Recombination Nation
Recombination Nation explores the intersection of evolution, ecology, and civilisation. Host Shane Simonsen speaks with crop and livestock breeders, low-input farmers, social engineers, and other deep thinkers. The show examines how biological and social systems can be recombined to create more resilient ways of living. More of Shane Simonsen's work can be found at the Recombination Nation Substack.
Episodes
Spinning Silk from Shells with Emily Robison
Emily Robison turned her lifelong passion for textile arts into a journey across the planet learning about diverse spinning and weaving traditions from Micronesia to the remote corners of the Mediterranean. We talk in depth about her experience exploring the dying craft of sea silk (spun from the holdfast threads of clams) and her efforts to adapt these techniques to new species in North America.C
A Lifetime of Potato and Tomato Breeding with Tom Wagner
Tom Wagner is a legendary tomato and potato breeder who is eager to pass on his knowledge and material to other folks keen to carry on the tradition.If you have some crop breeding experience and would like to take your practice to the next level, Tom is looking for serious collaborators to pass the torch onto. He is also interested in creating podcasts or video documentaries to capture his experti
Architecture and Agriculture in Burma and Nepal with Damien Zumbroegel
Damon Zumbroegel left behind a successful career in architecture in the USA to find the living roots of civilisation in rural Burma and the mountains of Nepal. We discuss how he inspired the locals to revive an exhausted piece of land on the banks of the mighty Irrawaddy river, the design principles behind monasteries and high end hotels, and the diverging fates of Nepal (which westernised) and Bu
Three Floating Staple Crops
In my second solo episode I explore the potential for floating aquatic plants to produce staple carbohydrates, fat and protein in a way that could create a new kind of integrated agricultural package. I also had fun imagining the impact these crops could have in a warm and watery corner of the world in the not too distant future.What novel domestications should I explore in future episodes?If you
Experimental Farming for the Win with Tanja Eskildsen
Tanja Eskildsen fell in love with plants in chilly Denmark but unleashed their potential through low-input experimental farming on the sunny island of Majorca. We retrace her path learning to trial, select and breed crops for her challenging soil and extreme climate. Check out Tanja's Substack.And lots of gorgeous photos on Instagram.Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly arti
Evolving Beyond Hope with Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts
Peter Watts is a notorious science fiction author with a fascination of the outer edges of biology, fractured minds and a taste for the dark and confronting. We dive into the lessons the living world and our own nature can teach us when contemplating the destiny of this civilisation, our species and the fate of the planet.Check out Peter's insightful blog and backlist (including many complete nove
Applying Ethnobotany to Regen Ag with Ryan Huish
Associate Professor Ryan Huish is an experienced ethnobotanist with experience in both North America and the South Pacific, who also runs his own experimental low input farm in the mountains of Appalachia. We explore the lessons from historical and traditional cultures' relationships to plants and landscapes and how that has influenced his own efforts to develop a truly sustainable local agricultu
New Zealand, Energy Limits and Resilience with Nathan Surendran
Nathan Surendran is an Engineer who moved from the UK to New Zealand in response to the terrible creaking sound coming from the heart of the world's industrial systems. There he has worked consistently to help local government prepare for the unfolding shocks and stresses in our planetary supply chain, which New Zealand sits on the very end of.You can read Nathan's work at Energy and ResilienceSig
A Route to Beaver Domestication
In Shane's first solo episode, we explore the possible route to the domestication of the beaver and the potential benefits of developing a close relationship with this powerful ecosystem engineer.Check out more novel domestications in my ebook Taming the ApocalypseAudiobook available on KoboAudiobook also available via a paid subscription to the Recombination Nation Substack
Agricultural Magic with the Cunning Farmer Todd Elliott
Todd Elliott is an experience market farmer who followed his passion for agricultural spiritual traditions deep into history, applied those lessons to his own surroundings, then wrote a book about his discoveries.Read Todd's blog: https://thecunningfarmer.substack.comBuy his book from the publisher: https://www.innertraditions.com/the-cunning-farmerOr Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Cunning-Farmer-A
The Russian Outlook on Industrial Decline with Dmitry Orlov
Dmitry Orlov was a prominent voice in the early 2000s peak oil movement in response to his book "The Five Stages of Collapse", comparing the recent collapse of the USSR with the likely prospects of the USA under similar circumstances. He has since moved from the USA back to Russia, where he continues to monitor history as it unfolds. This conversation was a rare opportunity to delve into the Russi
Zach Elfers- Tree Crops and the Organisations That Love Them
Zach Elfers is a superstar in the agroforestry community, helping multiple innovative organisations develop both the crops and their uses. We talk about his work with hickory, honey locust and more, and their processing into value added products through collaborative groups.Read his substack: https://zachelfers.substack.com/profile/postsAnd his original blog: https://www.nomadseed.comCheck out his
Buddhism, Monasteries and Existential Threats with Soryu Forall.
Soryu Forall is a meditation teacher and spiritual leader dedicated to bringing all beings to enlightenment. He teaches that ethical behavior is the beginning of the path, and that the first step in ethics is to prevent the destruction of life on Earth. Soryu is the Head Teacher and Founder of the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth (MAPLE) where he guides that community to deve
Avocado, Carob and Golden Chinquapin with Nicholas Mallonee
Nicholas is a passionate rare tree grower in the blessed lands of California where just about everything seems to grow. He has tapped into the growing diversity in avocado, and gathered up the remnants of legendary crop breeder Luther Burbank in his backyard.If you would like to get in touch with Nicholas reach out to me via my Substack.Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly a
Eons of Life, Both Future and Past, with Professor Peter Ward
Peter Ward is a palaeontologist and prolific author with books covering a vast range of the deep past and distant future of life on Earth (and beyond it). His book "Future Evolution: An Illuminated History of Life to Come" caught my attention and I was thrilled for the opportunity to drop an avalanche of speculative biology questions his way.You can find his books online and in major book stores:
Creating a Seed Farmer Community with Edmund Frost
Edmund Frost founded a collective of seed growers and breeders who sell their selection of seeds suitable for the humid southeast USA as Common Wealth Seed Growers. He lives in Louisa County, Virginia, a center for the intentional communities movement, and spent many years living at Twin Oaks Community. He is passionate about breeding cucurbits for disease resistance, along with many other crops.R
Orbiting The Biological Singularity with Arnold Schroder
Arnold Schroder, from the Fight Like an Animal podcast, is an ecological anarchist who bridges the world between biology and politics across the depths of time.Check out his archive of fascinating articles: https://www.againsttheinternet.comGrab his new book: https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Like-Animal-Revolutionary-Biology/dp/B0GZ1GKCVX/Listen to his podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/09DTUqzsCj
Julia Dakin and Anna Mieritz- How "Going to Seed" Germinated
Julia Dakin and Anna Mieritz are key members of the "Going to Seed" organisation, which brings adaptation crop breeding to numerous communities in the USA.In this two part interview I learn more about their own vegetable breeding projects, but also take the rare opportunity to learn more about how their organisation got started, how it grew, and plans for the future. A great episode for people kee
Cultural Evolution with Roger's Bacon
Roger's Bacon is an evolutionary biologist who turned his tool set on the related problem of how cultures mutate, compete, hybridise and evolve.He writes fascinating deep dive articles at Secretorum on substack: https://www.secretorum.lifeAnd runs the Seeds of Science blog to give a wider audience to pioneering thinkers: https://www.theseedsofscience.pubSign up to Recombination Nation on Substack
Teosinte, Arracacha and Mauka Breeding with Steve in Australia
Steve is an independent crop breeder in southern Australia breeding a host of uncommon crops from similar climates in the Andes. We dive into his work back crossing maize to its ancestor (teosinte), plus his early work preparing to wide cross mauka and arracacha. Steve is pursuing the true zero input approach to breeding staple crops which can produce on unirrigated soil with minimal nutrient inpu
Reviving Landrace Staple Crops with Glenn Roberts from Anson Mills
Glenn Roberts is the founder of Anson Mills, an extraordinary project to bring traditional landrace staple crops back from the brink of extinction in his part of the humid south eastern USA. This interview digs into how he achieved such an extraordinary feat, looking for clues to how others could follow his example in their own bioregions.Read much more about Anson Mills here: https://ansonmills.c
Talking Baseyu with Andiru- The Hot New Auxlang on the Block
Andiru is a conlang enthusiast who took things the next step and created the auxiliary language Baseyu along with a dedicated community of enthusiasts. Auxiliary languages are designed to be small, simple and accessible enough for anybody to learn them as a new global common tongue- kind of like the Tower of Babel in reverse.You can check out the project here: https://baseyu.comBrowse the dictiona
Talking Toki Pona and Esperanto with Okan
Okan learnt two of the most successful constructed languages- the sprawling, romantic Esperanto and cute minimalist Toki Pona.After covering the history of these languages we delve deeper into the dynamics of experimental language communities, the psychology of conlangers, and the potential interplay of culture, technology and experimental languages in the near future.Drop me a message on substack
