The RegenNarration

 The last 20 minutes or so of my conversation in episode 225 with Maine’s youngest ever female senator, Chloe Maxmin, has stayed with me since its release. And I’ve heard from a few of you saying similar. So in the interest of not letting it be too ephemeral with the passing podcast feed, this excerpt from that episode features that 20 minutes.

We unpack the inspiring and transformative journey behind "Dirt Road Revival," a book that has sparked change in rural organising across the U.S. Chloe shares her experience in turning years of voice memos into a powerful narrative that has not only resonated deeply with rural communities but also paved the way for Dirtroad Organizing, a non-profit dedicated to training and empowering rural candidates. Already, 38 alumni are running at this coming election.

We go on to compare notes on some of my impressions while travelling the country (is it so divided after all?), wonder if there might be a Dirtroad Media, and imagine this election and beyond.

If you’ve come here first, tune into the full episode 225, ‘Democracy on the Rise – in the US?’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes there too, along with a transcript, and a few photos on the episode website, with more on Patreon for subscribing members.

Title slide image: Chloe during the Dirtroad Organising program (pic: from their website).

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.

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The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

After recording with Bill and Chloe at Begin Again Farm for last week’s episode, Bill happened to drop word of an upcoming festival. And not just any festival, but the 48th annual running of the Common Ground Country Fair. It happened on 20-22 September this year, in the aptly named Unity, Maine, about 40 miles north of Bill and Chloe’s place. The Fair draws 60,000 people, features all kinds of programs, food and arts, and even makes money for its host the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) - the oldest and largest state organic association in the US (founded in 1971). That’s who Bill works for when he’s not farming himself, or representing constituents as an Independent in the Maine legislature.

So I had to ask him if he’d put the microphone back on and tell us about it.

If you’ve come here first, tune into the main episodes with Bill and Chloe respectively, ep226 ‘An Independent Farmer Wins in Maine: Transcending the ‘battleground’ with Bill Pluecker’. And ep225 ‘Democracy on the Rise – in the US? With Maine’s youngest ever female senator, Chloe Maxmin’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes as usual, along with transcripts, and a few photos on the episode websites, with more on Patreon for subscribing members.

For more on the Fair, watch their excellent 5 minute video.

And for more on the Real Organic Conference, which ran the week after the Fair, back at Churchtown Dairy (which we visited in August), you can now watch videos of that on their website.

This episode has a transcript too.

Recorded 8 September 2024.

Title slide image: from the Fair’s website.

For more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
By Jeremiah Johnson.

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Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

There’s a ‘so-called’ battle for rural America at the heart of the coming federal election. But what if it needn’t be a battle? And in fact, what if heart is what’s really at stake? People who love their places – places, by the way, that constitute 20% of the vote, and 97% of the land in this country. After the recent Vice-Presidential debate here in the US, featuring two men speaking to their roots in rural America, it is still reported that people are not seeing themselves well represented in either major party’s characterisations of them. Enter, this week’s story.

One of my favourite episodes on the podcast featured a woman I learned about back in Australia – Maine’s youngest ever female state senator, Chloe Maxmin. On arrival at Begin Again Farm, we also met her partner Bill Pluecker. And as he and Chloe showed us around the farm, we learned of his incredible journey as co-owner and farmer here, former manager of a successful Community Supported Agriculture program, and subject of a Maine state legislature love story. For that’s how Chloe and Bill met, when they were both elected to the House of Reps in 2018.

But while Chloe’s sights were on bringing the Democratic Party back to rural people, Bill stood as an Independent in his conservative district, and won - despite an electoral system not designed to enable that. Six years on, he’s still there and is now running for a fourth term.

Bill was also named in the Grist 50 for 2024.

Chapter markers & transcript.

Recorded 8 September 2024 (intro in Baltimore).

Bonus 5 minute episode on the Common Ground Fair.

Title slide: AJ & Bill (pic: Olivia Cheng).

For more behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
Green Shoots, by The Nomadics.
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.
The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests.

Get tickets:
Rural Runners screenings on US west coast & West Virginia.

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Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

This is one of my favourite conversations, and it starts a mini-series of sorts. I’ve had many listeners ask how things feel in this US election year. So, after months speaking with all kinds of people as we travelled through half the states of this country, throughout October, as the election approaches, I’ll offer what we’ve observed, in conversation with people doing some of the more outstanding things we’ve learned about along the way.

