The Mushroom Hour Podcast

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are honored to be joined by Piotr Zieba, professor’s assistant at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland. Piotr works with gourmet and medical mushrooms and his journey started on Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture. During his bioengineering studies he found out that nobody was doing research on mushrooms. So, Piotr took matters into his own hands and organized a Student Science program to start to cultivating mushrooms. At this point in his career, Piotr has completed a master thesis about oyster mushrooms, coauthored 11 scientific papers and is now finishing PhD studies. His work focuses on different properties of mycelium from in vitro culture and fruiting bodies, but also focuses on supplementation of mushroom substrate with novel bio-materials. Working on a multidisciplinary science team, Piotr is currently pursuing all kinds of exciting work on mushrooms from attempting to cultivate wild mushrooms, using nontypical agriculture and food waste in mushroom cultivation and using waste mushroom substrate as fertilizer. His passion for mycology is palpable, and along with a great team of professors, doctors and students he is working to learn everything he can for the glory of mushrooms.   TOPICS COVERED:   Childhood in Nature Picking Mushrooms   University of Agriculture Krakow   Visions of a Mushroom Cultivating Future in Poland   Experiments with Substrate   Nutritional Profiles of Mushrooms Grown on Different Substrates   Contamination Learning Curve   Mycelium vs Fruiting Body Nutritional Compounds   Mapping Nutrition Profiles with Differing Growth Parameters   Isolating and Cultivating Wild Fungi   Impact of Piotr’s Research on his University   Advice for Mushroom Cultivators   Downstream Applications of Spent Mushroom Substrate   Future Cultivation Tech – Ozone Sterilization   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Poland Fungi IG: https://www.instagram.com/polandfungi/   Piotr Zieba Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zieba-Piotr   University of Agriculture in Krakow: https://en.urk.edu.pl/   Marasmius alliaceus (Fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycetinis_alliaceus   Pleurotus ostreatus (Fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are blessed to speak with Manoj Doss. Manoj is a cognitive neuropsychopharmacologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University. His research is at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology with focuses on episodic memory and hallucinogenic drugs. Manoj utilizes complex cognitive paradigms, brain imaging, and computational modelling to explore what makes psychedelics unique compared to other classes of psychoactive drugs, both in terms of basic drug effects and mechanisms for treating clinical populations. Although Manoj is optimistic that psychedelics will soon have a place in psychiatry, he remains cautious of exaggerated claims and negligence to potential downsides, something he terms 'psychedelic myopia’.    TOPICS COVERED:   Cognitive Neuroscience & Neuropsychopharmacology   Psychedelic Neuroscience   Types of Memory - Episodic, Semantic, Procedural   Parts of the Brain - Hippocampus, Neocortex   Recollection vs Familiarity   Psychedelics Impacting Memory through Familiarity   Is Memory Stored in Parts of the Body Other than the Brain?   How Do We Make False Memories?   Debunking the “Default Mode Network” Narrative   Psychedelic Science and Incorporating Existing Scientific Disciplines   Showing Psychedelics are Actually Useful in Treating Any Disorders   Commentary on Structuring Psychedelic Research   Future of Psychedelic Therapy as Adjunct to Existing Therapies?   Tempering Conclusions and Expectations from Psychedelic Research   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Manoj Doss Twitter: https://twitter.com/ManojDoss   Manoj Doss Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Manoj-Doss   Manoj Doss @ Johns Hopkins: https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/doss   John O'Keefe Nobel Prize work on Hippocampal place cells: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04913-9   Doss et al paper on reward dynamics: http://dml.ucdavis.edu/uploads/6/1/9/7/61974117/gruber_ritchey_wang_doss_ranganath_2016.pdf   Default Mode Network Hypothesis: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020/full   PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story by Alexander Shulgin: https://www.amazon.com/Pihkal-Chemical-Story-Alexander-Shulgin/dp/0963009605   Janice Chen paper on shared experience: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=mOwF8UEAAAAJ&citation_for_view=mOwF8UEAAAAJ:M05iB0D1s5AC   Marc Berman paper on benefits of interacting with nature: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are honored to be joined by Geoff Williams PhD, International Sentinel Network Coordinator for the US Forest Service. Geoff studies the social dimensions and microbial ecology of host range expansions and geographic range expansions of forest trees, their fungal pathogens, and their insect herbivores. Geoff just moved to Oregon from West Lafayette, Indiana where he studied the role of the microbiome in Thousand Cankers Disease of Eastern black walnut in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. Prior to that he has worked and lived in Idaho, Arizona, Mexico, and Chicago, originally hailing Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his current position he is gathering information on forest insects and pathogens across the world. The ultimate goal is to build networks of cooperation and information exchange with international collaborators to help protect native forest tree species in the US and all over the world from the next highly destructive or devastating insect or fungal pathogen that could be introduced through trade and travel. The opinions expressed by Geoff in our show to do not represent policy stances of the US government.   TOPICS COVERED:   A Winding Path towards Forest Pathology   Fungal Phytopathogens   Community Assembly in Forest Ecosystems   Novel Pathogenic Interactions in the Age of the Anthropocene   Proactive Approach to Managing Forest Pathogens   Complex Social Impacts of Forest Pathogens    Interconnectedness of Forest Ecosystems Across Continents    Global Forest Health Crisis   Interplay of International Trade Agreements & Natural Resource Protections   Sentinel Tree Network   Urban Forest Management   “Invasive Species” & Invasion Biology Framework   Invasive Species vs Invasive Populations   Citizen Scientist Role in Monitoring Forest Pathogens   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Geoffrey Williams Website: https://geoffreymwilliams.weebly.com/   Thousand Cankers Disease: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/thousand-cankers-disease/thousand-cankers-disease   Geosmithia morbida (fungal pathogen): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmithia_morbida   Juglans nigra (Eastern Black Walnut): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_nigra   Laurel Wilt Disease: https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Pests-and-Diseases/Plant-Pests-and-Diseases/Laurel-Wilt-Disease   Sentinel Trees: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-018-1041-6   Cortinarius violaceus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_violaceus

