In this life, in this world, you would think that we might run out of ideas, or stories, or goals - that the human capacity will at one point exhaust itself, that all songs might be written one day. Well, clearly not so. We’ve come across this incredibly wonderful movie, as slow as a wheelchair, and as deep as human inspiration can lead us – in this case up the mountain, into the heart and soul of the viewer. It’s called 4 Wheel Bob: A True Tale of Strength, Courage, and Wisdom. It’s filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area, where this show is produced, and it was nominated as one of the Bay Area’s Most Important Environmental Film Contributions this year at the San Francisco Green Film Festival. We are speaking with the filmmaker today and with the star of the documentary.

Guest: 

Tal Skloot, Director, 4 Wheel Bob, SF Bay Area

Bob Coomber, Lifelong Outdoorsman, 4 Wheel Bob, SF Bay Area

If you live in a city and spend a significant amount of time on your devices, this show is for you. New research has found that a cellphone is addictive, literally. The best antidote? Nature! The temperatures are warming, a big spring cleaning is around the corner, and with it, we allow the energy of the natural environment to re-enter our lives. What does that really mean and how important is it? Just how much does the world of technology and the world outside really affect us? Today we’ll find out with new research done by Dr. David Strayer, a Professor of Cognition and Neural Science, who will speak with us about just how much our environment becomes us.

Guest: 

Dr. David Strayer, Professor of Cognition and Neural Science, University of Utah, Park City, UT

Imagine there is a new world out there, a different dimension, right at your fingertips, that you could enter at any time, that can bring you joy, and pleasure, and healing. That world exists, and it is our topic in this episode - Essential Oils. We have had shows on scents and the importance of our ability to smell, and while we appreciate the beauty and comfort a nice scent can give to us, we were stunned when we came across a brand new book on Essential Oils and their therapeutic use. The book is called “Healing Civilizations,” and while that seems like a bold title, the book delivers on it. It’s a tour around the world with your nose, combining ancient wisdom with modern studies of therapeutic essential oils. In this episoe, Helge Hellberg is speaking with the author, Dr. Nadim Shaath.

Guest: 

Dr. Nadim Shaath, Author, Healing Civilizations: The Search for Therapeutic Essential Oils & Nutrients

Ever heard of Patience Gray? If you have – good for you! And if you haven’t, you still most likely are affected by her passion and work every day, as this woman has defined our modern way of eating and cooking more than any other woman of her time. We are talking with the author of a new book that is honoring Patience Gray's dedication to food, and her unwillingness to accept societal standards, luckily, as we are all better for it today. She was the Alice Waters of her time, helping to redefine our relationship to eating. 

Guest: 

Adam Federman, Author, Fasting and Feasting: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray, Vermont

We talk a lot about sustainability on our plates on this show - organic food and agriculture as the foundation for social and environmental justice. But of course, the conversation about how to create true sustainability on this planet includes all aspects of human life. Today it’s about sustainable fashion. We are speaking with an expert about the fashion industry in this episode, specifically about the insane amount of fabric waste created every day, around the world, and even in a city near you, here in the U.S. That expert, Angela Chou, has created an alternative, a true solution to what we can do about all this fabric waste - and she will share her model with us today.

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Host Helge Hellberg in an organic conversation with Angela Chou, Founder of Utterly, San Francisco, CA

In the world of news and politics and social and environmental justice we, as a culture, often focus disproportionately on what is not working. From a deeply human perspective, the film Love Thy Nature brings the balance back in focus by reminding us of the beauty of this planet and the blessing to be alive. Host Helge Hellberg is speaking with the filmmaker of Love Thy Nature today – an incredibly powerful conversation and the essence of why we are doing this show, what it means to be human, our opportunity for one another, and our responsibility for this one planet that we all call home.

Guest: 

Sylvie Rokab, Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Love Thy Nature, Los Angeles, CA

The average American consumes about 150 pounds of refined sugar a year. That's almost half a pound of refined sugar each day. Refined sugar is in everything, not just in sugary drinks, but even in our cut meats, in our bread, and in most everything else. It’s there for two reasons – it makes things taste better, and, it gets us hooked, because sugar is addictive. Today we are talking with an expert on sugar, a doctor who has made unhooking from sugar his life’s career.

Guest: 

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., Author, The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction, Hawaii

From trends and specialty diets to indecipherable food labels, from expensive equipment in food reality shows on TV to ingredients in processed foods that have nothing to do with nourishment, it is remarkable how complicated food has become. Today we are reversing the clock – a new book is bringing us back, to the future.

Guest:

Maria Rodale, Author, Scratch: Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun, and Totally Delicious, PA

In honor of the San Francisco Green Film Festival, we are covering a handful of outstanding documentaries, new films that are as brilliantly produced as they are critical to know as they are – hopefully – shaping our society and our way of life. We are starting today with Riverblue - a close look at the unbelievable environmental implications of fast and cheap fashion. The destruction is so extreme, overwhelming, and so visible, that even our show title, usually a hopeful note, speaks of the insane conditions in which the world produces garments. Host Helge Hellberg is interviewing both the Director and Producer of Riverblue in this week's episode.

Guest:

David McIlvride, Writer and Director, Riverblue

Roger Williams, Producer and Director, Riverblue

What would our society be without women? Impossible to comprehend, right? And yet, women have been marginalized for hundreds and hundreds of years, fighting long and hard for equal pay, for voting rights, for a true recognition of their value in business, their leadership, and their critical role in society. Tiffany Shlain's film 50/50 explores the 10,000-year history of women + power and asks, what’s it going to take to get to a 50/50 world — not just in politics and boardrooms, but truly shifting the gender balance to be better for everyone?

Guest: 

Tiffany Shlain, Director, 50/50: Rethinking the Past, Present, and Future of Women + Power, Mill Valley, CA

Can education be fun, safe, safe and affordable - even for low-income families? A new preschool is using outdoor classrooms to provide quality education in reading, math, and science; made affordable for families and designed to give children a joyful, nature-rich childhood – one full of play, exploration, and wonder.

Guest: 

Andrew Jay, CEO, Tiny Trees Preschool, Seattle, WA