Today, meet Chloe Maxmin. Chloe left the farm she grew up on in Maine, as many young folk do, and headed for the city. But against frequent advice, she returned. And soon after, wondering why a kind community was voting for unkind politics, at age 26, she would stand for office and become the first Democrat ever to represent Maine House District 88, and the youngest member of the 129th Maine Legislature. Two years later, she’d become the youngest female state senator in Maine's history.

Chloe achieved all this with a community movement akin to what is transforming Australian politics right now. And we see a similar thing happening nationally here right now - notwithstanding the different electoral system. All helped along by organisations like the one Chloe was trained by, a book (Dirt Road Revival) and film (Rural Runners) about her experience, and now a non-profit Chloe has co-founded that trains yet more people, called Dirtroad Organizing. In short time, 38 alumni are now running at the coming election.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript.

Recorded 8 September 2024 at Begin Again Farm, Maine.

Title slide: Chloe just before our chat (pic: Olivia Cheng).

See more photos on the website & for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
Green Shoots, by The Nomadics.

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).

Get tickets:
Rural Runners screenings on the US west coast next week.

Rural Runners screening in West Virginia.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

This mid-week mail run comes to you from Savannah Georgia, as a hurricane nears the Florida coast and the storms begin here in advance of it. As usual with these brief episodes, I reply to text messages from listeners through the new link in our show notes. And this time I also announce the recent winners of the book giveaway.

That’s before sharing some concerning news for independent podcast creators like me, as Apple announces a controversial 30% premium on Patreon subscriptions made through their iOS app. I run through some implications, ways to avoid this charge, and other subscription options. Then we close with a quick look at what’s coming up.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript (available on most apps now too). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read.

Recorded 26 September 2024.

Title slide: The view from where this was recorded, by the rising marsh.

See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
By Jeremiah Johnson.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).
 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

A new holistic farming festival is about to launch back home in Australia. Inspired by the famed Groundswell in the UK, GROUNDED! lands in beautiful southern Tasmania on the 4th and 5th of December - with a pre-festival event on the 3rd of December too. It’s billed as a cross between a world class conference, an informative field day and a cracking food festival. This is big news, and a huge undertaking by some great folk. So with the draft program released, it was time to chat about it with founder Matthew Evans.

Matthew is also a farmer, and TV producer, and was recently called ‘perhaps the best food writer in the world today’, in a Country Life UK review of his new book. No surprise to us, having had Matthew on the podcast a few times now. So this gave us a chance to talk briefly about the new book too. It’s called ‘MILK: The truth, the lies, and the unbelievable story of the original superfood’. And as it lands in a context where milk and dairy are often reported to have large climate and biodiversity loss footprints, I’m all ears. All the more given my 30-year avoidance of the stuff!

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript (available on most apps now too). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read.

Recorded 22 September 2024 (intro recorded outside by the wetland once the traffic had died down at night).

Title slide: Fat Pig Farm, the site of GROUNDED! (pic: from the festival website)

For more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
Green Shoots, by The Nomadics.

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).

Find more:
Get tickets to GROUNDED!

Listen to ep.209, Ultrawilding with Steve Mushin.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

After recording the main episode with Kelsey, we headed out for a very special tour through regenerating cultural and natural grasslands. We pick it up amongst the layered stories around the nearby Missouri River / Lake Oahe. That sets up a sense of the power in arriving at the family’s re-introduced Sundance grounds. Soon after, we witness Kelsey finding Indian grass back on the ranch for the first time, and achieving a long-held dream to see native grasses once again taller than she is. Found alongside the climate cooling, wildlife and nutritional benefits of these grasses, is a family’s deep re-connection in place, and a love story or two. And yet more layers have emerged in these stories since we met at the CREATE reunion last month in Montana.

Olivia and Yeshe are riding in the back for this one, so you’ll hear some kid’s play here and there, and a little cameo from Olivia with Kelsey, comparing herbal medicine notes across Native American and Chinese traditions.

If you’ve come here first, tune into the main episode with Kelsey, ‘Resurgent Land, Culture & Food Systems on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes too, along with a transcript, and a few photos on the episode website, with more on Patreon for subscribing members.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript.

Recorded 3 August 2024.

Title slide image: Kelsey’s dream realised – the return of native grasses once again taller than she is (pic: Anthony James).

