The RegenNarration

Welcome to a new series of episodes from the Kimberley, in far north Western Australia.

First up, prepare for a transformative journey as we're joined by Manchán Magan, the acclaimed Irish travel writer, documentary maker, radio producer, theatre performer, builder of the first straw-bale house in Ireland, regenerator of the 10 acre block it stands on, and best-selling author. Manchán’s books include ‘32 Words for Field: Lost words of the Irish landscape’, which is said to have begun as a cult hit in Ireland, but has become one of its most talked-about books in recent times. And his latest book is ‘Listen to the Land Speak: A journey into the wisdom of what lies beneath us’.

Manchán masterfully delves into the wealth of knowledge encoded in ancient languages, mythology, and stories of the land. His belief in the power of this wisdom everywhere, and the urgency to understand and protect the cultures of the land – and above all, stemming from a recent visit to Australia, Aboriginal cultures - is compelling.

Remarkably for the life he’s led, Manchán says that this visit to Australia has had a greater impact on him than any other. ‘It has changed everything’, he says. And this encounter might just be changing everything for Anthony too, tapping his Irish roots, and the ancient mycelium network of language and land connecting us all. 

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

Recorded at 6DBY of the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation (featured in one of the most popular episodes, no. 95) on 14 July 2023.

Title slide: Manchán Magan.

Click on the photos below to zoom in, and hover over them to see captions where added.

See more photos on the episode web page, and to see more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.

Find more:
Manchán Magan inc. tour dates.

The Fumbally Café.

Tyson Yunkaporta on episode 70.

Margo Neale, co-curator of Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, on episode 93.

Heidi Mippy on episode 143, Visited by the Rainbow Serpent.

Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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 we finished this week's conversation with our distinguished guest, Indigenous artist and community leader, Patrick Churnside, some off-the-record yarning was also recorded. We decided to release it as a bonus 10 minute extra, given its rich and candid exchanges, which also culminated in an invitation to Roebourne. As it happens, it comes at a time  when there is a wonderful position going at the Digital Lab (see the PDF file below if you're interested).

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at the Big hART Digital Lab on 6 June 2023.

Title slide: Roebourne / Ieramugadu, from the lookout Patrick talks about in the main episode (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos on that main episode web page (link below), and to see more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music at the end:
Patrick tinkering on guitar before we started our conversation.

Find more:
Tune into our full conversation for episode 172, Songlines for Freedom. You'll see photos there too, and the PDF of the position description for a Digital Arts Producer (for immediate action if you're interested).

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 north-west shelf of Western Australia is said to be where the Songlines of this continent began. No surprise then, that the people here would be showcasing and reconnecting their convergent and resurgent cultures in spectacular ways – via the media, projects and enterprises we talked about in the previous episode - and with the Songs for Freedom project.

Join us back in Roebourne / Ieramugadu with Patrick Churnside, a Traditional Custodian from the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi language groups, who is at the heart of Songs for Freedom, and so much else.  Earlier this year, with a leading arts and social change organisation in Australia called Big hART, and a host of star performers from around Australia, Patrick and the community here launched the Songs for Freedom album, at the start of its ongoing national tour.

The mission and message is for us to come together to change the drastic over-incarceration of Indigenous youth and children in Australia. What's been dubbed The Freedom Collective seeks to change this story nationally, and they’re changing the story for themselves locally too. The New Roebourne project, with the support of elders, has seen many years now of strong community involvement creating music, theatre, performance and digital content.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at the Big hART Digital Lab on 6 June 2023.

Title slide: Patrick Churnside performing Songs for Freedom in Perth / Boorloo, March 2023 (pic: Linda Dunjey).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Sunrise Tjaabi & Sunset Tjaabi, performed live by Patrick Churnside from the Songs for Freedom album.

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.

Find more:
Songs for Freedom project including new album and national tour dates culminating in September.

New Roebourne Project – which leads to the dedicated project website, where you can watch one of the best 2 minute videos we’ve seen.

