A Big Sur Podcast

Magnus Toren, host
  • 4.8 (37)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL

A Big Sur Podcast An ongoing conversation with people from near and far about Big Sur's past, present, and future. A Big Sur Podcast interprets “community” to mean ALL people from around the world who are curious about, and who care about, the preservation and restoration of the wild and rural character of Big Sur. Stories are told by visitors and residents, plumbers and linesmen, musicians and authors, dancers and jugglers and others. Sometimes we drift (way) off-topic into the arts, sciences, personal stories, gossip, politics, philosophy, ornithology, Henry Miller, and our zeitgeist in general. We like that! The opinions expressed here belong to the people who express them. They may or may not line up with yours, mine, or your neighbor’s — and that’s exactly the point. Different perspectives, lived experiences, and even wildly clashing views are what make conversations worth listening to: enriching, infuriating, life-affirming, and sometimes all three at once. If you are planning a visit to Big Sur and you listen to some of the folks on this Podcast talk about their love of the place your visit will probably be a lot more rewarding. Please email magnus@henrymiller.org with any comments, critique & suggestions. Music intro clip courtesy John Holm: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO0Rh2QU Sound editing software by Hindenburg: https://hindenburg.com/Please support the podcast by making a donation to the Henry Miller Library, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization. Thank you!

  1. # 123 "Condors: Guardians of the Wild" with Joe Burnett

    1D AGO

    # 123 "Condors: Guardians of the Wild" with Joe Burnett

    Send us Fan Mail "At intervals the condor passed, huge as an ocean liner.” Henry Miller in Big Sur and the Oranges Besides marveling at the exceptional beauty and almost mysterious power of these amazing birds Joe Burnett and I discuss work in Big Sur and Monterey.  We talk about the rebuilding of the Ventana Wildlife Sanctuary after the 2020 Dolan Fire, how the sanctuary supports releasing, feeding, monitoring and recapturing condors to test for lead poisoning—the leading mortality threat—using radio and GPS transmitters to track a flock of 113 birds, including wild-born untagged chicks.  VWS outreach now centers on getting ranchers and hunters to switch to non-lead ammunition, which the program helps by providing free ammo, though non-lead .22 availability is a major hurdle.  Joe describes vaccinating about 90% of the population against highly pathogenic avian influenza, ongoing disease and blood-lead testing, wildfire impacts, public engagement while tracking birds, and resources and documentaries available through the organization’s website. Thanks for listening! Magnus  Ventana Wildlife Society The beautiful documentary Condor Canyon Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 27m
  2. # 122 Help Kelp: The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest with Josie Iselin

    MAR 23

    # 122 Help Kelp: The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest with Josie Iselin

    Send us Fan Mail The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Foresta New Heyday Book The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Website I sit down with artist, photographer, and author Josie Iselin, and what begins as a conversation about kelp opens into an exploration of the intricate world in the waters just off our coast. Josie traces her own path into that world—from artist to something closer to a naturalist of the shoreline—guided by curiosity, attention, and a willingness to look closely at what most of us walk past. Kelp, in her telling, is not just seaweed but a kind of language: a way of reading the ocean’s health, its rhythms, and its disturbances. We talk about the fragile balance of the kelp forests—about urchin barrens and restoration efforts, including diver-led removal and the promise (and limits) of lab-grown kelp. We touch on kelp’s often overstated role as a carbon sink, I learned the meaning of the “wrack line” as a living archive of the sea, and the ongoing tensions around sea otter reintroduction. Threaded through it all is Josie’s project Above Below: The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp, created with illustrator Ellen Litwiller—first as a digital exploration, now as a beautifully realized book available where books are sold and at the Henry Miller Library. It’s a conversation about paying attention and what the edge of the ocean might still teach us if we take the time to walk down to the shoreline and slow down long enough to see it. /Magnus Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 12m
  3. # 121 Love, Love, Love: Alison van Diggelen on 'The Love Project.'

    MAR 11

    # 121 Love, Love, Love: Alison van Diggelen on 'The Love Project.'

    Send us Fan Mail Alison van Diggelen – Journalist, interviewer, and author of The Love Project: A Journey of Intimate Conversations. Photo is of Alison and her Mom. Alison's website. Buy "The Love Project" at your local bookstore. May we suggest the Henry Miller Library. >>>>>>>>>>>>> Topics in This Episode The origins of The Love ProjectLove across generationsThe power of listeningStorytelling as connectionLove as a verb (and noun)A Quote from the Episode “Love isn’t something we possess. It’s something we practice.”Final Thought We often speak about love as if it were a feeling that descends upon us like weather, it does, but there's more... Perhaps love encompasses much more—  a choice, repeated in small acts, day after day. Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 23m
  4. # 120 Shamergence by Rob Somers

