The Rewilding Podcast w/ Peter Michael Bauer

Peter Michael Bauer

Are you looking at our society racked with disconnection, poor mental and physical health, social injustice, and the wanton destruction of the natural world and asking yourself, “What can I do?” Join experimental anthropologist Peter Michael Bauer as he converses with experts from many converging fields that help us craft cultures of resilience. Weaving together a range of topics from ecology to wilderness survival skills to permaculture, each episode deepens and expands your understanding of how to rewild yourself and your community.

  1. Jul 6

    Regenerative Agriculture & Pastoralism in Ireland w/ Future Oak Farms

    Hunter-gatherers relied on megafauna for their subsistence. Those material conditions no longer exist: most land is under the control of state or private individuals and most of the megafauna are extinct. Rewilding looks to hunter-gatherers as an inspiration for adapting modern subsistence practices as best we can, to be more like that of our evolutionary past. While domestication was a stark turn away from hunting and gathering, pastoralism as an existing subsistence strategy is ripe for potential rewilding of various kinds. There are methods that combine human subsistence with ecological restoration to help increase biodiversity and carbon sequestration. A few of the current terms for this are regenerative agriculture, agro-forestry, and silva-pastoralism, holistic grazing, among others. In this episode I’ll be interviewing John and Laura, of Future Oak Farms, who manage multiple sites in Ireland, with multiple strategies. Recording Date: 11/24/25 John Duffy was born in London to Irish parents who left Donegal during the wave of emigration in the 1960s. Disillusioned by the destructive logic of his career in oil and gas exploration, he began searching for an alternative path. In 2018, he returned to the family farm in Donegal and set about reimagining its future. Today, John co-runs the Future Oak Farm Project with his partner Laura. Guided by permaculture and regenerative design principles and using the Holistic Management Framework, the farm regenerates local ecosystems while sustaining a resilient, profitable enterprise—powered by a keen herd of Belted Galloways and billions of unseen allies beneath the soil. Laura McGoran is a wellbeing facilitator, regenerative farming educator and co-manager of Future Oak Farm in Donegal. She has a corporate background in international sales and operations in the education sector, and later retrained in yoga, fitness and community health. She has worked closely with vulnerable groups by using movement, nature and practical food growing to support confidence and connection. On the farm she is involved in daily operations, ecology work and the storytelling that brings people into the regenerative journey. Notes Future Oak Farms Instagram Future Oak Farm on YouTube Island of Woods Thirty Two Words for Field Support the show

    Regenerative Agriculture & Pastoralism in Ireland w/ Future Oak Farms
  2. Feb 9

    How to Start a Friction Fire the Communal Way w/ Ian Walton Larner & Aoife Ni Lodainn

    Rewilding is a community effort. Many ancestral skills today are created with an individualist mindset, friction fire being one of them. But in older times, people worked together to create fire, understanding that community and togetherness was an important part of their survival. Such methods were known as the Neid Fire, Fire Churn, Tine Éigin, among others. Apprenticing to fire is a humbling experience, and learning to do it in tandem with others is a magical experience. To talk with me about this, I’m chatting with Ian Walton Larner and Aoife Ni Lodainn (Lowden) .  Ian is passionate about rubbing sticks and started the Sacred Hearth Friction Fire project in 2016 to share skills and knowledge. Ian's primary focus is using friction fire within ritual and holistic practices drawing upon folklore, traditions and story. Fire has been key in the evolution and development of our species and Ian feels fire deserves to be welcomed in a respectful and honouring way. Ian is based in Bristol, South West England, UK Aoife is a facilitator of ancestral & land-based courses, workshops & ceremonies. A big part of Aoife's work has been in uncovering & remembering the old traditions & relationship between people and fire in Ireland & Scotland.She is a devoted apprentice of fire, having tended sacred fires all over Ireland, the British Isles & beyond for the last 10 years. Aoife is an advocate for the healing, purifying & unifying nature of fire, how it can directly heal us, and create a space naturally for community to be formed. She is a Director & steward of the Shieling Collective, a grassroots project focused on reviving traditional skills & ancestral lifeways in the Highlands of Scotland. Show Notes: Ian's Links Sacred Hearth Friction Fire Website Sacred Hearth Friction Fire Instagram Aoife’s Links https://linktr.ee/aoifededanann?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio https://www.instagram.com/aoifededanann/ slinasinsear.com theshielingcollective.com Other Notes Hearth and Campfire Influences on Arterial Blood Pressure: Defraying the Costs of the Social Brain through Fireside Relaxation https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10429110/ Support the show

    How to Start a Friction Fire the Communal Way w/ Ian Walton Larner & Aoife Ni Lodainn
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About

Are you looking at our society racked with disconnection, poor mental and physical health, social injustice, and the wanton destruction of the natural world and asking yourself, “What can I do?” Join experimental anthropologist Peter Michael Bauer as he converses with experts from many converging fields that help us craft cultures of resilience. Weaving together a range of topics from ecology to wilderness survival skills to permaculture, each episode deepens and expands your understanding of how to rewild yourself and your community.