Tune by Jeremiah Johnson.

See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

Kelsey Scott is a 4th generation cow producer and 125th generation land steward at DX Ranch, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Kelsey is a Lakota woman, citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, Chief Strategy Officer for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, owner of a direct-to-consumer regenerative beef operation DX Beef, part of the education programs her family runs, a featured presence in the documentary film Common Ground, the first Native American student to give the student address at a commencement ceremony for South Dakota State University, and daughter of the first Native American to head the Farm Service Agency, and all of these roles have been to significant and growing effect.

There is an extraordinary regeneration of land, culture, and regional food systems underway in this country. Largely, it seems, flying under the radar - along with its empowering federal government support. The successes range from Kelsey’s own business, to global premiums being achieved for tribal enterprises, to a new Intertribal Food Business Centre being set up to model that food system regeneration – for the benefit of all. Meanwhile, Kelsey’s father Zach Ducheneaux continues to lead the Farm Service Agency, just landing his key legacy piece to date. And the flourishing return of native grasses on their land continues apace, as if singing a tune of gratitude for it all.

We first met Kelsey and family in Montana, at the CREATE program reunion featured in ep. 215. We talk about her unlikely presence and subsequent transformation in that program too. Then come full circle with her beautiful music story.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript (available on most apps now too).

Recorded 3 August 2024.

Tune into a tour of Kelsey's place here.

Title slide: Kelsey during our chat (pic: Olivia Cheng).

See more photos on the website & for more, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
Green Shoots, by The Nomadics.

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

The extraordinary Churchtown Dairy in New York is restoring dairy farming in a context where such farms are still closing around them. They are doing it with nature, family, food and festival at its heart. With organic and biodynamic methods, they are keeping cattle together in their families to amazing benefit, cultivating myriad farm products including medicinal plants, restoring a diverse landscape, designing beautiful buildings including a store onsite, and hosting an extensive set of gatherings at their spectacular barn venue. That’s where we’d attended an event the night before, with guest-of-honour and friend, the globally renowned author of Cows Save the Planet, Water in Plain Sight, and The Reindeer Chronicles, Judith Schwartz. It’ll also host the Real Organic Project conference on September 28, amongst Shakespeare productions and varied concert events.

Today we meet Churchtown’s herd and farm managers – Eric Vinson and Steffen Schneider respectively. I already knew a bit about Steffen - Co-Founder of the Institute for Mindful Agriculture, and Director Emeritus of Farm Operations at Hawthorne Valley Farm, up the road from Churchtown (having spent 30 years there). And Eric? Well, this 36 year old former journalism major used to run a successful event hire company in the city. But when covid hit, the realisation hit that he needed to live out something more meaningful. He landed at Churchtown, prepared to do anything to get a start. And two years on, he’s managing the herd, with a big vision, and an appetite for sharing it with people.

Eric’s our main guide here, as Steffen just had a short time with us, and Judy is my esteemed unofficial co-host.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript (available on most apps now too). The transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully provides greater access for those who need or like to read.

Recorded 29 August 2024.

Title slide: Judith Schwartz, Olivia Cheng & Eric Vinson (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, from Regenerating Australia.

Intro music by Jeremiah Johnson.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

The evening before we recorded the main episode with Pedro, we went out on the Plains to shepherd the buffalo to their next patch. This is a rare chance to hear one of the world’s most respected bison wranglers – and the animals themselves – at work. And there were some very special moments too, in this condensed 20-minute special extra to episode 220.

The wind can be mighty on the Plains, and as we went further towards the buffalo it did push the microphone I had on me at times. But given how rare and special this was, and that our voices, and at times the buffalo voices, can still be heard clearly enough, I’ve left in as much as I can of the good stuff, and decided to run with it. I hope you enjoy it. We pick it up as we drive out to the herd, already in awe at the scale and wonder of the Great Plains.

This episode has chapter markers and a transcript.

If you’ve come here first, tune into the main episode with Pedro, ‘The Great Buffalo Restoration on the American Prairie’. You’ll find a few links in the show notes too, along with a transcript, and a few photos on the episode website, with more on Patreon for subscribing members.

Recorded 29 July 2024.

Title slide image: Among the buffalo (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos on the website, and for more from behind the scenes, become a member via the Patreon page.

Music:
By Jeremiah Johnson.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests (thanks to Josie Symons).

Thanks for listening!

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!