The Tools at Hand with Harrison Gardner

What if the way we build our homes and cities is part of the problem and the solution is already around us?
Architect Robert Bourke joins me to explore how we can rethink the way we build, from the materials we use to the relationship between buildings, nature and the communities around them.
With construction contributing significantly to global carbon emissions, Robert questions why concrete, steel and glass have become the default and why we should look at existing buildings before building new ones.
But sustainable architecture isn't just about materials. It's about seeing buildings as part of a much bigger system: how water moves through our cities, how our streets affect rivers, and how we can design places that work with nature rather than against it.
From a tiny three-square-metre extension that won two national awards to a community rain garden designed to help absorb rainfall and reduce flooding, Robert shows how small, thoughtful interventions can make a difference.
What would our towns and cities look like if we stopped treating buildings as isolated objects and started designing for the systems we all depend on?

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner
Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/
Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD
https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Robert Burke Architects: https://www.rba.ie/
Act Now Collective: https://actnowcollective.org/

Chapters

00:00 — Teaser
00:00:55 — Intro
00:02:41 — Why We Need to Rethink How We Build
00:11:27 — What Traditional Buildings Can Teach Us
00:17:50 — Building with Light, Space and Nature
00:25:55 — The Three-Square-Metre Extension That Won Two Awards
00:31:05 — The Value of Working with an Architect
00:39:05 — Building for Permanence and Longevity
00:46:10 — From Architecture to Landscape Systems
00:50:15 — Learning to Think in Systems
00:55:39 — Restoring Rivers and Working with Water
00:57:00 — The Knocklyon Sponge Scape and Rain Garden
01:03:00 — Moving from Protecting Nature to Restoring It
01:08:05 — Learning from Communities and Farmers
01:12:13 — Advice for Young Architects
01:20:30 — How Small Changes Add Up
01:22:10 — Final Thoughts and Where to Find Robert
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1935, dancing became illegal in Ireland unless you had a licence.

You couldn’t simply organise a dance in a barn. You couldn’t dance at a crossroads. And in rural Ireland, you couldn’t even hold a dance in your own home.
The Public Dance Halls Act was part of a much wider attempt to control Irish social life — with the Church and authorities deeply involved in deciding where, how and even whether people could dance.
But what happens when a community refuses to accept that control?
Edwina Guckian is a dancer, choreographer and community organiser who has spent years exploring Ireland’s lost dance culture and the forces that shaped it. Her work on The Devil's in the Dance Hall brings this history back to life through music, dance and storytelling. The project explores a time when jazz, dancing and new forms of socialising were seen by some as a threat to Irish society — even being described as the work of the devil.
We also get into the extraordinary story of Jimmy Gralton, who reopened a community hall in 1932 as a space for dancing, music, education and gathering. The hall quickly attracted people from beyond the local community, but the conflict surrounding it escalated dramatically. Shots were fired at dancers, and on Christmas Eve 1932, the hall was attacked and burned down.
Nearly a century later, Edwina is helping bring the story full circle.
A campaign is now underway to rebuild Gralton’s Hall on its original site — not simply as a monument to the past, but as a new community space where people can gather, dance and connect across generations.
We talk about why Ireland has lost many of its natural spaces for social connection, why people can feel so inhibited about dancing today, and what it takes to create a genuinely safe space where people feel comfortable getting onto the dance floor.
Edwina also shares the thinking behind the Rambling Project, her work bringing different generations together, and why she believes that if something is missing from your community, you shouldn’t wait for someone else to create it.
Sometimes, you just have to build it yourself.

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner
Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/
Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD
https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Follow Edwina

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinaguckian/
Support the Rebuild of Gralton’s Hall:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-graltons-hall
The Devil’s in the Dance Hall:
https://www.edwinaguckian.com/the-devils-in-the-dance-hall/

00:00 They Once Made Dancing Illegal in Ireland
02:37 Meet Edwina Guckian
05:01 The Devil in the Dance Hall
06:00 How Dancing Became Illegal in Ireland
12:10 How Women Were Policed and Shamed
16:20 Why We’ve Stopped Dancing
19:28 How to Create a Safe Space to Dance
20:50 Inside The Devil in the Dance Hall
25:00 The Story of Jimmy Gralton
32:45 Gralton Reopens the Hall
34:35 The Hall Is Attacked and Burned Down
37:25 Why Edwina Is Bringing It Back
38:35 Dancing Brings Generations Together
40:20 The Rambling Project
42:43 Why We Need New Social Spaces
46:25 Bringing Generations Together
47:10 Rebuilding Community
50:50 If You See the Gap, Build It
52:00 Rebuilding Gralton’s Hall
57:20 How to Support Edwina’s Work
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the future of farming in Ireland look like?

Sophie Bell is a young farmer from County Cavan who took on the running of her family farm at just 17, while finishing her Leaving Cert.
Today, she’s balancing farming with a career in social media, speaking about agriculture across Ireland and Europe, and rethinking what it means to build a sustainable life from the land.

