In the second episode of In the Company of Humpbacks, take a walk with Dr. Fred Sharpe and Ayana as we get to know him and his research team more intimately. Together, they reflect on grounding scientific work in awareness and relationality, offering insight into the deeper purpose behind conservation. The episode explores how our pursuit of knowledge shapes and is shaped by our relationships with the more-than-human world, while also embracing the sensory, emotional pull of curiosity about nature.

Explore the first episode of In the Company of Humpbacks by For The Wild, where Joe Olson and Dr. Fred Sharpe examine whale sound analysis, humpback communication, and ocean acoustics. This immersive introduction invites listeners to deepen their understanding of whale songs, sonic ecology, and our connection to the more-than-human world.

Aya shares about both the symbols and material history of watermelon and prickly pear in Palestine, From reminders of resilience and patience to subtle efforts of resistance, this episode leaves us with the sweet promise of freedom and liberation to come.  

Aya and Ayana reflect on za’atar, its deep presence in Palestinian kitchens, and the ban on foraging it that is selectively enforced against Palestinians. Aya emphasizes a deep connection to the land, carried through the flavors of Palestinian food and the scent of its kitchens.

Aya and Ayana explore how olive trees shape Palestinian lifeways through everyday routines and long-held traditions. Olives are rooted in memory, community, and resilience and remain deeply defining across the region.

Artists Aubyn O’Grady and Jackie Olson share about The Willow Basket Project. Together with Ayana, they explore the ways that art can root us in place, support mining reclamation work, and even build bridges with unlikely allies.

Vanessa Andreotti and Ayana explore what it means to live well amid the fractures of modernity. Reflecting on the tensions of birth and death in our time, Vanessa shares her idea of hospicing modernity—the act of bearing witness to a system that is unraveling. 

X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell and Guná Jensen explore the vital work of Tlingít language revitalization. Set within the lands of the Yukon, this episode is a moving tribute to the power and significance of Indigenous language learning.

What does it mean to have a colonized heart? Touching upon the role of feeling in our overall wellbeing, Ayana, Dr. Lee Brown, and Elder Mark Wedge explore how emotional regulation and connection are essential to the work of decolonization.

On July 19th, Joanna Macy, our beloved teacher and past guest, died peacefully at home in Berkeley, California. In honor of her incredible legacy and the significant impact her work continues to have, we are rebroadcasting her episode “The World as Lover and Self,” originally released in January of 2015.

In this tribute to Andrea Gibson, we re-broadcast our original conversation from September of 2023. For so many of us who have been touched by Andrea’s work, their death is a deep wound, one that will stretch and expand our hearts in accordance with its depth.   

Ayana returns with a heartfelt update from For The Wild. After years of digital storytelling, the team is embracing in-person, land-based conversations—launching a walking series with Sophie Strand and crafting a wild and tangled anthology. New paths are forming—and support is needed to bring them to life.

Offering embodied insight into the ways in which healing manifests in our personal and collective lives, Prentis brings a thoughtful and empathetic perspective to this crucial conversation that fosters deeper belonging with each other and the Earth. 

Gumbs speaks to her understanding of Lorde’s work as “geological,” following the connection Lorde draws between Blackness and graphite—and our existence at every layer of Earth’s interior. Gumbs shares lessons for reciprocity, earthly embodiment, and the poetry of living. 

Sharing stories from her childhood in Lebanon, Céline (founder of Slow Factory) gives us a look at what it means to be a hakawati (storyteller) and asks listeners what it means to have faith in times of crisis and how to commit to your morals in the face of suppression.

Ayana and Marcia discuss Marcia’s new book, Turning to Stone, 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.

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.

adrienne shares more about her new book Loving Corrections and reminds us of what it means to value relationships and reflection across humanity. Adrienne speaks to the call to choose the Earth, the muscle and soul required to hold oppositional energy, and the beauty that comes from being willing to look back at ourselves with honesty.

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.

This Slow Study Course is a series of lectures and practice prompts from Bayo’s 2023 edition of We Will Dance With Mountains: Vunja! wherein 1400+ people gathered. It is a carnivalesque course in postactivism, a decoration of the walls of the cracks, a cultivating of bewilderment together, and a sitting-together-until-something-happens.