The Seed Field

In a world facing many crises, where should we focus our efforts? For today’s guest, Zoe Weil, the answer is clear: education. “If we can transform educational systems,” she says, “then we may be able to transform our economic system, our political system, our food system, our production system, our legal system, all these different systems, so that they’re more just and more sustainable and more humane for everyone.” Zoe is the the cofounder and president of the Institute for Humane Education, and in this conversation she shares what makes Humane Education a powerful approach, what reforms our education systems need, and why we all could use more of a “solutionary” mindset. – – – Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the humane education programs that Antioch offers in partnership with the Institute for Humane Education: the MA in Humane Education, the MEd in Humane Education, the MEd for Experience Educators with a Humane Education Concentration, the Certificate in Humane Education, and the EdD in Educational & Professional Practice, Humane Education.  Find more information about Zoe’s books The World Becomes What We Teach and The Solutionary Way on the Institute for Humane Education’s website. And follow Zoe’s new interview show, Solutionary Voices, wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was recorded March 22, 2026 via Riverside.fm and released April 1, 2026.  The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University Host: Jasper Nighthawk Editor: Nastasia Green Producer: Karen Hamilton Work-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, Odin Rasco, Rylie DeGarmo, and Shayla Kerr Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, and Laurien Alexandre. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Many Americans know the seasonal rhythms of our songbird neighbors: they arrive in the spring and leave in the fall. But where do the birds go in winter? For biologist Mike Akresh, studying Kirtland’s warbler, wood thrush, and whistling warbler has led him all over the Caribbean and Central America. But the most remarkable connection are the local people he has met during this work, who have become his collaborators, students, and often powerful conservationists in their own rights. In this conversation, Mike shares about a recent trip to Rum Cay in the Bahamas, how the end of Indigenous burning practices has imperiled songbird habitat, the drama of capturing bald eagle nestlings, and much more. – – – Visit the landing pages for Antioch’s MS in Environmental Studies and PhD in Environmental Studies to learn more about the programs Mike teaches in. You can learn more about his research and project on his personal website. And visit YouTube if you want to watch VC3TV’s interview with Mike, “Professors from the Antioch University are working with the forestry department in St. Vincent.” This episode was recorded February 23, 2026 via Riverside.fm and released March 6, 2026.  The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University Host: Jasper Nighthawk Editor: Nastasia Green Producer: Karen Hamilton Work-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, Odin Rasco, Rylie DeGarmo, and Shayla Kerr Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, and Laurien Alexandre – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Peter Palmiotto believes that outdoor classrooms can be much more intentional than the cliché of students enjoying a sunny day out on a manicured quad. Instead, he says, outdoor classrooms can be designed to work in any weather—and the natural world can be a key part of the learning they facilitate. Peter should know: he has spent the past dozen years building Antioch’s 80-acre teaching forest, Glover’s Ledge, into a highly functional and much-used outdoor classroom. In this conversation, he talks about the decisions made there, the vision for the future, and how other schools might cultivate their own outdoor classrooms. As Peter says, “The dialogue and the dynamic of a group moving through a outdoor classroom is totally different than students sitting in a classroom.”– – –Visit the Glover’s Ledge website to learn more about Antioch’s premier outdoor classroom. Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the MS in Environmental Studies and the PhD in Environmental Studies. You can also find the expanded press release about the recent $1.5 million dollar gift supporting Antioch’s Environmental Studies department and Glover’s Ledge on Common Thread.Further listening: a previous Seed Field Podcast interview with two education faculty that asked, “To Reopen Schools, Teachers Took Their Students Outside. Should They Stay There?”– – –This episode was recorded January 27, 2026 via Squadcast and released February 11, 2026. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, Odin Rasco, Rylie DeGarmo, and Shayla KerrAdditional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, and Laurien Alexandre – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Over 20 years ago, Kriss Kevorkian coined the term “environmental grief” to describe the emotional impacts experienced by scientists and activists working around the clearcutting of redwood forests. In the intervening decades, more and more people have taken up this term to explain and explore their own emotions during a time of changing climate and environmental degradation. In today’s episode, Kriss talks about thanatology, her own work on behalf of the Southern Resident Orcas in the Salish Sea, and how we can harness environmental grief to act on behalf of the non-human world.– – –Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the Undergraduate Studies programs in which Kriss teaches.  Kriss’s activist organization is called Legal Rights for the Salish Sea. If you want to follow Kriss’s advice and fill out your advanced directive, you can find more information at caringinfo.org.– – –This episode was recorded November 14, 2025 via Riverside.fm and released January 28, 2026. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, Odin Rasco, Rylie DeGarmo, and Shayla KerrAdditional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, and Laurien Alexandre. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Over 30% of people who start a PhD don’t graduate within ten years. This can be a grand disappointment and a real setback—and it can hold learners back from contributing to their full ability. But today, degree completion programs are helping some of these students to return to the academy, finish their studies, complete their research, and claim their diplomas. So what goes into designing a degree completion program? In this conversation with Diane Richard-Allerdyce, the founding director of the Completion Pathway in Antioch’s PhD in Leadership and Change, we ask her about all of these questions—and learn how taking into account educational trauma and structural barriers is key to helping students finally complete their dreams. – – –Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the PhD in Leadership and Change, and the Completion Pathway that Diane directs. You can also read the announcement of the creation of the Completion Pathway.This episode was recorded November 21, 2025 and released December 17, 2025. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonSocial Media Manager: Selina StarlingWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPoint.  Additional Production Help: Jen Mont, Amelia Bryan, and Laurien Alexandre. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the MS in Athletic Training that Ally chairs. You can also visit the main page for the Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions. To learn more about the Coalition for the Common Good, visit the CCG website. This episode was recorded October 22, 2025 via Squadcast and released November 19, 2025. – – –The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.  Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien AlexandreTo access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Physical and mental health are deeply connected, yet the medical field too often treats these as entirely separate domains. Deana Batross says that this is unfortunate, because medical procedures (like heart transplants) often have psychological side effects, and mental health conditions (like complex PTSD) often have physical causes. Luckily, Deana is a  Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners trained in the biopsychosocial model that sees the patient as a whole person. In this conversation, Deana discusses how she thinks about trauma, shares how her students in Antioch University’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner program study this topic, and discusses her work advocating for greater access to physical and mental healthcare.– – –Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program that Deana chairs. You can also visit the main page for the Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions.If you’d like to listen to a related podcast episode, try our conversation with the psychologist Stephen Southern about expressive writing's potential for treating complex PTSD: “Therapists Are Using Creative Writing to Treat Complex PTSD—and Build Resilience”. You may also be interested in our conversation with the therapist Rachele Moskowitz about somatic approaches to therapy: “Using Somatic Therapy to Understand the Trauma in Our Bodies”. This episode was recorded September 22, 2025 via Squadcast and released November 5, 2025. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.  Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Melinda Garland, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien Alexandre. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

