Would You Wander

Welcome to Would You Wander, the storytelling nature podcast! 

Get a sneak peek of our first 6 episodes and storytellers. Join them and you'll discover Ukrainian river folklore, mushrooms, trees & poetry, the North Saskatchewan river, mindfulness, birds, and so very much more. Featured storytellers (in order heard): Sofia Lukie, Sophie Gareau-Brennan, Emma Ryan, Sarah Emslie, Dean Stockdale, and Gabriel Richardson. 

Oh hey! I’m so glad I ran into you. I’m going for a walk, want to come?

Are you breathing?

Join Emma on this casual wander inviting you to be fully present, wherever you are, and live in relationship with nature. Incorporating sensory mindfulness practices and a healthy dose of fun, she gently nudges us to consider the world - and the trees - around us more deeply.

This episode was created and recorded by Emma Ryan in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. 

Have you ever looked into the puddle outside your front door and seen a glacier? This playful bilingual wander flows from the Montagnes Rocheuses to Hudson’s Bay, from memory to discovery, asking: where does our river go? And how many things can we touch along the way?

00:32 There’s no need to go far. Promis.

01:19 The origin of the North Saskatchewan river

02:47 When you are near the river…

05:23 Fingertips in the “great” outdoors

07:47 Where does the water in the North Saskatchewan River go?

This episode was created and recorded by Sophie Gareau-Brennan in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.

Content warning: crude language and death of a pet.

Do you say hello to the birds?

Sarah does... but they didn’t always. Keep your ears open during this short wander about housecats, city birds, and learning to open your heart.

This episode was created and recorded by Sarah Emslie in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.

So you think you’re smarter than a mushroom? Dean takes on capitalism, sustainability, belief, and zombie ants in a rumination that will satisfy the mycologist in all of us.

00:29 Ruminations on intelligence, capitalism, and humanity

05:20 Dive into fungi

06:06 Zombie ants and Ophiocordyceps unilateralis

08:14 Sustainability and the future: what can we learn from thinking like mushrooms?

On Trees and Not Being Alone is a languid river wander that muses on trees, spit, poetry, and (not) being alone. If you’re looking to regenerate and slow down, perhaps with a drink in hand, maybe sit for a bit... this is the wander for you.

00:25 Welcome to the woods

03:27 A poem on eating and drinking

05:51 The trees are aware

07:03 A poem on sleeping in the forest

08:28 The trees understand time

12:16 A poem on beauty

15:35 The trees look after their young

17:46 A poem on morning

19:15 Get a little weird

This episode was created and recorded by Gabriel Richardson in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.

Content warning: implied suicide, language, sadness, pandemic hysteria.

Sofia explores the cycle of the seasons, the Death of Spring, or “Vesna” and the Birth of Summer “Lito”. Endings met with Beginnings. Loss met with Love. This story is fueled by her Ukrainian roots, the hysteria of the pandemic, and using nature to cope.  “Lito the Rusalka” takes us through emptiness, confronting queerness, and the natural unknown, by using a Ukrainian cautionary tale as the catalyst. Sofia confronts her own childhood fears of not knowing what lies beneath the surface of the water, and her adulthood fears of losing every swimmable lake due to the carelessness of our species, the invasiveness of other species, and unknown species’ yet to come. She hopes you find endings and beginnings in this pandemic, and that you always find the water, whatever that means to you!

00:36 Part 1: Welcome, Bitaemo

01:39 Part 2: Vesna’s End, Lito’s Beginning

03:58 Part 3: Beware of the water

05:52 Part 4: Walking to where, exactly?

07:16 Part 5: Relief

This episode was created and recorded by Sofia Lukie in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.

Welcome to Would You Wander! 

Start here to find out how to wander, what to bring, and what this nature storytelling thing is all about.