Technopuritanism for the Next New World with Malcolm Collins
Malcolm Collins is an unclassifiable frontiersman for the coming century of chaos, a hardened fighter from the trenches of the culture wars, and a pronatalist who put his own blood line on the line by having a gaggle of embryo selected children with his lovely wife Simone, who cohosts their Based Camp podcast.You can watch their diverse discussions at Based Camp: https://www.youtube.com/@Simoneand
Breeding Mashua, Babaco and Passionfruit with Chuck Chan
Chuck Chan is an accomplished amateur crop breeder from the humid cloud forests of California, adapting plants to his little pocket of Andean climate. He has made the most of his challenges by breeding a host of rare crops which struggle in other places, particularly the root crop Mashua, and papaya relative Vasconcellea along with numerous other projects. We also delve into how he manages his div
Gail Tverberg- My Favourite Data Wrangling Grandma at the End of the Oil Age
Gail Tverberg was a star during the 2000s oil crisis, producing data rich reports on the TheOilDrum.com in a way that only a trained actuary could pull off. She has continued to impress me in subsequent years with her uncommon knack for digging into the numbers beneath the stories that others are trying to spin.In this interview we discuss the current state of the energy crisis, why a handful of p
The Dynamic of Declining Civilisation with James Howard Kunstler
From razor tongued darling of the peak oil movement to bette noire of the culture wars, James Howard Kunstler simply cannot keep from running his mouth, rustling feathers and shining a spot light on the absurdity and obscenity of modern civilised life as it staggers toward the dust bin of history.You can read his weekly blog here: https://www.kunstler.comHis latest fiction book, following a 12 yea
In the Permaculture Nursery with Sean Demobrosky from Edible Acres
Sean Dembrosky runs Edible Acres, a permaculture nursery in New York. We explore his recent successes with edible Canna, and his appreciation for persimmons, plus all the ins and outs of managing a huge range of plants for sale.Check out the nursery: https://www.edibleacres.orgTake a tour of his gardens on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/EdibleAcresSign up to Recombination Nation
The Front Lines of Ecological Journalism with Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce is a prolific author and environmental journalist with fifteen extraordinary books under his belt, including the one which transformed my own perspective on invasive species "The New Wild".In this conversation we discuss the numerous topics he has investigated, and probe the state of science journalism today.Check out Fred's latest book "Despite it All" that finds hope among the chorus
Recombining Crop Selection and Production with Bunya Halasz
Bunya Halasz is a permaculturalist and syntropic practitioner from the lush hinterland of northern New South Wales. This in depth conversation explores his winding journey through the roots of permaculture in Australia, his experience in reuniting the ongoing selection of crops in the context of spaces that produce an economic yield.You can sign up for Bunya's course on Dynamic Agroforestry beginn
Ambling with Sam through Andean and Papuan Agricultural History
Sam runs the brilliant Youtube channel, documenting his adventures exploring the traditional agriculture of the Andes, Papua New Guinea and the natural world in his own back yard in the chilly plains of North America. You can watch Sam's many wonderful videos here:https://www.youtube.com/@AmblingwithSam/featuredI recommend starting with this impressive documentary about Andean agriculture: https:/
Genetics, Evolution, Technology and Culture with Stetson from Holodoxa
Stetson is a medical geneticist who writes about his extensive interests on Substack, dipping into a wide range of topics including genetics, neuroscience, human behaviour, psychology, history, literature, culture, politics, and much more.Check out his writing: https://stetson.substack.comSign up to Shane's Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead his book, Taming the Apocalypse, abo
Building the Experimental Farm Network with Nate Kleinman
Nate is a long term experimental crop breeder who has also invested heavily in building community to bring other growers together, most notably with the Experimental Farm Network which is developing a wide range of perennial crops.You can follow Nate on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/experimentalfarmnetwork/Join the Experimental Farm Network: https://citsci.org/organizations/experimental-far