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by the fungal trifecta behind Umbo Medicinal Mushrooms – Rashad Evans, Jake Plummer and Del Jolly. Rashad Evans is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion who intimately understands the connection between mind and body, and the importance of having both in sync. He credits mushrooms for that one-two punch of focus + energy in training and competition, and then easing the transition from fighter to daily life. Rashad is passionate about transforming sports nutrition and transforming access to education so that others can have the same opportunities that he did.    Jake Plummer is a Pro-Bowl NFL Quarterback who spent 10 years in the league earning a reputation as a natural leader. He inspired his teammates to believe in themselves and in each other – personal excellence for the sake of the team. This ethos is what drew him to natural medicine, eager to learn what mushrooms can do for each of us individually and how we can pool that collective power to help make a better world for all.   Focused on shifting the cultural narrative, Del Jolly worked as part of Decriminalize Denver and Charlotte’s Web CBD before co-founding Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelic research nonprofit partnered with the likes of Johns Hopkins University. He believes functional mushrooms have just as much, if not more, potential than psychedelics and is committed to exploring and unearthing everything he can.    TOPICS COVERED:   UFC, NFL and Medicinal Activism - All Roads Lead to Mushrooms   Introduction to Queendom Fungi     Athletes and Functional Mushrooms   Preaching the Mushroom Gospel to NFL and UFC athletes   Functional Mushrooms More Impactful than Psychedelics?!   Role of Psychedelic Mushrooms in Team Sports   Sparring & Microdosing   Fungally-Expanded Perspectives on Achievement and Dominance   We are all Actors   Mushrooms & Masculinity   Rites of Passage   Formation of UMBO & Entering a Limitless Future   The Power of Intention   Making Medicine Accessible to All   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Umbo Website: https://getumbo.com/   Umbo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getumbo/   Unlimited Sciences Website: https://unlimitedsciences.org/   MycoLove Farm Website: https://www.mycolove.farm/

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by mycological ally, cultivator and community creator Olga Tzogas of Smugtown Mushrooms. Her journey with Fungi and plants started over 15 years ago. She began working with these allies when foraging in both urban & more wild settings as she learned to identify species for food and medicine. Olga, alongside her community, established Smugtown Mushrooms to satiate their need for mushrooms & growing supplies, workshops, events & community-based science where they are based on traditional Haudenosaunee land, in the so-called city of Rochester NY. While learning more & embracing the never-ending, unlocked potential mushrooms & fungi have to help heal both people, planet & soul. Olga teaches workshops throughout the continent about wild mushroom identification, medicinal mushrooms, biology, and mushroom cultivation. She was a core organizer for the 2016 Radical Mycology Convergence and the MycoSymbiotics Festival from 2015-17. In 2018, Olga help co-create the New Moon Mycology Summit, a justice-focused, mycology centered event, linking many disciplines extending throughout the living world.  Olga is a member of the Rochester Area Mycological Association, CPAMC, WPAMC & the West Virginia Mushroom club. Annually, Olga guides small groups immersing in land based and traditional knowledge of Northern Greece, highlighting the fungi and plants there.  I’m excited to learn from a legend in mycology who seems to bring the teachings of fungi into every aspect of her life.   TOPICS COVERED:   Lifelong Love of Mushrooms   Forests and Mushrooms in Greece   Hosting Forage Trips in Greece   Mycology Reaching Across Disciplines & Cultural Barriers   Story of Smugtown   Grappling with Oligarchy   Are We Allowed to Just Exist?   Are Currencies, Corporations and Governments the Answer?   Starving for Natural Connection    Mushrooms Remediating Social Ecologies      Evolution of Mycological Community   Solutions Inspired by Mushrooms   Smugtown Shifting Focus to Community Building   Building Networks of Solidarity and Support    EPISODE RESOURCES:   Smugtown Mushrooms Website: https://www.smugtownmushrooms.com/   Smugtown Mushrooms IG: https://www.instagram.com/smugtownmushrooms/   Smugtown Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smugtownmushrooms/   New Moon Mycology Summit: https://www.facebook.com/newmoonmycologysummit   2021 Indigenous Peoples Day Event in DC: https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/12/native-american-protesters-hit-by-sonic-weapons-in-dc/

