlds/dp/0691225885
• Matsutake Worlds Research Group: https://people.ucsc.edu/~atsing/migrated/matsutake/    
• "The Mushroom at the End of the World" (book): https://www.amazon.com/Mushroom-End-World-Possibility-Capitalist/dp/0691162751   
• Jakob von Uexküll: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Johann_von_Uexk%C3%BCll   
• The Yi People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_people   
• Schizophyllum commune (AKA Splitgill Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophyllum_commune   

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by the magnanimous Martin Osis. Martin is passionate about wild mushrooms! He loves to look at them, touch them, smell them, taste them, and talk about them. For decades he has been educating and entertaining people and groups about mushrooms by talks, forays, workshops, identification courses and just going on and on and on about mushrooms to pretty much anyone who will listen! His enthusiasm about mushrooms makes him a sought-after speaker at many functions. Although he is an amateur mycologist, he is generally regarded as one of Alberta’s experts in mushroom field identification, constantly studying emerging scientific papers on mycology, as well as scouring the diverse habitats to see what species might be growing in Alberta. His particular interest in medicinal mushrooms comes from a strong desire to help people get and stay healthy by natural means. Other interests include fungal biodiversity, DNA sequencing of fungi, mushroom photography, and of course, edible fungi. As one of the founding members of the Alberta Mycological Society, he has been a major contributor to AMS, and has created several projects including the ever-popular Great Alberta Mushroom Foray, held in a different location annually in Alberta. He also was the driver in the formation of the Medicinal Mushroom committee at NAMA. Martin is currently on the Advisory Board of “My Fungi”, an Alberta mushroom company developing expertise in psilocybin production for research, mushroom grow kits and mycoremediation.   

TOPICS COVERED:    

• Nature & Theology   
• Alberta Fungal Biodiversity Hotspot   
• The Russula Edibility Riddle   
• Leccinum Mysteries    
• Cataloging Fungal Diversity   
• What Does Fungal Biodiversity Tell Us?   
• Mushrooms in Eastern Medicine   
• Oyster Mushrooms, Statins and Your Heart   
• Observational Experience    
• Topical Applications of Medicinal Mushrooms    
• Fungal Microbiomes & Complex Relationships with Bacteria   
• The Rise of Tremella    
• Medicinal Mushroom Compounds   
• Future Projects with My Fungi, New Books and More    

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Alberta Mycological Society: https://www.albertamushrooms.ca/   
• MyFungi: https://myfungi.ca/   
• Russula (genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula   
• Leccinum (genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leccinum   
• Leccinum vulpinum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leccinum_vulpinum   
• Lyophyllum shimeji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyophyllum_shimeji   
• Tremella fuciformis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella_fuciformis   

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to chat with internationally renowned wild foods expert, wilderness skills teacher and founder of “Rural Courses”, Michael White. Michael caught the foraging bug young and early experiences of loading sheep feed buckets full of field fungi and eating them piled high on buttered toast, sentenced Michal to a life dedicated to the hunt! Foraging for plants and fungi rubbed shoulders with hunting, fishing, and farming to the extent that eating from the land became his norm and to buy from the shops an uneasy extravagance. Four years in London studying classical singing was enough to confirm that city life, or that of an opera singer was not for him and on graduating he flung himself into almost total self-sufficiency.  Skills learned in childhood became essential tools for putting food on the table and driven by necessity, his foraging abilities improved rapidly. In his early 20’s Michael began teaching foraging and self-sufficiency skills. This side of life has grown into a new passion, taking him into cities, other countries, schools, but mostly the forest, to inspire and educate thousands of people about the awesome word of fungi, foraging and life on the land. Currently life is very full for Michael raising three children, teaching, expanding his understanding about medicinal mushrooms and living off the land. His greatest pleasure is to share knowledge and a love of the natural world with his son and two daughters and the fantastic people he meets through courses and workshops.   

TOPICS COVERED:      

• Kent’s Wild Food Landscape   
• The Decision to Start Educating Others in the Wild    
• Life in the Wilds Takes Work!   
• Reclaiming Power through Rewilding   
• Foraging as a State of Mind   
• Diverging from Modernity    
• How do Foraging and Wildcraft Practices Change Social Cohesion?    
• Educating Children about Nature   
• Culinary Inspiration from Foraged Fare   
• Medicinal Properties of Plants & Fungi    
• Wild Beer, Wine and Spirits   
• Hunting and Working with Game    
• Starting the Path to Self-Sufficiency    
• Dangers of Our Experimental, Digital World   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Rural Courses Website: https://www.ruralcourses.co.uk/    
• Michael White IG: https://www.instagram.com/rural_courses/   
• Macrolepiota procera (AKA Parasol Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota_procera    
• First-Nature (Plant and Fungi ID): https://www.first-nature.com/    
• Family Phallacaea (AKA Stinkhorns): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallaceae

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are honored to be joined by Piotr Zieba, professor’s assistant at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland. Piotr works with gourmet and medical mushrooms and his journey started on Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture. During his bioengineering studies he found out that nobody was doing research on mushrooms. So, Piotr took matters into his own hands and organized a Student Science program to start to cultivating mushrooms. At this point in his career, Piotr has completed a master thesis about oyster mushrooms, coauthored 11 scientific papers and is now finishing PhD studies. His work focuses on different properties of mycelium from in vitro culture and fruiting bodies, but also focuses on supplementation of mushroom substrate with novel bio-materials. Working on a multidisciplinary science team, Piotr is currently pursuing all kinds of exciting work on mushrooms from attempting to cultivate wild mushrooms, using nontypical agriculture and food waste in mushroom cultivation and using waste mushroom substrate as fertilizer. His passion for mycology is palpable, and along with a great team of professors, doctors and students he is working to learn everything he can for the glory of mushrooms.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Childhood in Nature Picking Mushrooms   
• University of Agriculture Krakow   
• Visions of a Mushroom Cultivating Future in Poland   
• Experiments with Substrate   
• Nutritional Profiles of Mushrooms Grown on Different Substrates   
• Contamination Learning Curve   
• Mycelium vs Fruiting Body Nutritional Compounds   
• Mapping Nutrition Profiles with Differing Growth Parameters   
• Isolating and Cultivating Wild Fungi   
• Impact of Piotr’s Research on his University   
• Advice for Mushroom Cultivators   
• Downstream Applications of Spent Mushroom Substrate   
• Future Cultivation Tech – Ozone Sterilization   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Poland Fungi IG: https://www.instagram.com/polandfungi/   
• Piotr Zieba Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zieba-Piotr   
• University of Agriculture in Krakow: https://en.urk.edu.pl/   
• Marasmius alliaceus (Fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycetinis_alliaceus   
• Pleurotus ostreatus (Fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus