The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh

Atmos
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  • NATURE
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Transform your life with nature as your guide. As the editor-in-chief of Atmos, Willow Defebaugh has dedicated her life to illuminating the wisdom of the natural world. In The Nature Of, she sits down with artists, scientists, and cultural pioneers—from Esther Perel to Maggie Rogers—to uncover what nature can teach us about creativity, connection, and change. Named one of Apple’s best podcasts of the year, new episodes are released biweekly on all streaming platforms.

  1. Stories from the Deep with Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen

    JAN 20

    Stories from the Deep with Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen

    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 turned fatal. Together, they reflect on what it means to document the natural world with intimacy rather than distance, and why storytelling, vulnerability, and reverence are essential tools in the fight for our planet. This is a conversation about risk, devotion, and hope, about falling in love with each other, with the ocean, and with a living world worth protecting. Cristina Mittermeier Reflects on Her Life Underwater: https://atmos.earth/science-and-nature/cristina-mittermeier-ocean-conservation/ 60 Seconds On Earth with Cristina Mittermeier: https://atmos.earth/art-and-culture/60-seconds-on-earth-with-cristina-mittermeier/ Behind the Lens: https://atmos.earth/art-and-culture/behind-the-shot-nature-photography/ Thin Ice: https://atmos.earth/climate-solutions/antarctica-conservation-campaign/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    41 min
  2. Baratunde Thurston on Natural vs. Artificial Intelligence

    JAN 6

    Baratunde Thurston on Natural vs. Artificial Intelligence

    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 to encounter a technology that feels less like a tool and more like a presence, one that may soon live alongside us as collaborator, colleague, or even neighbor, while tracing unexpected connections between artificial intelligence and natural intelligence, creativity and extraction, domination and relationship. If you are navigating your own boundaries, questions, or ambivalence around AI, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, embrace nuance, and stay in dialogue with each other, with nature, and with what is emerging. For more about Baratunde Thurston: https://www.baratunde.com/ To watch Life With Machines: https://www.lifewithmachines.media/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    31 min
  3. Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Land Loves You Back

    12/16/2025

    Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Land Loves You Back

    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 world not as something separate from us, but as a generous teacher offering guidance every single day. This conversation is full of wonder and clarity, and it just might change the way you walk outside. On Embracing the More-Than-Human Through Law and Language: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/embracing-the-more-than-human-through-law-and-language/ On Why The World Needs Spiritual Ecology: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/why-the-world-needs-spiritual-ecology/ Find out more about Plant Baby Plant: https://plantbabyplant.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    50 min
  4. Roxane Gay: How Feminism Grows From Here

    12/02/2025

    Roxane Gay: How Feminism Grows From Here

    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 to a broader, more interconnected ecosystem of care. This conversation invites us to imagine feminism as a living practice—one that grows with us, holds us accountable, and makes room for all of our complexity as we work toward a more generous future. For Roxane Gay's substack: https://audacity.substack.com/ On Reproductive Choice: https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/when-the-world-is-on-fire-what-does-reproductive-choice-really-mean/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    45 min
  5. Kate Marvel Will Change How You Feel About Planet Earth

    11/18/2025

    Kate Marvel Will Change How You Feel About Planet Earth

    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 how feelings like wonder, anger, grief, and love can become tools for engagement rather than paralysis, and what it means to hold both scientific truth and emotional complexity in a time of profound transformation. For more about Kate Marvel and her book Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet: https://www.marvelclimate.com/ On Climate Science: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/the-emotional-whiplash-of-a-climate-scientist/   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    42 min
  6. Robert Macfarlane on Embracing Flow and Letting Rivers Heal Us

    11/04/2025

    Robert Macfarlane on Embracing Flow and Letting Rivers Heal Us

    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 stories and laws, asking what becomes possible when we see water as something that moves through us. This conversation invites us to remember that to live is to flow, to be carried, changed, and continually renewed. On the Life of Rivers: https://atmos.earth/climate-solutions/how-recognizing-the-life-of-rivers-could-transform-the-law On the Wisdom of Rivers: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/the-overview-the-wisdom-of-rivers Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    42 min
  7. Suleika Jaouad on Living Every Day Like It’s Your First

    10/21/2025

    Suleika Jaouad on Living Every Day Like It’s Your First

    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 means of expression, but a vital practice of presence, transformation, and survival. Together, they explore imagination as a force that allows us to find our way through uncertainty and re-enchant ourselves with the everyday. For more about Suleika Jaouad: suleikajaouad.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    55 min

  8. 10/07/2025

    ‘The Nature Of’ Returns Oct. 21

    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.

    2 min
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About

Transform your life with nature as your guide. As the editor-in-chief of Atmos, Willow Defebaugh has dedicated her life to illuminating the wisdom of the natural world. In The Nature Of, she sits down with artists, scientists, and cultural pioneers—from Esther Perel to Maggie Rogers—to uncover what nature can teach us about creativity, connection, and change. Named one of Apple’s best podcasts of the year, new episodes are released biweekly on all streaming platforms.

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