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to chat with internationally renowned wild foods expert, author, and public speaker Miles Irving. Miles has worked with some of the world's best chefs and has been a pioneer in the Wild Food Renaissance. In 2009, he authored The Forager Handbook, hailed by many as the 'foraging bible'. Through communicating with people around the world and delving deep into the environmental - and emotional - issues facing us, he has sought to bring together traditional ecological knowledge and those hungry for land-based connection, community, and culture. Reconnecting with the life-giving wild land which has long sustained us is key. There is not only a way forward but a wildly different way of looking at the world.   TOPICS COVERED:   Exploring Nature with Father & Grandfather   Connection with Nature Starts with 1 Species   Become a Recovering Weirdo   Activating Powers of Observation & Pattern Recognition   The Forager Handbook   Pulling Down the Neoliberal Regime   Greenwashing   Guiding a Lost Society Back to Nature   Going Deeper into Ecology through Wild Foods   Traditional Ecological Knowledge   Common Edible Plants   Nettle and The Umami Equation   Working with Acorn Flour   Porcini’s GABA-induced Happiness?   EPISODE RESOURCES:    World Wild Website: https://www.worldwild.org.uk/   Goldcrest (bird species): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldcrest   Mark Lewis (inspiration): https://prn.live/its-all-about-food-mark-lewis-chmachyakyakya-8000-year-crops-07-26-16/   Chamaenerion angustifolium (AKA Fireweed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaenerion_angustifolium   Braiding Sweetgrass: https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass   The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-wild-wisdom-of-weeds/   Tending the Wild: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520280434/tending-the-wild   Dark Emu: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21401526-dark-emu   Boletus edulis (AKA Porcini): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_edulis

Today we are honored by the presence of the legendary Dr. Dennis McKenna. Dr. McKenna has conducted research in ethnopharmacology for over 40 years.  He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, and was a key investigator on the Hoasca Project, the first biomedical investigation of ayahuasca.  He is the younger brother of Terence McKenna.  From 2000 to 2017, he taught courses on Ethnopharmacology and Plants in Human affairs as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota. In 2018, Dr. McKenna conceived the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy to explore modern and traditional practices, ideas and technologies that foster the understanding of nature, consciousness, the cosmos and their interweavings with humanity. The Academy’s mission is to be a catalyst for the transformation of global consciousness, through educational experiences that interweave our collective intelligence, science, and ancestral wisdom.   TOPICS COVERED:   The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss   The Experiment at La Chorrera   Ethnopharmacology   Tryptophan, Tryptamines & 5HT2A ReceptorsPsychedelic Biochemistry   Messenger Molecules & Signal Transduction   Psychedelic CommunicationsNeural Gating & The Reality Hallucination   Future of Psychedelics in Modern, Western Culture   Psychedelics Sourced from South America – Short-Term Extraction, Long-Term Symbiosis?   Nature Wave Zero   Humans as an Endangered Species   Undiscovered Psychedelic Compounds   The McKenna Academy   EPISODE RESOURCES   McKenna Academy: https://mckenna.academy/   McKenna Academy IG: https://www.instagram.com/mckenna.academy/   "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss": https://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Screaming-Abyss-Terence-McKenna/dp/0878396365   "Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements": https://typeset.io/papers/botanical-medicines-the-desk-reference-for-major-herbal-2df0ifn7xz   5-HT2A Receptors: https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/5-HT2A_receptor   ESPD55 Website: https://espd55.com/   Stephen Harrod Buhner: https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/books/   Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts-ebook/dp/B00BOE16V8

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Professor Jonathan Schilling from the University of Minnesota. Jonathan has been on the faculty at the University of Minnesota since 2006, and is currently a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in the College of Biological Sciences. In addition to teaching and researching all things fungal, he is the Director at the Itasca Biological Station & Laboratories in northwestern Minnesota. This field station for science is tucked into thirty-two thousand acres of old growth boreal forests within the second oldest State Park in the United States. The station also sits next to a lake, Lake Itasca, which is known as the headwaters of the Mississippi River. He assumed that position in 2018. Adding these duties to his job was, in his words, "a reflection of my deep connection and commitment to nature that was forged in the mountains of West Virginia as a kid, along the entirety of the Appalachian Trail as a young adult, and among family and friends in a Saint Paul neighborhood who have shown how important community is to conservation.   TOPICS COVERED:   Drawn into the Boreal Forest   Role of Fungi in Forest Acid Deposition   Basics of Wood-Rotting Saprobic Fungi   White Rot, Brown Rot & Soft Rot Fungi   Historical Contingency and Succession in Wood Rot   Fungi in the Carbon Cycle   Jonathan’s Lignin Uncertainty   Patterns in Distributions of Wood Rot Fungi   Pre-White Rot Fungi Coal Formation Hypothesis   Wood Rot 2 Step - Fungi Throwing Dynamite & Avoiding the Blowback   Itasca Research Station   Community Science & Assembling the A Team   Advice for Pursuing Studies in Mycology    Decomposition Builds Character   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Jonathan Schilling Academic Page: https://cbs.umn.edu/contacts/jonathan-schilling   Itasca Biological Research Station: https://cbs.umn.edu/itasca   PLOS ONE Research Article: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120679   Frontiers of Microbiology Research Article: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01646/full   Fomitopsis pinicola (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitopsis_pinicola   Fomitopsis betulina (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitopsis_betulina

