Skip to main content
The Positive Fantastic

The Positive Fantastic

By Mori Natura

Storytelling interviews to inspire, uplift, and entertain. A good news podcast created to offer up stories of how folks are living well.
Available on
Google Podcasts Logo
Pocket Casts Logo
RadioPublic Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

Earth Stewardship

The Positive FantasticAug 22, 2021

00:00
52:51
Sir Cobalot

Sir Cobalot

Miguel Elliot, also known for his natural building "accoblishments" as Sir Cobalot, joins the podcast to discuss the wonderful capacities of cob. He explains how cob is not just a tool for natural construction with durable craftsmanship that is easy on the budget, but also a tool for social justice in support of unsheltered persons. Over the years Miguel has developed some amazing innovations through his company, "Living Earth Structures," which he is making open source so that the word can spread and everyone can have access to his exceptionally functional cob hacks. Miguel has a strong social media presence to help spread the news about an innovative modern twist he has developed on the art and practice of cob building. Tune in to learn about Miguel's process, and to get some giggles about the special cob-centric vocabulary he has created too.

Mar 21, 202401:02:36
Descriptive Inquiry
Feb 01, 202451:42
Hera Has A Heart

Hera Has A Heart

Featured musical guest for Season 4 of the podcast, Jessi Lea shares about the evolution of her musical journey and artistry.
Jan 05, 202451:51
The Food Hub

The Food Hub

The Mendo Lake Food Hub is a network that connects farmers and the goods they produce with grateful consumers who want to partake in fresh, local, and nutritious food.
Dec 31, 202342:14
Art Salon

Art Salon

Artist and art collector Gaetan Caron, founder of “The Lost Art Salon,” joined me to discuss his journey in becoming an artist and realizing his dreams. We discussed his gallery in San Francisco, California, as well as his studio in the wilderness of Northern California. Listen in while we share about what it means to embody one's life as an artist. You may even hear the occasional chicken serenade in the background from the free range flock of hens that also live at Gaetan's place.
Dec 21, 202345:36
Medicine Basket

Medicine Basket

Gwen Jensen joins the podcast again! In season one she shared about “Navigating Kundalini,” and she’s returned for part 2, to inspire you with tales from, for, and about the gathering of Kundalini Awakened journeyers she founded that she lovingly named Medicine Basket.
Nov 08, 202324:38
Going Flat

Going Flat

Molly Rinaldi is a breast cancer survivor. Closing out October 2023 breast cancer awareness month, with this interview, we offer up this personal, educational, and thoughtful podcast for your consideration. We want women to know about their options in the event of mastectomy, including "aesthetic flat closure." Rinaldi shares about her personal journey with breast cancer, and explains why women would choose to go flat.


Oct 31, 202344:17
Happy Brain

Happy Brain

My guest specialist, Loretta Breuning PhD, founded the Inner Mammal Institute. She has spent the last decade really looking at the ways that our brains are wired. She’s created a podcast of her own to help support folks on their journeys to rewiring. The good news is that we are capable of making big, profound changes in our lives. The harder news is that it takes time, commitment, and discipline. Part of what makes us human though is our capacity to rewire, retrain, and recreate our brains to be in service to more consciousness.

Loretta explains the role of the different feel good chemicals in our brain. Serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and also endorphins have historic roles in helping keep us alive. Similarly, the stress chemical, cortisol plays an important role in our survival. Looking at the ways that these chemicals served our mammalian ancestors gives us greater perspective about the ways that we have evolved to use these chemicals. And Loretta’s work with the Inner Mammal Institute is all about how we can use this knowledge to live better.

In my own life and reflections, I am somewhat of a perennial seeker, looking to grow. And, I am so impressed by the research the Loretta has done. I hope that you’ll enjoy our conversation and begin to train your own brain! 

