Podcast appearances and mentions of andy heaslet

Tangazo - a Podcast from KDHX was created March 2018, by its host Hank Thompson and producer Andy Heaslet with a drum sound track created and performed by the late Dhati M. Kennedy.  ------   It is now confirmed that on Thursday February 15th, the Tangazo podcast will begin broadcasting live on kdhx at 12 noon until 2pm. ------   This current episode of Tangazo, focuses on the recently held Iowa and New Hampshire presidential primaries elections, their results and significance to the November general elections.   Our guest included 6 Tangazo frequent contributors, political consultant Tim Person, activist Attorney Jerryl Christmas and Michael Wesley Jones, of the St. Louis American Newspaper, provided a local perspective on the above mentioned Presidential primary elections.   National commentary was provided by former Tallahassee mayor Dorothy Inman-Johnson, who is currently seeking a seat on the Tallahassee city council. Attorney, musician Ludlow B. Creary II, from Long Beach California and former Story County Iowa Supervisor and former Truman State University classmate, Wayne Clinton.    The discussion was lively ,informative and maybe foreboding, with the idea that African Americans, especially young black men were becoming disenchanted, with the Democratic Party and how if that disenchantment is not addressed, helps the Republican Party's efforts  to regain the presidency.   We sincerely appreciate all of the great guests and commentators, who have supported Tangazo throughout the past 6 years and we're looking forward, to having you join us for our live 2 hour broadcast on kdhx.   We also appreciate the staff and management of kdhx, especially the station's General Manager Kelly Wells, for the support, encouragement and the confidence, they have shown in our ability, to make Tangazo a live broadcast.   Find Tangazo and other podcast at podcast.kdhx.org and I can honestly say that, “We will see you on the radio!”

From his personal relationships with the organizations we know as Forests (where Collaboration AND Competition thrive), Jo Pang helps good health flourish in human orgs, specifically those focused on "social good."            The work of Culture Wise, Jo's enterprise, supports organizations who envision a more compassionate and just world, to develop capacity for leadership in ways that can turn around society's dominant and colonizing modes. This work can take groups out of doors in activity at once super-purposeful and playful. When Earthworms host Jean Ponzi joined one of these experiences, she felt wake-up-genuinely inspired by Jo's approach to "consulting and facilitating" - and wanted to share Jo's perspective with you. Around the grounds of Kindred Forest, the nature retreat Jo Pang and family are cultivating (near Bourbon, MO, about an hour from St. Louis), individuals and groups can experience Forest Bathing, with Jo as your certified Forest Therapy Guide. With a Doctorate in Strategic Management in the works from University of Missouri St. Louis, look for lively leadership to continue to evolve from among the circles of trees and humans who inspire and teach Jo Pang. From TEDx Gateway Arch, hear Jo Pang share How Mindfulness Transforms Us THANKS to Andy Heaslet for audio-engineering this edition of Earthworms, and to Jon Valley, KDHX production Wiz Related Earthworms Conversations: In the Company of Trees with Andrea Sarubbi Fareshteh (Jan. 2019)

"What's going on in that bucket," wrote the great enviro-spiritual guy Wendell Berry in The Work of Local Culture, "is the most momentous thing I know, the greatest miracle that I have ever heard of: it is making earth.” Here in St. Louis, New Earth Farm brings that moment right to you - as an affordable, convenient, sustainability service.          John and Stacey Cline are growing New Earth Farm as a neighborhood-based enterprise serving the greater STL area. If you can't compost in your yard, your subscription to New Earth Farm will regularly collect your kitchen and garden waste and bring you, in spring and fall, a bucket of super-plant-food compost. Waste gets reduced and soil is nourished, in a system helping all parts flourish. For an even more modest fee, you can drop off your organic waste for New Earth Farm to compost. Options serve both homes and businesses - even special events!       This kind of "valet service" composting is a vital niche in the spectrum of St. Louis Green practice. Let the New Earth Farm story inspire you to dig in and support sustainable decay! Thanks to Earthworms audio engineers, Andy Heaslet and Jon Valley.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Fair Shares: Abundance, Innovation, Relationships, FOOD (July 2022) Urban Buds Blooms in St. Louis City (Nov 2021)

St. Louis journalist Don Corrigan storms the American Popular Culture Association with his books exploring way more than journalistic topics - like ROAD KILL.             Corrigan's book American Roadkill: Animal Victims of our Busy Highways  is in the great animal rights tradition of Joseph Grinnell of the 1920s, who was alarmed at the animal carnage on America's new highways. Corrigan tells the squashed sad tales, and shares some positives: • The Saint Louis Zoo enlisting “citizen scientists” to identify high casualty frog and turtle crossings. • St. Louis Kinship Circle raising awareness of road accidents with pets and how to avoid such heartbreaking meet-ups with cars. • Sierra Clubs of the southeast, championing endangered pumas. • Possum Pouch Pickers, down south, rescuing baby possums from marsupial mothers mashed on roadways. Don Corrigan is Editor Emeritus of the Webster-Kirkwood Times, a weekly newspaper for St. Louis suburban communities. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to KDHX production pundit Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations:  Richard Louv: Our Wild Calling (Dec 2019) Don Corrigent on SQUIRRELS (July 2019)  

This idea seeks not to uproot every shred of living carpet - "just" the (humongous, sterile, resource-intensive) areas we don't use.          Owen Wormser is an ecological landscape designer who sees restorative potential in our acres of compulsive turf. His Nautilus Award-winning book's practical and visionary approach to ecological restoration can bring your place to life! Converting areas of lawn to meadows gives us back precious time and money while super-charging food webs and vital pollinator supports.         Here in the KDHX listening area, the very tidy suburb of Webster Groves made it through No Mow April with reputation intact. Look for other local communities to adapt Webster's process in the early growing season of 2024. In May you can mow some paths through those plantings, and sow more life in the areas spared from tortuous trims.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Legacy Circle Farms Strong Soil, Specialty Crops (May 2021)) Biodiversity for Corporations? Where Business Works WITH Nature (May 2020) THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, to KDHX Production chief Jon Valley.