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the opportunity to speak with Maurizio Montalti. Maurizio Montalti is a designer, researcher, educator and entrepreneur. Working at the junction of design and biotech, he is one of the early pioneers committed to the study and development of wide-ranging mycelium-based technologies and products. Maurizio is Chief Mycelium Officer, Chairman, and co-Founder of SQIM, the (bio)technology company developing innovative processes and products by unravelling the potential of mycelium as key biofabrication agent and technology, for application and use across different industries, as fundamentally rooted in the valorisation of residual materials’ streams by means of microbial fermentation. As (bio-)technological holding, today SQIM serves its two verticals/brands: MOGU (biomaterials/products dedicated to interior design and architecture) and EPHEA (biomaterials/products dedicated to fashion, automotive, etc.). Maurizio’s work has been honoured with multiple awards, widely featured in the global media, and exhibited worldwide in prestigious musea, galleries, and institutions, including Museum of Modern Art (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Design Museum (London), Triennale (Milano), MAXXI (Rome), and MAK- Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna), among others.   TOPICS COVERED:   Into the Spiraling Vortex of Mycelium   From Degradation of Waste to Regenerative Materials   Mogu Acoustic Collection   Selecting Fungal Species & Strains as Materials   Standardizing Unpredictable Myco-Materials   Can Organisms Retain Agency when Enlisted to Human Scientific and Economic Endeavour?   Wild Genetic Variation within Fungal Species   Fungal Strains SQIM Collaborates With   Becoming Fluent in the Language of Fungi    Living Buildings & Autonomous Biowelding   “Ephea” Leather and Fabric Product Lines   Scaling SQIM & Modular Mycelium Production   Circular Production Processes, Seeing Waste as a Resource   Fungi in Space   EPISODE RESOURCES:   SQIM Website: https://www.sqim.bio/   Mogu Website: https://mogu.bio/   Mogu IG: https://www.instagram.com/mogumycelium/   Fungal Architecture Project: https://www.fungar.eu/   Officina Corpuscoli: https://www.corpuscoli.com/   Schizophyllum commune (AKA Split Gill Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophyllum_commune   "Braiding Sweetgrass": https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass   "Designs for the Pluroverse": https://www.dukeupress.edu/designs-for-the-pluriverse   "Mushroom at the End of the World": https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691220550/the-mushroom-at-the-end-of-the-world

Today we are joined by the magnanimous and adventurous Jules Amanita. Jules is a self-taught amateur mycologist with a passion for demystifying fungi and combatting mycophobia. They are a 26-year-old avid mushroom photographer, artist, and chef who identifies as queer/nonbinary. Living at Twin Oaks Community, an egalitarian commune in central Virginia they live an outdoorsy, DIY lifestyle that is highly aligned with values of social justice and sustainability. Jules creates pictorial, text-based, animated, video, musical, and interactive content aimed at educating the public about mushrooms. Common themes include identification, field guide literacy, conservation, cultural history, accessible science, cooking, and general appreciation of fungi. They also lead virtual and in-person workshops on mushroom identification, as well as teaching a weekly Forest School to a group of children between the ages of 2 and 10. I’m excited to learn more from someone who unabashedly celebrates fungi in their myriad forms!   TOPICS COVERED:   Shaggy Manes, Indigo Milkcaps    Autodidactic Mycology Journey    Foraging Resources   Finding & Cultivating Foraging Community   Online Foraging CultureFungi as Non-Binary, Mycology as a Queer Discipline   Redefining Human Narratives    Twin Oaks Egalitarian Community   Realities of Starting and Running a Commune     Chores, Income & Relationship Dynamics in Communes   How Communes Interact with Broader Social Ecologies100+ Species of Mushrooms Eaten?!   Life Narrative Entwined in Mycology    EMDR & Foraging as Trauma Therapy   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Jules Amanita Website: https://www.mushroomqueer.com/   Jules' IG: https://www.instagram.com/jules.amanita/   Jules' Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jules.amanita?lang=en   Mushroom Expert: https://mushroomexpert.com/   The Bolete Filter: https://boletes.wpamushroomclub.org/    Federation of Egalitarian Communities: https://www.thefec.org/   Twin Oaks Intentional Community: https://www.twinoaks.org/   Lactifluus Genus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactifluus   Lactifluus volemus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactifluus_volemus   Lactifluus hygrophoroides: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactifluus_hygrophoroides   Lactifluus corrugis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactifluus_corrugis   Leotia lubrica (Jelly baby): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leotia_lubrica   Exsudoporus frostii (Frost's bolete): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exsudoporus_frostii