Big hART.

Join us at the upcoming Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River, between the Songs for Freedom concert dates in September 2023.

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!

Roebourne / Ieramugadu is a small town in the Pilbara region of WA, and it’s at the heart of an extraordinary resurgence of ancient cultures that still flies largely under the radar, and in the face of ongoing threats. Part of that resurgence, and covering it, is Ngaarda Media, an independent community broadcaster and media training hub, representing and empowering the Aboriginal people (ngaarda) of the Pilbara. And heading up the organisation is Tangiora Hinaki.

Tangiora is a Māori woman who ventured from New Zealand Aotearoa to the Pilbara, where a serendipitous encounter changed the course of her life, and the media landscape in this part of the country. We talk here about her amazing story, the transformation of Ngaarda Media, the survival and revival of ancient cultures here, and the latest news on several significant breaking fronts.

This includes what’s been happening at the incredible Murujuga / Burrup Peninsula since the police raid of the Ngaarda Media house became global news in April.  Just prior to the raid, Ngaarda was covering the removal of sacred rock art sites for industry expansion.

We also get the latest on where we left off with Paul Cleary, the best-selling author of Title Fight: How the Yindjibarndi Battled and Defeated a Mining Giant, as that mining giant continues to mine their land without permission or payment.

We canvas the vibe around the Voice referendum too. While exploring some of the many exceptional aspects of cultural resurgence radiating out from in and around the developing studios of Ngaarda Media.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player on the episode web page), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

Recorded at Ngaarda Media on 7 June 2023.

Title slide: Tangiora Hinaki before this conversation (pic: Olivia Cheng).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.

Tangiora singing live.

Find more:
Ngaarda Media.

Ep. 125 with Paul Cleary, Beyond Title Fight.

Ep. 109 with Clinton Walker, Cultural Economies.

Ep. 19 with Evan Pensini, A Global Movement Sweeping the Plains.

Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River, September 2023.

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!

Prepare to be moved and enlightened as we explore the transformative power of community and deliberative democracy with today's special guest, Tim Hollo. Tim is so thoroughly recasting our notions of what’s possible, through stories of what’s actually happening right now, across a host of different contexts, and with countless possibilities to go on with, that are successfully creating the democratic systems and cultures we need for widespread regeneration.

Tim Hollo is Executive Director of The Green Institute, founder of Green Music Australia, has recorded and toured globally with the FourPlay String Quartet (you’ll hear a tune from them in this episode), and he’s just written a book called ‘Living Democracy: An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it’.

Our conversation delves into the power of community engagement in shaping our political systems for the better. We explore alternative governance and justice models that serve communities better, including the growing community independents movement in Australia, the incredible Kurdish example of municipalist confederalism, successful Aboriginal judicial processes, and the power of therapeutic jurisprudence.

We then examine the transformative journey of Barcelona, Participatory City in the UK, and the inspiring work of previous podcast guest Amanda Cahill (ep 134) back here in Australia, unpacking how community-led initiatives foster a sense of abundance and connection, often resulting in the disarming of racism, division and hard right votes at elections. And we wrap up with a look at deliberative democracy, its potential to reshape deeply cynical views of politics, and the promise of a more just and equitable society.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded on Little Black Mountain in Canberra on 17 April 2023.

Title slide: Tim Hollo atop Little Black Mountain just before this conversation (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Now to the Future, by FourPlay String Quartet.

Find more:
The website for Tim’s book, Living Democracy: An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it, including how to buy a copy, and get more involved.

Upcoming Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!

Can regenerative farming and a focus on nutrition truly transform our lives? Join us in this heart-warming conversation with Matilda Brown, daughter of renowned actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, and Scott Gooding, 'celebrity chef' and author of The Sustainable Diet. Together, they share their unexpected journey into the world of regenerative farming, their thoughts on food sovereignty, and how their combined passion for cooking, creativity, and healthy, sustainable living, led to the creation of the Good Farm Shop.