Ritual Money Burning with Reverend Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris is the spark behind the Church of Burn, a UK group which burn money to reimagine our relationship to this mysterious substance which follows us everywhere. In this conversation we talk about money, sex, privacy and death along with countless other aspects of society which are up for renegotiation during these turbulent times.Read more about the Church of Burn:https://churchofburn.o
Crop Breeding for Human Health with Mark Christensen
Mark Christensen transitioned from a career in accounting to a passion for quantifying the astonishing health benefits of select heritage crops through the power of modern chemistry. He founded the Heritage Foods Crops Research Trust in New Zealand and created a potent organisation to spread his work into the wider community.Check out his organisation: https://www.heritagefoodcrops.org.nzTheir Fac
The Microbiome Revolution with Stephen Skolnick
Stephen Skolnick is a human microbiome researcher exploring the outer fringes of this rapidly expanding field. His theories on the microbiological origins of a host of significant and baffling diseases like schizophrenia and type 1 diabetes can be found on his substack.Stephen's Substack Eat Shit and Prosper: https://stephenskolnick.substack.comAnother episode about the power of microbiology with
How This Civilisation Ends with Professor Jiang
Professor Jiang brought deep historical, economic and cultural analysis to the masses through his popular YouTube lectures.In this interview Shane digs deeper into his perspective on the east/west divide as we navigate the unfolding end of the industrial era.Find all of Professor Jiang's videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@PredictiveHistoryAnd sign up to read his substack articles: https://predi
Restoring Lost Crops with Professor David Shields
Professor David Shields is most often known for his work restoring Carolina Golden Rice to prominence in his native South Carolina, but this conversation goes further to explore parallel projects returning a wide range of preindustrial crops to the local food system. We also explore the culture impact of food, and its essential role as a touchstone for identity and belonging.Read more of David's w
Resource Limits with the Honest Sorcerer
The Honest Sorcerer is an engineer from Eastern Europe with a passion for studying the resource limits squeezing our global industrial economy. We talk about the intersections between advancing technology, eroding resources, deflating demographics and scrambling politics along with many other topics usually considered in isolation. The discussion peaks with a survey of the geopolitics of all the m
Bruce Steele
Bruce Steele works with resilient, low input staple crops (including oaks for flour) and breeds heritage mangalitsa pigs in Southern California. Check out Bruce's substack: https://steeleb.substack.comLearn more about Bruce's farm: https://www.winfieldfarm.usRead Shane's weekly blog for free, or support his work with a paid subscription to get access to his audiobook and archive of past posts: htt
Archdruid John Michael Greer
John Michael Greer is a historian of religion, the occult, and every aspect of history that typical historians overlook. In this conversation we explore the cultural impact of industrialisation and deindustrialization, and the many ways the future will be weirder and more wonderful than expected.Read John's weekly blog posts: https://www.ecosophia.netJohn's dreamwidth journal: https://ecosophia.dr
Mandy from Incredible Vegetables
Mandy operates a fantastic nursery in England specialising in a mind blowing diversity of perennial vegetables. Shane interviews her about her collecting and breeding projects, the challenges of running a commercial nursery, the advantages of buying rural land as a collective and loads of other topics.Learn more about Mandy's nursery : https://incrediblevegetables.co.uk/about-us/Find more of Shane
Amateur Plant Biotech with Sebastian Coccioba
Shane talks to Sebastian Coccioba about his obsession with plant biotechnology, and how his determination to build his own home laboratory (including a gun that shoots genes into plants) paid off. Also includes a survey of all the techniques an independent scientist could consider mastering.Read more of Sebastian's work at his open lab book : https://binomicalabs.notion.site/?v=cc508bd627a64aa7bf8
Simon Michaux
Shane grills Simon Michaux on the key resource limits preventing the promised renewable energy transition and his comprehensive plans to develop a thorium powered alternative. Read more about Simon's work at:The complex systems limits threatening industrial civilisation: https://www.simonmichaux.comThe plan to build an alternative civilisation: https://www.promethean-nexus.comThe plan to develop s
Thomas Picard
