Embrace the Darkness is a podcast from the South Downs National Park Authority - an International Dark Sky Reserve and one of the best places in the United Kingdom for observing the night sky.
Hosted by our own ”Queen of Darkness”, Elinor Newman, the podcast explores our connection with the night sky through the cosmos, nature, nocturnal wildlife and our own mental health and wellbeing.
Each episode features a different guest, bringing their own perspective on the night sky and how they ’Embrace the Darkness.’
Music for season 1 from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ben-johnson/the-closer-we-feel
License code: ISC7H98SN6TSSLHX
Music for season 2 is Take It All In from Zapsplatt
This season, join Elinor to explore and encounter some of our fabulous nocturnal wildlife. For this episode, she joins David Atthowe, Founder of Reveal Nature, whose mission is to "is to ignite a sense of awe and wonder for the mysteries of the natural world." David spends a lot of time out in the darkness, and one of the things he is an expert in is biofluorescence, or the glowing of all sorts of wildlife under ultraviolet (or UV) light. David has led biofluorescence walks all across t...
12 Feb 2026
A Nightjar Safari with Olivia French on Weavers Down
This season, join Elinor to explore and encounter some of our fabulous nocturnal wildlife. For this episode, she joins Olivia French, Heathlands Reunited SAMM Project Team Leader, in the north of the South Downs National Park at Weavers Down, seeking out the amazing and elusive European nightjar. Sitting on the side of a hill as the sun sets, waiting for the nightjars to make themselves known, Olivia and Elinor discuss the importance of heathlands, the amazing wildlife that calls it home and ...
20 Mar 2025
Sunset to Starlight - Stargazing at Bignor Hill with Vicki Wells
Join Elinor for a magical night under the stars as she explores the breathtaking dark skies of Bignor Hill, a designated dark sky discovery site. Elinor is joined by Vicki Wells, a member of the South Downs National Park Authority and a former producer of BBC Sky at Night, for a fascinating conversation about astronomy, dark sky conservation, and the beauty of stargazing. As the sun sets, they discuss the importance of preserving natural darkness, the wonders of the night sky, and what...
13 Mar 2025
Star Party on Brighton Seafront - Tremula x SDNPA
In this week's episode, we teamed up with Francesca Turauskis and Katie Stokes from the Tremula Network - an award-winning, audio-first podcast company dedicated to unheard stories of adventure, nature and the outdoors. This week's episode was recorded live at the Brighton Seafront Star Party on 22 February - the final event of the 2025 South Downs Dark Skies Festival. With Elinor having her hands full, Francesca and Katie took the opportunity to chat to those in attendance, finding out...
6 Mar 2025
Night Sky Connectedness - The Five Pathways to Embrace the Darkness
In this week's episode, Elinor chats to Dr. Christopher Barnes, a chartered psychologist conducting and supervising doctoral research in the areas of parenting, child development and nature connection. Following his own 'dark skies epiphany', Dr. Barnes began combining his academic research on child development and nature connectiveness with connectiveness to the night sky. Together, Elinor and Dr. Barnes discuss the 'Five Pathways' to nature connectedness, with Dr. Barnes sharing fresh...
27 Feb 2025
Mindful Stargazing
On this week's episode, Elinor is joined by Mark Westmoquette, astrophysicist, Zen yoga teacher, author and 'mindful stargazer.' Knowledgeable and insightful, Mark shares with Elinor his journey from focusing purely on the science of the cosmos, to embracing the deeper relationship people can have with the universe and their place within it. The conversation spans from Mark's early career as a researcher, his time observing the dark night skies of St. Helena in the South Atlantic,...
20 Feb 2025
How Dark Skies foster positive health and wellbeing
In this episode Elinor takes a night time stroll across Iping Common with South Downs Health and Wellbeing Officer, Kate Drake. A Dark Sky Discovery Site, Iping Common is not only one of the best places to view the night sky, it is also a great location to connect with wildlife and nature, especially nocturnal critters. On this walk, Kate and Elinor chat about their experiences of spending nights alone under the stars, controlling their fears of the darkness and finding 'glimmers'...
13 Feb 2025
How to become an International Dark Sky Reserve
In this episode Elinor is joined by 'Dark Skies' Dan Oakley, founder of Darkscape Consulting and chair of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Places committee. Hugely knowledgeable and with an incredible passion for dark skies, Dan was instrumental in the South Downs National Park achieving International Dark Skies Reserve status in 2016. On this 'talk and walk' of Queen Elizabeth Country Park in Hampshire, Dan and Elinor chat about seeing the Milky Way for the first time, th...
4 Feb 2025
Introducing...Embrace the Darkness
Dark skies aren't just for stargazing, you know? It's also a habitat, an environment, a place for us to escape to with our thoughts or to let go of thoughts entirely. In this new podcast series from the South Downs National Park Authority, Einor Newman - "Queen of Darkness" and organiser of the National Park's annual Dark Skies Festival - chats to a number of different guests, each with their own unique relationship with the night sky. So put in your ear plugs, wrap up warm and come on a ...
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