Constant Wonder

Tama Wong didn't feel like a great gardener—until she discovered that the weeds she was battling were delicacies from across the world. Now, she forages (and farms like a forager!) for fine dining restaurants, and she encourages others to enjoy wild flavor by foraging, too.

Guest: Tama Matsuoka Wong, author of "Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager" and founder of meadowsandmore.com

Knotweed Crumble and more at our Substack: https://constantwonder.substack.com

Chapters:
(0:00) Meet Tama Wong & Wild Lawns
(5:43) What is a Weed?
(14:22) Foraging for Fine Dining
(30:12) Cultivation and Community
(32:03) Moving at the Speed of Life
(38:02) Editing the Weeds
(47:50) Memories in the Garden

Reverend Dr. Andrew Teal grew up wandering the ruins of Fountains Abbey in the UK—one of his "thin places." After he was ordained an Anglican priest in his twenties, he learned to find the sacred as easily in seminar rooms as on the side of the road. Teal believes in the power of inhabiting the world, be it through philosophy, poetry, or simply your presence.

Guest: Reverend Dr. Andrew Teal, an Anglican priest, chaplain, fellow, and lecturer in theology at Pembroke College, Oxford University

Chapters:
(0:00) Introduction
(3:55) Fountains Abbey
(13:17) Grief and silence
(20:23) Rachel's thunderbolt
(24:57) Thin spaces
(32:35) Prodigal sons and sacred hymns
(43:34) Illumination

After severe depression turns his life upside down, Jarod Anderson heads for the woods, where he finds a renewed connection to nature: from the sacred herons of his childhood to the strange creatures of his imagination. He now shares that world with listeners as host of "The CryptoNaturalist."

Guest: Jarod Anderson, host of "The CryptoNaturalist" and author of "Something in the Woods Loves You"

Author page: https://www.crytopnaturalist.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarodkanderson/

Originally aired January 22, 2025

Hugo Tagholm describes the transcendent connection between a storm at sea and a surfer sitting, many hours later, on a board. Using surfing as a metaphor for life, Tagholm urges us to show up for each other—and for the Earth—as our best-prepared selves. His is a message of hope for all of us on "Planet Ocean."

Guests:
Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana UK
Katherine May, author of "Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age"

Photo Credit: Nick Pumphrey

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Introduction
(4:55) Hugo's childhood
(9:39) Surfers Against sewage
(17:36) The wonder of surfing
(25:32) Conserving the oceans
(35:05) Katherine May's quest for enchantment and wonder

Emmett Hoops was seven when he decided to save the nearly-extinct American chestnut tree. He's 66 now, but little else has changed since then. Together with a chorus of other chestnut-lovers, the people who grew up under those leaves and relied on those nutritious nuts tell the story of how a tree shaped generations.

Guests:
Emmett Hoops, Director for District 5 and Vice President for Outreach, New York Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation (at time of recording)
Andy Newhouse, Director of American Chestnut Project at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (at time of recording)

Want to get involved with Chestnut restoration? Visit the American Chestnut Foundation online to learn more about their mission! https://www.americanchestnut.org/

Special thanks to Bethany N. Baxter for archival interviews from Appalachia conducted in 2008.

Originally aired: March 20, 2024