The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast

In today’s episode, John and Matt discuss “The Problem Is Industrialism,” the second essay in Wendell Berry’s new essay collection, Dispatches from Rural America. It’s a wide-ranging discussion on a wide-ranging essay that touches on everything from politics and economics, to the theology of sin and the hidden costs of “labor-saving devices.” As you’ll hear, Wendell Berry and his friend Wes Jackson thought that industrialism was the underlying disease and so many other pressing problems—soil erosion, pollution, supply chain issues, and more—the terrible symptoms. Tune in and you’ll also understand why this is a conversation about conversations about a conversation.Reading along? In the next episode (out November 24) we will be discussing the second essay from Dispatches from Rural America: “Technological Progress.” "The Problem Is Industrialism" The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast SHOW NOTES AND LINKS“A Comfort and a Challenge: A Book Review of ‘Dispatches from Rural America’ by Wendell Berry,” by Matt Wheeler (The Rabbit Room)Becoming Native to This Place, by Wes Jackson (Bookshop | Amazon)Nature as Measure, by Wes Jackson (Bookshop | Amazon)“Two Economies” is found in the collection Home Economics, by Wendell Berry (The Berry Center | Bookshop | Amazon)I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition, by Twelve Southerners (Bookshop | Amazon)The Golden Rule quote John read is from the essay “Discipline and Hope,” found in the book A Continuous Harmony, by Wendell Berry (The Berry Center | Bookshop | Amazon)A World Without Email, by Cal Newport (Bookshop | Amazon)BUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRYThe Berry CenterBookshop.orgAmazonTHE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast OnlineYouTubeThe Membership SubstackFacebookTwitterInstagramWebsiteThe Berry CenterWho should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at [email protected]

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 BerryPoem: “Questionnaire,” by Wendell BerryMore about George F. KennanBUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRYThe Berry CenterBookshop.orgAmazonTHE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast OnlineYouTubeThe Membership SubstackFacebookTwitterInstagramWebsiteThe Berry CenterWho should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at [email protected]

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 websiteOur August 2023 interview with MattThe Rabbit Room"How to Be a Poet" (Rabbit Room Poetry Substack)BUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRYThe Berry CenterBookshop.orgAmazonTHE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE The Membership Podcast OnlineYouTubeThe Membership SubstackFacebookTwitterInstagramWebsiteThe Berry CenterWho should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at [email protected]

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 OnlineYouTubeThe Membership SubstackFacebookTwitterInstagramWebsiteThe Berry CenterThe Rabbit Room Podcast NetworkWho should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at [email protected]

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 MagazineWebsite 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 OnlineYouTubeFacebookTwitterInstagramWebsiteThe Berry CenterThe Rabbit Room Podcast NetworkWho should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at [email protected]