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of being joined by Prof. Toby Kiers - Professor of Evolutionary Biology and University Research Chair at Vrije Fryy Universiteit Universitight Amsterdam. Her lab uses nanoprobes and high-resolution imaging to map the nutrient flows and architecture of plant-fungal networks. She is globally recognized for her scientific work in the evolution of symbiotic trade, and her public outreach activities, including a 2019 TED talk. Kiers won an Ammodo Award in 2019 for “unfettered science”, was awarded the E.O. Wilson Award for Natural History in 2021 and won an IMPACT award from the Dutch science foundation in 2021 for founding the non-profit SPUN - the Society for the Protection of Underground networks.   TOPICS COVERED:   Morel Memories  & Research in Panama   Refining Definitions of Symbiosis and Mutualism    How Ecosystems are Shaped by Competitive and Symbiotic Dynamics   Symbiosis and Mutualism without Altruism    Competition within Mutualisms    Biological Market Theory   "Decisions" vs. Genetic Strategies   Quantum Dot Technology & Visualizing Fungal Networks   Mysteries of Bi-Directional Nutrient Transport & Molecular Motors     Fungal & Plant Market Manipulations   Can Understanding Fungal Market Economies Help Us Predict the Stock Market?    How Do We Quantify Flows in Real World Forests?   SPUN – The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks    Shifting Conservation Priorities to the Unseen   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Toby Kiers Website: https://tobykiers.com/   SPUN Website: https://www.spun.earth/   Ronald Noë (Biological Market Theory): https://sites.google.com/site/ronaldnoe/RN-home?authuser=0   Rhizophagus aggregatus (fungus): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=241619

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of woodland spirit Fergus Drennan aka Fergus The Forager. Fergus has been gathering and learning about wild plants, seaweeds, and fungi for over 40 years. His journey begun on Wimbledon Common, aged 3 years, collecting dandelions for the family’s pet tortoise. Since those early days, and through much creative and experimental exploration he has continued his foraging practice, not only as a means to understand and to discover the practical relevance that foraging has in the modern developed world, but also in terms of what it means to be an environmentally conscious human in relation to the natural world. “Can foraging ever be considered a truly sustainable practice, and if so how?”, is a question that always orchestrates his foraging activity. So too does a pursuit of foraging’s playful and creative possibilities. Truth be told, Fergus just loves being outside, admiring nature as part of nature, living in touch with her reassuring seasonal cycles, awake to her sensuality, her surprises, opportunities, and endless gifts, in pursuit of the good life.   TOPICS COVERED:   Trips with Mom to Wimbledon Common   Tortoise Teacher, I Spy Insects   Play, Creativity and Foraging    Brambles, Pine Pollen & Jelly Ears   Foraging “Nose to Tail”   Foraging as a Subversive Act   Life Stacking   Avoiding Neurosis & Being Saved by Others   Reciprocal Dialogue with the Natural World   Developing a Relationship with Local Open Space   Complicity in Industrial Systems   Amanita muscaria Workshops   Amanita muscaria as Food & Medicine   Foraged Books & Making Paper from Mushrooms    EPISODE RESOURCES:   Fergus the Forager Website: https://fergustheforager.co.uk/ Fergus IG: https://www.instagram.com/fergustheforager/ Pine pollen: https://nutrawiki.org/pine-pollen/ Auricularia auricula-judae (AKA Jelly Ear): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auricularia_auricula-judae Plantago major: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major Pascal Baudar: https://www.urbanoutdoorskills.com/ Fergus Henderson (author): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whole_Beast  Jason Hickel (author): https://www.jasonhickel.org/  Katy Bowman: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/  Fomitopsis betulina (AKA Birch Polypore): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomitopsis_betulina  David Arora article on Amanita muscaria: https://williamrubel.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/rubel_arora_muscaria_economic_botany3.pdf&#8221  Merck Index: https://www.rsc.org/merck-index  Phallus impudicus (AKA Stinkhorn): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus_impudicus

