The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast

In this episode, we introduce new co-host Matt Wheeler, a singer-songwriter from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. John and Matt talk about Matt's experience turning Wendell Berry's short stories into an album, how Matt answers the question: "What Wendell Berry book should I read first?", and how he started corresponding with the Berrys.
Then John and Matt preview Season 4 and reveal the book they will be discussing first: Berry's forthcoming essay collection, Dispatches from Rural America (out October 27).
Next episode: We will be discussing the essay "Against Killing Children," the first essay in Berry's new collection Dispatches from Rural America.




































































New Host Matt Wheeler | Season 4 Preview

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast














SHOW NOTES AND LINKS
Matt Wheeler's website

Our August 2023 interview with Matt

The Rabbit Room

"How to Be a Poet" (Rabbit Room Poetry Substack)

BUY DISPATCHES FROM RURAL AMERICA, BY WENDELL BERRY
The Berry Center

Bookshop.org

Amazon

THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE
The Membership Podcast Online
YouTube

The Membership Substack

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Website

The Berry Center

Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

In this episode, John announces the relaunch of the podcast with a new cohost, singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler. The first episode with Matt comes out on Tuesday, October 13. John also reads an article that he wrote for Substack in the days after Wendell Berry’s death on August 31.




































































Relaunching the Podcast | "How to Be a POEM"

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast














SHOW NOTES AND LINKS
John’s Substack article: “How to Be a Poem (thanks for the reminder, Wendell)”

THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE
The Membership Podcast Online
YouTube

The Membership Substack

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Website

The Berry Center

The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

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, where this book sits among Berry's other works, and why the realization that one lives at the center of the world is "the world's profoundest thought." And much more.




































































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

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast














SHOW NOTES AND LINKS
"Whitefoot" in Orion Magazine

Website of illustrator Davis Te Selle

"Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel," by Carl Safina

"Black Elk Speaks," by John G. Neihardt

"Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023," by Wendell Berry

THE MEMBERSHIP ONLINE
The Membership Podcast Online
YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Website

The Berry Center

The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

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.”




































































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

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast














SHOW NOTES AND LINKS
Sabbath Poem 1987, No. VI - “Remembering that it happened once…”

The Berry Center (our recommendation for year-end giving)

Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

The Membership Podcast Online
Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Website

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.
UPDATE: The Kickstarter for Matt’s album release is now fully funded. All backers will now receive a print of Ned Bustard’s cover art for the album. The Kickstarter ends on August 25 at 7:15 a.m. Eastern.
Kickstarter for A Hard History of Love: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardhistory/a-hard-history-of-love-by-matt-wheeler




































































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

The Membership: A Wendell Berry Podcast














SHOW NOTES AND LINKS
Kickstarter for Matt Wheeler’s Port William-inspired album A Hard History of Love

Ned Bustard (Instagram), the Lancaster artist who did the album cover art

“Invited into a Rich Community: An Interview with Matt Wheeler,” by Matt Conner

Matt Wheeler Online
Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Who else should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

The Membership Podcast Online
Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Website