In Dialogue with Nature

This article by emeritus researcher Stephen Talbott, originally published in 2003 (In Context #9), attempts to illuminate what Goethe meant when he said his “intention is to portray rather than to explain.” Steve gives a living characterization of portrayal by comparing and contrasting it to explanation.This episode should be paired with Craig Holdrege’s audio article “Characterize, Don’t Define.” They provide two distinct, yet complementary, perspectives and expressions of the central practices and goals of The Nature Institute by two of its founders.

In this reading of a short article originally written for Waldorf science teachers, Craig Holdrege provides a concentrated expression of the heart of our work at The Nature Institute: to come to a more living understanding of the world through participatory research and to help others to do the same through transformative education. 

As a companion to the previous episode, which shared a reading of Craig Holdrege's essay "The Trouble With 'Factors'," this episode features a conversation between Craig and podcast host John Gouldthorpe where they delve deeper into the content of Craig's essay and its wider ramifications.By bringing to clear consciousness our automatic tendency to reduce the world around us to a collection of separate factors, Craig and John help us to become more aware of the scientific concepts we habitually use and the unintended consequences they might have for how we see and interact with the world.

A reading of “The Trouble With 'Factors'" by Craig Holdrege. This article carefully, and thoughtfully, reflects on the tendency of modern scientific investigation to analyze organisms into their component parts and the organism's environment into a myriad of separate factors. How might we see the organism in its wholeness, its natural environment, and its connectedness?The essay was first published in issue #52 of In Context (Fall 2024). We have also put out a companion episode where Craig Holdrege and podcast host John Gouldthorpe enter into conversation about the article and the issues raised therein.

In a talk given at the institute in celebration of Earth Day, Craig Holdrege explores in what sense we might speak of the earth itself as alive.

In this reading of the first chapter in Craig Holdrege's book, Seeing the Animal Whole—And Why It Matters, discover how the phlegmatic sloth orchestrates its peculiar existence. 

In this recording of a talk at The Nature Institute in 2024, Jon McAlice shares how trees are in the world and explores our opportunity for kinship with them.

As a companion to the previous episode that shared a reading of Jon McAlice’s and Craig Holdrege’s article on plant intelligence, this episode airs a conversation with Jon, Craig, and podcast host John Gouldthorpe on this complex topic.

A reading of the article “Are Plants Intelligent?” by Craig Holdrege and Jon McAlice (from the Spring 2024 issue of In Context) is featured in this episode. This article is the first to arise out of our current research into the complex topic of assigning intelligence to organisms.

In a reading of Martin Wagenschein's essay "Two Moons?" he contrasts the view of the physicist versus the poet when considering the moon.

In a talk recorded at the institute, Craig Holdrege honors Earth Day with a presentation revealing some of the remarkable qualities of the plant world, the “mantle of the earth.” Craig showed slides to illustrate certain points. The images are not necessary to appreciate the talk, but they can be downloaded here if desired.

In this recorded live talk at the institute by Ryan Shea, he explores ways in which we might receive the capacity of presence directly from nature by working with lessons from plant and animal teachers.

In a rare interview, recorded in Brazil in 2019, Henrike and Craig Holdrege speak of their transformative work and the Goethean perspective that has long inspired it.

The final installment of our 3-part podcast on the American bison, Craig's reading focuses on the animal as a many-layered being with a web of both physical boundaries and expansive living relations. The bison is more than a  thing among things. A discussion follows the reading.

Following up on the bison's manifold ways of being highlighted in Part 1, this second episode portrays the relationship between the members of the Great Plains tribes and the bison. It offers glimpses of the continuity that can be experienced between a being’s physical and spiritual life.

Here is Part 1 of our three-episode podcast based on Craig Holdrege’s in-depth article, “Where Does an Animal End? – The American Bison” which first appeared in issue #45 of In Context, our biannual publication. Each part features a reading from the article followed by a conversation with the author. Part 2 will air in November, followed by Part 3 in December.

The Nature Institute co-founder and educator Henrike Holdrege joins podcast host John Gouldthorpe to discuss a unique demonstration she employs to reveal the wonderful relational aspect of visual experience in our world.

In a talk recorded at the institute in April 2023, Jon McAlice briefly traces the philosophical history of man’s relation to meaning in the natural world through the ideas of various 18th century thinkers. Jon then arrives at his central theme: In a world increasingly objectified by science and technology, are there ways of being that allow us to experience the presence of meaning in the natural world?