The wild world of Milkweed plants is populated by aphids who suck the plant's life, beetles who suck the aphids dry, ant lion babies who will eat each other - and sometimes the Monarch butterflies whose caterpillars gotta eat Milkweed or starve.          APHIDS! Native gardening specialist Besa Schweitzer guides this conversational tour through the realm of Milkweeds - and the bugs to bug them! Her Wildflower Garden Planner is a book everyone can use to welcome Nature's Wild Child plants into your place.  Congratulations, Besa, on this summer's recognition of your work from the native plant advocate botanists of Missouri Native Plant Society! Honor well deserved. Earthworms listeners: read Besa's take on this topic in The Healthy Planet July 2023 edition. Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer and Green colleague in Sierra Club - and to KDHX production ace, Jon Valley    

St. Louis is the first U.S. city using the app Mosquito Alert,  developed in Barcelona, Spain, and in use across Europe. This Citizen Science project combines support for our Public Health pros with rich opportunities for eco-logical messaging: We CAN Control the Pests AND Protect our Pollinators!       The Mosquito Alert STL project team is promoting use of this smartphone app around our community - and taking the work an important academic step further: researching the power of Citizen Science to boost the capacity of our Public Health agencies, as they work to track and control the kinds of mosquitos that carry serious diseases like West Nile and Zika virus.     MASTL team members Jeanine Arrighi (St. Louis Academic Health), Alexis Bingham (SLU Masters candidate and MASTL student partner), and Dr. Ricardo Wray (Saint Louis University School of Health Communications and Social Justice) talk with Earthworms host (and fellow MASTL team partner) Jean Ponzi about this exciting, locally evolving work.  Find Mosquito Alert STL resources online and read more about this project.  Download the Mosquito Alert app and join the SWAT Team!  Learn more about the global value of Citizen Science in dealing with mosquito-born disease from the Wilson Center for Science (and in Earthworms' archived edition). Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to KDHX Production Pro Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations: One Health: People, Animals, Earth with Dr. Sharon Deem Global Mosquito Alert with Dr. Anne Bowser, Wilson Center for Science (August 2019) Fight The Bite with the 4-Ds - Mosquito Squad, City of St. Louis (July, 2016) (where we WERE with mosquito education before Mosquito Alert STL)      

"Aside from all that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the Play?" In his new book I Want a Better Catastrophe, lifelong activist Andrew Boyd navigates the Climate Crisis with grief, hope and gallows humor. Earthworms host Jean Ponzi chimes in (leaving Boyd the best lines, as a gracious host would do).        Boyd's leadership of the global CLIMATE CLOCK campaign blended art, science and grassroots organizing. His writings ask eight diverse climate thinkers "Is it really the end of the world? If so, now what?" From his own broken-open heart, he walks with our climate angst toward living with climate reality - and staying open-hearted.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Midwest Climate Collaborative with Heather Navarro (May 2022)  Diversifying Power: Jennie C. Stephens Advocates Energy Democracy (Sept 2020) Facing the Climate Emergency with Margaret Cline Solomon (June 2020) THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms steadfast friend and audio engineer, and to KDHX production powerhouse, Jon Valley. Thanks to New Society Publishing! www.newsociety.com  

Creating from The Center in midtown St. Louis, youth artist Story Stitchers collect stories, reframe and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy.      Story Stitchers Branden Lewis and Chris BlueBeatz Pendleton are both artists and staff. Their collaborative crew mainly targets ending gun violence as content focus, not surprising for urban youth in the U.S. today. Time experiencing Prairie environments surprised them: growing deep-rooted perspective and creative expression that connected KDHX Earthworms host Jean Ponzi to these vibrant humans. Nature is a bond we share, expressed in Peace in the Prairie, a big body of award-winning Story Stitchers work.            This conversation grew from a meetup this spring at the Midwest Climate Summit. Jean gets to guest this summer at Stitch Cast Studio Live on June 6, for another Nature-inclusive exchange.  Pick up Story Stitchers podcasts! Related Earthworms Conversations: Midwest Climate Collaborative with Heather Navarro (May 2022) St. Louis Environmental Racism Report with Leah Clyburn (October 2019) THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio wiz, and to KDHX Production Power, Jon Valley.

As flowers bloom, bees rev up their pollinating rounds, and a host of Community Scientists are helping local pros explore key bee-health questions: what promotes bee diversity and bee-plant interactions in residential and community gardens?                 This is Shutterbee! Backyard bee photography to improve conservation practices. Nina Fogel, Ph.D. co-leads this multi-year project from the Billiken Bee Lab at Saint Louis University with founder and Webster U professor Dr. Nicole Miller-Struttmann, and a team of fellow academics, students and community partners.                   Shutterbee is a "standardized survey." Volunteers observe strict protocols - as they strive to photograph bees on the move! Participants commit to taking their smartphone in the same hours on the same day of every month for the same walk around their gardens, and uploading photos of bees they observe into the Shutterbee project on the app iNaturalist. Project leaders identify bees and plants in these photos to evaluate how bees behave in urban, suburban, and rural environments. Next time you're out in your yard, try it. Happily - and essentially - training is provided. Shutterbee enrollment is filled for 2023, but you can tap into studying bees using the project's vivid resources, pollinator info and bee identification guides.   Congratulations Nina! Achieving her Doctorate this spring with her study of the patterns of bee diversity in home gardens enrolled in Bring Conservation Home, the native plant program of St. Louis Audubon - and for finding, through her work in 2022, a native bee so rare it had only been documented once before in Missouri. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to KDHX production potentate, Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations:Wires Over Wildlife: power lines as biodiversity connectors (August 2020) VR Botany: Dr. Kyra Krakos brings the outdoors waaaaay in (April 2020) Naturalist: graphic novel updates Rockstar Biologist memoir (November 2020  

Missouri Green Schools enriches learning and lives! Work through three pillars of a Green School - Environmental Impact, Health and Wellness and Sustainability Education - is drawing on the strengths of two terrific partners and their organizations:       Hope Gribble, Green Schools Manager for Missouri Gateway Green Building Council; and Lesli Moylan, Executive Director of Missouri Environmental Education Association. These two leaders and friends have grown a statewide program from St. Louis roots in the Green Schools Quest - with national recognition through U.S. Dept. of Education's Green Ribbon Schools.       This May, teams of students, teachers and professional volunteer mentors are presenting accomplishments in school gardening, gardening, energy efficiency - and more. Their story is a learning experience listeners will love. www.MissouriGreenSchools.org Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms' audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, KDHX production wiz.  

Woody Tasch thinks like a root vegetable grows: slow, sure, mostly underground, deeply nourishing.                 From this perspective, in collaboration with a rainbow circle of fellow evolutionists, comes the investment structure Tasch and friends call Beetcoin: small local donations generating Zero interest, locally-made loans supporting local sustainable food systems and the community economics they feed to flourish - aiming to work on a global scale.            A mission-focused investment strategist since the 1990s, Tasch keeps FUN in focus, in his serious business of transforming systems: food, funding, social values. Since 2010, the Slow Money movement he has fronted has channeled $80 million to over 800 organic farms and local food enterprises via volunteer-led efforts in dozens of communities. Beetcoin taps the Internet, grounding your way to chip in, no matter where you live. Dig into this idea! www.Beetcoin.org Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, KDHX Production Wiz! Related Earthworms conversations:  Slow Money's Woody Tasch on Culture, Poetry, Imagination, SOIL (July 2018) Heru Urban Farming - January 2021 

