The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast

Feb 12 2025 25 ep. 137

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast artwork

A podcast about the life of work of Wendell Berry: the Kentucky farmer, poet, novelist, essayist, and activist.

Arts Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

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Episode 24: "Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World"

In this episode of The Membership, David and John discuss a book that is an unusual in the Port William series -- it's about a mouse, and is sometimes classified as a children's book -- but still feels right at home. That book? Whitefoot: A Story from the Center from the World, by Wendell Berry. We talk about the experience of compressing the imagination to the size of a mouse, whe

Episode 23: A Sabbath Poem for Christmas: "Remembering that it happened once..."

In his poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,” Wendell Berry calls the reader to “Practice resurrection.” In today’s episode, we discuss one of Berry’s Sabbath poems. It has a Christmas theme that could be summarized this way: “Practice incarnation.”

Episode 22: Singer-Songwriter Matt Wheeler on His New Port William-inspired Album

In this episode, we interview singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler about his new album, A Hard History of Love. That album is inspired by five short stories in Berry’s story collection, That Distant Land. We talk about the process of writing songs inspired by great literature, about some of our favorite Port William characters, and what “membership” looks like in Matt’s life.UPDA

Episode 21: A Returning, a New Voice, and a Look Ahead

The Membership Podcast returns! We catch you up on the last three years, introduce a new co-host, and preview some of the books we’ll be reading in Season 3. Our next episode is coming in just a couple days, so be on the lookout!

Episode 20: "Nathan Coulter"

In this episode, John and Tim discuss Nathan Coulter, Wendell Berry’s debut novel. SHOW NOTES AND LINKS#themembershipreadalong (Instagram)@kirireads@aliciaandherbooks“Burley Coulter at the Bank” (John McC

Episode 19: "Farming: A Hand Book"

In this episode, Jason, John and Tim discuss Farming: A Hand Book, Wendell Berry’s 1970 poetry collection. SHOW NOTES AND LINKSFarming: A Hand Book, by Wendell Berry (IndieBound | Amazon)New Collected Poems b

Episode 18: "A Half-Pint of Old Darling" and "The Lost Bet"

Episode 17: Interview with David and Mike Kline

John Pattison interviews David Kline, the Amish farmer, writer, and editor of Farming Magazine. Kline is also a close, longtime friend of Wendell Berry. They are joined by Mike Kline, David’s son. Mike is the co-host of one our favorite podcasts, Back to the Roots, about organic farming.

Episode 16: The Hidden Wound

Jason and Tim are joined by Dr. Heather Finch, Assistant Professor of English at Belmont University. They discuss The Hidden Wound, Wendell Berry’s book on race originally published in 1970. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Episode 15: Reflections on Season One

In the final episode of season one, Jason, John, and Tim reflect and look to the future of The Membership.