Sep 21, 202354:40
The Positive Fantastic Soundtrack

The Positive Fantastic Soundtrack

Enjoy some of the wonderful music from artists that have been interviewed over the past three seasons on "The Positive Fantastic" podcast
Aug 02, 202346:51
Remembering Daniel

Remembering Daniel

A special edition memorial about my life partner Daniel Treadwell Frey who passed on May 2, 2023. This episode, released on the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) is extra long in honor of this extraordinary human.
Jun 20, 202302:21:40
Melissa Musings

Melissa Musings

Hope Anderson tends to several hives at her home on the Big Island of Hawaii. We sat down while the honey bees buzzed us all around us to talk about these amazing bee-ings and they ways that we can support them through our tending. I hope that our interview will help shed light on why bees are so fundamentally important and what we can do to bring more consciousness to how they are tended for optimal health in the future.
May 01, 202335:16
Flower Power

Flower Power

My herbalist friend Julie Rothman shares about her company, Flower Power. Julie has been making delicious and nourishing loose herbal tea blends for the last 30 years! Brew up a cuppa your favorite herbal tea blend, and join us for this interview about how Julie created Flower Power as the perfect creative fusion of her love of herbalism, gardening, and culinary arts.
Apr 22, 202333:40
Healing Tide

Healing Tide

Tanya Stiller is an educator of and advocate for the seaweeds as part of a non-profit to support the oceans and particularly the intertidal zones of our Northern California coastline called “Healing Tide.” She shares about how we can sustainably support the oceans, harvest responsibly, and the amazing ways that seaweeds can be used as food and medicine.
Mar 21, 202352:47
Fantastic Friendship

Fantastic Friendship

For a new spin on Valentine's Day, I interviewed my best friend about our platonic love story! We created this episode to share about the sweetness of our friendship and also to offer insight into the wonders of being willing to have difficult conversations in a safe, secure connection. We’ve been kids together. We went to college together. We followed each other around the world. We have been raising our own kids together in community. We’ve been through the beauty and the shadow sides together. We’re all in. There’s something incredibly special about being witnessed throughout your entire life by another person. I feel seen by Melanya and she by me. We’re real with each other in a way that is informed by grace, acceptance, and mutual adoration. I hope that you’ll enjoy the giggle fest that follows. It’s somewhat difficult to follow what we’re saying at first because we have a style of talking where we both talk simultaneously and in my excitement to have my best friend on the podcast, I kept finishing her sentences, and likewise she could read my mind and finish my statements. So, our interview is full of tangents started and best friend references that are mostly intelligible to the auditory observer. The tone that comes across is giddy and reminds me of sleepover vibes of yore. Although you may be left with stories unfinished and narrations erupting into laughter, the love that we wanted to convey definitely comes through. The song for this podcast is “Wise Old Woman” by Alice DiMicele because Melanya and I have visions of becoming grandmother crone types that do handwork projects together in our elder years while visiting in our side by side rocking chairs. So, without further ado, here is our bubbly, goofy, but completely adoring friend love story for this special Valentine’s Day of “The Positive Fantastic” podcast. We hope to share a conversation every season. Enjoy our part 1!
Feb 14, 202351:31
Nature As Muse

Nature As Muse

In this episode with musical guest Alice DiMicele, we talk about her lifetime of letting song have its way with her. She shares about her singer-songwriter journey and the many albums she’s released along the way. With Nature as her muse, several of Alice’s original ecological songs are featured in this episode, including the title track of her newest album “Every Seed We Plant.” Alice has also graciously said that I can share her music on my other podcast episodes. So, look forward to hearing Alice being featured as one of Season Three’s musical guests & hearing many of her songs in the podcasts to come! 

Feb 02, 202337:12
Vital Cycles

Vital Cycles

I met with Lydia Neilsen and Anne Freiwald of Vital Cycles, in Anne’s garden, to discuss the power of teaching and training ourselves to the rhythms of the earth. Additionally, both Anne and Lydia share a deep love of song and are song carriers that help humans live our days in literal harmony. You can find several bits of song woven throughout the podcast as short and sweet interludes between each interview question. The songs come from a variety of West Coast songwriters like Debbi-Narga Brown, Molly Hartwell, Mo Washburn, and Osprey Flies the Nest, among others. All of them are sung by Lydia and Anne, who, in addition to their permaculture offerings, facilitate song circles in the Santa Cruz area. I am really excited to be sharing a podcast about permaculture. I have a rich history of learning about plants and ecology, but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon permaculture that I really felt like I had come home. There’s something really synergistic about consciously designing our lives and the spaces we inhabit to be supportive of life.
Jan 01, 202345:27
Assemblage: Creating a Living Canvas