In Illinois communities along the mighty Mississippi, Sierra Club members are advancing enviro-policy and awareness. The club's Piasa Palisades Group, named for a fierce bird in lore of the Illiniwek people and the stone bluffs towering over river and towns,is active locally and in their state.          Chris Krusa, the group's Program Chair, and Outings Chair Craig Heaton share purpose, projects and some big river paddling upcoming program highlights. Check out this south-central Illinois group of fierce protectors and lovers of Nature! Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer and a national Sierra Club staffer - and to Jon Valley, production wiz on the KDHX staff. Related Earthworms Conversations: Making of Illinois Clean Energy Policy with Andy Heaslet (Jan 2022) Sierra Club St. Louis Environmental Racism Report with Leah Cluburn (Oct 2019) Carl Pope, former Sierra Club national president: Creating a Climate of Hope (April 2018)

Charmin Dahl, conservation educator and nature-loving mom, shares her experience and perspective relating to Nature with her digital native kin.  Explore with her - and head on out-of-doors, with your young friends. More from Dahl in The Healthy Planet Magazine and in her blog for Villa Montessori School. Find nature connection resources from MEEA, the Missouri Environmental Education Association. Related Earthworms Conversations: Forest Bathing with Andrea Sarubbi Fareshteh (January 2019) The Big Book of Nature Activities (June 2016) Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, KDHX production team.  

Thrift stores, tag sales, rummage piles. They may be everywhere, but some rise above the jumbled fray with grace, circulating our castoff human-made stuff as beacons of beneficial reuse.            One of these is Experienced Goods, supporting free Community Hospice care in Brattleboro, Vermont. Gemma Champoli is a force at the heart of this experience - and lifetime kindred spirit with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi. Jean and Gemma share deep Love of Stuff, and talking about it.          As resale geared for profit proliferates online, the story of Experienced Goods affirms the power of in-person, local exchange - deeply appreciated, presented with flair. In the legacy (and pandemic era) chapter of this tale, Gemma builds EG a new home that honors character of the goods and ensures ongoing benefits for all those this her enterprise delights and serves. A must-visit when you are in Vermont. Happy listening, happy shopping from two bosom friends. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley of KDHX Production team. Related Earthworms Conversations: Watch a Brattleboro Community TV interview with Gemma Champoli of Experienced Goods (November 2018) Reduce, Prevent and Transform Waste with  Kelley Demmings (Feb 2019) Journey to Wellbeing with Jeanne Carbone (Oct 2018)  

Great Rivers Environmental Law Center defends and protects Nature: places, creatures, plants and US. Celebrating two decades of this worthy work, GREC President Bruce Morrison recalls triumphs, challenges and how collaboration with community is changing they way his team practices enviro law.  October 23, 2022  - join the celebration at World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park, featuring presentation of the Lewis C. Green Award for outstanding environmental work to Dan and Connie Burkhardt, founders of Magnificent Missouri. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, potentate of production at KDHX. Related Earthworms Conversations: Rule of Five, FEJA and SEJA 

Elizabeth Fournier always wanted to work in funeral service. She was drawn to the service in this profession, and fascinated by its technical skills. Today she works "for a better living" - with Nature's tech - and she's proudly known far and wide as The Green Reaper.         Fournier is a national advocate for Green Burial, practices that are changing her profession's enviro impacts, and helping her fellow humans better connect Life to our Earthly nature, at Life's end. She compares the importance of ecological funerals to our society's everyday efforts to decrease human impacts - by supporting renewable energy, by driving hybrid or electric cars, by eating healthy foods, by promoting sustainable agriculture, by using their own cloth bags at the grocery store, and so on. Fournier celebrates how the ideas of a green lifestyle are carrying over to how we handle the dead. Fournier's Cornerstone Funeral Services, outside Portland OR, makes her the Undertaker of Boring (OR), her tiny rural town. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Green Burial Council, and lives on a farm with her husband, daughter, and many rescue goats. Her 2018 Green Burial Guidebook details the practical changes she champions.  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations: Greenwood Cemetery: History, Community, Profound Restoration (Jan 2018, - update April 2022) Walking Sacred Ground with Robert Fishbone, artist of Labyrinths (Sept 2019) In the Company of Trees with Forest Bathing advocate Andrea Sarubbi Fareshteh (Jan 2018) Earthworms Host Note: After years of learning and talking about these sustainable options, I attended a Green Burial this summer. Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum, a venerable St. Louis historic site, is a national leader in advancing Green Burial. Their service for a dear friend's sister, Mary Ann, was simple and moving. Her body was wrapped in a linen shroud, so her physical form was right there with us. She was a tall woman. Gracie, one of Bellefontaine's staff I know through Green work, led her crew in bringing Mary Ann's body to the grave site, drawn on a wooden cart with big metal wheels. A wreath of flowers lay over her heart. The open grave was shallow, maybe only three feet deep, lined with a profusion of plant matter! In the center of the mass of pine boughs, prairie grasses and all kinds of flowers was a circle of sunflower blooms.  After the simple service, Bellefontaine staff lowered Mary Ann's body into the grave with long fabric straps. No machinery, no concrete, no elaborate box. Simply a human body, laid gently into Earth. Three huge urns of flowers and leafy branches were waiting by the grave. Everyone joined in covering Mary Ann with these beautiful plants, and then we could take turns adding shovels from the pile of soil removed from the grave. The stuff of Earth will energize Earth's processes of decomposition, over time. No chemicals, nothing toxic. Everything formerly living, returning to Earth. I noted the trees around the gravesite Mary Ann had chosen. Oaks, the mightiest hosts of insect life, supporting and restoring bonds in the Web of Life our species works so hard to break. Elements of Body, Mind, Feeling and Spirit - all there, in a quiet and simple way. What a gift to be there on that summer day.   - Jean Ponzi   ​   Links: Greeenwood, Forest Bathing, previous Green Burial?

It's a sister-rooted family scene at Fair Shares. The resourceful twist of this CCSA - Combined Community Supported Agriculture - nourishes St. Louis with produce and value-added products, a plateful of action for over 15 years.        As founding sister Sara Choler Hale prepares to set sail (literally) on her next life adventure, she and sibling Jamie Choler share the main course and many sides of their story with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi, with relish. From dedicated subscribing to local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms, this thoughtful startup started asking all the local farmers if they'd be able and willing to contribute to a Combined CSA (CCSA), where subscriber-member fees are shared among many farmers and food producers. Answer: YES! In 2008, Fair Shares boxes started sending out Veg And: eggs, jams, honey, fresh and cured meats, cheeses, sweets. Each farmer could focus on what they do best. Today, over 400 members enjoy fantastic diversity of food from over 30 local farmers and producers. Little risk and strong support, serving healthy, varied weekly shares, year-round from this Local Food hub. Fair Shares staff spans two generations, Family And. And while the crew will dearly miss Sara and volunteer/husband Stephen, the bonds of family and food will surely weather this year's changes. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, KDHX Production maven. Thanks for the tip for this show to FOFS-FOEW, Tom Flood.   Earthworms On The Farm Related Conversations: Heru Urban Farming (Jan 2021) Crystal Stevens, Flourish (Dec 2020) Rosy Buck Farm Grows in Circles (April 2021) Rustic Roots Sanctuary (June 2021) Urban Buds City Grown Flowers (Nov 2021) And more!    