Family, passion, and determination play a significant role in Matilda and Scott's story. Discover how Matilda's mother, last Monday's guest Rachel Ward, infused her artistic background and love for the environment into their family farm -  then into her new film about it, 'Rachel’s Farm'. We'll also explore how Matilda navigated the film industry herself, before finding a surprising calling in their evolving business. And how Scott's expertise in nutrition and holistic living, and extraordinary experience of healing from debilitating injury, has been instrumental in their journey.

Finally, listen in as we discuss the challenges and triumphs of running the Good Farm Shop, as an ethical, regenerative food business. From learning about holistic land management and meeting extraordinary farmers, to creating ready meals that nourish the body and soul, Matilda and Scott's story is a testament to the power of love, passion, and a commitment to regenerative living.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at the family farm on 10 April 2023.

With thanks to Blair Beattie from Farmers Footprint Australia for taking the driver’s seat on our journey to visit Rachel and family.

Title slide: Matilda, Scott & family (sourced from The Good Farm Shop website).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.

Find more:
The Good Farm Shop.

The new film Rachel’s Farm, including trailer, tour bookings, now with more info including guest panellists, and plenty to go on with.

Previous episode featuring Matilda’s mum Rachel Ward (with more photos).

Upcoming Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!

Imagine transforming a cattle farm and family retreat into a carbon-sequestering biodiversity haven. What would it take? And how and why would you do it if you're a famed actress and filmmaker? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Rachel Ward, who embarked on this journey alongside former industrialised farmer and coal miner Mick Green. Their story is now the first Australian feature film on regenerative agriculture, and Rachel's first documentary. 'Rachel's Farm' has just premiered to acclaim in Sydney and Santa Barbara, and Rachel is about to tour the film around the country.

The first half of this conversation is with Rachel, and for the back half, we rope in Mick. Together, they share personal stories, experiences and insights on regenerative farming, the potential for more women in it, the powerful natural events that urge us to be more conscious of what we're doing, the importance of listening to the land, indigenous knowledge systems, and the liberation of frugal living in our quest for regenerative systems.

We also talk about the implications of leasing land for regeneration, embracing variety in our produce, and how connectedness to the land and our food sources can be fostered, ultimately inspiring more of us to contribute to a regenerative future for ourselves, generations to come, and the planet as a whole.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at Rachel’s farm, on 10 April 2023.

With thanks to Blair Beattie from Farmers Footprint Australia for taking the driver’s seat on our journey south to visit Rachel & family.

Title slide: Rachel Ward driving us around her wonderfully healthy farm – with grandchild asleep at the wheel (pic: Blair Beattie).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden, off the soundtrack for the film Regenerating Australia.

Find more:
Rachel’s Farm, including trailer, tour bookings and plenty to go on with.

The Sustainable Table report Rachel mentioned is in episode 161. The World Science Festival panel is in episode 157. And the story of the rainbow serpent is in episode 143.

Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!

What if you could regenerate farmland and create a sustainable farming lifestyle while also building a strong community? Join Anthony as he visits Tom and Kaycee, an innovative young farming couple from the Nambucca Valley on Gumbaynggirr Country in NSW, who are doing just that. They share their remarkable journey of stewarding 400 acres of forest and grassland into a thriving regenerative farm, and founding the North Arm Farms Co-op - a unique enterprise model that sends 100% of what we spend on our food directly to the farmers.

Hear how Tom and Kaycee are adapting to the dramatically changing climate of the Nambucca Valley, from drought to fire and flooding, and how they're learning to build resilience in their farming practices. They also share their experience with a Myanmar agricultural cooperative founded by Burmese refugees.