Assemblage: Creating a Living Canvas

I reached out to Esther Siegel recently about joining me on the podcast because she and her husband Spencer Brewer just released a book of Assemblage art, focusing on some of the phenomenal artists here in Northern California. Assemblage art is all about bringing together different parts to create a unified artistic whole. Imagine three dimensional collage or very adventurous mosaic making. And, in fine form, art followed life, and the podcast became a bit of a metaphoric assemblage of Esther’s life narrative, spinning her diverse interests into this one episode. From her love of horses, through her years as a psychotherapist, and into her studio where she combines multimedia forms to create her art, this podcast is an assemblage of Esther and how her life has been a living canvas of her unfolding journey on this planet. Even the opening song for today’s podcast is part of the assemblage of Esther! It’s an original piece by Spencer that he composed in homage to his wife that he calls “Estrella.”
Dec 21, 202237:50
Old Tech, New Tech, You Tech, Through Tech

Old Tech, New Tech, You Tech, Through Tech

Joybi Joyner is an amazing man who has spent the vast majority of his adulthood living in the wilderness. We met last winter when I got to camp with him over the course of a couple weeks. We discussed the fascinating juxtaposition between the ancient ways humans have lived for thousands of years and the modern ways that things are changing so quickly. Joybi reflected on the balance of being out in the bush with being situated in the community so as to be available to share the skills of living life outdoors. He is particularly interested in how we can navigate these times successfully with the merging of old technologies and new technologies

Dec 07, 202250:01
Bring Back the Beaver

Bring Back the Beaver

This episode honors the North American beaver, in all its ecological keystone species glory. I chatted with Kate Lundquist, foremost beaver advocate in my neck woods (fed by the Russian River watershed), about how amazing beavers are, why we need them in our ecosystems, and the ways that new technology is helping create good relations between the humans and the beavers.
Nov 23, 202201:02:57
The Real Sarahs

The Real Sarahs

I'm excited to welcome Sarah Ryan and Sarah songbird, the two talented vocalists who make up The Real Sarahs duet, to "The Positive Fantastic" podcast. I became close friends with theses two at Herb School, just as they were forming their band. I have had the privilege of hearing them perform many times in formal and informal settings; they are a Mendo local band, but they've gone on tour internationally too. These two have a rootsy Americana sound, infused with their potent lyrical artistry and gorgeous harmonies. Over the years they have come into their own as singer/songwriters. In the podcast episode, they share about their journey through difficulties and healings, with the music continuing to bring them together in lovely, meaningful, and wonderfully harmonious ways.

Nov 08, 202251:09
A Magickal Life

A Magickal Life

Xicana Priestess Jamie Della shares about her life as an author. Her newest release “The Book of Spells” is now available. Listen as we explore what it means to live a magickal life.
Oct 25, 202246:54
Inextricably Intertwined

Inextricably Intertwined

Meeting Meghan Walla-Murphy completely changed the way I do my reality. We connected over the ancient art of tracking, and until I joined her in a group of women, all intent on learning how to track the animals and wildlife around us, I had not really opened my eyes to this phenomenally important and intrinsic skill set.
Now, I cannot go a day, or hardly an hour without witnessing, listening, and paying lots of attention to the play of the wild world all around me. A world that I am part of, that is inextricably interwoven and interconnected to me and my life. For me, tracking has become this elemental dance of all the sights, sounds, sensations, and signs that I seek out and that seek me!
Interviewing Meghan, I felt eternally grateful for her efforts to live as a tracker in a modern paradigm that has forgotten how interconnected we all are to everything that is, and also I’m in awe of her commitment to spread the knowledge of this fundamental skill into the world.
Oct 09, 202242:57
Sovereignty By Design