Tonight we celebrated the 100th episode, of the kdhx podcast Tangazo, with an awesome panel of super progressive social justice activist women , from across the country focused on the consequences of the upcoming November midterm elections. Reverend Stephanie T Wilkins, from Houston Texas and Beto O'Rourke's campaign for Governor of Texas, Alicia D Smith community organizer and elected official in Minneapolis, along with St. Louis Alderwoman Dr. Megan-Ellyia Green PhD. leader of the progressive movement in St. Louis, were my guest for this 100th episode of the kdhx podcast Tangazo. ——- The panel discussed whether are not Roe V Wade was as some have referred to as a “white issue.” All agreed that it was a freedom issue at its core and not a black are white issue. We all agreed that the upcoming November midterm elections will have tremendous impact on our American democracy and that there needs to be a sense of urgency amongst Democratic voters throughout the nation, with everything at stake pending outcomes of the November midterm elections. ——— This is indeed is one of the most interesting and important episodes of the kdhx podcast Tangazo. It was my privilege to host this panel discussion with this group of extraordinary women who have made service to their communities, their life's work. ——— A special thanks to Andy Heaslet, Andy Coco, producers Jon Valley, Sasha and the staff and management at kdhx for their support and help from the very beginning and throughout the last 4 years. —— Thanks to Tangazo contributors, Tim Person, Darryl Gregory Gray and Michael Wesley Jones and a hundred are so guest without whom there would be no show, thank you all from the bottom of my heart! ——  

What does a Mom and environmental lawyer do after leading a statewide enviro-coalition into its second half-century and serving as a City of St. Louis Alderperson? This one, Heather Navarro, takes on directing climate action for the Midwest U.S.          The Midwest Climate Collaborative, based at Washington University in St. Louis, envisions a carbon neutral, climate resilient, interconnected Midwest Region. This is seeing big: if the Midwest US (a dozen states) were a country, we'd be the sixth largest Carbon emitter in the world. Heather Navarro is on it! Launched with an online summit in January, 2022, this partnership to date includes universities, cities, NGOs, companies and cultural institutions. Students are working in leadership roles: connecting formal research projects, educating educators, and asset mapping are activities so far, seeking options to work with the agriculture and industry sectors that powering Midwestern economics. Solutions, strategies and shared actions are the focus of this Earthworms conversation! THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Sierra Club national staff and Earthworms audio engineer - and to Jon Valley, KDHX production pro. Related Earthworms Conversations:  OneSTL: Implementing our Regional Sustainability Plan (Feb 2021) A World Without Us? Thoughts from Author Alan Weissman (Oct 2020) Diversifying Power: Jennie C. Stephens Advocates Energy Democracy (Sept 2020)

Historic Greenwood Cemetery, terrestrial resting place of over 50,000 Black human beings, embodies the paradox of dis- and respect that our species can so profoundly bring to pass. In a heartfelt complementarity, Greenwood also offers one of our region's best opportunities for environmental and cultural service.      Shelley and Rafael Morris, leaders of the Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association, first shared with KDHX Earthworms in January 2018 the significance of the oldest non-sectarian African American cemetery in the St. Louis region - and the moving story of efforts to reclaim the grounds from invasive plants and illegal dumping. Four years later, Greenwood's network of volunteers and supporters has certainly grown, yet the need persists for fiscal and work party support. Good news is that multiple STL companies have adopted Greenwood as a reoccurring focus of service and monetary support. AmeriCorps St. Louis volunteers are regular workers. About half of Greenwood's T-shaped 31.85 acres have been freed from human and plant debris. From the Morris's deep commitment, discussions are beginning to observe the 150th anniversary of Greenwood Cemetery's founding, in 2024. With equity a priority for so many enterprises, what might be accomplished by then?            This year, NBC News featured Greenwood for a Black History Month story on the plight - and pluck - of those working to resurrect Black cemetery dignity and heritage. Good to get this degree of spotlight, plenty more work and outreach to come. Related Earthworms Conversations: Meeting Greenwood Cemetery (Jan 2018)  St. Louis Environmental Racism Report (October 2019) THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Engineer, and to Andy Coco and Jon Valley of KDHX Production Team.

As climate change threatens native plant populations, freezers in a lab in Gray Summit, Missouri are helping to preserve seeds vital to potentially restoring communities of these plants.       Meg Englehardt, Seed Bank Manager for Missouri Botanical Garden, is guardian of these precious resources. What's involved with Seed Banking? Why is this (vitally!) important? And how does the Garden's work in this area contribute to biodiversity, overall? This Earthworms conversation digs into Seed Bank details. Learn more!  THANKS to Earthworms Engineer, Andy Heaslet, and to KDHX Production wizards Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Related Earthworms Conversations: A Cinematic Ode to Seed Savers (Nov 2016)      

Meditation practice can lead a person to understand causes and outcomes, prompt awareness of impacts and impulses, ground the perception that change is an only constant - and foster a commitment to act with loving kindness. Valuable for our toddler human species, busy whacking at all around us. And a tall order, that's not out of reach.  What transpires when meditation practice focuses on our human relationship with Earth?  Lisa Hoover is exploring this space. Lisa peer-leads the weekly practice of White Oak Sangha, based in the Missouri Ozarks, grounded in the Western Insight meditation tradition. This winter, she is exploring relationships to Earth, through an intensive class ____________- Earthworms host Jean Ponzi took advantage of Zoom access (vs. an hour from St. Louis drive) to join this group when 2020 pandemic adaptations moved meetings online. Sharing their love of Earth, Jean shares insights with Lisa Hoover. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, the KDHX Production team. Related Earthworms Conversations: One Health for Animals - People - Earth with Dr. Sharon Deem, DVM (April 2020) Facing the Climate Emergency with psychologist Margaret Klein Salamon (June 2020) Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy say WE ARE (Feb 2020)  

State legislators are heading back into session. Another year of biz-as-usual - or worse? A powerful coalition of advocates recently moved Illinois lawmakers to achieve results for people, planet and economics.            Andy Heaslet, Earthworms' own audio engineer, dug into the details of CEJA, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act enacted into Illinois law in September 2021. He shares the story from his research for Masters' level coursework at Southern Illinois University, which was one nexus of collaborative activism that make this landmark policy a law both powerful and replicable.        Give a listen - be inspired! Thanks, Andy, for how Earthworms sounds - with THNX as well to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations: Diversifying Power: Energy Democracy with Jennie C. Stephens (Sept 2020) Rule of Five: the Supreme Court and CO2 (July 2020) Leah Clyburn: Organizing to Act on Environmental Racism in St. Louis (Oct 2019) Drawdown: Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (March 2018)  