Today on Mushroom Hour we the privilege to get to know mushroom cultivation artist Kiat. Kiat is the founder of Bewilder, a Mycological Design Studio based in Singapore. As the one-man R&D team behind this project, Kiat knows his science! For him, growing mushrooms is an intense and carefully tuned process that also blends in a fair bit of artistry and intuition. Before founding Bewilder, Kiat worked on a local farm cultivating mushrooms out of waste substrates. These years of experience and experimentation formed him into the self-taught mushroom cultivator he is today. As he explores ever more mysteries of growing fungi, he continues to bow his head humbly to the ways of nature.   TOPICS COVERED:Childhood Love of Nature Becomes a Mushroom Addiction   Mycophobia and “Success Culture” in Singapore   Showing What's Possible, Asking Questions    Mushrooms as a Tool for Doing Good   Founding Bewilder Design Studio   Communities vs Competition in Myco-Entrepreneurship   Myco-Composite Materials   Government Control and Separation from Nature     Seeking Out Native Strains for Food & Mycomaterials   Mycelium Lampshades   Being Humble, Recognizing Our Place in Nature   Relinquishing Control, Reconnecting to Greater Consciousness   Importance of Making Mistakes   Bewilder Commercial Projects and Research Areas   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Bewilder SG Website: https://www.bewildersg.com/   Bewilder IG: https://www.instagram.com/bewildersg/   Terrestrial Fungi (Inspiration): https://www.instagram.com/bewildersg/   Ganoderma weberianum (fungus): https://www.mycobank.org/page/Name%20details%20page/name/Ganoderma%20weberianum   Filoboletus manipularis (fungus): https://singapore.biodiversity.online/species/F-Basidomycota-000035   Mycena chlorophos (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycena_chlorophos

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of mycologist and musician Andy Overall. Andy has had a fascinating journey from the Blue Zoo and pop stardom back through the hedges and woodlands when he became interested in mushrooms back in the early 1990’s. He realized he needed something else, another interest other than his involvement with music. Growing up as a boy during the 60’s in the English, market town countryside, of Braintree, Essex he nurtured an interest in nature…And then along came David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and everything changed course for a while! Later in life his rekindled interest in fungi evolved into obsession as he began to see an infinite variety of fungal species appearing before him and he wanted to get to know them all. Since his obsession began, Andy has published magazines, countless articles and in 2017 his first book all about fungi -  “FUNGI-Mushrooms & Toadstools of Parks, Gardens, Heaths and Woodlands”. He is the fungi recorder for the London Natural History Society and a Group Leader in the London Fungus Group. I’m excited to learn about the mycological journey of a culture creator, artist and naturalist and his explorations into what he so poetically dubs, “the jewels in nature’s crown”   TOPICS COVERED:   From Wilderness to Ziggy Stardust   Birth of Blue Zoo   Shifting from Pop Stardom to Mycology   Evolution of the Amateur Mycology Community   Professional Surveying for Fungi    Insights from Biodiversity Databases   Making Better Decisions About Forest Management   Role of DNA in Fungal Surveys   Heathrow Airport Cortinarius    Contributions of Amateur Naturalists   Tips to Making Better Observations   Process of Mushroom Spotting & Identification    Ethnomycology Travels in Oaxaca, Czech Republic, Australia   Published and Unpublished Works of Gaston Guzman   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Andy Overall Website: http://www.fungitobewith.org/   London Fungi Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/LondonFungusNetwork/   British Mycological Society: https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/   Blue Zoo Website: http://www.bluezoo.org.uk/   Roger Phillips (Legend): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Phillips_(photographer)   Marcel Bon (Mycologist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Bon   Mark Spencer (Botanist): https://markspencerbotanist.com/   GIGL: https://www.gigl.org.uk/londons-open-spaces/   Cortinarius heatherae (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_heatherae   Laetiporus sulphureus (AKA Chicken of the Woods): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of being joined by Dr. Kevin Boyce, Professor of Geological Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Boyce's research is focused on the biological and environmental impacts of the evolution of plant structure, development, and physiology from the Paleozoic colonization of land through the subsequent radiations of land plant forms up to and including the Cretaceous radiation of flowering plants. This work involves both living and fossil plants and a wide variety of approaches: developmental and physiological investigation, climate modeling, comparative study of morphological diversity, and cell and tissue-specific analysis of elemental, isotopic, and organic chemistry. These tools have been applied to three connected areas of research that each inform wider questions concerning the evolution of terrestrial environments: 1. the evolution of leaf morphology, development, and physiology with feedbacks to climate and primary productivity, 2. the evolution of cell wall biochemistry and its influence on organic matter burial as a sink in the carbon cycle, and 3. the establishment of early terrestrial life and ecosystems encompassing the complete biota including animals, fungi, and microbial communities in addition to the plants. I’m excited to learn about the coevolution of plants and fungi, prototaxites and how we learn about organismal evolution and community assembly from the ancient past.    TOPICS COVERED:   The Path into PaleontologyGeobiology & Defining Geological Eras   Fungal & Plant Fossil Records   Absolute Time & Relative Time   Evolution of Plant Physiology   Coevolution of Plants, Bacteria, Fungi and Animals   Stochastic "Rules" of Community Assembly   Geochemistry   Genetic Tools and Phylogeny Changing Paleontology   Prototaxites   Biochemical Signatures of Heretrophs and Autotrophs   Piecing Together a Paleozoic Landscape    Lifestyle, Physiology and Growth Rate of Prototaxites   Future Work into the Cenozoic   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Dr. Kevin Boyce Academic Website: https://biology.stanford.edu/people/kevin-boyce   Dr. Boyce Paper on Prototaxites: https://awarticles.s3.amazonaws.com/Boyce2007.pdf   Prototaxites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototaxites   Geologic Time Scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale   "Wonderful Life" by Stephen Gould: https://wwnorton.com/books/Wonderful-Life/   Lycopodium (clubmoss genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopodium   "Stinkhorn" Mushrooms: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/stinkhorns.html

