Episode Details

On Monday 28 September, one of this country’s most awarded and long-standing documentary series, Australian Story, featured regenerative farmer and best-selling author, Charles Massy AO. Charles’ best-selling book, ‘Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture, A New Earth’ has been described by Paul Hawken as “a definitive masterpiece that takes its place along with the writings of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Masanobu Fukuoka, Humberto Maturana, and Michael Pollan. No work has more brilliantly defined regenerative agriculture and the breadth of its restorative impact upon human health, biodiversity, climate, and ecological intelligence.”

Charles writes and talks about the growing repertory of stories of what are in some cases extraordinary tales of regeneration – including his own. He also takes a look behind that regeneration, at how change happens not just in the land, but in the landscape of our minds.

This is an extract of my conversation with Charles Massy at his Severn Park farm a couple of years ago, just prior to his touring the global edition of the book. You’ll hear the last half hour or so of what became episode 32, ‘An Underground Insurgency: Regenerative Agriculture & Human Transformation’. It remains one of the top handful of episodes played on this podcast, and one of my most cherished and memorable conversations.

Title slide: New trees as part of the patchwork restoring biodiversity, ecological & farm function (pic: Anthony James).

Find more:
You can hear the rest of our conversation in episode 32, ‘An Underground Insurgency: Regenerative Agriculture & Human Transformation’. You’ll find a series of links in the show notes there too, including to an extra with Charles, and photos on the episode web page.

Watch the Australian Story episode on Charles, streaming worldwide.

And if you'd like to hear more from Dianne and Ian Haggerty, also featured in the Australian Story episode on Charles, listen to our recent conversation on location in the WA wheat belt.

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