What if plants, regenerative technology, and spaces for people comprised the structure of our urban environs? Envision It!      Artist and community-grower Jayvn Solomon does, in his big body of work, Loutopia. On view through May, 2022 at TechArtista, 4th and Pine, in downtown St. Louis, this energizing array of 50 image panels puts nature-for-people in the foreground of urban life.  This Earthworms conversation hikes through sustainability, social justice, urban planning, arts-as-essential, resilience - and more. Join it, with Jean and Jayvn. Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, KDHX Production mavens. Related Earthworms Conversations: Chalk Riot: Street Art, GRL-Powered Art Riot (May 2018) VR Botany - Techno-Biologist Dr. Kyra Krakos brings nature waaaaaay in! (June 2020) Urban Environments: STL Style with Randy and Jeff Vines (June 2018)  

From plots of land in the Dutchtown neighborhood of south St. Louis, farmed since the 1870s, partners Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack send forth bunches, bouquets and buckets of flowers that are "locally grown, not flown" to gladden many local hearts.       Especially poignant in this conversation with Earthworms host and flower fan Jean Ponzi is the story of Urban Buds covid pivot. Nature, Love and Beauty will not be stopped!           More than 70 varieties of blooming plants are sustainably grown using drip irrigation, compost, integrated pest management, minimal tillage and cover crops. This unique farm's one acre across seven city lots embodies knowledge and commitment that joyously hold Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown St. Louis, the regional local food evaluation program of Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Thanks to Known & Grown!           Urban Buds supplies seasonal and high-tunnel grown flowers for weddings and events, direct sale at Farmers Markets, and wholesale customers. Farm tours (by appointment) welcome visitors of all ages to see how the blooms we all love grow, and learn why local growing is so valuable - especially for plants with intense production impacts as we "typically" source them.  Pick details at www.urbanbudscitygrownflowers.com  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms intrepid engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, KDHX production team.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Custom Foodscaping with Matt Lebon (Dec 2018) Kate Estwing Grows, Loves, Arranges . . . Slow Flowers (July 2018)

From Flint to Standing Rock - indeed, world-wide - communities keep resisting corporate and government actions that threaten water quality and access. One heroic story from El Salvador embodies the most resourceful courage and painful struggle of "ordinary people" who know water is more precious than gold.       John Cavanaugh and activist/author partner and wife Robin Broad lived support for this saga. Their new book The Water Defenders (Beacon Press, March 2021) draws on over a decade of research and their own roles as international allies of the Salvadoran champions who took on Big Gold and the World Bank - and saved their country's water from corporate greed. Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms friend and engineer - and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations: Photographer Neeta Sataam, Documenting Himalayan Climate Change (March 2018) Rule of Five: The Supreme Court and CO2 (July 2020)  

The land of second generation Missouri farmer Matt Arthur flowers thanks to his investment in growing soil. He says: “We are stewards of our land, committed to a no-till practice of regenerative agriculture. No chemicals, lots of cover crops, a preference for native species. Growing in permanent raised beds: once formed, we never disturb them." Flowers and herbs, native and medicinal plants, grow on three BLH Farm acres of this Fulton MO hillside.  Honeybees and other pollinators forage on 140 forested acres. Subscription compost collection from nearby St. Louis communities nourishes the BLH Farms' soil. Cut-flower customers can buy through the BLH CSA or online store and at Hy-Vee in Columbia MO. BLH Farms proudly holds membership and certification through Known & Grown St. Louis.  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, the KDHX Production team.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Dr. Elaine Ingham: Soil Science Rocks Plant Health (Oct 2017) The Work of Ecological Restoration (July 2020)  

For Sam and Bill Wiseman, Sunflower Savannah Farm embodies  the continuity of life. Everything serves a purpose and contributes to the wellbeing of the farm.               Sheep eat the grass, conserving tractor fuel, and produce compost to grow cut flowers and specialty veg. Garden produce supports the Market, the animals and the farm family. Dogs guard the animals and the house and cats hunt critters that would ruin the grain eat garden seeds. Chickens, ducks, and geese feast on the bugs that eat the plants that feed everyone, and provide eggs to eat and compost to feed the garden soil. garden. This is the cycle for Sam and Bill, farming 22 acres in Beaufort, MO.    Thanks to Known & Grown STL, our regional local food brand and farm certification, for connecting KDHX Earthworms to Sunflower Savannah - and to all the Earthworms On The Farm conversations. Earthworms engineer is Andy Heaslet  - THANKS! also to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of the KDHX Production Team. Related Earthworms Conversations: Kate Estwing Grows - Loves - Arranges SLOW FLOWERS (July 2018)  Slow Money's Woody Tasch on Culture, Poetry, Imagination, Soil (July 2018) Kirsten Lie-Nielsen on Keeping Geese (Nov 2017)    

Where in an urban space do goats, bees, flexible muscles, resilient spirits, elderflowers, generous hearts, and veg all flourish? Thanks to farmer and healer human being Janett Lewis, in Spanish Lake, a community in unincorporated North St. Louis County, MO.          Janett's work through Rustic Roots Sanctuary grew its strong fibers from her Georgia childhood on a family plantation, through work at a Waldorf School "where everything revolves around nature," to hands-on learning of bodywork skills in global cultures. A real estate business decision brought her to Spanish Lake. She stayed to address community needs and "because it's so beautiful and the people are amazing." Rustic Roots 6.64 acres add urban farming land-wealth to the GROW Spanish Lake community garden, both co-creators with Spanish Lake CDC - with Janett's strong hand in each. In each of her key roles in Spanish Lake, Janett Lewis draws from her lifetime of experience and commitment to help people feel better. Rustic Roots Sanctuary is a proud member of Known & Grown STL, our regional local food brand and certification program from Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Thanks to Jenn DeRose and Known & Grown STL for facilitating this edition of Earthworms On The Farm! Thanks to Earthworms truly verdant engineer, Andy Heaslet - and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, KDHX Production guys. Related Earthworms Conversations: One Health for People - Animals - Earth with Dr. Sharon Deem (April 2020) Tend & Flourish School of Botanicals (Feb 2020) Building Futures: Kids, Wood, Tools, Design, Future Benefits Now (June 2019)

If you can only plant one tree, make that tree an Oak.        Doug Tallamy, national advocate for restoring the LIFE in our places with the power of Native Plants, celebrates the mighty Quercus family of trees with this latest book, his third as definitive matchmakers for humans and plants. The Nature of Oaks: the Rich Ecology of our Most Essential Native Trees (Timber Press, 2021) is Tallamy's personal story, scientific observation chronicle and love song to the oak trees around his home. He connects tree lore to healthy soil, songbirds, and more caterpillars than even he (an expert entomologist) can count. Earthworms host Jean Ponzi welcomes Doug Tallamy back to KDHX, in a conversation part Eco-FanGirl idolizes Bug Guy, part Summit of Biodiversity Peers. Prepare to want to grow with an Oak! Presented in partnership with the 2021 Green Living Festival from the EarthWays Center at Missouri Botanical Garden. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer and Sierra Club national communicator, and to Andy Coco and Jon Valley, KDHX Production Guys. Related Earthworms Interviews: Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy Says WE ARE! (Feb 2020) In the Company of Trees: Forest Bathing with Andrea Serrubi Fareshteh (January 2019)    