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of one of my favorite biophiliacs and artists -Jon Ching. Jon grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world.  A self-taught painter, Jon’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature.  While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Jon’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce.  New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth.  His work is often driven by his personal desire to find balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Highlighting man-made threats to the natural world are a regular theme in his work to raise awareness of and evoke compassion for the kingdoms of life. Jon’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.   TOPICS COVERED:   Childhood in Hawaii as Inspiration   Unlocking Biological Imagination   Powers of Observation   Impact of Becoming a Father   Slowing Down   Communicating Ecological Messages Through Artwork   Fungi Finding Their Way onto the Canvas   Navigating the Professional Art World   Gallery Shows   Materials, Process and Timeline of Creating Paintings    From Paintings to Murals   Future Projects   WTF NFTs   Finding Equilibrium with Natural Systems   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Jon Ching Website: https://jonchingart.com/   Jon Ching IG: https://www.instagram.com/jonchingart/   Jon Ching FB: https://www.facebook.com/JonChingArt   Jon Ching @ Beinart Gallery: https://beinart.org/collections/jon-ching   Hericium erinaceus (AKA Lions Mane): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Professor Vera Meyer from the Technical University of Berlin. Professor Meyer’s career has seen her as a visiting scientist to the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London (2003) and to the department of Fungal Genetics and Metabolomics at Leiden University in the Netherlands (2005 - 2006). In 2008, Professor Meyer was appointed assistant professor for Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology at Leiden University, a position she held for three years. Since 2011, she has been professor at the Institute of Biotechnology and head of its department for Applied and Molecular Microbiology at the Technical University of Berlin. Her scientific work in the field of fungal biotechnology has been published in more than 100 publications. Vera also works as a visual artist, using the pseudonym V. meer. She puts a strong emphasis on sculpting and creating objects from chance finds like forest mushrooms, decaying wood and scrap metal. Inspired by her scientific work with fungi in microbiology, she combines these materials in the sense of a found object. Through her artwork, she wants to enhance the awareness for fungi and their potential in biotechnology and for a sustainable bioeconomy in general.   TOPICS COVERED:    Childhood Fascination with the Invisible   Fungal Biotechnology   Seeing Fungi as Friends and as Foes   Importance of Multi-Disciplinary Approach    Open Science Movement   Aspergillus niger, Citric Acid and the Origins of Modern Biotechnology    Primary and Secondary MetabolismModulating Metabolic Processes of Aspergillus in Making Products   Synthetic Biology   BioReactor Cultivation & Ecology of a BioReactor   Mycelium Materials   Building a Mycelium Materials Database   Transdisciplinary Collaboration   Reconciling Biotechnology with Conservation and the Precautionary Principle   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Vera Meyer Academic Page @ TU Berlin: https://www.tu.berlin/en/vcard/vera.meyer   Vera Meyer Art (V.Meer): https://www.v-meer.de/   Vera Meyer IG: https://instagram.com/v.meer_/   Art Lab Berlin: https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/de/forschung/mind-the-fungi/   TU Berlin - Natural Building Lab: https://www.nbl.berlin/   "Beauty of the Morbid" Article: https://fungalbiolbiotech.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40694-016-0028-4   Aspergillus niger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger   Fomes fomentarius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomes_fomentarius   Macrolepiota procera (AKA Parasol Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota_procera

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to chat with Connie Green founder of Wine Forest Foods and author of “The Wild Table”. Since 1979, Connie has been providing chefs like Thomas Keller, Cory Lee, Michael Mina, Traci de Jardins and many more with mushrooms of unparalleled quality. As one of the very first pioneers in the American wild mushroom business, Connie has filled a key role in educating chefs and the public about the wild foods now so widely loved in American cuisine. Over the decades, she has cultivated a network of great mushroom pickers has been woven across the West, Canada, Alaska, Mexico, and even Europe. Hand and hand with this wild life with wild mushrooms is a love and respect for the forest ecosystem from which the mushrooms flow. Connie has always preached principles of sustainability in harvesting and hopes that, in her own words, “commercial mushroom hunting can give a living back to loggers and make our forests economically more valuable in the long term left standing than converted to board feet of lumber”. What a privilege to speak with a culture creator and pioneer in wild mushroom harvesting.    TOPICS COVERED:   Fields of Chanterelles & Beginning of Commercial Foraging   Putting in the Miles in the Forest   Scouting Habitat and Making Good Observations   Northern California Chanterelle Habitat   Ukiah, Oregon - The Town Morels Built    Fire & Ecological Transformation in Northern California   Tan Oak Destruction    Economic Value of Forest Fungal Productivity vs Board Feet of Lumber   Regional Fiefdoms of National Forest service    Symbiosis of Amateur and Professional Foragers   Foraging Sustainably, Cultivating Forage Grounds   Commercial Foraging Networks   Wild Food Regulation   Advice to Enter the Business of Wild Foods   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Wine Forest website: https://wineforest.com/   "The Wild Table": https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Table-Seasonal-Foraged-Recipes/dp/0670022268   Ukiah, Oregon: http://www.cityofukiahoregon.com/history.html   Cantherellus californicus (AKA California Golden Chanterelle): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharellus_californicus   Notholithocarpus densiflorus (AKA Tan Oak): https://calscape.org/Notholithocarpus-densiflorus-()Morchella tomentosa (AKA Gray Morel): http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morchella_tomentosa.html   Craterellus tubaeformis (AKA Yellowfoot Chanterelle): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_tubaeformis

