In the sixth and final episode of our Earthly Reads series, we are honored to welcome back Prentis Hemphill, author of What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World. This episode offers a preview of the live Earthly Reads Book Study, join us there to access the full 75 minute episode.

Offering embodied insight into the ways in which healing manifests in our personal and collective lives, Prentis Hemphill brings a thoughtful and empathetic perspective to this crucial conversation. Exploring what the process of healing looks like within movements and the trouble with only focusing on the individual, Ayana and Prentis bring much-needed nuance and humanity to the dialogue. Dive right in for a conversation that invites us all to imagine new possibilities for justice, community care, and wholeness—one that fosters deeper belonging with each other and the Earth. 

About the guest
Prentis Hemphill is the bestselling author of What It Takes to Heal, a groundbreaking exploration of healing, justice, and transformation. A therapist, somatics teacher, facilitator, political organizer, and writer, Prentis is also the founder of The Embodiment Institute and a leading voice in embodied leadership and collective healing.

About the series
Earthly Reads is a podcast series and online book study featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill, Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan. This episode is just a small glimpse into some of the incredible live conversations that take place throughout the book study. For more details about the series and to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.  

♫  The music featured in this series is “Nucleo (Live)” by John Caroll Kirby (featuring Logan Hone, Benny Bock, Paul Maramba, and Tamir Barzilay), “Joyous Dance” by Laraaji, and “The Rite Way” by Muwosi and Lionmilk from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. Compilation proceeds are directed back into the community of artists and families impacted by the fires. Learn more at staying.bandcamp.com.

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In the fifth episode of our Earthly Reads series, we dive into a conversation with the renowned Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. This episode offers a preview of the live Earthly Reads Book Study, now available for purchase at forthewild.world/bookstudy.

Throughout the conversation, Gumbs threads together her thoroughly-researched and deeply-felt knowledge of Audre Lorde with her own personal wit, observation, and openness. She also speaks to her understanding of Lorde’s work as “geological,” following the connection Lorde draws between Blackness and our existence at every layer of Earth’s interior. Reminding us of the value of the collective, Gumbs shares lessons for reciprocity, earthly embodiment, and the poetry of living. 

Earthly Reads is a podcast series and online book study featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill, Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan.

This episode is just a small glimpse into some of the incredible live conversations that will take place throughout the book study. For more details about the series and how to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.  

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a Queer Black Troublemaker and Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all sentient beings. Her work in this lifetime is to facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice. Her poetic work in response to the needs of her cherished communities has held space for multitudes in mourning and movement. Alexis’s co-edited volume Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines (PM Press, 2016) has shifted the conversation on mothering, parenting and queer transformation. Alexis has transformed the scope of intellectual, creative and oracular writing with her triptych of experimental works published by Duke University Press (Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity in 2016, M Archive: After the End of the World  in 2018 and Dub: Finding Ceremony, 2020.) Unlike most academic texts, Alexis’s work has inspired artists across form to create dance works, installation work, paintings, processionals, divination practices, operas, quilts and more.  

♫  The music featured in this series is by Cool Maritime, Matt Baldwin, and Sharada Shashidhar and Caleb Buchanan from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. Compilation proceeds are directed back into the community of artists and families impacted by the fires. Learn more at staying.bandcamp.com.

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Join us for the fourth episode of our new Earthly Reads series. In this episode, we are joined by the incredible Céline Semaan, founder of Slow Factory and author of A Woman is a School. 

Sharing stories from her childhood in Lebanon and across her lifelong work towards justice, Céline gives us a look at what it means to be a hakawati (storyteller). Céline asks listeners what it means to have faith in times of crisis, how to commit to your morals in the face of suppression, and what it can mean to use learning as a tool for liberation. This conversation is a reminder of the role that reflection and memoir play in service to creating systemic change.

Earthly Reads is a podcast series and online book study featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill, Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan. This episode offers a taste into some of the incredible live conversations that will take place throughout the book study. For more details about the series and to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.  

Céline Semaan is a Lebanese-American designer, writer, artist, speaker, and advocate working at the intersection of environmental and social justice. Céline, is the founder of Slow Factory, a 501c3 public service organization addressing the intersecting crises of climate justice and social inequity — filling the gap for climate adaptation and preparedness, building community power through open education, narrative change, and regenerative design.

The music featured in this series is by More Eaze, Ohma, Cole Pulice and Maylee Todd from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records.

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Join us with Marcia Bjornerud for a brilliant conversation on a life dedicated to the physical Earth. This conversation is the third episode for our new Earthly Reads series.

Together, Ayana and Marcia discuss Marcia’s new book, Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks, and contemplate a life lived in conversation with the very Earth that holds us. Marcia offers us her grounding presence and her awareness of geologic time cycles that churn beyond human perception.