Sovereignty By Design

A recovering academic, Maggie Ostara, PhD, left her prestigious job as the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Columbia University when she realized that she’s not meant to work for anyone else. (She now knows this is part of her Human Design!)
Maggie is an Amazon #1 best-selling author, arousing public speaker, beloved teacher, and highly intuitive and skilled mentor-coach. When they work with her, Maggie’s clients deepen their sense of destiny and true value, develop their Feminine Sovereignty, and live into their own definitions of success.
Maggie is a certified Quantum Human Design Specialist Level 4, a certified Clarity Breathwork practitioner, a certified Radiant Body Yoga teacher, online education expert, and creator of the 8 Pillars of Feminine Sovereignty and the Six Feminine Sovereign Archetypes.
She has served tens of thousands of students, and hundred of clients all over the world through her online programs.
Sep 25, 202253:10
Community Therapy

Community Therapy

Join Kelly McRee for a dive into how we can collectively heal our grief through community support. Swim with us as we describe the various ways that the medium of water has helped Kelly heal her personal grief. From sailing the seas to floating friends in warm water, Kellyfish has resources to share with you in this episode.
Sep 22, 202247:15
Spirit Full Woman

Spirit Full Woman

Feather is working with women to help bring them into their bodies with awareness, empowerment, and healing love. She offers classes and workshops that support this desire for healing in the world.
Feather shares more about the ancient jade egg practice in our podcast interview. Additionally, she shares about other Daoist techniques, which I have heard referred to as Sexual Kung Fu in the past, but which she describes as Pelvic floor therapeutics to foster sensual joy.
Feather gives a sneak peek into her classes and workshops offerings too. She kindly elaborated on the topic of “Vulva Mapping” which, in my extensive overview of yoni-related practices I had yet to encounter, but have since become super intrigued by.
Also, our Spirtfull woman, Feather shares at length about a conversation she had with the planet Venus. And, the dialogue birthed a course for tracking our cycles and the celestial cycles: sacred geometry in tune with women’s bodies, that Feather is launching in 2022.
Sep 10, 202241:05
Home Birth For Every Body

Home Birth For Every Body

This is a special birthday edition of The Positive Fantastic Podcast. I’m turning 39 today and in honor of the miracle of birth and birth work, my guest today, is Gloria Gonzales Campise, who, in addition to being a long time friend, sister, and ally in support of all things fantastic, has recently graduated from midwifery school so that she can be a home birth midwife.
Sep 01, 202254:59
Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium

Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium

Co-founder of the Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium (NCWHS) Terri Jensen shares about the motivations for the creation of the event, gives a sneak peek into what happens at the gathering, and offers some of her own reflections on the evolution of the symposium over its 33 years supporting women and plants communing.
Aug 27, 202252:37
Musical Alchemy

Musical Alchemy

Alyra Rose has been experimenting in the free range sonic playground of musical alchemy since she was a little girl. Whether she’s bringing spoken word poetry to musicality or looping sound over sung verses, she’s always brewing up some amazing heartfelt lyricism to support us all becoming more embodied, whole humans. This episode showcases several original songs by Alyra in addition to our interview about her background, present, and future with musical offerings.
Aug 11, 202257:36
The Chicktionary

The Chicktionary

Kym Mamazon Trippsmith and Ma Sherry Glaser took their amazing abilities with word weaving play and created a feminist linguistic rebellion. They have been looking at how we want to spell certain words, all witch connotations intended thank you very much, and they spent the pandemic writing down some of their favorite word plays in a pocket book that they have published this summer! Mama's First Pocket Chicktionary is now available in print for your enjoyment!!!
Jul 28, 202251:25
Loving Animal Care

Loving Animal Care

I interviewed my friend Kelly Costa about her pet care offerings in Sonoma County, California. She recently formalized her offering into a business called “Loving Animal Care.” She utilizes a variety of modalities and over a decade of experience to help people give their animals extra support. We sat down to record this interview in Kelly's dining room while her elder dog "Pumpkin" snored under the table. Join us for a casual conversation about how Kelly came to this work & why caring for our animals really well makes all the sense in the world.  “I like to say that my dog makes my house a home.” —Kelly Costa
Jul 13, 202237:35
School for Self Healing

