Death in The Garden

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com On this bonus episode, we are joined by Alex Leff of Human Nature Odyssey to discuss the food system and the strange incentives that perpetuate a system that is at once convenient and destructive. Alex was also thinking about food, as he had just released a podcast entitled The Forest and Forager before this conversation, where he takes the listener on a journey through the Garden of Eden and the grocery store, trying to understand ourselves as a foraging creature who once lived in the hands of the gods. We were interested in speaking about food because we had just finished editing this film at the time of recording: Ever wondered why going to the farmers market is more expensive than going to the supermarket, buying food that was shipped all over the world? Ever wondered why it’s so difficult for small-scale farmers to make a living in this economy? Ever wondered why corporations are given carte blanche to destroy the world, while your local regenerative farmer is being over-regulated and squeezed out of the sector altogether? We were hired by Local Futures to make a film explaining some of the mechanisms that explain why this system seems so upside-down. In this conversation, we explore this topic from many more angles, going deeper into the history and civilizational-level analysis of the food system, discussing immediate return, convenience, and the trap of comparative advantage. This conversation might be more interesting if you’ve watched the video and listened to the podcast, so consider doing that first before diving a bit deeper. As always, this entire conversation is available in its entirety for our paid subscribers only. If you’d like to support the project and gain full access to these bonus episodes, consider becoming a paid subscriber today!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com As people who were willing to drive 3.5 hours one-way to see The Odyssey projected on 70mm IMAX, it’s safe to say we are fans of Christopher Nolan and we love the art of cinema. In this bonus episode with Alex Leff of Human Nature Odyssey, we discuss Nolan’s latest epic and all of the implications that his surprising retelling has today. We discuss the importance of myth and storytelling, and the need for us to engage consciously with stories. We ask, what is the line between adaptation and appropriation? Retelling and perversion? And who gets to decide? We also delve deep into the civilizational analysis that is embedded within The Odyssey, as well as it’s literal and spiritual predecessor (Maren’s favorite Nolan film) Oppenheimer. We talk about responsibility, consequences, the role of the gods, animism, and what it means when people refuse to engage with genuine art based on culture war controversies. We hope you’ll ignore the haters and go see this movie. As always, this entire conversation is available in its entirety for our paid subscribers only. If you’d like to support the project and gain full access to these bonus episodes, consider becoming a paid subscriber today!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com On this bonus episode of Death in The Garden with Alex Leff of Human Nature Odyssey, Alex takes us along on a deep-dive into The Score by game philosopher C. Thi Nguyen. In this episode we discuss all things quantification and gamification, and the ways that our civilization has prioritized what can be measured at the expense of almost everything else. W…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com On this bonus episode of Death in The Garden with Alex Leff of Human Nature Odyssey, we talk about the strangely beautiful, gore-filled sequel to Danny Boyle’s genre-defining film, 28 Days Later — 28 Years Later. Set 28 years after the rapid spread of the “rage virus” across Britain, we follow a group of survivors who have managed to create a small, insular, and seemingly egalitarian society on an island off the coast of the mainland, protected from the zombies roaming the mainland. What follows is an incredibly earnest story of love, of growing up, and what it means to know you must die. While these movies are incredibly violent (and also hilariously bizarre), this series is one of our very favorites. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple comes out this Friday, so be sure to check that out as well! This full-length episode is only available for paid subscribers, so if you’d like to listen to the whole thing, consider upgrading your subscription. We are so grateful to our paid subscribers for helping us keep this project going. We hope you enjoy this conversation about 28 Years Later.

On this episode of Death in The Garden, we’re sharing the interview we did with Allan Savory, president and co-founder of the Savory Institute, an organization created to regenerate grasslands by training and connecting global practitioners in how to holistically manage their land to restore biodiversity. Last April, we had the opportunity to travel to Zimbabwe to film promotional material for Allan’s memoir. You can sign up for the pre-sale list to be notified when the book comes out. We had the opportunity to read a proof copy before our trip, and it was absolutely fascinating to have a window into the life and context that birthed holistic management. In this interview, we discuss the basic ideas around a holistic context, ecological concepts such as desertification, and the ways that we misunderstand ecology by imposing human concepts, such as competition, on the natural world. We also discuss some fascinating critiques of conservation, and the importance of human beings in environments. We discuss the role of death and killing in the continuation of life, and the importance of moral courage. We also tackle issues such as honesty in science, the fallibility of scientists and the problems of academia, bureaucracy, and institutional science. Most importantly, we talk about our desperate need to change our management strategies from reductionistic to holistic. If you haven’t seen Allan’s TedTalk, we really can’t recommend it enough. This video was probably the single biggest impetus for beginning our journey into the creation of Death in The Garden. Holistic management, and the idea of holism in general, inspired us to see the world as one whole ecosystem that we are inextricably connected to, entangled in a web of relationships. This radically shifted our view of life after being enculturated in the Western, reductionist, mechanical worldview that the dominant culture presents as fact. You can learn more about Allan’s work at the Savory Institute’s website, and you can contribute to their end-of-year campaign if you have the means. Thank you as always to our paid subscribers who continue to make this project possible, and for Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield for giving us the opportunity to come out to Zimbabwe and work on this project. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com/subscribe