The Clearing with Katherine May

Most of you will need no introduction to Elizabeth Gilbert. The international best-selling author of Eat Pray Love and Big Magic has sold a staggering 25 million books worldwide and is very much ‘a phenomenon’.

In this truly special episode Elizabeth speaks to Katherine fresh from a six month sabbatical. A sabbatical taken after she lived through, and then wrote about, one of the most difficult periods of her life. The resulting memoir - All the Way to the River - has become the centre of much debate and critique and the toll it’s taken on Elizabeth is clear.

With raw honesty, Elizabeth describes why she had to go away, feeling like she’d been ‘dragged through’ the process of writing her memoir and its resulting publication. She took herself to a very real Clearing - where she banned herself from working, doing or making. She contrasts it with her imaginary version, set along the volcanic beaches of Costa Rica, sea to the right, jungle to the left.

Katherine and Elizabeth also talk about why women over fifty are quitting everything, the power of covens, being an introvert in an extrovert’s body and why collective housing (in Elizabeth’s case) or the nunnery (in Katherine’s case) would be the ultimate female fantasy lifestyle. With a shared post-break resistance to re-entering the world via the medium of podcast recording, they do it anyway. The result is an intimate and powerful episode full of the kinds of insight only Elizabeth Gilbert can offer.

Links from the episode:

Elizabeth’s website where you can find her books https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/

Elizabeth’s Instagram

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Shiva Nataraja

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:https://katherine-may.co.uk/enchantmentEnchantment |https://katherine-may.co.uk/winteringWintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1124/9781409172512UK /https://bookshop.org/books/the-electricity-of-every-living-thing-a-woman-s-walk-in-the-wild-to-find-her-way-home/9781612199603US

Follow Katherine onhttps://www.instagram.com/katherinemay_/Instagram

Visit Katherine’shttps://katherine-may.co.uk/Website

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

This week’s guest is someone Katherine has wanted on The Clearing since the very beginning. Sleep whisperer and ‘architect of coziness’, Kathryn Nicolai is the talent behind one of Katherine’s very favourite podcasts - Nothing Much Happens. Described as ‘bedtime stories for everyone’ it’s a show that combines Kathryn’s skill for storytelling with one of the most soothing voices in the business. The result is the aural equivalent of being rocked to sleep.

Mutual fans, their conversation meanders gently as Katherine explores the craft behind the podcast. Kathryn’s childhood of wanting to feel safe, her ability to lift the cognitive load of those attending her yoga classes and skill in observing small moments in everyday life all led to the creation of her shows. That and an understanding that it’s not just children who need safety and to be held, but adults too. And no more than now.

Kathryn also imagines a brilliantly dreamlike and mischievous getaway, that once again involves the idea of rummaging through other people’s belongings, and delights Katherine no end. The only thing to do is sit back and relax. If you’re lucky you will achieve Kathryn’s peak state of ‘so much time and nothing to accomplish’.

Links from the episode:

Kathryn’s website

Kathryn’s podcast, Nothing Much Happens

Kathryn’s book

Nothing Much Happens Instagram

Jalaluddin Rumi https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/publication/rumi

Bashō https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/basho

Kamo Chōmei https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kamo-Chomei

Renee and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War by Paul Simon here

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend

Ulysses by James Joyce

Moby Dickby Herman Melville

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

One Summer America 1927 by Bill Bryson

The Land and its People by David Sedaris

Find out more about The Petoskey Stone

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:https://katherine-may.co.uk/enchantmentEnchantment |https://katherine-may.co.uk/winteringWintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1124/9781409172512UK /https://bookshop.org/books/the-electricity-of-every-living-thing-a-woman-s-walk-in-the-wild-to-find-her-way-home/9781612199603US

Follow Katherine onhttps://www.instagram.com/katherinemay_/Instagram

Visit Katherine’shttps://katherine-may.co.uk/Website

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

A friend of Sarah Wilson’s once told her she was always ‘looking for trouble’. It is clear from this episode that the best-selling Australian author, podcaster and TV presenter is hard-wired for restlessness. A self-confessed ‘edge-seeker’, constantly pushing boundaries in a flirtation with life, she proves a fascinating guest to discuss ideas of rest with Katherine.