From their position on the frontlines of healthcare, nurses intimately understand the issues facing their patients and communities. To tackle these big-picture problems, mid-career nurse practitioners are increasingly returning to school to get their Doctor of Nursing Practice degree (DNP). As today’s guest, Jeffrey Fouche-Camargo explains, “It's all about the clinical settings and how we can take those problems that we encounter in our day-to-day work and, you know, come up with solutions on how to fix that.” In this conversation with the Founding Director of Antioch University’s DNP program, Jeffrey shares about the theoretical basis of nursing, his own doctoral project around postpartum care after caesarean, and how he’s hoping the DNP program will bring Antioch’s social justice mission to nurses in the heart of their careers.– – –Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the Doctor of Nursing Practice program that Jeffrey directs. You can also visit the main page for the Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions. To learn more about the Coalition for the Common Good, visit the CCG website. If you’d like to listen to a related podcast episode, try our conversation with Rachel Chickerella from earlier this year, “Bi+ Mental Health Is a Crisis. Why Is No One Talking About It?”This episode was recorded September 18, 2025 via Squadcast and released October 8, 2025. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe and Liza WisnerAdditional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Melinda Garland, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien AlexandreTo access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

In higher education, we rarely have the chance to stop, take a year, and thoughtfully redesign entire programs. But that’s just what the faculty of Antioch University’s newly founded Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions have been doing this last year: taking the highly regarded programs previously offered through our partner, Otterbein University, and working to bring them to a nationwide audience through Antioch’s five campuses. In this episode, we talk with Regina Prusinski, Antioch’s founding Director of Nursing Programs, about why nursing is a fulfilling career, how she’s reworking the curriculum to emphasize Antioch’s focus on adult learners and social justice, why nurse practitioners will be in high demand over the next decade, and how this training prepares future nurse practitioners to be transformative agents of health justice in their communities.– – –Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the Nursing Programs that Regina directs and the MS in Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner that she chairs. To learn more about the Coalition for the Common Good, visit the CCG website. This episode was recorded September 12, 2025 via Squadcast and released September 24, 2025. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe and Liza WisnerAdditional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Melinda Garland, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien AlexandreTo access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

The Critical Skills Classroom was founded forty years ago. This approach to classroom teaching pulls together experiential learning, cycles of action and reflection, and the cultivation of emotional intelligence. But today’s guest, Laura Thomas, says that the Critical Skills Classroom is still in some ways a secret—a good idea that more people should know about. That’s part of why she is marking the anniversary by releasing a 400-page book about the approach: The Complete Guide to the Critical Skills Classroom. In this conversation we talk with Laura about why the approach is more relevant today than ever, why cycles of action and reflection are so important, and what she sees for the future of this approach—and public education as a whole.–––Learn more about the Critical Skills Classroom at the Critical Skills Classroom website. This resource contains free lesson plans, e-books, an FAQ, and more.The book Laura edited is The Complete Guide to the Critical Skills Classroom. It is available on Amazon in hardcover, softcover, and e-book editions.If you enjoyed this episode, consider listening to our 2022 Seed Field Podcast interview with Laura Thomas, “To Grow Emotional Literacy, a Classroom Must Become a Community.”–––This episode was recorded June 24, 2025 via Squadcast and released July 30, 2025. The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch UniversityHost: Jasper NighthawkEditor: Nastasia GreenProducer: Karen HamiltonWork-Study Assistants: Stefanie Paredes, Lauren Arienzale, Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.  Additional Production Help: Jen Mont, Amelia Bryan, Melinda Garland, and Laurien Alexandre. – – –To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.