Chrysalis Podcast (2026)

The Chrysalis podcast with John Fiege is a quest for ecological wisdom and compassion through deep conversations with environmental thinkers whose stories can help guide us into new ways of relating to the rest of life on Earth. On the podcast, John has lively, provocative conversations with fascinating guests—writers, artists, activists, scientists, and spiritual leaders—all thinking this planet

and how to live on it in ways that are surprisingly different, but almost magically resonant with one another. Reflective, exploratory, and generous in spirit, each show is grounded in the journey of a single guest over a lifetime of walking on the Earth, from childhood experiences, to big ideas developed over the course of a career, to reflections on what it will take to turn ecological crisis into regeneration. We are hosting the podcast and newsletter for free on Substack, a relatively new internet platform that makes it easy to build community and cultivate thoughtful conversations and meaningful connections. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms for free.

19/04/2023

We just released an episode of the Chrysalis Podcast featuring Vernon Haltom and Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch. This is the first episode in our new Chrysalis Projects series, which highlights the work of community-based environmental projects:

https://www.chrysalispodcast.org/p/7-vernon-haltom-and-junior-walk-coal

Vernon and Junior are working hard to stop mountaintop removal, which is a particularly destructive form of coal mining. Mountaintop removal got a lot of press years ago went there was a big fight to stop it. Coal mining is down in West Virginia, and much of the press attention and activism around coal mining in West Virginia has dissapated, but mountaintop removal is still ongoing and having a massive impact on ecosystems and human health in West Virginia.

This is a story about not just coal and activism but about the media and how how we forget and move on to new things.

Check out the show to hear what Vernon and Junior are working on every day to keep the spotlight focused on the ecological destruction and environmental justice nightmare that stems from coal mining in West Virginia.

We encourage you to donate to the amazing work that Coal River Mountain Watch is doing with very few resources in West Virginia:

https://www.crmw.net/donate.php

Listen now (62 min) | Chrysalis Projects | Many assaults on the environment happen slowly and continually, almost invisibly to us: starting a car engine, buying meat at the grocery store, throwing away a plastic straw.Mountaintop removal is different. It is sudden and violent and intentionally, unmi...

05/04/2023

THE CHRYSALIS PODCAST IS BACK!

Check out the trailer for the new series we've been working on:

https://www.chrysalispodcast.org/p/6-were-back-with-poets-artists-cooks

And please sign up for our free newsletter at ChrysalisPodcast.org.

We'll be releasing new shows every week starting next week, and look out for some exciting news about a live event in Buffalo for Earth Week.

Listen now (1 min) | We’re back! I’m super-excited about the new series of shows we’ve been recording over the past year here at the Chrysalis podcast. The new series focus on poets, artists, cooks, and community organizers, and we’ll be releasing them alongside more of our original Conversa...

16/06/2022

To kick off the summer, I sit down with my good friend and colleague, Heather Houser, who is an environmental humanities scholar, a dancer, and an overall wonderful person.

Our conversation explores climate information overload, the idea of what she calls eco-sickness in literature, the thorny topic of human population size, and whether artists should reject or rework artistic tools of the past that might be tainted by colonialism, racism, or other forms of oppression.

https://johnfiege.substack.com/p/heatherhouser?s=w

Keep up with the podcast and get an invitation to join the Chrysalis Discord server by subscribing for free on Substack.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Heather Houser!

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Chrysalis is produced and edited by Gabriela Cordoba Vivas, with music by Daniel Rodríguez, design by Unai Reglero, and mixing by Quiet Gecko. Shubh Jain is our web developer and assistant editor, and Isabella Nurt is our social media producer and assistant editor.

Listen now (86 min) | Here’s something we hear all the time: if only more people knew more about environmental problems, then they would certainly act in some ecologically beneficial way. But the problem is, it’s not true. We’re now deluged with data about the climate crisis; and yet, this abu...

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Chrysalis Podcast