Carrying the Fire Podcast

Hosted by journalist and writer Hal Herring, the Carrying the Fire podcast features the voices of writers and thinkers, homesteaders and conservationists, explorers, historians and futurists-human beings carrying the fire of our oldest verities through these tumultuous times. It is about reconnecting us to nature, and to each other. Subscribe to the Carrying the Fire Newsletter here - https://onyourownadventures.activehosted.com/f/19

Carrying the Fire Podcast is a society podcast hosted by Hal Herring, with 6 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Hal Herring hosts Carrying the Fire Podcast, a society show with 6 episodes published.

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  Carrying the Fire Podcast

  Derrick Jensen on the Uncompromising Pursuit of Hard, Dangerous Truths | Episode 5

  Jul 15, 20261h 48m

  In this unfiltered episode of Carrying the Fire, host Hal Herring joins environmental philosopher and author Derrick Jensen for a deep, 30-year retrospective on Jensen’s life, work, and uncompromising ecological and social analysis. The realities discussed here are uncomfortable ones: the foundational truth of a culture utterly addicted to growth on a finite planet, and the degradation of both truth and human dignity that such an addiction requires. In Carrying the Fire, we sometimes get a little scorched. This episode is not for every listener- Jensen’s vast body of work is not created to reassure or to console but to provoke, to confront, and to, in challenging us, offer us a new way of seeing the path forward. Because there is a path forward- it lies in remembering our beautiful place here on this planet, and the real power of humanity, to act not with callow hubris and disdain, but on the side of infinite, vibrant life. Works by Derrick Jensen Visit Derrick’s website to explore his entire breadth of work - https://derrickjensen.org/work/books-dvds-cds/ A Language Older Than Words – Jensen's breakthrough 2000 book exploring deep ecology, interpersonal trauma, and societal violence. The Myth of Human Supremacy – A text heavily praised by Hal Herring for its cogent takedown of anthropocentrism. Endgame (Volume 1 & Volume 2) – Jensen's foundational work focusing on the inherent unsustainability of civilization. Listening to the Land: Conversations about Nature, Culture, and Eros – Jensen's early book composed of environmental interviews. Dreams – Mentioned by Jensen during a critique of his own past writing regarding how nature "fights back." Unnamed Marijuana Growing Guide – Jensen mentions having written a book about his 15 years of experience growing cannabis in containers. Books by Other Authors Ishmael by Daniel Quinn  The Dream of the Earth by Father Thomas Berry War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger  Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation by John Livingston Against the Grain: How Agriculture Hijacked Civilization by Richard "Dick" Manning Last Stand: Logging, Journalism, and the Case for Humility by Richard "Dick" Manning  The Natural Alien: Humankind and Environment by Neil Evernden Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben  My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor Industrial Society and Its Future (The Unabomber Manifesto) by Ted Kaczynski Poetry, Essays, Films & Media "Letter to Oskar Pollak" (1904) by Franz Kafka  In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson American Psychosis (2017) – A documentary short featuring Chris Hedges and directed by Amanda Zackem. The Sun Magazine – The independent literary magazine edited by Sy Safransky where both Herring and Jensen published interviews early in their careers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Carrying the Fire Podcast

  Derrick Jensen on the Uncompromising Pursuit of Hard, Dangerous Truths | Episode 5

  Jul 15, 20261h 48mS0

  <p>In this unfiltered episode of Carrying the Fire, host Hal Herring joins environmental philosopher and author Derrick Jensen for a deep, 30-year retrospective on Jensen’s life, work, and uncompromising ecological and social analysis.</p> <p>The realities discussed here are uncomfortable ones: the foundational truth of a culture utterly addicted to growth on a finite planet, and the degradation of both truth and human dignity that such an addiction requires. In Carrying the Fire, we sometimes get a little scorched.</p> <p>This episode is not for every listener- Jensen’s vast body of work is not created to r...

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  Carrying the Fire Podcast

  The deep and tangled history of the Mississippi River with Boyce Upholt | Episode 4

  Jul 2, 20261h 40mS0

  <p>In this episode of Carrying the Fire, host Hal Herring sits down with New Orleans-based journalist and author Boyce Upholt. Boyce is the author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi,  which Amazon calls, “Rich and powerful… a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its power―a lesson that is all too relevant in our rapidly changing world.”</p> <p>While teaching school in the Mississippi Delta, Boyce took an assignment to write a magazine story about legendary guide and riverman John Ruskey. Ruskey took Boyc...

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  Carrying the Fire Podcast

  The deep and tangled history of the Mississippi River with Boyce Upholt | Episode 4

  Jul 2, 20261h 40m

  In this episode of Carrying the Fire, host Hal Herring sits down with New Orleans-based journalist and author Boyce Upholt. Boyce is the author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which Amazon calls, “Rich and powerful… a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its power―a lesson that is all too relevant in our rapidly changing world.” While teaching school in the Mississippi Delta, Boyce took an assignment to write a magazine story about legendary guide and riverman John Ruskey. Ruskey took Boyce into a world he had not imagined- hidden behind the levees, lost beyond the green thickets that wall off the river. “I was entranced by the landscape I found there: a wilderness, threading through the heart of the nation. I began to write more stories about the Mississippi, in part just for the excuse to get back out there.” He would eventually paddle the river from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico and spend years collecting the stories and history that became The Great River. Boyce Upholt also is the co-founder and editor of the bi-annual magazine Southlands “A magazine about the wild South, in all its forms. Take the low road.” He lives in New Orleans with his wife and new baby. This interview explores the deep, tangled history of the continent's most legendary waterway, tracking the river from its ancient, indigenous past to its highly engineered, precarious present. Hal and Boyce discuss the hubris of trying to "freeze time" on a dynamic river, the dark environmental and social legacies of the Delta's plantation economy, and what it truly means to "think like a watershed." Boyce shares the inspiration behind his latest venture, Southlands magazine, a new print publication dedicated to honoring the nature, outdoor culture, and rich literary heritage of the American South. Books & Magazines The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi by Boyce Upholt A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places by Christopher Brown Meant to Be Wild: The Struggle to Save Endangered Species through Captive Breeding by Jan DeBlieu Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity by Paul Kingsnorth Against the Grain: How Agriculture Hijacked Civilization by Richard Manning Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott The Bear by William Faulkner Southlands – Boyce Upholt’s twice-yearly print magazine focused on nature, outdoors, and how the people of the South relate to the natural world. The Bitter Southerner – The digital publication where Upholt published his very first profile piece on canoeing guide John Ruskey. Mountain Gazette – Legacy outdoor print magazines referenced as regional benchmarks that Southlands looks to complement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Carrying the Fire Podcast

  Southern Bison Trails and the Return of the Southeastern Grasslands, a conversation with Jeremy French and Dwayne Estes of the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative

  Jun 18, 20262h 17mS0

  <p>"Simplicity is extinction. The key to resiliency is biodiversity—saving enough species so that whatever happens next, we're okay." — Jeremy French, SGI Ecological Restoration Chief</p> <p><br></p> <p>We’ve all heard the old myth: before European settlement, a squirrel could travel from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River without ever touching the ground. But it wasn’t true. From the wiregrass prairies of the coastal plain to the Barrens of Kentucky and all parts between and beyond, the American Southeast was a dramatically complex mosaic of forests, grasslands, savannahs and grazing-and-fire dependent wetlands, spiderwebbed with bison an...

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