The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast
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A podcast about the life of work of Wendell Berry: the Kentucky farmer, poet, novelist, essayist, and activist.

  1. 6d ago

    Episode 27: "Against Killing Children"

    In today’s episode, Matt and John discuss “Against Killing Children,” the first essay in Wendell Berry’s new essay collection, Dispatches from Rural America. That essay touches on everything from school shootings and the total destruction of war, to the inadequacies of the materialist worldview, and the demands of Christian conscience if children are made in the image of God. We also discuss how the essay is made even more poignant by Berry’s passing in August. Reading along? In the next episode, we will be discussing the second essay from Dispatches from Rural America: “The Problem is Industrialism.” "Against Killing Children" The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKSLeavings: Poems, by Wendell Berry Poem: “Questionnaire,” by Wendell Berry More about George F. Kennan BUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRYThe Berry Center Bookshop.org Amazon THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast Online YouTube The Membership Substack Facebook Twitter Instagram Website The Berry Center Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

  2. Oct 13

    Episode 26: Introducing New Host Matt Wheeler & Season 4 Preview

    In this episode, we introduce new co-host Matt Wheeler, a singer-songwriter from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. John and Matt talk about Matt's experience turning Wendell Berry's short stories into an album, how Matt answers the question: "What Wendell Berry book should I read first?", and how he started corresponding with the Berrys. Then John and Matt preview Season 4 and reveal the book they will be discussing first: Berry's forthcoming essay collection, Dispatches from Rural America (out October 27). Next episode: We will be discussing the essay "Against Killing Children," the first essay in Berry's new collection Dispatches from Rural America. New Host Matt Wheeler | Season 4 Preview The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKSMatt Wheeler's website Our August 2023 interview with Matt The Rabbit Room "How to Be a Poet" (Rabbit Room Poetry Substack) BUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRYThe Berry Center Bookshop.org Amazon THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast Online YouTube The Membership Substack Facebook Twitter Instagram Website The Berry Center Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

  3. Oct 9

    Episode 25: Re-launching "The Membership" | "How to Be a Poem"

    In this episode, John announces the relaunch of the podcast with a new cohost, singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler. The first episode with Matt comes out on Tuesday, October 13. John also reads an article that he wrote for Substack in the days after Wendell Berry’s death on August 31. Relaunching the Podcast | "How to Be a POEM" The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKS John’s Substack article: “How to Be a Poem (thanks for the reminder, Wendell)” THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast Online YouTube The Membership Substack Facebook Twitter Instagram Website The Berry Center The Rabbit Room Podcast Network Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

  4. 02/12/2025

    Episode 24: "Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World"

    In this episode of The Membership, David and John discuss a book that is an unusual in the Port William series -- it's about a mouse, and is sometimes classified as a children's book -- but still feels right at home. That book? Whitefoot: A Story from the Center from the World, by Wendell Berry. We talk about the experience of compressing the imagination to the size of a mouse, where this book sits among Berry's other works, and why the realization that one lives at the center of the world is "the world's profoundest thought." And much more. "Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World" The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKS "Whitefoot" in Orion Magazine Website of illustrator Davis Te Selle "Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel," by Carl Safina "Black Elk Speaks," by John G. Neihardt "Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023," by Wendell Berry THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast Online YouTube Facebook Twitter Instagram Website The Berry Center The Rabbit Room Podcast Network Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

  5. 12/20/2023

    Episode 23: A Sabbath Poem for Christmas: "Remembering that it happened once..."

    In his poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,” Wendell Berry calls the reader to “Practice resurrection.” In today’s episode, we discuss one of Berry’s Sabbath poems. It has a Christmas theme that could be summarized this way: “Practice incarnation.” A Sabbath Poem for Christmas: "Remembering that it happened once..." The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKSSabbath Poem 1987, No. VI - “Remembering that it happened once…” The Berry Center (our recommendation for year-end giving) Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com The Rabbit Room Podcast Network The Membership Podcast Online Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

  6. 08/22/2023

    Episode 22: Singer-Songwriter Matt Wheeler on His New Port William-inspired Album

    In this episode, we interview singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler about his new album, A Hard History of Love. That album is inspired by five short stories in Berry’s story collection, That Distant Land. We talk about the process of writing songs inspired by great literature, about some of our favorite Port William characters, and what “membership” looks like in Matt’s life. UPDATE: The Kickstarter for Matt’s album release is now fully funded. All backers will now receive a print of Ned Bustard’s cover art for the album. The Kickstarter ends on August 25 at 7:15 a.m. Eastern. Kickstarter for A Hard History of Love: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardhistory/a-hard-history-of-love-by-matt-wheeler Singer-Songwriter Matt Wheeler on His New Port William-inspired Album The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKSKickstarter for Matt Wheeler’s Port William-inspired album A Hard History of Love Ned Bustard (Instagram), the Lancaster artist who did the album cover art “Invited into a Rich Community: An Interview with Matt Wheeler,” by Matt Conner Matt Wheeler Online Website Facebook Instagram YouTube Who else should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com The Rabbit Room Podcast Network The Membership Podcast Online Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

  7. 08/17/2023

    Episode 21: A Returning, a New Voice, and a Look Ahead

    The Membership Podcast returns! We catch you up on the last three years, introduce a new co-host, and preview some of the books we’ll be reading in Season 3. Our next episode is coming in just a couple days, so be on the lookout! A Returning, a New Voice, and a Look Ahead The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKSKickstarter for Matt Wheeler’s Port William-inspired album A Hard History of Love “Returning,” by Wendell Berry (Bookshop.org | Amazon | The Berry Center Bookstore) “Eternal Beings Living in Time: On Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow” (John’s essay from Besides the Bible) Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com The Rabbit Room Podcast Network The Membership Podcast Online Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

  8. 06/04/2020

    Episode 20: "Nathan Coulter"

    In this episode, John and Tim discuss Nathan Coulter, Wendell Berry’s debut novel.     Season 2 Episode 5: "Nathan Coulter" The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKS#themembershipreadalong (Instagram) @kirireads @aliciaandherbooks “Burley Coulter at the Bank” (John McCutcheon) New Wendell Berry Audiobooks read by Nick Offerman Libro.fm (Sign up here to support the podcast) Audible - World-Ending Fire Audible - The Unsettling of America Nathan Coulter: A Novel, by Wendell Berry (IndieBound | Amazon) Sugar Calling podcast (feat. George Saunders) Step into the Circle: Writers in Modern Appalachia, by (IndieBound | Amazon) Telling the Stories Right: Wendell Berry’s Imagination of Port William, edited by Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro (IndieBound | Amazon) The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings, by Wendell Berry (IndieBound | Amazon) “Song of Myself,” by Walt Whitman “The Peace of Wild Things,” by Wendell Berry “A Vision,” by Wendell Berry New Collected Poems by Wendell Berry (IndieBound | Amazon | Counterpoint) The Berry Center Bookstore Wendell Berry Catalogue from Counterpoint Press (PDF) The Rabbit Room Podcast Network The Membership Podcast Online Facebook Twitter Instagram HOSTSJason HardyFacebook John PattisonTwitter Tim WasemTwitter If you enjoy the show and would like to support us, head over to Patreon to pledge a small monthly donation. Donations will go toward the costs of making this podcast. Thank you. Top image via Unsplash.

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A podcast about the life of work of Wendell Berry: the Kentucky farmer, poet, novelist, essayist, and activist.

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