Finding the pressures of a small cabin or ‘being good at rest’ too claustrophobic and restrictive, Sarah instead finds ultimate peace being out in the ancient, Australian desert. The dry heat, crunchy dirt underfoot and minimal distractions in a monotonous landscape are where she feels truly alive. It’s the great equaliser. A place to feel what Oliver Burkeman calls ‘cosmic insignificance’. It’s also just one of the many extraordinary and often surprising places she has perfected the ultimate tent-life; much to Katherine’s horror who practically shudders at just the word tent!

A truly original vision of rest from someone who has learnt to integrate work and leisure to such an extent that rest has been rendered meaningless.

Links from the episode:

Sarah’s website https://sarahwilson.com/

Sarah’s book I Eat the Stars

Sarah’s podcast Wild with Sarah Wilson

Sarah’s Substack https://substack.com/@sarahwilson

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:https://katherine-may.co.uk/enchantmentEnchantment |https://katherine-may.co.uk/winteringWintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1124/9781409172512UK /https://bookshop.org/books/the-electricity-of-every-living-thing-a-woman-s-walk-in-the-wild-to-find-her-way-home/9781612199603US

Follow Katherine onhttps://www.instagram.com/katherinemay_/Instagram

Visit Katherine’shttps://katherine-may.co.uk/Website

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Barbara Carrellas believes we can find the truest rest in moments of awe. The author of ‘The Book of Ecstasy’ says even in life’s darkest moments, ecstasy is possible. It’s something seeded in her practice of ‘Urban Tantra’ - a non-touch sexual practice rooted in her experience of working with the people and communities affected by New York’s AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

As Katherine and Barbara delve more deeply into this concept of ecstasy, they marvel at the capacity of human lives for surprise and why sometimes we just need to step out of our own way. Barbara also explains why Tantra isn’t what we think it is and we get to hear the most beautifully unique vision of rest as Barbara transports us to a flamboyant theatre, replete with horses, Hollywood legends and an ever-changing array of favourite theatrical shows.

A deeply joyous and uplifting episode where Barbara’s bottomless well of compassion, love and yes, ecstasy, is deeply present.

Links from the episode:

Barbara’s book The Book of Ecstasy

Barbara’s website https://barbaracarrellas.com/

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:https://katherine-may.co.uk/enchantmentEnchantment |https://katherine-may.co.uk/winteringWintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1124/9781409172512UK /https://bookshop.org/books/the-electricity-of-every-living-thing-a-woman-s-walk-in-the-wild-to-find-her-way-home/9781612199603US

Follow Katherine onhttps://www.instagram.com/katherinemay_/Instagram

Visit Katherine’shttps://katherine-may.co.uk/Website

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Comedian, podcaster, radio presenter and bona fide history nerd Pierre Novellie joins Katherine in The Clearing for this week’s episode.

A geekfest of language and ideas, they launch straight into the etymology of the word ‘dork’, why you can’t choose your own clown as a stand-up, and the politics around the changing language of autism. Like Katherine, Pierre received a late neurodivergence diagnosis. Unlike Katherine, his came after a heckler suggested he might be autistic during a live stand-up show.

A lovely, chewy episode for the brain, with Katherine bidding for them to be the hosts of ‘The Rest is Neurodivergence’ and Pierre sprinkling his imagined getaway with some Orkney magic.

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Links from the episode:

Pierre’s website https://www.pierrenovellie.com/

Pierre’s book Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things

Pierre’s BBC Radio 4 show https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pfbr

Pierre’s gaming podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/button-boys/id1827054353

Baldur’s Gate 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_3

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Come:_Deliverance_II

Portugese writer Antonio Lobo Antunes

Night Watch by Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Caitlin Moran is somewhat of an icon in the UK. Growing up as the eldest of eight kids in a three bed council flat, home-educated from the age of 11, she became a published author at just 16 and a TV presenter not long after that. A long-time columnist for The Times, she has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the UK’s funniest writers. She is also a massive fan of Wintering - so much so her new book contains an entire chapter devoted to it.