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by the distinguished and prolific George Poinar, Jr. PhD. George received his Ph.D. in biology from Cornell University and spent most of his career in the Department of Entomology at the University of California at Berkeley before moving to Oregon State University, where he is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology. His interest in the tropics, along with a passion for paleontology, culminated in the book The Amber Forest, co-authored with his wife, Roberta, and published by Princeton University Press. He is also the author of other books, including Life in Amber. In addition, he is a founder of The Amber Institute. He is a pioneer when it comes to studying associations between invertebrates and other organisms in amber. One of his projects was recently all over the news as he discovered a new genus and species of fungal entomoparasite growing out of a fossilized ant – the older mushroom growing from an ant that has ever been found!   TOPICS COVERED:   Young Naturalist Inspired by Walden and Thoreau   Entering Entomology   Research Tours through Southeast AsiaInsect Vectors of Disease-Carrying Parasites in Africa   Insect Diseases in Russia   Pivoting to Vertebrate Parasites in France, Germany & Holland   Ancient History of Insect Pathogens and Their Parasites   The Basics of Amber Preservation   Preparing and Cutting Amber for Examination   Determining the Age of Specimens in Amber   Phylogeny and Ancestry in Family CordycipitaceaeExtracting Genetic Information from Amber Specimens   Meeting Michael Creighton and Jurassic Park Inspirations   Evolutionary Insights from Ancient to Modern Fungi   EPISODE RESOURCES:George Poinar Jr PhD: https://science.oregonstate.edu/directory/george-o-poinar-jr   Family Cordycipitaceae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordycipitaceae   Richard Korf (Inspiration): https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/28593   Rhinoceros Beetles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastinae   "Laboratory Guide to Insect Pathogens and Parasites": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4288060-laboratory-guide-to-insect-pathogens-and-parasites   Hermitage Museum (Russia): https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/   Hymenaea (Tree Genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenaea   Paleoclaviceps parasiticus (fungus): https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=310964   Allocordyceps baltica (fungus): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878614621000799

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of being joined by the University of Victoria Emeritus Professor, Nancy Turner. Professor Turner is an ethnobotanist whose research integrates the fields of botany and ecology with anthropology, geography and linguistics, among others. She is interested in the traditional knowledge systems and traditional land and resource management systems of Indigenous Peoples, particularly in western Canada.Nancy has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 50 years, collaborating with Indigenous communities to help document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and habitats, including Indigenous foods, materials and medicines, as well as language and vocabulary relating to plants and environments. Her interests also include the roles of plants and animals in narratives, ceremonies, language and belief systems. Dr. Turner has authored, edited, co-authored or co-edited over 30 books. Her 2014 two-volume book, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America , represents an integration of her long-term research. She has received a number of awards for her work, including membership in Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, honorary degrees from Vancouver Island University, University of British Columbia, University of Northern British Columbia and Simon Fraser University; and the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ Canada Prize in the Social Sciences for Ancient Pathways.   TOPICS COVERED:   From Berkeley to Missoula to Vancouver   Kincentricity   Epistemologies & Living Language    Traditional Ecological Knowledge   Respecting our Non-Human Relatives   Residential Schools & the Suppression of Indigenous Ways   Traditional Territories & Living Traditions   First Nation Agroforestry Practices   Cottonwood Mushrooms & Hazlenuts   Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights & Title   Models of First Nation Land Access   Blending Western Scientific Knowledge & First Nation Knowledge Systems   7 Generation Thinking   Society Suffused by Ecological Thinking   EPISODE RESOURCES:   Prof. Nancy Turner website: https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/environmental/people/faculty/emeritus/turnernancy.php   "Plants, People and Places" (book): https://www.mqup.ca/plants--people--and-places-products-9780228001836.php   "Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge" (book): https://www.mqup.ca/ancient-pathways--ancestral-knowledge-products-9780773543805.php   Tricholoma populinum (fungus): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237163157_The_cottonwood_mushroom_Tricholoma_populinum_A_food_resource_of_the_Interior_Salish_Indian_peoples_of_British_Columbia