On Legacy Circle Farms, Tyler and Erin Bernsen start their growing underground: nourishing "challenging Ozark soil" with compost, mulch and intensive grazing. Vibrantly visible are their crops of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, nuts, high value herbs like turmeric and ginger, and heirloom varieties of garlic.            Recent addition of high tunnels boosted productivity from the quarter-acre the Bernsens farm. Their big-picture stewardship of Legacy Circle's 71 acres in Lonedell, MO embodies a unique exchange: a rent-free relationship with their landlord from which Tyler and Erin are seeking like-minded "landless" farmers to share their place for a farming start.               Legacy Circle Farms proudly holds Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown St. Louis, our regional local food brand, a program of Missouri Coalition for the Environment. With advance reservations, tours are welcome. Goods are available through a local farms online collaborative,  at the Wildwood, Washington and Point Labbadie Farmers Markets.  Change in 2021 plans since this Earthworms conversation was recorded: juices not yet available.  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, and for KDHX production support from Jon Valley and Andy Coco.  THANKS to Jenn DeRose of Known & Grown STL for coordinating this special series, Earthworms On The Farm. Related Earthworms Conversations: Fungus Farming for Food & Fun: McCully Heritage Project (Feb 2018) Project Garlic: Crop-Sourcing the Super Bulb with Brian DeSmet (Oct 2015)  

Earth Day, April 22, is one of the most widely observed dates on this planet. For enviro-advocates, this celebration has become Earth Month: starts in March, runs to May.       This is way true for the folks of EarthDay-365, celebrating virtually again this year in St. Louis. Executive Director Dr. Jess Watson, and Bob Henkel, Director of Programs. Earthworms host Jean Ponzi knows Jess and Bob as colleagues and friends, so this preview of a month of social action, learning, engagement and fun comes from heart, hands and eco-logic intertwined. Give a listen, get involved! Happy Earth Month to you! THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, and to Andy Coco and Jon Valley, the KDHX production team. Related Earthworms Conversations:Earth Day: History of a Genius Event with Adam Rome (May 2018)

Here at the confluence of the fourth largest watershed on Earth, most St. Louisans don't connect with our big rivers - or our community tributaries - beyond an occasional public event. How to  help us relate to the value, needs and health of our waters? Convening presenters from local, DC and global advocacy groups, this is the Global Freshwaters Summit's intent.           Organizer Laura Madden grew up in St. Louis on Coldwater Creek, now notoriously contaminated by radioactive waste. From a visit here with DC colleague and friend Myra Jackson, these women have rallied colleagues in environmental and social action, coordinating a virtual event hosted by the Missouri Historical Society around their landmark "Mighty Mississippi" exhibit.  Conference sessions and a film festival take place April 19-23, on Zoom. Registration is free. Overflowing the banks of "normal" Earth Week events, this summit aims to Change In One Generation how we humans relate to freshwater resources - and each other. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Engineer, with a shout-out to Andy Coco and Jon Valley, KDHX production staff. Related Earthworms Conversations: Related Earthworms Conversations: Mighty Mississippi Exhibit with curator David Lobbig (Dec 2019)  Living with Rivers: Big Muddy MO (Feb 2019)  

As dancer and choreographer Dawn Karlovsky read about The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate in Peter Wohlleben's bestseller of that name, SHE felt that communication - and transformed her experience into dance.                            Her conversation with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi explores the nature of movement as a primary force mastered (even in stillness) by trees, from whom our species can take a useful leaf! Karlovsky and Company's performance this spring of Interwoven celebrates the nourishing nurturing interconnected nature of what we now know as the "Wood-Wide Web" in a collaborative performance that includes original music by Tory Starbuck and Kalo Hoyle with stage design/visual art by Dr. Bill Russell. Audiences can virtually experience Interwoven March 26 - April 11, and learn more about this and other collaborative works at www.karlovskydance.org  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms friend & engineer, and to KDHX production staff Andy Coco and Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations: In the Company of Trees with Andrea Sarubbi Fareshteh (Jan 2019) Joan Lipkin: Focusing Theater Power on Climate Change (Oct 2017)     Related: Joan Lipkin Climate Plays NEED PIX from Dawn

Becky Brittain is a passionate sparkler of life, a practiced mover of energies to help ourselves, Earth and others.  Her new book The Art of Sparkling - Share Your Inner Light with the World (Weeping Willow, 2020) embodies Becky's energy, grounded in some hefty experiential cred.           Becky Brittain, Ph.D., R-DMT, is a clinically trained psychotherapist, life coach, registered dance-movement therapist, and energy transmitter. Her doctorate in prenatal and perinatal psychology from the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, M.A. in dance therapy from UCLA, and B.A. in Psychology and Dance have, as she describes in the book, all contributed to Becky's work in evolving fields and to her sparkle explorations.  Becky Brittain and Earthworms host Jean Ponzi are old friends. When Becky taught somatic psychology at Washington University in St. Louis (for 29 years) she tuned into Earthworms on KDHX, driving home from class. Hear connection sparkling between these two! As Becky Brittain says, it's a dance in light. THANKS to Earthworms Green-pro engineer Andy Heaslet, with a shout-out always to KDHX production pros Andy Coco and Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations:  Dr. Sharon Deem DVM - One Health for People, Animals, Earth (August 2020) Pen Augustin on Energy Healing (May 2015) Crystal Moore Stevens: Grow, Create, Inspire (Oct 2016) Lark Rodman on Ecological Revival (Feb 2015)         Sparkle Plenty - Yippee-oo!

Sustainable farming is both lifestyle and full-time job for Holly Evans, Randy Buck and their three children. Holly and Earthworms host Jean Ponzi "tour" this young family's 15+ acre Rosy Buck Farm on a hillside property in Leasburg, MO, where Randy digs circular vegetable beds!        Third in Earthworms' series featuring local farmers certified by Known & Grown STL, our regional sustainable food brand, this conversation explores Rosy Buck's search for land, learning process, and joyful commitment to farming, overall.                 Rosy Buck Farm brings their bounty to Sol Market (Maplewood), Wednesdays 4-7, to Point Labadie Thursdays 4-7 and Wildwood Saturdays 8-9. CSA subscriptions are, happily, sold out for 2021. They proudly hold Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown STL.  Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Green-savvy engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco at KDHX. Related Earthworms Conversations: Nancy Lawson, the Humane Gardener (Feb 2019) Kate Estwing Grows, Arranges Loves . . . Slow Flowers (Jan 2018)