Thomas Picard is a landrace cucurbit breeder from France who works with melons, watermelon, pumpkin and kiwano.You can read more about his work at the Going to Seed forum- https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/thomaspicard/summaryLinks to the Going to Seed conference will be added once they are available.Follow Shane's work at his Substack blog: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead his boo
Ask Me Anything with Shane
In this final episode of season 1, I outline plans for the podcast, Substack and planned YouTube channel in the coming year, then answer a stack of questions from followers of my work.The podcast will be relaunching in November as Recombination Nation, so stay subscribed while I take a break and prepare for a stellar second season.Find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blogTaming the
Harriet Mella
Shane talks with Harriet Mella, an independent soil scientist from Austria about the complexity and resilience of the life beneath our feet and its critical role in supporting crop health (in parallel with crop breeding).Check out Harriet's soil science web course launching soon: http://agricurls.com/Find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.co
Cimbri returns
Shane and Cimbri resume their conversation, pivoting back to the all too common challenge of young people living in urban or suburban environments who want to escape to less crowded places, plus all the things they can do with their energy in the meantime.Subscribe to Cimbri's substack- https://iwritetoyoufrombabylon.substack.comYou can check out Cimbri's activity on Reddit- https://www.reddit.com
Greg Willkeen from Bactelium
Shane talks to Greg Willkeen about his Bactelium project, aiming to develop a suite of food safe microbial communities that can provide food security from the most basic feedstock resources. We also delve into his crop breeding work developing a starchy storage squash, and discuss the evolving backyard microbiology community thriving across the world.Check out Greg's substack blog - https://bactel
Brad Neil
Shane talks with Brad Neil, an expert in the improved English writing system called Quikscript and all round conscript and conlang enthusiast. We delve into the history of spelling and writing reform, how technology could catalyse a popular English reform in coming years, and Brad evaluates Shane's own ideas about creating a post-industrial writing technology.You can check out Brad's Quikscript pa
Darren from Herbalistics
Shane talks to his not too distant neighbour Darren, from Herbalistics nursery, about his amazing work crossing Australian crop relatives of citrus, sweet potatoes and a long list of medicinal plants. Check out Darren's online nursery and blog- https://herbalistics.com.auAnd his beautiful collection on instagram- https://www.instagram.com/herbalistics/?hl=enYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zer
Dr Eugene McCarthy again
Shane talks to Dr Eugene McCarthy for a third time, delving into the implications and applications of hybridisation driven change in organisms.You can read more detail about Eugene's theory here: https://www.macroevolution.net/human-origins.htmlYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon
Klaus Lotz
Shane has a deep discussion with Klaus Lotz from PermaDynamics, a syntropic farmer from New Zealand whose origin story traces back to working with the originator of this fascinating method in Brazil. We cover dairy goats, tree crops, and the specifics of living in a broader intentional community founded on permaculture principles.Read more of Klaus' work at his main website: https://www.permadynam
Dr Philip Bell
Shane talks to Dr Philip Bell about his ground breaking theory of viral eukaryogenesis. It is well established that important parts of our cells, the energy producing mitochondria, originated from a free living bacteria that were absorbed and incorporated into every complex living thing on the planet. Dr Bell has looked further back into evolution and discovered that the nucleus at the heart of th
Steve Solomon
Shane and Steve have a stimulating chat about his extraordinary life, the seed industry, soil nutrition and health and finding a new community on the bottom of the world. Steve's book "Gardening When it Counts" was one of the most influential books in Shane's life, not because it changed his abstract thoughts. Instead it changed how he acted in the world. This is probably the longest episode recor
Capello
Shane talks with Capello about his experiences establishing diverse hazelnut groves in the Ozarks, integration of sheep grazing, and deeper thoughts about the potential role of animistic/shamanistic world views in response to the unfolding end of industrialisation.Recommended readingJoseph Henrich - "The WEIRDest People in the World" (re: cultural adaptation and knowledge transmission)- https://en