In addition to their inspiring farming journey, Kaycee and Tom have established a unique seven-way partnership to manage North Arm Farms co-op. They talk about the keys to success in that model. They also talk about their vision for protecting the land, including through traditional fire management programs and conservation agreements, as well as their decision to step away from organic certification. Their delivery van carries the slogan, ‘Farm like the world depends on it’.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers, and a transcript of this conversation (please note this transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded at Mandarin Bend, on 11 April 2023.

With thanks to Blair Beattie from Farmers Footprint Australia for taking the driver’s seat on our journey south from the northern rivers, to visit Tom and Kaycee.

Title slide: Tom Macindoe & Kaycee Simuong on delivery day (pic: Blair Beattie).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more from behind the scenes, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Find more:
Mandarin Bend Farm.

North Arm Farms collective.

Rachel’s Farm, final screening at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday 17 June 2023.

Tune in to my conversation with Kirsten & Serenity from the Open Food Network, the market platform North Arm Farms can be found on, for episode 126.

Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!

Uncannily our first visit to Wooleen Station in three years lands after Wooleen and Yellowstone were both spoken about in last week’s episode with Montanan stars, Nicole Masters and Meagan Lannan. And when it comes to shifting the sense of what’s possible, this 375,000 acre property 700 kilometres from Perth WA is taking this to new levels, as the regeneration of country, community and culture continues to generate its own momentum.  A number of long-held visions are currently coming to fruition, including with young dingo educator and researcher, Zali Jestrimski.

Zali’s now at the helm of a new dingo education centre at Wooleen, and some potentially game-changing research. What if it can be shown, as David suspects, that the dingoes of the Murchison region here, are having an even greater regenerative impact than the famed wolves of Yellowstone?

This conversation was recorded at Wooleen Homestead, on Wednesday 24 May 2023.

Title slide: Zali Jestrimski & David Pollock with Steve the dingo, at Wooleen Station (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more behind the scenes stuff, become a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Find more:
Wooleen Station.

To hear more from David Pollock, tune into episode 111.

To listen to David’s wife, Frances Pollock, back when this podcast began, tune into episode 9.

Join me at the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!

You don’t need to have heard last week’s episode with Nicole Masters and Meagan Lannan to listen to this one, but they certainly go together. After I was fortunate to have been welcomed in to Nicole’s intensive 4-day course near Orange in Australia last month, I was moved to conduct a kind of exit poll with a half dozen people. It wasn’t planned, so I just pulled out the lapel mic’s I always have with me for such occasions, plugged them into the phone, contemplated dealing with some breeze and departing traffic, and nabbed a few willing souls as they passed. And I was so glad I did.

The last few of the six people you’ll hear from, I hadn’t met before. The first two, I’d met at the Convergence conference staged by RCS Australia in Brisbane last July. And the 3rd, as you’ll hear, I met only six months prior at the Haggerty farm here in WA.

What I heard from them felt like another chapter in my observations of paradigm change happening in people wherever I go right now - and across different walks of life. And sure enough, here I was at an agriculture course, but what’s being said and felt largely applies to everything. You could even say it feels like a resurgence of some deep traditions of culture that for a while we’d lost touch with.

My guests are:

• Dave Murphy from Farmer’s Footprint Australia 
• Stacey Curcio from Cultivating Wellness, and also the daughter of Terry and Pam McCosker, founders of RCS Australia
• Emily Alexander, who happened to be at the Haggerty farm for the event that became episodes 142 and 143.
• Missy, a young home-school student who is running her own profitable business called The Cow Whisperer 
• Rachael Treasure, best-selling novelist (including her most recent book that was inspired by the Haggerty’s)
• Jake Chandler, who stopped the room with one of his comments, which we talk about here.

This conversation was recorded near Orange NSW, on 15 April 2023.

Title slide: A view from the back of the room during the course (pic: Anthony James).

See more photos including behind the scenes by becoming a subscriber via the Patreon page.

Find more:
To hear from Nicole herself, tune into the previous episode 164, on training the wayfinders (you’ll see a few links there for more info too, along with some photos).

Join me at the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Margaret River in September 2023.

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!