Caitlin joins Katherine for a conversation that was never going to be anything but brilliantly bonkers. They discuss her plan to rid the world of evil billionaires that basically involves being a madam, why she would pay a thousand pounds to hear the sound of a blackbird from Wolverhampton in the 1980s and ask; grottos - the Temu of caves?

Her unique vision of splendour for her escape to the Clearing, involving ‘the greatest building that humans have ever come up with’, provokes a particularly visceral reaction from Katherine.

Just to warn you, this being Caitlin, the episode contains a spot of swearing.

Links from the episode:

Caitlin’s new book How to Be Hopeful

Outsiding Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/outsiding/id6782845808

Caitlin’s Instagram

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Step forward our first OBE on the show; former Children’s Laureate, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Writing, poet and prolific children’s author, Joseph Coelho.

Having both grown up on housing estates where you definitely weren’t pre-conditioned for a life in the creative arts, Joseph and Katherine marvel at the way teachers can shape children’s futures, wonder at the power of brutalist public art and relish the joy of watching people rummage through abandoned homes in post-apocalyptic films.

A wonderful, and deeply thoughtful, conversation with one of the UK’s most inspiring literary figures.

Links from the episode:

Joseph’s website https://www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com/

Joseph’s Instagram

Munya Chawawa’s Black Boys Theatre Club

Joseph’s estate he grew up on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Estate

Lynn Chadwick’s The Watchers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watchers_(sculpture)

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Katherine kicks off Season Three of The Clearing in wild style by chatting to former magazine editor, podcast host and US author Elise Loehnen.

Menopausal Love Island, lumberjack witches, the potential joy of losing female reproductive organs and animal totems are just some tiny tasters of a brilliant, hilarious, radical conversation that plays with the boundaries of possibility for women everywhere.

Despite it being her first podcast interview since discovering she had ‘dumb and slow cancer’ (the good kind) and undergoing a double mastectomy, Elise brings unfathomable, infinite amounts of energy and laughter, plus just the right amount of woo, to a joyous episode.

Links from the episode:

Elise’s website and podcast Pulling the Thread https://www.eliseloehnen.com/

Elise’s Instagram

Mark Rothko, artist page https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/mark-rothko-1875

Anne Truitt, sculptor https://www.annetruitt.org/

Hilma af Klint, artist page https://hilmaafklint.se/

Ithell Colquhoun, artist page https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ithell-colquhoun-931

Fulgur press https://www.fulgur.co.uk/

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

We’re excited to announce Season Three of The Clearing coming very soon. Katherine has curated a spectacular line-up of guests and we can’t wait for you to hear some of the brilliantly creative fantasies of rest they have dreamt up.

Plus don’t forget our subscribers also get bonus episodes in the form of our ‘Mini-Breaks’. They’re stuffed with listener chat, one small, achievable idea to rest and restore from Katherine and a lucky subscriber gets their perfect vision of getting away from it all selected for the episode. If yours is picked you’ll receive a highly coveted Clearing mug!

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus and ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

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

Not too warm, not too cool, the kind of evening where you’re still in shorts but have pulled on a sweater, is where we find ourselves this week with the wonderful writer and papercut artist Anna Brones.

It’s the Pacific North-West but imbued with Anna’s Swedish heritage as she brings comfort and nostalgia - cold water swimming, her grandmother’s woollen blanket - to a cosy spot on a blustery shore.

Together, Katherine and Anna explore ideas of home, desire for the place you are not, ‘the curse of the creatives’ and share fascinating insights into both of their creative processes.

Links from the episode:

Anna’s bookFika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break

Anna’s newsletterCreative Fuel

Anna’s websitehttps://www.annabrones.com/

Anna’sInstagram

Visit The Clearing websitehttp://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

‘Revel’ is the recurring theme of this episode as writer Alice Vincent brings visceral, carnival-esque Glastonbury vibes to The Clearing this week.