Back in 2009, HUD gave St. Louis their largest-ever grant award to develop a regional sustainability plan. A zillion stakeholder-session hours late, OneSTL took form. But, as with many plans, there was no $$ for implementation - until Person-Power took the helm. Today, circles of advocates working in six focus areas are implementing SMART targets, making OneSTL both plan and reality. Earthworms is proud to spotlight OneSTL in this conversation with Aaron Young, Sustainability Project Manager, and Gena Jain, Sustainability Planner with our East-West Gateway Council of Governments.         Across our bi-state region, under the banner of OneSTL, good work is underway the areas of Food Access, Water and Green Infrastructure, Materials and Recycling, Energy and Emissions, Green Transportation and Biodiversity. Give a listen!             THANKS to Earthworms engineers, Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Andy Coco Earthworms host Jean Ponzi contributed to We Are OneSTL stories for November 2020.  Earthworms Conversations with St. Louis Leaders:  Dr. Sharon Deem, DVM: One Health for People, Animals, Earth VR Botany: Dr. Kyra Krakos Brings Outdoors Waaaaaaay In Heather Navarro: 50 Years of MO Coalition for the Environment  

The mission of Heru Urban Farming, growing on lots in the City of St. Louis, is to bring healthy, sustainable produce to those who need it most. Founder and CEO Tyrean Heru Lewis is a 5th generation farmer with a background in health and physical education, a Master's degree in Management, and a vibrant passion for growing food that will grow health and vitality for the community he feeds.      Heru's passion is a tangible force. Hearing him talk about his work is feeling the joyful focus he pours into working. Inspiring, practical.  Extraordinary. Heru Urban Farming holds Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown STL, our regional sustainable food brand and certification system.  Big congrats for the early December announcement that Heru Urban Farming is awarded a $50,000 grant from the University of Missouri-St. Louis Accelerator. Heru is one of five recipients selected from 470 applicants. The award also includes $200,000 in in-kind service from the Accelerator program. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, supported by Andy Coco and Jon Valley at KDHX Production Related Earthworms Conversations:  Tosha Phonix: Organizing Food Justice, Growing Community (Oct 2019) Known & Grown: Brand Boosting Capacity for Local Food (June 2019) Greenwood Cemetery: History, Community, Restoration Work (Jan 2018)

Earthworms On The Farm -  conversation series NEW for 2021! This periodic feature welcomes farmer participants in Known & Grown STL, a regional local-food certification program and brand from the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.       First up: Crystal Stevens, whose Flourish farm is located near Godfrey Illinois, returns to Earthworms to share her story of family-farming over 100 varieties of fruits, flowers and culinary and medicinal herbs.                           Learn more about Flourish and Known & Grown STL! Andy Heaslet is Earthworms engineer, supported by Andy Coco and Jon Valley on the KDHX staff. THANKS! Related Earthworms Conversations: Known & Grown STL: New Brand Boosts Capacity for Local Food (June 2019) Tend & Flourish School of Botanicals (Feb 2020) Grow, Create, Inspire: a Lifestyle Guide from Crystal Stevens (Oct 2016)

Along the trail into a New Year, Terrain Magazine celebrates outdoor activity - and local faves - with 2021 Readers' Choice Awards.           Editor/publisher Brad Kovach shares the what-how-why of this specialized pub's success, promoting hiking, climbing, paddling, cycling and generally, actively enjoying NATURE.  Big Thanks to Terrain readers for naming KDHX Earthworms host Jean Ponzi your choice as Enviro-Advocate this year! Especially appreciated since Choice honorees are totally proposed by Readers, not suggested by any official list. Yay! Means a lot! THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Enviro-Active Engineer, and to Andy Coco and Jon Valley of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations:  The New Territory: Traversing the Literary Midwest with Tina Casagrand (May 2017) Livin' with Rivers: Big Muddy MO with Greg Poleski (Feb 2017) The Big Book of Nature Activities (June 2016)

Back in Summer 2018, when Earthworms met Tim Kiefer and Beth Grolmes-Kiefer, they talked their dream of urban farming while their subscription compost collection service was taking off through St. Louis' central corridor.       FF toward end of '20 to hear how their Perennial City enterprise is now growing year-round. How Tim and Beth are learning lessons, taking steps forward, back and cyclical - and growing their full-circle urban agriculture dream. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms friend & audio engineer, and to KDHX production pros Andy Coco and Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations: Fungus Farming for Food & Fun: McCully Heritage Project (Feb 2018) Perennial City: Urban Mavens of Productive Decay (Aug 2018) The Easy Chicken: Fowl Fun Comes to You (Dec 2017) Dr. Elaine Ingham: Soil Science Rocks Plant Health (Oct 2017)

When E.O. Wilson, one of the greatest biologists of all time, wrote his memoir Naturalist in 1994, could he have imagined his work illustrated to reach a 21st century visual audience? Today, he does!        KDHX host Jean Ponzi flips the cover with conversation and full-color VIEWS of the new graphic adaptation of Naturalist (November, 2020 - Island Press), in a special KDHX Earthworms Live edition with guest Jim Ottaviani, author of this evolution of a science classic.   What did it take to translate the work of a lifetime into comic form? Ottaviani's comic writing opus spans almost every scientific discipline! Earthworms digs into his Naturalist collaboration with illustrator C. M. Butzer and the book's legendary subject, with rigor, humor and plenty of ants. Please strongly consider buying Naturalist, and any other publications, from your local independent bookstore! THANKS to Earthworms tech team: Andy Coco, Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Ronnie Wisdom for hatching out this Earthworms Live! Related Earthworms Conversations: Rule of Five, Landmark Enviro-Case from Supreme Court (June 2020) One Health for People, Animals, Earth - Dr. Sharon Deem (June 2020) Nature's Best Hope? Entomologist Doug Tallamy says WE are! (February 2020)

Artists can see beauty in peril - so we can move beyond the grip of a problem like Plastic Pollution. Artist Jenny Kettler shows a way through in her photo exhibition Reclaiming Gaia, and this Earthworms conversation.          She shows plastic bags caught in bushes fluttering like tattered veils, a pregnant women shaded by a single-use bottle, and cyanotype sun-developed patterns made by rain. A hand-made book alternates pages of organza fabric with rice paper, inviting the viewer to explore the delicate "spaces between" perceptions. One print that Kettler buried in Forest Park for a year as a kind of archeological quest, motivated a change from gloss to matte photo paper when she realized the glossy stuff is laminated to plastic!                          Jenny Kettler fuses vision, awareness, and urgency as keys to unlock barriers of our thinking, to open our hearts. View Reclaiming Gaia at Stone Spiral Gallery, 2506 Sutton in Maplewood, next door to Stone Spiral Coffee. Opening reception by reservation to stay COVID-safe, October 24. Closing reception November 22, reservations accepted via Facebook. Jenny Kettler recently earned her MFA from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She is an Adjunct Professor of art at Lindenwood University, and teaches at Laumeier Sculpture Park. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms greenly conscious engineer, with support from Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Related Earthworms Conversations: Live without Plastic? Jay Sinha says YES! (Jan 2018) Chalk Art, Street Art, Woman-Powered Art RIOT (May 2018) Artist Takes on Plastic and Invasive Bush Honeysuckle (May 2018)

