Weaving Voices

In this interview with Jay and Nikyle Begay and Zefren Anderson, we learn about the long arc of relationship between the Dine and the Churro Sheep. Beyond the narratives promulgated by colonization about when this relationship began, we dive into a landscape of relationships held together by mutual care and exchange between shepherds and sheep. The wool from Churro is long, colorful and exists as the foundation for multiple artistic and deeply functional lifeways that are discussed in this powerful exchange.

Weaving Voices is part of Whetstone Radio Collective from Whetstone Media. Learn more about this episode of Weaving Voices at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, TikTok @whetstone , Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

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Four thousand meters above the sea, Andean mountain communities have been living with alpaca for thousdands of years. Small flock shepherding is a long-held way of life, one that our guest, Mauricio Nunez Oporto, is working diligently to see flourish and sustain. He leads the Andean Pastoralist Livelihood Initiative, a multi-stakeholder project that lifts up the vision for life, family, and relationship that pastoralist communities (which produce fiber and food) are holding— and seek to continue well into the future.

Weaving Voices is part of Whetstone Radio Collective from Whetstone Media. Learn more about this episode of Weaving Voices at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, TikTok @whetstone , Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

Read full transcript here.

In this interview with Roland Geyer, we discuss the history and the effects of the interplay of economic forces and environmentalism. We'll also touch on how sustainability has been defined in the last three decades coming out of the U.N. Earth Summit of 1992 in Rio, and what this means for our textile material culture, human labor and the climate today.

Weaving Voices is part of Whetstone Radio Collective from Whetstone Media. Learn more about this episode of Weaving Voices at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, TikTok @whetstone , Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

Read full transcript here.

One of the most ancient fibers, silk has been cultivated for 5,000 years. The silk moth produces a filament designed to protect the moth from heat, predators, wind and water. In turn, these properties generate enduring and high quality second skin garments. Brazil (by luck and fate of Japanese immigration) hosts the Vale da Seda (Valley of Silk), a landscape that has generated high quality, beautiful raw fibers for decades. We explore the Vale da Seda with agronomist Joao Berdu and evaluate the reasons why mainstream modern sustainability measurement frameworks have hit silk hard— making farming and raw fiber production a more vulnerable proposition for those who make mulberry tree farming and coccoon production their livelihood. 

Weaving Voices is part of Whetstone Radio Collective from Whetstone Media. Learn more about this episode of Weaving Voices at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, TikTok @whetstone , Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

Read full transcript here.

Interview with Jason Hickel; Economic Anthropologist and the author of the new book Less is More. We discuss the historic political, social, and ecological threads that led to the economic model we now exist within. Understanding the model is foundational to understanding the textile industry as it exists, and the reasons why the most sustaining textile farming and making cultures struggle to exist.

Weaving Voices is part of Whetstone Radio Collective from Whetstone Media. Learn more about this episode of Weaving voices at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, TikTok @whetstone , Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at Whetstoneradio.

Read the full transcript here.

Weaving Voices is a Whetstone Radio Collective podcast that stitches textile systems and traditions, economic philosophy, and climate science into a quilt of understanding. Designed to transform our thinking and actions both as citizens and material culture makers and users.