How Foraging and Ecoliteracy Helped Michelle Dowd Survive a Family Cult

Michelle is a professor of journalism at Chaffey College and a contributor to the New York Times, The Alpinist, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and other national publications. She founded The Chaffey Review, which is an award-winning literary journal, she advises student media, teaches poetry and critical thinking in the California State prisons and has been recognized as a Longreads Top 5 for her article on the relationship between environmentalism and hope. She also guides yoga and meditation workshops throughout southern California.Here’s why I wanted to have Michelle on the show. Even though she grew up in a religious cult, because it was in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest, she grew up deeply connected to nature. And ultimately, she ended up drawing upon everything she learned from nature - perhaps most importantly resilience - to survive. This conversation with Michelle is about her new memoir Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult, her life then, now, and the role nature connection has played throughout. Even though most of us didn’t grow up in cults, and probably won’t ever be in one, her story delves into the messy dynamics of family relationships, searching inside ourselves to discover who we are, and also simply figuring out what’s safe to eat, which is something we can all relate to.Episode LinksMichelle Dowd@michelledowdz on InstagramForager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult Huberman LabThe Comfort Crisis by Michael EasterThe Last Child in the Woods by Richard LouvPine NutsDive! by Jeremy SeifertCognitive Behavioral TherapyNia Somatic ExerciseSavasanaUSDA Plant Hardiness Zone MapDr. Steven Hassan/Freedom of Mind Resource CenterYour Undivided Attention podcast episode with Dr. Steven HassanConnect with Nature Junkie@NatureJunkieRadio on InstagramEmail: [email protected] (submit a microdose of nature by emailing a 30-60 second voice memo with your name, how you microdose nature and how it makes you feel so we can share it with the community)Newsletter SignupShow Production CreditsPodcast cover art by Ahab Nimry (@ahabnimry, https://bigdaytheagency.com/)Outro music by Tyler JohnsonEnjoy the Ride,Jeff