Earthly Reads is a podcast series and online book study featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill, Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan. 

This episode is just a small glimpse into some of the incredible live conversations that will take place throughout the book study. For more details about the series and to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.  

Marcia Bjornerud is a Professor of Geosciences and Environmental Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. Her research focuses on the physics of earthquakes and mountain building, and she combines field-based studies of bedrock geology with quantitative models of rock mechanics. She has done research in high arctic Norway and Canada as well as mainland Norway, Italy, New Zealand, and the Lake Superior region. A contributing writer to The New Yorker, Wired, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, she is also the author of several books for popular audiences: Reading the Rocks, Timefulness, Geopedia and the recently published Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks. 

The music featured in this series is from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. The songs are by Xyla, Mizu, Marine Eyes, and David Moses x Tristan de Liege. 

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Continuing the first season of our Earthly Reads series, we are thrilled to share a new conversation with beloved guest Tricia Hersey. 

Sharing sweet balm from her new book WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape, Tricia reminds us of the art of being alive. In this meditative episode, Tricia asks listeners what it might mean to have faith in mystery and to begin without knowing the full course. Throughout the episode, she shares wisdom about the power of attempt and what it means to try without the fear of being wrong. 

WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape is both book and sacred object, and Tricia shares with us her process of dreaming and creating the piece.  Her book offers serene moments of reflection and decisive calls to action, just as this episode does. Inspired by Tricia’s words, we "thank you for living" and for listening along with us. 

Tricia Hersey is a multidisciplinary artist, theologian, escape artist and founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the global pioneer and originator of the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks, and collaborates with communities all over the world to create sacred spaces where the liberatory, restorative, and disruptive power of rest can take hold. Tricia’s work is seeded within the soils of Black radical thought, somatics, Afrofuturism, womanism, and liberation theology. She is a Chicago native who believes in daydreaming, porch sitting, and poetry.

Earthly Reads is a podcast series and online book study featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan. This podcast is just a small sample of the incredible wisdom of the full book study. For more details about the series and to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.  

The music featured in this episode is by Nailah Hunter, Aisha Mars, and V.C.R. from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. 

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We are excited to announce the first season of our Earthly Reads series featuring conversations with some of our favorite authors including adrienne maree brown, Marcia Bjornerud, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Prentis Hemphill Tricia Hersey, and Céline Semaan. 

This collection of books is meant to encourage grounded conversation that roots justice, imagination, and transformation within the soil and substance of the Earth. The series will focus on themes of resistance, embodiment, and connection to self and others in an era of alienation and isolation. Together, we will explore what it means to create compassionate community that is deeply attuned to our positions as human members of ecosystems.

For more details about the series and to purchase access to the full study, visit forthewild.world/bookstudy.   

We’re kicking off this series with our beloved returning guest, adrienne maree brown. In this heartfelt episode, adrienne shares more about her new book Loving Corrections and reminds us of what it means to value relationships and reflection across humanity.

Access the full episode (65min.) by joining us on Patreon or the Earthly Reads Book Study.

adrienne maree brown (she/they) is growing a garden of healing ideas. Informed by decades of movement facilitation, somatics, science fiction scholarship and doula work, adrienne has nurtured Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Loving Correction as ideas and practices for transformation. adrienne is the NYT-bestselling author/editor of several published texts, a ritual singer-songwriter, co-generator of the Lineages of Change Tarot Deck, and co-creator/host of How to Survive the End of the World podcast with Autumn Brown. adrienne's latest book Loving Corrections is now available from AK Press.

♫  The music featured in this series is from the compilation Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires courtesy of our partner Leaving Records. Compilation proceeds are directed back into the community of artists and families impacted by the fires. Learn more at staying.bandcamp.com. The artists featured in this episode are M.A. Tiesenga, Hundred Waters, Alia Mohamed, and Arushi Jain. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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For The Wild is sending our deepest wishes for abundance and slowness as we enter 2025! 

Now especially, the future of independent media and critical, thought provoking content seems uncertain. In times like these, the For The Wild team is even more dedicated to providing our listeners with meaningful listening experiences and media that embraces slow, deep learning. We are only able to do this with your generous support. We are so grateful to you! 

This year, we are looking forward to offering new forms of media, conversations that dive deeper than ever before, and moments for vital pause, contemplation, and intentionality in our fast-paced world. 

Tune into this quick update for more information about what’s coming up for For The Wild.  Learn more about how to support us and to access exclusive content at forthewild.world/patreon. 

