The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh

Terry Tempest Williams, award-winning author and environmental activist who writes about nature, place, and spirituality. She recounts a dream-born word, follows an ant carrying a blossom as a lesson in attention, and reflects on pandemic stillness revealing everyday sacredness. She shares the story of a beloved Harvard oak, climate-driven landscape changes, and the practice of living with eyes wide open.

What if the forest is not scenery, but kin? In this episode of The Nature Of, Willow speaks with forest ecologist, Suzanne Simard, about the hidden networks that connect trees beneath our feet and what those relationships reveal about our own. Drawing from decades of research and her new book When the Forest Breathes, Suzanne reflects on mother trees, shared breath, and the responsibility of caring for forests in a time when they desperately need us—and we need them. On the Mother Tree Project: https://mothertreeproject.org/ On Family Trees: https://atmos.earth/art-and-culture/suzanne-simard-finding-mother-tree-book-interview/ On Loving Nature: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/ecology-love-relationships/ On When The Forest Breathes: https://suzannesimard.com/when-the-forest-breathes/ For more on Suzanne Simard: https://suzannesimard.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if remembering we will die is what teaches us how to live? In this episode of The Nature Of, Willow is joined by death doula and New York Times bestselling author, Alua Arthur, to explore how reflecting on our mortality can reshape the way we live. Together, they consider what shifts when we stop looking away, and how that awareness can deepen love and bring our choices into focus. This conversation is a meditation on grief, transformation, and the fierce tenderness of being alive for a limited time.On Living Like a Death Doula: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/death-doula-alua-arthur/On Matters of Life and Death: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/matters-of-life-and-death/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of The Sixth Extinction, reflects on field reporting from Greenland to species cataloging. She discusses the emotional weight of documenting biodiversity loss. The conversation explores long-term thinking, the scale of climate challenges, community solutions like Samso, and why paying attention to the natural world matters.

Cristina Mittermeier, a pioneering conservation photographer and founder of the conservation photography movement, joins forces with Paul Nicklen, a former polar biologist and celebrated nature photographer. They share harrowing tales of near-death experiences while documenting wildlife, emphasizing the urgency of storytelling in conservation efforts. From their intimate bond to their advocacy for the ocean, they argue for the power of ordinary people as 'glorious amateurs' in the fight for our planet, guided by love, hope, and the transformative beauty of nature.

What does it mean to live in right relationship with intelligence, human, more than human, and now artificial? In this episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with writer, storyteller, and Life With Machines host Baratunde Thurston to explore the complicated emotions many of us are carrying about AI, from fear and overwhelm to curiosity and cautious hope. Together, they reflect on what it means to encounter a technology that feels less like a tool and more like a presence, one that may soon live alongside us as collaborator, colleague, or even neighbor, while tracing unexpected connections between artificial intelligence and natural intelligence, creativity and extraction, domination and relationship. If you are navigating your own boundaries, questions, or ambivalence around AI, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, embrace nuance, and stay in dialogue with each other, with nature, and with what is emerging.For more about Baratunde Thurston: https://www.baratunde.com/To watch Life With Machines: https://www.lifewithmachines.media/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this week’s episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with Robin Wall Kimmerer, beloved scientist, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. They explore the shift from learning about to learning from nature, understanding that the land loves us back, and her new initiative Plant Baby Plant. Robin invites us to step back into belonging, and to see the natural world not as something separate from us, but as a generous teacher offering guidance every single day. This conversation is full of wonder and clarity, and it just might change the way you walk outside.On Embracing the More-Than-Human Through Law and Language: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/embracing-the-more-than-human-through-law-and-language/On Why The World Needs Spiritual Ecology: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/why-the-world-needs-spiritual-ecology/Find out more about Plant Baby Plant: https://plantbabyplant.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Movements evolve the way ecosystems do—through tension, adaptation, and collective resilience. In this episode, Willow is joined by writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay to explore the shifting landscape of feminism. Together, they revisit the ideas at the heart of Bad Feminist, question what’s really in crisis, and trace the possibilities that emerge when we stop ceding ground and begin tending to a broader, more interconnected ecosystem of care. This conversation invites us to imagine feminism as a living practice—one that grows with us, holds us accountable, and makes room for all of our complexity as we work toward a more generous future.For Roxane Gay's substack: https://audacity.substack.com/On Reproductive Choice: https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/when-the-world-is-on-fire-what-does-reproductive-choice-really-mean/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, host Willow Defebaugh is joined by renowned climate scientist and writer Kate Marvel for a conversation about her book, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet. With poetic insight and scientific precision, Marvel reframes climate change not just as a planetary emergency, but as an emotional experience, one that demands our full humanity. Together, they explore how feelings like wonder, anger, grief, and love can become tools for engagement rather than paralysis, and what it means to hold both scientific truth and emotional complexity in a time of profound transformation.For more about Kate Marvel and her book Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet: https://www.marvelclimate.com/On Climate Science: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/the-emotional-whiplash-of-a-climate-scientist/  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this engaging conversation, celebrated nature writer Robert Macfarlane explores the profound connection between humans and rivers. He shares insights from his book, discussing the idea of rivers as living entities and how language shapes our perception of nature. Macfarlane emphasizes the importance of seeing ourselves as part of the flow of life and reflects on the healing power of water. He also touches on ecological rights, storytelling through law, and the need to reconnect with our personal and cultural river narratives.