Tree Speech
Alight Theater Guild presents Tree Speech, a blend of narrative storytelling, interviews, and wanderlust at the intersection of the personal, historical and cultural ways that trees impact our lives. Each episode seeks to find new understandings to the tangled relationships we have with the natural world in which we inhabit. We examine folklore, history, holidays, and current events while exploring trees in our conversations around race, religion, and resources with people who all share deep connections to them-from artists and writers to historians and educators, advocates to activists.
Episodes
Welcome back, Tree Speechers! We’re thrilled to begin Season 5 with a new conversation in a clearing, as we continue to find new understandings to the tangled relationships we have with the natural world in which we inhabit.
We open this season interviewing filmmakers Mina T. Son and Sara Newens who made the eye-opening and thoughtful documentary, RACIST TREES. This intimate film captures an inside look at the frustrations of...
In honor of the recent Winter Solstice and this holiday season, we are re-releasing our episode Let the Light In. Celebrate this moment of transition with a walk in the woods as we share stories of solstice celebration’s from around the world. From old legends to new traditions, join us as we explore how, even during these darker months, we can find ways to let light into our lives.
New episodes forthcoming in 2024!
Happy Halloween! We are busy working on future episodes to be released soon, but couldn't let this magical time of year pass without a frightful celebration! As the full moon rises, we gather around the campfire for a replay of our special Spooky Trees episode! Join us for supernatural, mysterious, and unexpected tree tales from around the world to get you into the Samhain spirit.
Special thanks to actor, educator, actor Peril...
To commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11, we share this replay of our episode that featured the 9/11 Survivor Tree, a Callery Pear tree found during the excavation of Ground Zero in NYC. Our guest, Ron Vega, shares his insightful and touching story of how he championed and helped nurture the tree from a wounded, burned stump to the powerful sign of hope and survival that it represents today.
Learn more about the podcast at: www...
We at Tree Speech are incredibly grateful to Stephanie Kaza and our mothers, Miriam Robinson, Anne-Marie Roach and Jackie Vandenberg for joining us today.
Dr. Stephanie Kaza is Professor Emerita of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont and former Director of the UVM Environmental Program. She co-founded the Environmental Council at UVM and served as faculty director for the Sustainability Faculty Fellows program. In 20...
In the final episode of our fourth season, producer and co-writer Jonathan Zautner interviews podcast host Dori Robinson about the Jewish “New Year of the Trees” - Tu B’Shevat. We continue to commemorate the close of the season by discussing our thoughts on the guests and topics we have covered.
Did you have a favorite episode, a thought about family trees, or a suggestion about what we should discuss next? Please message us on ...
In this episode, we speak with Meghan Buell, the founder of TREES, Inc., the Transgender Resource, Education, and Enrichment Services organization that she created and leads to provide transgender education to small towns and rural America. TREES, Inc. is driven by the need to stem the rash of transgender discrimination by using education to create a more inclusive environment for trangender identifying individuals to live an enric...
Happy New Year, Tree Speechers! We celebrate 2023 and our 30th episode by speaking with Swedish-American author Linda Åkeson McGurk, whose book "The Open-Air Life: Discover the Nordic Art of Friluftsliv and Embrace Nature Every Day” shows us how to embody a Frilufsliv life by getting outside and embracing the outdoors no matter the time of year or temperature. Our conversations explore the many ways being outside strengthens our me...
In this episode, we celebrate the Winter Solstice through a midwinter walk in the woods while sharing several folk tales about the season, rituals old and new, and an interview with Jonathan Mearns of London Christmas Tree Rental, who offers an environmentally sustainable tree option to celebrate the lights of Yule.
Throughout, we explore how we, during these darker months, can find ways to let light in and become a part of our liv...
In today’s episode we will examine the origins of the concept of family trees and speak with the award-winning singer, songwriter and educator, Neshama Carlebach, about her artistry, inspirations, and the journey of understanding that she has taken as a direct result of her own family tree as the daughter of the renowned and musical Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
Neshama Carlebach is an award-winning singer, songwriter and educator who ha...
In this episode, we discuss our first-ever immersive installation: A Conversation in a Clearing, which brings the Tree Speech podcast to life, allowing audiences to engage with trees and reflect on their relationship with nature and the environment.
Combining audio narrative storytelling with a physical representation of a peaceful, winter clearing in the woods, the installation allows visitors to actively relax and settle into a p...
On this Veteran's Day we revisit Boston’s Liberty Tree, including its origin story and how that story evolved over time depending on who was telling it. We have wonderfully spirited conversations with distinguished actor, singer, dancer, and educator, Mark Linehan and historian Maddie Webster, a Boston University PhD student in the American & New England Studies Program. Then, we seek to uncover what liberty and liberation mean...
Gather round the campfire for a very special, supernatural episode. We have spooky, mysterious tree tales from around the world to get you into the Halloween spirit! Listen now, if you dare!
Special thanks to actor, educator, actor Peril - I mean, Cheryl Mullings, and dialect coach Charles Linshaw for joining our episode today. Learn more about Cheryl at https://cherylmullings.workbooklive.com/ and Charles at: https://www...
While we often speak of trees that tower over our heads, in this episode, we will examine what lies beneath to understand soil and how human interaction can affect the way we live on and with our land. We will also speak with Kesiah Bascom, who founded a mission-driven food scrap collection and composting program in the Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts.
Kesiah was the founder/owner of OffBeet Compost and has spent the past ...
In this episode, we will examine the intersections of reproductive rights with climate solutions, and will be speaking with Kristen P. Patterson, the inaugural Director of Drawdown Lift, launched in early 2021 as a part of the nonprofit Project Drawdown.
We’ll also be speaking with Christina D. Eskridge, the Founder and Executive Director of Elevate Theatre Company, who worked to combine her expertise in...
We are so excited to be entering into our fourth season with an exploration of this magical time of year, the Autumnal Equinox!
Much gratitude to our guest, Heather Porter of Animisma podcast for her moving thoughts and insights regarding this time of year, and the benefits of sacred rot. To find out more about her, please visit her website, thepathofintegrity.com.
Heather is a writer, storyteller, and advisor. She's been cal...
Give us your hands, dear friends, as we lead you along the path of our own Midsummer Night’s Dream! We conclude this season with a celebration of Midsummer and the summer solstice. Listen as our host hikes her way through the day, all while sharing stories about summer rituals and traditions from around the world.
We have a newly-launched Patreon! We at Tree Speech strive to bring you insightful stories and information about trees ...
We at Tree Speech and Alight Theater Guild are incredibly grateful to John Philip Newell for joining us today. Newell is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.
Canadian by birth, and a citizen also of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2016 he began the School of Earth and So...
We have a newly-launched Patreon! We at Tree Speech strive to bring you insightful stories and information about trees and those who engage with them. As we keep growing, we would appreciate your support! We now have a Patreon, and every dollar helps us continue to produce this podcast. Every contribution supports our production, and we’ll be giving gifts of gratitude including an invitation to Tree House, our new virtual community...
We at Tree Speech and Alight Theater Guild are incredibly grateful to Stephanie Kaza for joining us today.
Dr. Stephanie Kaza is Professor Emerita of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont and former Director of the UVM Environmental Program. She co-founded the Environmental Council at UVM and served as faculty director for the Sustainability Faculty Fellows program. In 2011 Dr. Kaza received the UVM George V. Kidd...
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