School for Self Healing

Meir Schneider, who was declared legally blind by the state of Israel, cured his eyesight such that he now has a California driver’s license and drove to our podcast interview to share about his own journey and how he has devoted his life to helping others heal too. He founded the School for Self Healing in San Francisco and travels the world as an author and educator, spreading his techniques so that everyone can be empowered to do their own healing.
Jun 28, 202244:05
Engaging With Life

Engaging With Life

Michelle Vesser offers her guidance as a wise woman with a lifelong practice of tending her inner and outer landscapes.
Jun 21, 202248:25
Heart of Health

Heart of Health

Join Luna Hart, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDNP) for a discussion of the ways that she transformed her own diseases and illth to vibrant wellness. She now guides individuals in their own journeys to restore or claim their own wellness practices so that they can enjoy healthy lives.
Jun 14, 202248:33
Reclaim Your Voice

Reclaim Your Voice

We get to sing with Lauren Arrow! This Northern California singer/songwriter shared about her own journey from loving to sing as a young child, through being afraid to sing as an adolescent, and then to eventually reclaiming her voice in the service of song as a grown woman. Now, she has created classes, workshops, and concerts to help us collectively liberate our voices. For the joy of song!
May 30, 202245:18
Trauma Informed Friendships

Trauma Informed Friendships

Jen Dalton and I recently sat down for an author chat in her home in the hills of Ukiah to discuss trauma informed friendships. She self published a book about girl bullying this year, and has many offerings to make about the ways that we can both heal from childhood bullying and address the roots of why we bully so that we can dismantle this traumatic girlhood ritual. 

May 15, 202241:47
Food as Medicine

Food as Medicine

Let your food be your medicine & hear how nutrition consultant Mary Sheila Gonnella recommends not only what to eat for health but truly HOW to eat for optimal health. Learn about what Mary calls "Vitamin T," and the ways that you need more of this in a lifestyle focused on healthy eating. 

Apr 30, 202254:17
Be Rooted Botanicals

Be Rooted Botanicals

This special 4/20 edition of the podcast is a spotlight on CBDs and my friend Molly Hildenbrand’s “Be Rooted Botanicals” business: a small, rootsy, women owned and operated CBD medicinals/topical line of products for wellness and healing. I am absolutely in love with what she has created, and I visit her shop at least once a year to stock up on her creams, oils, and bath salts. Tag along for our conversation about our friend cannabis and the joys of herbal medicine making.
Apr 20, 202238:38
Barnyard Midwife

Barnyard Midwife

Julia Green helps support thriving barnyards by doing farm consultations where she helps farmers and potential farmers to assess their space, their animals, their needs, and the best way to holistically manage all of the above. Drawing on her extensive farmstead experience and herbalist background, Julia guides the way for a happy, healthy, and successful farm. 

Apr 16, 202247:04
Paleotechnics

Paleotechnics

Tamara Wilder has made her life's offering to share the skills that connect us all to our ancestral past. Paleotechnics describes the wisdom that Wilder brings forth for people of all ages from friction fire to making string from plant fibers. In addition to teaching a diverse array of skills to people of all ages, she has created a special curriculum that she teaches in pubic elementary schools to support children forming meaningful connection to their roots. Join us as she reflects on how she personally came to reconnect with the ancestral skills movement, and the ways that she has seen the movement evolve over the last several decades.
Mar 31, 202254:43
Matriarchal Gift Economy of the Ancient Future

Matriarchal Gift Economy of the Ancient Future

Yeshe Matthews is a Priestess of the Tsogyal Lhamo Drayang Ling, the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple in Dunsmuir, CA. She is a dharma practitioner and a licensed minister, ordained and initiated in several different mystery traditions. The Temple she created serves Mt Shasta spiritual pilgrims and worldwide Goddess enthusiasts with online and in-person divinations, classes, ceremonies, and retreats. Yeshe has dedicated her life to female mysteries, sacred healing practices and the ways of the Goddess, with ongoing study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism, Siberian/Mongolian Shamanism, Ifa, Mayan Cosmology, herbal healing, and Dianic Goddess Spirituality. With a Master's degree in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, she has studied women's mysticism, shamanism, and matriarchal communities for over twenty years. Join us for an auditory journey as we explore the matriarchal gift economy of the ancient future!

