GARDENSIDE with JOURNALIST KAI WRIGHT, CO-HOST OF THE GUARDIAN'S STATESIDE WITH KAI + CARTER
Kai Wright is a gardener, but chances are good you know him as a Peabody Award-winning host, editor, and longtime journalist whose work explores the intersection of history, power, and the evolving American identity.
He is co-host of The Guardian’s new video podcast: Stateside with Kai and Carter, a current events program "striving to make sense of it all." Kai’s home garden in Newburgh, NY helps ground him in all that sense-making.
In between his journalism posts on Instagram, Kai adds intermittent images from his garden life, which he calls “Beauty Breaks”. We all need them; we all function better as a result of them! And we could all use more good sense.
I love when I encounter a person who is known for one amazing thing, and then I learn that they are gardeners, and that their gardening practice actually helps to inform and strengthen their day-to-day work.
Listen in this week!
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All photos courtesy of Kai Wright, all rights reserved.
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JOIN US again next week: Regenerative and Sustainable are ideas that extend not just to landscapes. Regenerative gardening and farming taught Mark Lewis, that if it’s going to stick, we need to apply these lessons to the economics of our world. Mark, is co-founder of Trailhead Capital based in Boulder Colorado, is a purpose-driven firm creating outstanding financial, societal, and ecological returns by backing entrepreneurs building the regenerative future of food and agriculture. Join us. That's right here, next week. Listen in!
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in honor of Bailey Shaw
supporting initiatives that empower women and help preserve the planet through the intersection of environmental advocacy, social justice, and creativity.
Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer—
I love this quote from Kai right at the outset of our conversation:
"Terroir – the idea that what’s in the soil of a place, in the climate of a place, in the cultural practices of a place, all show up in a glass of wine….and I think we are the same. We are all just the outcomes of these specific inputs of places and our people as we’ve grown."
And he holds that concept dear.
Based on all that we as gardeners cultivate, we fine glasses of wine, extraordinary vases of flowers, nourishing bowls of soup, indulgent and divine fresh cobblers – born of exactly how we cultivate our places well, and for whom: our places, our people, one another, and this gorgeous generous planet we call home: mother earth.
At another moment in our conversation, Kai notes that his Gardening is a really helpful analog for journalism-teaching him not only how to be a better gardener, but also a better journalist.
I think it is safe to say that after 27 years of conducting interviews with gardeners: this human impulse and the practice of it is likewise an analog for good writing or teaching or parenting or leading or ministering. Or just being human.
With that in mind, I hope you will join us in two upcoming community gatherings that help to deepen our own understanding of Cultivating Place, and cultivating place well.
On Tuesday October 20th from 3 – 4:15 pm Pacific/ 6 – 7:15 pm Eastern, we will gather for our monthly Communing – a book club session exploring the first chapter of Robert Macfarlane’s epic Is a River Alive? It is a big book, a dense consideration, and worth savoring. Communing’s are always free, but registration is required, and seats are limited to encourage discussion. Join us!
We’ve also opened registration for our annual #100daysinplace journey, kicking off like last year, on the seasonal marker day of October 31st , and running through mid-February. Using a daily practice of your choosing – be it drawing, writing, sewing, watching, listening, or learning we will all dive more deeply into our own knowledge of our places together. An introductory kick off ZOOM event will take place on Tuesday October 27th . Dive in with us!!!
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The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, and regular hosting by Founder, Jennifer Jewell, as well as Abra Lee in Atlanta, Georgia, and Ben Futa in South Bend, Indiana. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse..
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