In the final episode of ‘The Root of the Matter’, JC takes us to the least human habitat of all – the wasteland. It’s a space which often fills us with a sense of foreboding and yet, these places teach us some of the most profound lessons about the plant world and our relationship to it:

Author of Islands of Abandonment: Life in the post-human landscape, Cal Flyn, shows us how wastelands can demonstrate nature’s resilience in the most hostile of situations.

Artist and writer James Bridle explains how  plants force us to fundamentally rethink our ideas about intelligence beyond the human. 

And Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota, and founder of First Voices Radio, talks to us about the need to fundamentally change our language if we are to de-centre the human and heal our relationship with the earth. 

Presented by JC Niala

Lead Produced by Alannah Chance

Produced by Mae-Li Evans

Music and sound design by Alice Boyd

Artwork by Faye Heller

The Root of the Matter is a Reduced Listening production for Wellcome Collection.

You can find the full transcript for this episode, and much more, on the Wellcome Collection website: The Root of the Matter | Wellcome Collection

What does the word ‘wetland’ mean to you? Many of us don’t encounter them at all, and at best we might think of a muddy, boggy marshland. But these landscapes, and the plants that thrive in them, are crucial for ecological health, biodiversity, and capturing carbon. In this episode, JC and her contributors invite you to see these misunderstood spaces in a new light.

Ecologist and writer Mordecai Ogada talks about the cultural and ecological significance of Nam Lolwe (also known as Lake Victoria) to the Luo peoples who live on its shores.

Diana Umpierre, of the USA's Sierra Club, explains the impact that human interventions have had on the Everglades in Florida, and the indigenous communities that call it home. 

From the other side of the Pacific, Professor Dan Friess shares how mangrove swamps are crucial to both human and environmental health, and why they have been misunderstood in the past.

Finally, we hear from the Wilder Landscapes advisor for Sussex Wildlife Trust, Fran Southgate, about how we need to pay more attention to our own wetlands in the UK.

Presented by JC Niala

Lead Produced by Alannah Chance

Produced by Mae-Li Evans

Music and sound design by Alice Boyd

Artwork by Faye Heller

The Root of the Matter is a Reduced Listening production for Wellcome Collection. 

You can find the full transcript for this episode, and much more, on the Wellcome Collection website: The Root of the Matter | Wellcome Collection

We think of forests and woodlands as wild spaces, or areas where we can lose ourselves in nature, and yet they also provide us with a wealth of resources such as food, building materials, or medicines. But they are also globally under threat of destruction…

In this episode, JC delves into the contradictions in our relationship with woodlands, and explores different ways we can think about them, if we are to use and protect them more wisely.

Joseca, a Yanomami artist from the Amazon, and anthropologist and interpreter Anna Maria Machado, share their understanding of the forest and the threats it is currently facing.

Forestry expert Rebecca Latchford, talks to us about how our models of forest conservation and usage fundamentally needs to change if they are still going to exist for future generations.

And Michael Pollan, author of ‘This is your mind on plants’, talks about the mind altering properties and potential benefits of psychoactive fungi which grow in the forests.

Presented by JC Niala

Lead Produced by Alannah Chance

Produced by Mae-Li Evans

Music and sound design by Alice Boyd

Artwork by Faye Heller

The Root of the Matter is a Reduced Listening production for Wellcome Collection.

You can find the full transcript for this episode, and much more, on the Wellcome Collection website: The Root of the Matter | Wellcome Collection