Roots to Renewal

About Roots to Renewal

Situated on a 900-acre Biodynamic farm in upstate New York, Hawthorne Valley has spent the last half a century working to foster social and cultural renewal through the integration of agriculture, education, and the arts. As we mark our 50th anniversary we want to share not just our story, but also the stories of our friends and contemporaries from across the globe who dedicate their lives in purposeful pursuit of meeting the ecological, social, and spiritual needs or our time. In an oft-quoted passage from one of our founders, Karl Ege, he suggests that the work that we are undertaking together at Hawthorne Valley “will create a place in which it is possible, in a true sense, to become a full human being.” At its core this work is about the future. Every day as our farmers tend to the soil and care for animals, our educators teach students to engage more deeply with themselves and the world around them, and we work together to try to create a structure for social equity, we aim to foster the conditions that will allow the future to emerge in its most life affirming manifestation. We invite you to join us!

Publisher

Hawthorne Valley

Category

arts · education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Mar 2021

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Season Three, Episode Two: Leif Garbish and The Well of Understanding

   Send us Fan Mail Leif Garbish, writer, poet, and photographer, joins Martin Ping of Hawthorne Valley for a conversation exploring themes from Garbish's newest book The Well of Understanding. Drawing from early morning writings and decades of creative practice, the discussion traverses why death is an extension of life [6:57], how vulnerability transforms into action [16:40], and the "future self" that continually calls us forward [24:11] [11:07] [39:11]. Garbish traces his path from a five-ye...

2. 

   6 Feb 2026

   Season Three, Episode One: Judith Enck and The Problem with Plastic

   Send us a text In this episode, we’re joined by environmental policy expert Judith Enck, co-author of The Problem with Plastic and president of Beyond Plastics, for a frank conversation about why plastic recycling has largely failed—and why that failure wasn’t an accident. Judith unpacks how the plastics industry has known for decades that recycling doesn’t work, while spending millions convincing the public otherwise. We also explore the human and environmental costs of plastic production, f...

3. 

   13 Mar 2025

   Season Two, Episode Eleven: Conservation Visionary Spencer Beebe on Salmon Nation and the Future of Community-Based Environmentalism

   Send us a text In this illuminating episode of Roots to Renewal, host Martin Ping engages with Spencer Beebe, a pioneering conservation leader who founded influential organizations including Salmon Nation, Conservation International and EcoTrust. Spencer shares his remarkable journey and the development of his visionary concept "Salmon Nation," which reimagines conservation through the lens of bioregional identity and community empowerment. Throughout the conversation, Spencer illustrates how...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 35 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

38

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Roots to Renewal

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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