Music by Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, and Carlos Niño. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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For The Wild is thrilled to share that we’re launching our second Slow Study with Bayo Akomolafe and The Emergence Network. These slow studies are a unique collaboration between The Emergence Network and For The Wild focused on making the We Will Dance With Mountains course accessible in an asynchronous, self-paced manner so you can embrace slowness and integration in your study. 

The segments featured in this Slow Study were recorded in 2023 as part of the We Will Dance With Mountains: Vunja! live sessions attended by over 1400 people around the world. We have edited the conversations and added supplementary materials so that you are able to go about this immersive, transformative course at your own pace.

The full package includes eight audio sessions with lectures, practices, music, poetry, and conversation from Bayo and his brilliant crew of co-conspirators. These are accompanied by recorded practice prompts from Jiordi Rosales and a text-based coursebook with details on each session and additional extrapolations.

For The Wild is deeply grateful to Bayo and our partners at The Emergence Network for this collaboration. We hope you enjoy this experience.

Welcome to the carnival, let’s dive into the cracks! 

Presale for the course launches today! 

The slow study course will officially launch on December 30th, and those who order during presale will receive the digital download of the course then.

To celebrate those ordering early- use code SLOWSTUDY10 to take 10% off of your purchase. 

Visit forthewild.world/Vunja to learn more and purchase! 

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We’re calling in slow media.

Feeling into the need for slow, emotionally grounded, and resonant content, we’ll be pausing weekly episodes to fully embody a slow media approach. The past ten years of interviews have shown us how media should be slow, rooted, and steadying, and this shift to slow media will honor all that we have learned from years of beautiful conversations. 

Over the coming months, we will be bringing you print, film, long form media, deeply focused podcast series, and in-person events that will center community and connection. We invite you to dive in deep with us. Stay tuned to our socials, newsletter, website, and podcast feed for updates and announcements! 

We’re embracing content that is deeply-rooted, resourced rather than reactionary, and that offers perspectives based on lived, tangible experiences. Society is moving at an inhuman and inhumane pace right now. Rather than submitting to a culture of constant productivity, we are focusing on moving at the earth’s pace. We’re answering to nature, spirit, and community, not to the clock.  

We need our community of support more than ever to make this happen. Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/forthewild where you’ll get special updates on our projects, or make a one time donation at forthewild.world/support  

Music by noah klein. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full description, references, and action points.

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This  week we are rebroadcasting our episode with Dori Midnight, originally aired in October 2022.

“With a prayer to imagine beyond the current structures and systems, and kind of weave ourselves into, and be wrapped inside of, the invisible cloak that is interdependence, that is mutual aid, that supports us to reach towards each other and reach towards a vision of mutually flourishing life.” This powerful vision is shared by this week’s guest, Dori Midnight. In this sweet, meaningful, and meandering conversation, Dori discusses magical and liberatory practices, ancestral Jewish healing traditions, and the necessity of reclaiming Judaism from Zionism in the name of collective liberation. She shares sweet stories of garlic and cedar, the generosity of belonging, and the blessing of our collective and intricate work as we stretch toward liberation. 

Dori Midnight practices intuitive healing, weaves collaborative, liberatory ritual spaces, makes potions, and writes liturgy, spells, prayers, and poems. For over 20 years, Dori has been practicing and teaching on ritual and remedies for unraveling times, reconnecting with traditions of Jewish ancestral wisdom, community care work, and queer magic and healing. Music by 40 Million Feet, Katie Gray, and Aviva Le Fey. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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This week we are rebroadcasting our episode with Kimberly Ann Johnson originally aired in April 2023. 

Feeling into the state of our nervous systems and our relationships with each other and ourselves, this episode offers a powerful perspective on the importance of recognizing and tending to how life feels. Together, Ayana and this week’s guest Kimberly Ann Johnson discuss the depths of pleasure and the dimensions of healing. Kimberly brings deep knowledge regarding reproductive and sexual health, especially paying attention to the often untended somatic nature of sexual boundary repair and the complicated nature of what we bring into sexual relationships. 

This conversation is steeped in trust and intimacy. Kimberly’s focus and understanding offers a guide to the ways we might come to handle and regulate our own nervous systems in order to act in alignment with our desires, rather than with the prescribed roles we have been put into through societal conditioning. 

Kimberly Ann Johnson is a Sexological Bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing practitioner, yoga teacher, postpartum advocate, and single mom. Working hands-on in integrative women’s health and trauma recovery for more than a decade, she helps women heal from birth injuries, gynecological surgeries, and sexual boundary violations. Kimberly is the author of the Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use It for Good, as well as the early mothering classic The Fourth Trimester, and is the host of the Sex Birth Trauma podcast.

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/forthewild for an extended version of this episode.

Music by Lake Mary & Talk West and Katie Gray. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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