Julian Gough
Shane talks with Julian Gough, philosopher turned cosmologist, about his stunning theory extending Smolin's Cosmic Natural Selection. If organisms and ecosystems can evolve, then perhaps entire universes are part of a chain of variation and selection as well. Recent observations from the James Webb space telescope have supported many of Julian's boldest predictions and the scientific establishment
Cimbri
Shane and long time fan of the show Cimbri talk about reclaiming our ancestral human potential, the past and future of human evolution (both biological and cultural) and the challenges of being a younger person (and parent) working toward escaping industrial civilisation.You can check out Cimbri's activity on Reddit- https://www.reddit.com/user/Cimbri/Special Price Reduction on Taming the Apocalyp
Samuel Lewis
Shane chats with Samuel Lewis, a self described 21st century hoe farmer from Brittany, France, who has been growing his staple calorie crops with zero inputs along with many other rural ventures, plus publishing books and producing art along the way.You can get your own copy of his detailed book and learn more about his work at his website:https://hoe-farming.comHere are two short videos about his
Richard Bartlett
Shane talks with Richard Bartlett about his remarkable passion for decentralised social organisations and the cultures and norms which make them thrive. You can read the book Shane mentions in the episode at: https://betterworktogether.coRichard's personal website links to all his other projects and contacts: https://richdecibels.comAnd Casa Tilo in Barcelona presents an opportunity to immerse you
Alex Tanke
Shane talks to temperate tree crop breeder Alex Tanke about his work with persimmons and pecans/hickories, plus a whole bunch of other topics related to tree crops and the development of diverse and resilient food systems.Read more about Alex's work at his website: https://dispersionfarms.comCheck out his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@alextanke8963And check out the activity on the Nut
Justin Senryu Williams
Shane talks to Justin Senryu-Williams about his extraordinary work to breed resilient, low input tomatoes for the soggy British climate through extensive outcrossing to wild tomato relatives. You can learn more about his work through his posts on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/JustinSenryuhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/182244131939228Find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: ht
Thomas Stoughton
Shane talks with Thomas Stoughton about his extensive field work studying the spring beauties (Claytonia species) a diverse group of plants with enormous untapped domestication potential and a host of weird genetic tricks. They also dive into fungi- foraging, farming and domestication, and a host of other side track topics.You can read more about Thomas' work and see his beautiful botanical photos
Gus Le Breton
Shane talks to Gus Le Breton about his lifetime of exploring and promoting the vast array of useful edible and medicinal plants that grow Southern Africa and Madagascar. You're in for a rare ethnobotanical treat!You can learn more about Gus' work at the links below.Youtube channel with plant profiles and field trips: https://www.youtube.com/@AfricanPlantHunterGus' main website- https://africanplan
Weston Adams
Shane talks to Weston Adams about his fascinating work breeding crops at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, including an ambitious project producing intergeneric hybrids of sunflowers.You can reach out to Weston at Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/weston.adams.921Or send him an email- Weston.a@rareseeds.comFind more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.c
Nathaniel
Shane talks with Nathaniel from the Ozark Mountains about his extensive work adapting Korean Natural Farming practices to his corner of the world, scaling sorghum as a zero input staple crop, and the thriving community networks which have grown stronger in response to economic stresses.Read more about Nathaniel's work in this essay: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TkJXkxtg3Xkukre3L4SqY7372jDsdB4K
Mark W Kidd
Shane talks to Mark W. Kidd about preserving the cushaw squash in Appalachia, growing crops with minimal inputs in remote rural areas, and revitalising communities in the wake of contraction.The Commonwealth Cushaw Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/commonwealthcushawJoin a cushaw squash workshop in May:https://cushawguide.handbarrow.org/Check out the Going to Seed forum where Mark re
Kahlil Corazo