    MAR 7

    # 120 Shamergence by Rob Somers

    Send a text Shamergence The skeptic asks, “Is it real?”  The shaman asks, “Did it help?” COME MEET ROB SOMERS ON SATURDAY, MARCH 21 >>>>>>>>>> Carlos Castaneda Joseph Campbell The Samples Ozymandias >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shaman, Skeptic, and the Voice in the Belly Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 42m
  5. # 119 Walking Toward the Stars — A Conversation with Brita Ostrom (Öström)

    FEB 20

    # 119 Walking Toward the Stars — A Conversation with Brita Ostrom (Öström)

    Send a text In this episode of A Big Sur Podcast, I sit down with Brita Ostrom — longtime Esalen resident and author of Steeped: A Big Sur Elixir of Sulfur and Sage. Brita’s life bridges several revolutions at once: the islands of the Pacific Northwest, the Haight-Ashbury explosion of 1966–67, the psychedelic and political turbulence of the Summer of Love, and the early, formative years of the Esalen Institute. We talk about Haight Street — the overwhelming beauty of it all: the posters, the music, the saturated colors. And later, how the fog began to settle in. About sidewalks so crowded you could barely move, and children who quietly went missing. About free love and jealousy, about massage tables and incense, about the uneasy dance between material success and spiritual seeking. Brita describes arriving at Esalen for the first time — the candlelit baths, the shock of nakedness, the silkiness of sulfur water against cold skin. She reflects on figures like Fritz Perls, Storm, and Lars — and on what it meant to come of age inside a cultural experiment that promised liberation but carried its own tensions and blind spots. This is not nostalgia. It is a reckoning. What does it mean to “drop out”? What does it cost? What does it give? What remains when the fog clears? Brita’s memoir is a meditation on community, intimacy, ritual, and the long arc of a life shaped by Big Sur’s muse-like pull. As she writes in her dedication: “Dedicated to those who walk this earth while gazing at the stars.” I hope you’ll enjoy this thoughtful, tender, and at times unsparing conversation. — Magnus Esalen InstituteHaight-AshburyGolden Gate ParkHenry Miller Memorial LibraryPeople Mentioned Fritz PerlsAlan WattsEbba MalmborgCarlos CastanedaCesar ChavezKen KeseyDennis MurphySelig MorgenrathBands of the Era (Referenced in the Conversation) Grateful DeadJefferson AirplaneMoby GrapeQuicksilver Messenger ServiceThe CharlatansSupport the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 42m
  6. # 118 Andrew Munn: From Experimental Sound to Operatic Myth

    FEB 9

    # 118 Andrew Munn: From Experimental Sound to Operatic Myth

    Send a text Andrew Munn in conversation! Deep Listening, Between Cage and Wagner, from Silence to Parsifal. Listening for the unheard, where sound becomes ceremony. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Links to more on what we spoke of: ANDREW MUNN Short video from the HMML performance. Peter Mattei John Cage Pauline Oliveros Deep Listening Rami Sarieddeine Shanghai Concert Hall Tanglewood Parsifal Magic Flute Elektra Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 28m
  7. # 117 Kendra and Matt: Here's Your Song!

    10/07/2025

    # 117 Kendra and Matt: Here's Your Song!

    Send a text The Ballad of Kendra and Matt (or, The Song That Never Made It to the PA)   A neighborhood celebration, a home-recorded love song, a forgotten “play” button — and a reminder that even when things go sideways, community and humor always find a way. Magnus tells the true story behind a tune that almost didn’t get heard — until now. Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    9 min
  8. # 116 Steve Beck, Master Gardener

    09/29/2025

    # 116 Steve Beck, Master Gardener

    Send a text Support the show _________________________________________________ This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County! Let us know what you think! SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊 magnus@henrymiller.org FaceBook Instagram

    1h 9m
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
37 Ratings

About

A Big Sur Podcast An ongoing conversation with people from near and far about Big Sur's past, present, and future. A Big Sur Podcast interprets “community” to mean ALL people from around the world who are curious about, and who care about, the preservation and restoration of the wild and rural character of Big Sur. Stories are told by visitors and residents, plumbers and linesmen, musicians and authors, dancers and jugglers and others. Sometimes we drift (way) off-topic into the arts, sciences, personal stories, gossip, politics, philosophy, ornithology, Henry Miller, and our zeitgeist in general. We like that! The opinions expressed here belong to the people who express them. They may or may not line up with yours, mine, or your neighbor’s — and that’s exactly the point. Different perspectives, lived experiences, and even wildly clashing views are what make conversations worth listening to: enriching, infuriating, life-affirming, and sometimes all three at once. If you are planning a visit to Big Sur and you listen to some of the folks on this Podcast talk about their love of the place your visit will probably be a lot more rewarding. Please email magnus@henrymiller.org with any comments, critique & suggestions. Music intro clip courtesy John Holm: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO0Rh2QU Sound editing software by Hindenburg: https://hindenburg.com/Please support the podcast by making a donation to the Henry Miller Library, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization. Thank you!

Information

  • Creator
    Magnus Toren, host
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    121
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Big Sur Podcast
  • Show Website
    A Big Sur Podcast

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