Welcome to our two-part podcast. First, we share a recording of Craig Holdrege reading his essay, “Where Do Organisms End?” (which first appeared in our third issue of In Context). Following this, our podcast host John Gouldthorpe and Craig discuss challenging our habitual way of making sense of living beings through their physical characteristics, and instead by way of their relationships.

From a talk recorded at the institute in November, Jon McAlice takes us through the biography and works of award-winning writer Barry Lopez, whose life was defined by a profound connection to the more-than-human world. Lopez died in 2020, bequeathing us a trove of essays, fiction, and non-fiction that invites all to understand and enjoy nature as he did — as alive and responsive.

Featuring the reading of remarks from a 2003 interview on Goethean science with Arthur Zajonc, professor emeritus of physics at Amherst College, this episode also includes a conversation about Zajonc’s central points between podcast host and institute educator, John Gouldthorpe, and Elaine Khosrova, editor of the institute’s publication, In Context.

Here we bring our focus to a plant that Craig Holdrege describes as both “effusive, yet also specialized. Milkweed invites life, but also holds it back. There is a fascinating tension in this plant.”  Reading from an abridged version of his whole-organism study of milkweed published on our website (The Story of an Organism: Common Milkweed), Craig brings together his observations with those of other researchers to paint a vibrant picture of the plant and its relationships.

When we give careful attention to what is actually happening when a new phase of life develops out of a previous stage, there are large implications for our overall understanding of developmental processes and evolution. That is the theme of Craig’s lecture, “Do Frogs Come from Tadpoles?” featured in this episode of our podcast. Click here for the accompanying illustrations that Craig refers to during the talk.

Craig Holdrege, director at The Nature Institute, gave this keynote address on the qualitative experience of nature as a conscious practice at the 2022 Annual International Conference of Biodynamic Agriculture in Dornach, Switzerland. Sharing this approach to nature has been at the core of The Nature Institute's work since 1998. Hear the full recorded talk in this episode.

Craig Holdrege in conversation with John Gouldthorpe Can we imagine the world from a mole’s perspective? In our latest episode, host John Gouldthorpe invites us to understand what this might entail by listening to a reading of Craig Holdrege’s book excerpt, “How Does a Mole View the World.” The reading is followed by a conversation with Craig about its central point: How to avoid mechanistic and anthropomorphic interpretations of animal life and instead apprehend each creature’s unique way of being.

For more than 20 years, our senior researcher — Steve Talbott — has been building a body of work that illuminates natural phenomena and calls for a qualitative approach to examining organisms. In this talk, given at the Institute in November, 2021, Steve describes his theme (with tongue-firmly-in-cheek) as an offering of "notes from desperately unsatisfactory encounters with the living interior of self and world, along with intimations of their meaning for science."

Inspired by the ancient Greek concepts of the four elements — Earth, Water, Air, and Fire — the German physicist Georg Maier wrote an essay in 1970 describing how we can work with these concepts to find expanded ways of scientific research and engagement with nature. Henrike Holdrege, co-founder of The Nature Institute, who translated Maier’s essay into English, speaks in this episode about his central ideas.

An excerpt from The Physical Mystery of Life by E.L Watson (1943), and the article “Genes and Life: The Need for Qualitative Understanding” by Craig Holdrege (1999) This episode highlights two still highly relevant pieces in the premier issue of the institute’s publication, In Context #1 (Spring 1999). Host John Gouldthorpe reads a selection on the  remarkable capacities of the female potter wasp, by E.L. Grant Watson, and an article by Craig Holdrege that reflects on the need to contextual our understanding of genes in relation to the whole organism.

In this 2021 talk by Craig Holdrege, given at the online launch of his new book, Craig shares experiences and observations that demonstrate an integrative practice of viewing animals and their development. Ultimately it is about a different way of relating to nature. A sensitive way. And that matters.

In this talk, educator Jon McAlice speaks about Resonant Space as a consciousness experience that is alive and meaningful. He outlines Goethe’s approach to engaging with the world of phenomena as a path that lets us glimpse the resonant relationship that exists between human consciousness and the natural world.

A conversation with Craig Holdrege, director of The Nature Institute and author of "Thinking Like a Plant: A Living Science for Life," about an organic way of knowing modeled after the way plants live: dynamic and resilient, thriving in intimate connection with their environment.

How can we help our children grow up to become caring and responsible stewards of the earth, and what is the role of media and direct experience in the education we provide them? These are some of the questions that Craig Holdrege takes up in this talk that he gave on March 24th, 2018, at the Winkler Center for Adult Education in Garden City, NY.