Mar 20, 202250:23
Got Goats

Got Goats

Join Jenava Van Pelt and Mori Natura as we talk about the commitment of having goats. We'll discuss the basics anyone needs to hear before they get goats and flush out the details of what is really required to keep a happy, healthy herd. Combined, these two women have three decades of experience to share about the art and craft of goat midwifery and husbandry.
Mar 18, 202258:21
Feed The People

Feed The People

My friend Robin Burnside is a wise woman elder who was devoted her life to culinary arts. Everywhere she goes, she leaves happy, nourished people in her wake. Join us as we take a dive into the deep waters of Robin's abiding love of the craft and art of healthy food preparation from her days of being the head chef at Esalen, to catering for rock and roll festivals at the Hog Farm.
Mar 02, 202243:51
The Art of Drag

The Art of Drag

Join Kimber Holmes, male illusionist, for an auditory adventure into the heart of Drag. A lifelong performance artist, Holmes created a drag king persona by the name of Max Manchester. This episode explores the process of becoming "Max" step by glorious drag step. 

Feb 16, 202240:51
History Speaks in Art

History Speaks in Art

Join artist Lauren Sinnott as she explains the recent mural she created on the 200 ft long wall outside the Ukiah Conference Center as it pertains to the local history, the present, and the future of the area. 

Jan 31, 202201:02:22
Mushroom Cultivation

Mushroom Cultivation

Have you ever wanted to grow your own mushrooms on logs you harvested sustainably from the forest? If yes, then this is the episode for you. I'm gonna break down the ins and outs of how to process and cure your logs, obtain your mycelium on plug spawn, and ultimately foster the ideal conditions so that your preferred mushrooms can bear fruit. In this episode, I focus on growing shiitake mushrooms on oak logs in Northern California. 

Jan 17, 202231:33
The Forest People

The Forest People

Join me for the premier episode of Season 2 of “The Positive Fantastic” Podcast as I interview Lama and Matthew of The Forest People about their radically sustainable mushroom cultivation project in Northern California.
Jan 02, 202251:08
Frey Family Vineyards

Frey Family Vineyards

Welcome to my world. I live surrounded by my Frey family on Frey Vineyards where we practice gardening, farming, and land stewardship. This season one finale episode is an interview with my aunt, Katrina Frey, about our green family business. Join us as Katrina & I weave a story about how Frey Vineyards became the first certified organic winery in the country, and the ways that the family continues to evolve as an ecologically sound enterprise. 

Oct 20, 202146:48
Sonoma Enlivened: Kefir Probiotics

Sonoma Enlivened: Kefir Probiotics

Deanna Dennard of Sonoma Enlivened joins us with a good news tale of a local, family owned & operated, sustainable, green business in service to health and yumminess. Deanna shares about her journey with her Brewmaster husband Tom to create a delicious and nutritious product made with living cultures, herbal formulas, and nutritional wisdom. Tune in to enjoy a fermentation focused forum on water kefir, the living, probiotic soda.
Oct 06, 202140:38
Regeneration with Hugels

Regeneration with Hugels

Hügelkulturs (which we affectionately refer to as “hugels”) are a really amazing way to nourish the health of the land by promoting a simple regenerative technique that simultaneously creates habitat for animals, fertility for the earth, and an opportunity for nature to make a comeback in trying times. Hugels are a great way to bring more soil diversity and health to your backyards, gardens, and farms. Join Josh Khankhanian of Moongazer Farms and Mori Natura as we discuss what a hügelkultur is in regenerative agriculture and how to build and care for one.
Sep 22, 202144:06
This Is Yoga

This Is Yoga

"This is Yoga" looks at the practice of being embodied with Yogini Tirza Dawn. In addition to being a yoga practitioner for the last several decades, Tirza leads workshops and yoga teacher trainings that encompass all the aspects of yogic education. Join us as we discuss the yogic journey that each of us have taken to nourishing our bodies, our breaths, and our well-being through the practice of yoga.
Sep 20, 202135:29