We talk about the pressure on farmers to have a second income, why farming can feel more like a culture than a career, and the barriers facing the next generation.
Sophie also shares what she learned from researching the impact of bovine TB on farmers, what it's like being a young woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, and how social media has opened doors she never expected.
And then we get into what she's changing on the farm — moving away from commodity pricing and towards a model where she has more control over what the farm earns, how it operates, and where it goes next.

A conversation about farming, money, gender, social media, and what happens when you stop accepting that things have to be done the way they've always been done.

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner
CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner
Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/
Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD
https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Follow Sophie:
https://www.instagram.com/sophie_bell__?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

00:00 – Teaser
00:55 – Introduction
02:47 – Sophie’s 56-Acre Farm in County Cavan
05:25 – Why Do Farmers Need a Second Income?
07:50 – The Next Generation of Farmers
10:10 – Passing the Farm to the Next Generation
13:15 – Who Gets Taught to Be a Farmer?
18:35 – Is Farming a Career or a Culture?
23:25 – How Social Media Changed Sophie’s Farm
26:35 – The Hidden Cost of Bovine TB
33:10 – “I Thought I Wasn’t Allowed to Be a Farmer”
35:47 – Taking Over the Farm at 17
38:42 – Being Taken Seriously as a Young Woman
45:37 – Advice for Young Women in Farming
48:08 – Why Farming Needs More Alternative Ideas
56:30 – Sophie’s Work With the EU and UN
01:03:19 – A Different Way to Make Farming Pay
01:06:10 – For the First Time, the Farm Isn’t Struggling
01:08:35 – The Future of Wool in Ireland
01:12:30 – Taking Back Control
01:14:10 – What Sustainable Farming Should Look Like
01:15:11 – Outro
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can music do when the world feels divided?

For Clare Sands, it can be a way of bringing people together.
Clare is a sixth-generation fiddle player, singer and composer from Ireland. In this conversation, we talk about Irish culture, activism, Palestine, and the role music can play in starting difficult conversations.
Clare shares the story of swimming across the Bosphorus from Asia to Europe and raising around €12,000 for two Palestinian organisations with her sister. We talk about the pushback she has experienced when sharing Palestinian folk songs, and why she continues to use music to connect people across cultures and traditions.
We also explore the story behind the flag on Clare’s album artwork, her relationship with Irish history and folklore, and the importance of reclaiming symbols that can become divisive.
Along the way, we get into a bigger question: how do you get people to engage with difficult ideas in a way that feels welcoming?

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner
Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/
Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD
https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Clare Sands
Website: claresands.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claresandsceol/?hl=en
Substack: https://claresandsceol.substack.com/

00:00 Teaser — Why Was a Folk Song Too Much?
00:41 Introduction
03:00 Irish Music, Culture & Clare Sands’ Roots
07:20 Climate Change & Adapting to a Changing World
09:10 Irish Traditional Music & Creative Independence
12:35 Music, Activism & Palestinian Folk Songs
14:45 Irish Identity, Folklore & Siding With the Underdog
21:10 Swimming, Community & Connection
25:20 Swimming From Asia to Europe for Palestine
33:05 Using Music to Open Difficult Conversations
38:10 Irish Flags, Irish History & Reclaiming Identity
41:05 Music, Community & Connecting Across Borders
46:15 Bringing Music to Rural Communities
47:35 Small Audiences, Community & Connection
52:05 Clare Sands’ Music, New Album & Song of a Gael
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when you decide to travel to all seven continents without spending any money?
That was the challenge Shantanu Starick set himself after stepping away from a career in architecture. Trading nothing but his photography skills for food, shelter and transport, he created The Pixel Trade — a three-and-a-half-year journey built entirely around exchange, trust and the people he met along the way.
But living without money comes with its own challenges. What does it actually cost to rely on other people? And what happens when the journey ends and you have to reintegrate into a world that still runs on money, responsibility and bills?
In this conversation, we explore the value of trade, the relationships that grow from it, and why the best exchanges are the ones where both people feel they’ve come away with the better end of the deal.

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardnerWebsite: https://www.harrisongardner.net/
Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD
https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Explore the Pixel Trade Project and discover the trades that made this journey possible:
http://thepixeltrade.com/trades

Chapters
00:00 — Teaser & Introduction
02:22 — The Pixel Trade: Trading Photography for Food, Shelter & Transport
19:33 — The Squarespace Hosting Trade
20:40 — New York, Tumblr & Inter-Trading
29:12 — What Makes a Great Trade?
40:40 — Burnout & Reaching Antarctica
41:41 — How He Got to Antarctica
48:40 — The Pixel Trade as a Life Apprenticeship
50:00 — What He Learned About Money 51:40 — Returning to a World That Runs on Money

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.