A self-confessed extrovert, her dream retreat includes bundling up all the sounds and experiences of the people and places she loves; the chaotic joy of a house party, the blissful comfort of chatty gatherings with friends and family, the daily buzz of a busy household.

But after the noise comes the calm. That liminal space of watching the sun rise after being up all night with friends at a house party, morning dew on the grass, where your body glows with the memory of the night before and you savour the quiet stillness.

A lovely, messy, joyful gathering of sound, happiness and the coming together of humans.

Links from episode:

Alice’s website where you can find her books including Hark https://www.alicevincent.co.uk/

Alice’s Substack https://savour.substack.com/

Alice’s Instagram

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Trees as ancestors, blurring the boundary between our bodies and the living world and constructing your sense of ‘self’ through art; these are just some of the beautiful areas of discussion between our guest Joycelyn Longdon and Katherine this week.

Joycelyn is a researcher and writer, currently finishing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, who bridges the worlds of ecology, technology and environmental justice.

Resisting the urge to pick a far-flung place, she goes extremely local for her small idyll, choosing a tiny patch of woodland by the river near her home, under her favourite willow tree, connecting to culture and mother earth.

Wonderfully dreamy and deeply grounding.

Links from the episode:

Richard Powers The Overstory

Explore Adinkra Symbols https://www.adinkrasymbols.org/#gsc.tab=0

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Jeff Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser All Flowers Bend Towards the Sun

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Warm waters, humid, verdant jungle and the nighttime hum of insects are where we find ourselves this week as our guest, Yasmin Khan, transports us on a much-needed break to the tropics.

Yasmin is the bestselling author of travel cookbooks exploring the food, people and stories of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. In 2025 she found herself in the middle of a bizarre legal storm when she was threatened with legal action by a deli for calling her latest book ‘Sabzi’ - the word for veg or greens in multiple languages.

In this conversation with Katherine they discuss the controversy (the case was eventually dropped) and the issues it raises, including the ownership and commodification of food culture. Plus finding community when the chips are down, the ebb and flow of cooking for pleasure, snatched moments of rest with a small child and UK national treasure, Nigella Lawson. A wonderful, and important, conversation.

Links from the episode

Yasmin’s Substack http://risingup.substack.com/

Yasmin’s Instagram

Kaco Pens

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

How to Eat by Nigella Lawson

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Kate Bowler is the multiple New York Times-bestselling author, professor of divinity and stage-four cancer survivor who has mastered the art of finding small delights in the everyday. No grand gestures for her.

In this wonderful conversation with Katherine, they talk about ‘how to cope’, the brittleness of time and why revelling in absurdity is really the answer to everything. A celebration of silliness, tattoos, the important differences between canoes and kayaks and the most beautifully realised depiction of precious time spent with a best friend.

Links from the episode:

Kate’s new book Joyful Anyway

Kate’s website where you can find her previous books https://katebowler.com/

Kate’s podcast Everything Happens

Kate’s Instagram

A Truce that is Not Peace by Miriam Toews

My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman

Canadian ice fishing cabins https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/portraits-canadas-ice-fishing-huts-180957794/

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Our first guest to choose a city for his dreamscape, the brilliant writer, BBC broadcaster and educator Jeffrey Boakye reveals he’s most at peace when walking for walking’s sake through the ever-changing textures of London’s streets. The very essence of a ‘flâneur’, as we discover.

A gorgeous and meandering conversation, Jeffrey and Katherine explore a wonderful array of topics: from skateboarding as a life lesson in failure to finding joy in packed tube trains, why we need to foster more pointless hobbies to what the movie Groundhog Day teaches us about the mundane and the sublime. Often philosophical, frequently laughter-filled and as always, deeply thought-provoking.

