Thor Hanson is a delightful storyteller who keeps his eyes and ears close to the ground. After researching plants and animals all over the world from Tanzania to Costa Rica, Thor has come home to his own backyard biology. In his latest book, Close to Home, Thor shares stories and research uncovering entire new species discovered right in his own backyard and in the backyards of others around the world. He invites us to consider how we can better share our homes with the many other life forms who also inhabit our spaces, whether we already know them or not. As a lifelong conservation biologist, Thor shares with stubborn hope that we can be a part of the restoration of our Earth’s wellbeing simply by tending to native ecology and taking care of each one of our neighbors: bugs, birds, plants, and humans.

Cláudio Carvalhaes is an author, teacher, ritual-leader, playwright, and all-round creative soul. He describes himself as an Earth-thinker. He leads by example, sharing the stories of his life where he learned how to live more closely with the natural world and where he unlearned ways of being that separated him from Mother Earth. Cláudio has spent his life as a student of the natural world. He works tirelessly to create a green Earth community for his children. He invites his students in the classroom and through his books to consider ways that they can orient and re-orient their lives to be closer to the Earth. He invites us to consider the social, emotional, embodied, and spiritual ways that connect us to all of the natural beings around us, even in built environments. Cláudio was born in São Paulo, Brazil, teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and lives with his family in central Pennsylvania.

We continue our conversation with Cultivating Place by exploring the creative spirit and how our gardens teach us to live together as neighbors. We are spending more time with founder and host of Cultivating Place, Jennifer Jewell and her co-hosts, Abra Lee and Ben Futa. Jennifer shares about how she decided to create Cultivating Place. Ben shares about creating his community plant shop and how it continues to bring his neighbors together. Abra shares what she has learned about coexistence as a form of building resilience.