Thirteen years ago, acclaimed journalist Alan Weisman both envisioned and researched the idea of a worldwide disease that would decimate our species - and change the course of our impacts on all other Earthly life. What was he thinking?           Today, like so many of our kind, Weisman is sequestered in one place, envisioning work he was planning to do - on a new book about hope for all this - while sitting out 2020, in the company of his fellow humans. Alan Weisman's first guest stop with KDHX Earthworms celebrated his 1998 report on sustainable technology in a remote Brazilian burg: Gaviotas, A Village to Change the World. In 2013 his book Countdown: Our Last Beast Home for Future on Earth and KDHX Earthworms were both honored with Global Media Awards by the Population Media Center. On our goes-around-comes-around planet, this conversation explores our pandemic present,through a spirit of common perseverance.   THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, with assistance from Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Related Earthworms Conversations: An Ecologist's Journey to Make Peace with the Anthropocene (Nov 2019) Storytelling, Deep Listening: Antidotes to Toxic Public Discourse (July 2019) Renewal - Andres Edwards on our Connection to Nature (May 2019)

What kind of leadership do human societies need right now? What areas of focus are most germaine to addressing climate change?         This Earthworms conversation explores these questions with Jennie C. Stephens, Northeastern University professor and director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and author of the new book DIVERSIFYING POWER - Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy (Island Press, September 2020). Stephens advocates for - and shares examples of national and local leadership in - an Energy Democracy focused enough to supplant the literal power structure of the fossil fuel Polluter Elite. With an appreciation for compassion and empathy as essential leadership qualities, Stephens recognizes the critical value of a new order to democratize the dynamics of society and the energy empowering us all.                                  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, supported by Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Related Earthworms Conversations: Envision Charlotte (North Carolina) Rolls on Circular Economy (March 2020)

A 1999 vision seeded by two Missouri women sprouted, the next year, as a tax-supported program from our state's Department of Conservation. Flourishing today in a non-profit's fertile soil, Grow Native! stands like a swath of Big Bluestem and Blazing Star as one of the strongest native plant programs around.           Carol Davit, Executive Director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation, tells how a diversity of forces grew success. Like the many "weeds" native to this idea, Grow Native! spread to include plant growers, seed producers, home and professional gardeners, and garden centers, statewide. Now housed within MPF, Grow Native! continues expanding beyond a tax-supported agency's state lines, cultivating ecological landscapes in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois. Perhaps unique in the U.S., the Grow Native! inclusion of public education, professional development, and lively marketing covers the critical human roles so the plants and habitats they create can speak for themselves. Native plants will grow on you! Check out Carol Davit's pean to prairies, for TEDx Gateway Arch.  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Andy Coco, Earthworms mighty cohort of audio engineers. Related Earthworms Conversations: Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy says WE ARE (Feb 2020) Lawn Alternatives with Neil DeBoll of Prairie Nursery (Aug 2017) Natives Raising Natives: Inspiration from Butterflies and People (May 2017)  

Think of the acres, the running miles under power lines that connect us all to the electricity we want and need. Now see, under these lines, vibrant habitat: running corridors of native plants growing food and reproductive cover for beneficial insects, birds, and more. This kind of land-use transformation is real.              Wires Over Wildlife, a cost-share and expert-advisory program, works with utilities and owners of power line rights-of-ways from our Missouri Department of Conservation. Jason Jensen, Private Lands Conservation Unit Chief, leads a team of MDC experts in negotiating WOW agreements and supporting WOW partners in making these management changes work.  MDC has negotiated the first WOW agreement with a rural electric cooperative, Grundy Electric Coop. Jensen talks with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi about how this kind of agreement works, why this first coop agreement is significant, and how ecological management can save money, decrease chemical use and mowing, and restore the biodiversity bloom to power line rights-of-way across our state. Jensen is also on the statewide Feral Hog task force. Hear how MDC is working to tackle this major invasive species issue.  THANKS to Earthworms engineers: Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Virtual podcasting takes a team! Related Earthworms Conversations:Biodiversity for Corporate Lands? (May 2020) Richard Louv: Our Wild Calling (Oct 2019)

Songbirds injured or orphaned in Missouri have one source of human help: Wild Bird Rehabilitation, a focused, modest, resourceful non-profit nesting in suburban Overland MO.         Joe Hoffman, Executive Director of Wild Bird, returns to Earthworms with an update from their 38 years of dedicated work, plus a basket of noisy Chimney Swifts, a surrogate nest of Song Sparrows, and some musical chirping with his backpack guitar. This fall, as a fund-raiser, Wild Bird will make four CDs of songs Joe and fellow bird-champions have composed and recorded, for free online download, for two months. Get their eNews to get details for music access. Fun tunes for kids, families and enviro-messaging. Music from Joe's band The Raptor Project was a favorite Earthworms element over our years live on-air. The KDHX Sound Cloud holds a clutch of these tunes. In addition to primary healing services for the birds, Wild Bird Rehab offers Seasoned advice for well-meaning folk thinking they should help a bird they "find"  Volunteer opportunities, including plenty of ongoing need for fielding "help" calls, a job you can contribute remotely! Resources from other groups helping wildlife Ways to support the work of Wild Bird Rehabilitation        THANKS to Earthworms flock of engineers: Andy Coco, Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley Related Earthworms Conversations: Bluebirds! (June 2019) Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy says WE ARE (Feb 2020) Eagle Days, Raptor Ways with World Bird Sanctuary (Jan 2020) Keeping Geese with Kirsten Lie-Nielsen (Nov 2017)  A Tribute to St. Louis' Legendary Bird Man, Walter Crawford (July 2015)

How do we fix nature after we have disrupted it? Practitioners of the science, art and disciplines of Ecological Restoration are exploring this process, on the job. James Faupel does this work.       At the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center in the suburbs of St. Louis, James tends, tracks and works to repair the vitality of ecosystems including wetlands, woodlands, prairies and Deer Creek. His tools range from computer databases to flame torches. His skills evolved through stints in construction and horticulture, hands-on learning augmented by a degree from St. Louis Community College that parallels how professionals of all kinds have grown Ecology as a significant focus.         Earthworms host Jean Ponzi and James are colleagues in our region's circle of biodiversity advocates. This conversation follows a path of shared passions for working with nature, for nature. With emphasis on how a career trajectory like James' can benefit many more energetic, inquisitive, Earth-appreciating humans. Litzsinger Road Ecology Center is not a public facility, rather it hosts school and adult groups for structured ecological learning programs. LREC is managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. THANKS to Andy Coco, Andy Heaslet and Jon Valley - Earthworms all-star engineering team. Related Earthworms Conversations: Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy says WE are! (February 2020) RENEWAL of Our Connection to Nature with Andres Edwards (May 2019)