Shane talks to Kahlil Corazo, a writer, thinker, entrepreneur and former agricultural researcher from the Phillipines about psychofauna, technocapital, the past and future of cacao and a whole bunch of other fascinating topics.You can read more of Kahlil's writing at his substack blog: https://www.explorations.phAnd his article on psychofauna: https://www.theseedsofscience.pub/p/psychofauna-studie
Michael Longfield
Shane talks to Michael Longfield about his extensive work developing syntropic agriculture systems in the central USA, tapping into an impressive range of local and introduced plant genetics.You can learn more about Michael's work at Interwoven Permaculture: https://interwovenpermaculture.comAnd get more regular updates and contact through: https://www.facebook.com/InterwovenPermacultureCheck out
Nikomiko
Shane interviews Nikomiko about his involvement in the creation of Viossa, a pidgin language that was constructed in online chat rooms through playful interaction in any language except English and which has since grown into a thriving community. We discuss the wild world of constructed and evolving languages, and play with ways that new languages could help build new cultures in this volatile tim
Richard Goerwitz
Shane talks to Richard Goerwitz about his remarkable role as head gardener for the East Wind Intentional Community. Richard's work occupies an unusual niche, somewhere between home gardener and market gardener in scale and that includes opportunities for crop breeding with an army of taste testers at his disposal. East Wind is one of the oldest intentional communities in the USA which also hosts a
Eugene McCarthy Returns
Shane talks to Dr Eugene McCarthy once more, delving into his astonishing theory about the possible hybrid origin of humans (and not the recent discoveries about mixing of modern humans with neanderthals and their kin). Eugene has assembled a compelling body of evidence that our chimp like ancestors may have hybridised with the humble pig, accounting for a long list of unusual human traits that ar
Gregg Muller
Shane talks to Gregg about his long journey through breeding a wide range of crops in his challenging Mediterranean climate in southern Australia. We also compare notes on the challenges of creating local crop breeding groups and discuss fresh approaches.Check out Gregg's incredible range of seeds for sale: https://www.usefulseeds.comJoin Gregg's local crop breeding group on Facebook: https://www.
Fedor Steeman
Shane talks to Fedor Steeman about the limits of evolving and engineering life itself.Check out more of Fedor's amazing videos on speculative biology at Phrenotopia-https://www.youtube.com/@PhrenotopiaThe origin of animal body plans - https://youtu.be/3Gql2iyY5Gw?si=lCEY3vtmibvfYaFGYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the
Salvatore Ceccarelli
Shane talks to Salvatore Ceccarelli about his incredible contribution to the preservation and reinvigoration of ancient landrace crop genetics in the Middle East and Europe, putting diverse mixes of ancient grains back into the hands of farmers and bakers throughout the region.You can read more about Salvatore's work at- https://salvatorececcarelli.wordpress.com(translation into English might be h
Book Review- The One Straw Revolution
Shane revisits an old substack post reviewing Fukuoka's "One Straw Revolution", comparing his experiences as an experimental farmer to those of one of the founders of this philosophy.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Tami
Dr. Eugene McCarthy
Shane talks to Dr Eugene McCarthy about his lifetime studying the importance of hybridisation in the creation of new forms of life (usually called speciation). This is part of a three episode series with Dr McCarthy, Part 2 will investigate his thought provoking pig-chimp hypothesis, and part 3 will cover implications and applications of hybrid speciation theory.Read all about Dr. McCarthy's work
Plant Profile- Shallots (Allium fistulosum)
Shane reflects on his oldest vegetable landrace crop, the humble shallot or spring onion (Allium fistulosum), an indispensable fresh leafy vegetable that deserves a place in just about every warm climate garden. The general principles and steps in developing your own landraces are explored, plus the numerous long lasting benefits.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: ht
Jason Howard
Shane talks to Jason about his extraordinary passion for breeding diverse, aromatic and hardy basil that goes so far beyond the common leafy green type most people know.Check out more of Jason's work at the links belowThe Basically About Basil main page where you can buy diverse basil seed and select plantshttps://basicallyaboutbasil.comThe highly informative Basically About Basil Youtube channelh
Direct Sowing versus Transplants
Shane argues for the advantages of direct sowed seed over transplants, and outlines the key ingredients to achieve success sowing your own seed where it will grow.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse au
