What does it mean to rewild ourselves? This week, Willow speaks with legendary conservationist and former Patagonia CEO Kristine Tompkins about her decades of work rewilding and protecting nature—including over 16 million acres of land and over 30 million acres of ocean. In their conversation, they delve into rewilding as a way to stay connected to the living world, even in the face of grief and l

What if conflict is not something to be avoided, but something that can help us grow? This week, Willow sits down with author and conflict resolution expert Priya Parker to explore what she calls “healthy heat” and how tension can help relationships and communities thrive. Drawing on her new book, The Art of Fighting , Priya reflects on why some fights are worth having, how to tell when to engage

What if plants are more intelligent than we've ever imagined? This week, Willow sits down with journalist and The Light Eaters author Zoë Schlanger for a conversation about the hidden lives of plants and what they reveal about intelligence, consciousness, and our place in the natural world. By the end of this conversation, you may never look at a tree or a houseplant the same way again. For more a

What if the universe is stranger and more full of possibility than we've been taught to imagine? This week, Willow sits down with cosmologist and The Edge of Space-Time author Chanda Prescod-Weinstein for a conversation about the cosmos, curiosity, and the power of expanding our perspective. They explore the physics of dark matter and other mysteries, what the universe can teach us about possibili

Lindsay Mack spends their time helping people rewild and reconnect with their intuition—but not in the way you might expect. This week, Willow sits down with the teacher, author, and host of Tarot for the Wild Soul for a conversation about spirituality rooted in nature, healing that moves in spirals rather than straight lines, and finding meaning in uncertainty. Together, they explore how the livi

Hope isn’t found in looking to the future; it’s in the past. This week, Willow sits down with legendary writer and activist Rebecca Solnit for a conversation about uncertainty, change, and the stories we choose to believe about what’s to come. Together, they explore why hope is not naïve optimism when rooted in evidence, and how history reminds us that change often arrives in unexpected ways. Draw

What can seeds teach us about memory, resilience, and the possibility of renewal? This week, Willow sits down with Vivien Sansour, seed keeper and founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library. They explore how seeds carry stories across generations and why protecting threatened varieties is a way of preserving the knowledge and traditions they hold, particularly during times of loss. From childh

What does it mean for beauty to be part of ecology rather than separate from it? Willow sits down with Jorge Blanco, Davines' North America Culture & Creative Director, for a conversation about regenerative agriculture, green chemistry, and the hidden systems behind the products we use every day. They explore how soil, science, farming, and haircare are deeply interconnected and what it means to m

How do we stay open amid uncertainty? In this episode, Willow sits down with Maria Popova, writer and founder of The Marginalian, for a conversation about meaning, wonder, and the unknown. They explore Maria’s idea that “selfing” sits at the root of much of our suffering and how wonder can be an antidote. Moving between the scientific and poetic, the historical and the personal, they trace surpris

How can we see nature as an invitation to break down binary thinking? In this episode, Willow sits down with environmental drag queen Pattie Gonia to explore the outdoors as a space that bridges divides. From hiking in heels to building community through art, Pattie shares how drag became a pathway back to both nature and self. Diving into the deep connection between identity, self expression, and

How can getting in touch with our senses help us reconnect with the world around us? Nature has shaped the work of artist Olafur Eliasson for decades. From glowing suns indoors to melting glaciers in city streets, his installations invite us to see what we’ve been blind to. In this episode, Willow and Olafur explore how art can reach beyond language, allowing us to feel what is often too vast or a

Beneath our feet, fungi connect forests, turn death into life, and quietly sustain the world we live in. Mycologist Giuliana Furci has spent decades studying and sensing into them. In this conversation, she invites us to see life differently, not as separate individuals, but as a web of relationships that holds everything together. Together with Willow, she reflects on how learning to notice fungi

Note: This episode includes a brief mention of death by suicide. Please take care while listening. Willow sits down with award-winning author Terry Tempest Williams to explore the spiritual dimensions of attention, climate change, and our relationship with the living world. Together, Willow and Terry look at what it means to live with our eyes open in a time of unraveling and revealing. From a des

What if the forest is not scenery, but kin? In this episode of The Nature Of , Willow speaks with forest ecologist, Suzanne Simard, about the hidden networks that connect trees beneath our feet and what those relationships reveal about our own. Drawing from decades of research and her new book When the Forest Breathes , Suzanne reflects on mother trees, shared breath, and the responsibility of car

What if remembering we will die is what teaches us how to live? In this episode of The Nature Of , Willow is joined by death doula and New York Times bestselling author, Alua Arthur, to explore how reflecting on our mortality can reshape the way we live. Together, they consider what shifts when we stop looking away, and how that awareness can deepen love and bring our choices into focus. This conv

This week on The Nature Of , Willow speaks with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert about what it means to bear witness to a changing world. Drawing from her new book Life on a Little-Known Planet and her landmark work The Sixth Extinction , Elizabeth reflects on climate change, biodiversity loss, and the emotional weight of documenting both. She shares stories from the

What does it cost to truly document the natural world, and why do some people keep returning even when the risk is real? In this episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with renowned conservation photographers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, whose lives and love story have unfolded at the edge of danger, from plane crashes and near-drownings to an encounter with a whale that nearly turne

What does it mean to live in right relationship with intelligence, human, more than human, and now artificial? In this episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with writer, storyteller, and Life With Machines host Baratunde Thurston to explore the complicated emotions many of us are carrying about AI, from fear and overwhelm to curiosity and cautious hope. Together, they reflect on what it means

In this week’s episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with Robin Wall Kimmerer, beloved scientist, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. They explore the shift from learning about to learning from nature, understanding that the land loves us back, and her new initiative Plant Baby Plant . Robin invites us to step back into belonging, and to see the natural

Movements evolve the way ecosystems do—through tension, adaptation, and collective resilience. In this episode, Willow is joined by writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay to explore the shifting landscape of feminism. Together, they revisit the ideas at the heart of Bad Feminist , question what’s really in crisis, and trace the possibilities that emerge when we stop ceding ground and begin tending