Links from Episode:

Jeffrey’s website where you can find his books https://www.jeffreyboakye.com/

Jeffrey’s Substack

Jeffrey’s Instagram

Jeffry’s BBC Radio 4 music show Add to Playlist

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Transcription by Ben Lerner

The Door by Magda Szabo

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

https://oleandsteen.co.uk/ Danish Bakery

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

A beautiful, bird-filled episode from the wonderful collaborative duo of writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris. Together they have created some of the best-loved books on the natural world in recent years, including The Lost Words.

In this transcendent episode they share their quite different visions of what rest looks like for them. Robert conjures a wild, bird-filled landscape in the Scottish Cairngorms whilst Jackie imagines taking a sentient ship to a melding of The Rain Wilds and Earthsea. Full of wonder, wild knitting, ‘glacial erratics’, laughter and of course plenty of nature chat, this episode is a true salve for the soul.

Links from the episode

The Book of Birds by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane

The Lost Words by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane

The Lost Spells by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane

Jackie’s Instagram

Jackie’s website

Robert’s Instagram

Deep Deep Light pain brushes and paints https://deepdeeplight.com/

A Wizard of Earthseaby Ursula K. Le Guin

The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb

The Illustration Department Podcast

Artist David Gentleman

Read about Albrecht Dürer’s painting Young Hare here

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

Read about artist Mark Rothko on the Moma website

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free and to access our bonus content

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

We’re back! After a small, restorative break, we are excited to bring you a new season of The Clearing, where Katherine will explore visions of rest and retreat with some more wonderful guests.

Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com to discover how to enjoy all episodes ad free and to listen to bonus content as it’s released.

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

California-based illustrator, author and Instagram phenomenon Carissa Potter chats to Katherine about the complexities of taking rest during challenging times.

In a masterclass of self-reflection, Carissa questions whether the political left have failed to cultivate tolerance and understanding, if we should brand people as evil and how to ‘show up’ when you are the caregiver of a child with complex medical needs.

It is no surprise that someone who thinks so deeply about the world has also developed a fully formed fantasy of where she would go to get away from it all; just her and her ‘platonic love at first sight’ creating art together and dipping in the waters at Indian Springs Calistoga. Bliss.

Links from the episode:

Carissa’s website

Carissa’s Instagram

Carissa’s Substack

Carissa’s online shop People I’ve Loved

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

Experiencing everything, everywhere, all at once is where we find our guest Elissa Altman this week, as she chats to Katherine in the midst of a snow cyclone in Connecticut.

An author and speaker whose work touches on issues of family, trauma, and the permission to create, she acknowledges her deep need for rest and retreat as she whisks us away to her favourite place in the world; a tiny cottage set back from a stony beach in Owl’s Head, Maine.

Overlooking the sea and with guitar to hand, Katherine and Elissa grapple with overcoming guilt, the pleasures of re-reading, the fetishisation of Mary Oliver and the horror of people placing items on their desks.

A glorious and warm-hearted episode with some timely reminders about the impermanence of things, good and bad.

Links from the episode:

Elissa’s website where you can find her books

Elissa’s Substack

Elissa’s Instagram

Devotions poetry collection by Mary Oliver

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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

As someone whose life was turned upside down by an unexpected divorce and a subsequent move away from the evangelical church, US author and podcaster Jen Hatmaker has learned, and earned, a wisdom that is tangible.

In this episode of The Clearing Jen transports Katherine to her grandparents’ 1970s cabin in the snowy Colorado mountains to share the many ways she has come to terms with life’s challenges. Against a blissful setting of floor to ceiling windows, low lighting and a crackling fire, Jen describes letting others ‘drive their car in the Jen Hatmaker hate lane’, the comfort of feeling small, saying yes to everything and how ‘Me Camp’ changed her life.

Links from the episode:

Jen’s website where you can buy her books including her memoir Awake

Jen’s Instagram

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

Various books by David Sedaris

Learn more about Anne Lamott

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Visit The Clearing website http://www.theclearingpod.com/ for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

Buy Katherine’s books:Enchantment |Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing:UK /US

Follow Katherine onInstagram

Visit Katherine’sWebsite

Production Credits

Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

Producer - Alice Lloyd

Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

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