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The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh

Atmos 27 episodes Latest May 26, 2026

The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh is a podcast that explores the wisdom of the natural world through conversations with artists, scientists, and cultural pioneers. Hosted by the editor-in-chief of Atmos, Willow Defebaugh, the show features guests like Esther Perel and Maggie Rogers. It was named one of Apple's best podcasts of the year and releases new episodes biweekly.

Episodes

Vivien Sansour: Saving the Seeds of Palestine Jun 9, 2026 00:37:26 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

From Soil to Shelf: The Science of Beauty With Jorge Blanco May 26, 2026 00:22:26 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

Maria Popova on Turning Matter Into Meaning May 12, 2026 00:49:38 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

Pattie Gonia: How Nature Can Help Us Transcend Binaries Apr 28, 2026 00:43:42 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

Artist Olafur Eliasson on Seeing What We’ve Been Blind To Apr 14, 2026 00:30:17 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

Giuliana Furci Is Your Guide to the Enchanting World of Fungi Mar 31, 2026 00:43:49 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

Uncovering the Holy Ordinary with Terry Tempest Williams Mar 17, 2026 00:42:55 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

Suzanne Simard: How to Be a Mother Tree Mar 3, 2026 00:53:37 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 carin

Death Doula Alua Arthur: Dying Is the Secret to Living Feb 17, 2026 00:51:58 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 conve

Elizabeth Kolbert: Why Wonder Is Still Worth Searching For Feb 3, 2026 00:30:52 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 fi

Stories from the Deep with Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen Jan 20, 2026 00:40:30 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

Baratunde Thurston on Natural vs. Artificial Intelligence Jan 6, 2026 00:30:55 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

Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Land Loves You Back Dec 16, 2025 00:49:32 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

Roxane Gay: How Feminism Grows From Here Dec 2, 2025 00:45:16 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 t

Kate Marvel Will Change How You Feel About Planet Earth Nov 18, 2025 00:41:48 In this episode, host Willow Defebaugh is joined by renowned climate scientist and writer Kate Marvel for a conversation about her book, Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet. With poetic insight and scientific precision, Marvel reframes climate change not just as a planetary emergency, but as an emotional experience, one that demands our full humanity. Together, they explore h

Robert Macfarlane on Embracing Flow and Letting Rivers Heal Us Nov 4, 2025 00:42:22 What does it mean to move like a river and to live in flow with the world around us? In this episode, Willow is joined by one of the world’s most celebrated nature writers, Robert Macfarlane, to follow the many forms of flow—of water, of language, and of life itself. Together, they explore the question at the heart of his newest book: Is a River Alive? They trace the currents that shape our storie

Suleika Jaouad on Living Every Day Like It’s Your First Oct 21, 2025 00:55:22 How can we alchemize pain into possibility? In this episode, Willow is joined by bestselling author, artist, and three-time cancer survivor Suleika Jaouad to explore the nature of imagination as a tool to help us navigate life’s most impossible moments.Through the lens of her new book, The Book of Alchemy, Suleika shares how creativity became her lifeline during her years of treatment: not just a

‘The Nature Of’ Returns Oct. 21 Oct 7, 2025 00:01:54 The Nature Of is coming back with even more inspiring conversations. Every other week. All year long.Join us as we continue walking this path towards reconnection with ourselves, each other, and the Earth. New episodes begin on October 21, 2025. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Esther Perel on Interconnection and Curing Modern Loneliness May 27, 2025 00:51:35 How can the way we cultivate relationships with one another offer insight into healing our fractured relationship with nature? In this episode, Willow is joined by renowned psychotherapist and bestselling author Esther Perel, whose work has reshaped how we understand intimacy, communication, and belonging in the modern world. They explore the intersections between human and ecological connection,

Maggie Rogers on How to Protect—and Nurture—Your Creativity May 20, 2025 00:38:57 Nature is the ultimate artist—shaping landscapes over millennia, sculpting coastlines with waves, and composing symphonies in birdsong. In this episode, Grammy-nominated musician Maggie Rogers joins Willow for a conversation on creative rhythm, artistic sustainability, and the deep inspiration she draws from the natural world. As an artist who has intentionally crafted a career that honors both pe

Bayo Akomolafe: How to Move Through Chaos Without Needing Control May 13, 2025 00:40:14 What if the rupture of these tumultuous times is not an ending, but an opening? In this episode, Willow speaks with Bayo Akomolafe, philosopher, poet, and thinker whose work challenges us to step beyond binaries and into the fertile, unpredictable space of emergence. They dig into how transformation doesn’t come from rigid certainty or oppositional thinking, but from the cracks—where new possibili

Wildlife Photographer Ami Vitale on Why Intimacy Will Save Us May 6, 2025 00:43:23 In the season finale of The Nature Of, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Ami Vitale joins Willow for a powerful and emotional conversation about witnessing extinction and choosing hope, drawing on her extensive career photographing the most critical conservation stories of our time. Ami takes Willow through her decades-long journey from documenting human conflict to the lives of endangered

Maggie Baird on the One Thing You Can Do for the Planet Every Day Apr 29, 2025 00:47:49 In this episode, we explore the nature of food as a profound act of care—with the power to transform not only our health and the planet, but the very systems we live within. Maggie Baird, longtime activist, founder of Support + Feed, and mother of artists Billie Eilish and Finneas, joins Willow for a conversation rooted in compassion for humans, animals, and the Earth. From her early awakening to

Steph Speirs Will Change How You Think About Money—For Good Apr 22, 2025 00:41:13 Wealth is often defined by accumulation—but what if it was instead measured by what we sustain, regenerate, and share? In this episode, Willow speaks with Steph Speirs, co-founder of Solstice and board member of the Sierra Club Foundation, about how capital—in all its forms—can be stewarded to better support a flourishing planet. Together, they explore the shifting definition of wealth beyond mone

“Small Is All”: adrienne maree brown on Unlocking Everyday Magic Apr 15, 2025 00:37:26 Transformation is both a personal and collective spell—one cast through intention, practice, and the courage to embrace change. Here, Willow is joined by adrienne maree brown, writer, activist, and emergent strategist, for a conversation on alchemy, witchcraft as resistance, and the magic of small, everyday acts that create lasting change. Together, they examine adrienne’s philosophy that small is

Janine Benyus on Biomimicry and Designing With Life’s Intelligence Apr 8, 2025 00:41:24 Nature is not just a place—it’s a teacher, a guide, and a blueprint for innovation. Willow is joined by Janine Benyus, biologist, author, and co-founder of the Biomimicry Institute, whose groundbreaking work has transformed the way we think about designing with nature rather than against it. Together, they outline the principles of biomimicry—the practice of looking to ecosystems, organisms, and n

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: Stop Doom-Scrolling, Start Building the Future Apr 1, 2025 00:39:46 In nature, solutions are everywhere—coral reefs regenerate, forests heal, and ecosystems self-balance when given the chance. So, how can we apply that same wisdom to the climate crisis? Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a marine biologist, policy expert, a Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College, and co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, joins Willow for an illuminating conversation about climate optimi

A New Podcast From Atmos Mar 6, 2025 00:02:41 Coming Soon...A New Podcast From Atmos Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh

Episodes

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