The Clearing with Katherine May
Alle afleveringen
101 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s black volcanic sands of Costa Rica
20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur
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’. Lees meer
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 website 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…
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Kathryn Nicolai’s mysterious houses of Lake Michigan
13 oktober 2026 · 59 min
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. Lees meer
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 Dick by 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 …
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Sarah Wilson’s nomadic, desert dream
6 oktober 2026 · 1 uur
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. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acas…
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Barbara Carrellas’ enchanted theatre
29 september 2026 · 1 uur
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. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Pierre Novellie’s Big Book of Hands
22 september 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Comedian, podcaster, radio presenter and bona fide history nerd Pierre Novellie joins Katherine in The Clearing for this week’s episode. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Caitlin Moran’s ‘greatest building humans have ever come up with’
15 september 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
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. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Joseph Coelho’s art of pottering and rummaging
8 september 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
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. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Elise Loehnen’s radical candour therapist witch
1 september 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
Katherine kicks off Season Three of The Clearing in wild style by chatting to former magazine editor, podcast host and US author Elise Loehnen. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Introducing Season Three
26 augustus 2026 · 1 min
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. Lees meer
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 website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s Website
Production Credits
Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins
Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong
Producer - Alice Lloyd
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Anna Brones’ Scandinavian saltwater idyll
12 juni 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
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. Lees meer
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 book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break
Anna’s newsletter Creative Fuel
Anna’s website https://www.annabrones.com/
Anna’s Instagram
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Alice Vincent’s joyful soundscape of human togetherness
5 juni 2026 · 56 min
‘Revel’ is the recurring theme of this episode as writer Alice Vincent brings visceral, carnival-esque Glastonbury vibes to The Clearing this week. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Joycelyn Longdon on imagining an abundant future
29 mei 2026 · 49 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Yasmin Khan’s warm seas and verdant greens
22 mei 2026 · 55 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Kate Bowler’s Bridge of Absurdity
15 mei 2026 · 52 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jeffrey Boakye’s city path to peace
8 mei 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jackie Morris & Robert Macfarlane ‘dream of nest’
1 mei 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Season Two Trailer
24 april 2026 · 1 min
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. Lees meer
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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Carissa Potter’s hot springs artist retreat
21 maart 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
California-based illustrator, author and Instagram phenomenon Carissa Potter chats to Katherine about the complexities of taking rest during challenging times. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Elissa Altman on the beauty of impermanence
14 maart 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jen Hatmaker’s escape from the hate lane
7 maart 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
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. Lees meer
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 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Daisy Buchanan’s Swiss mountain glamour
28 februari 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
A deliciously glamorous escape to the snowy setting of a luxury Swiss chalet hotel where 1920s faded English aristocracy meets 1950s Hollywood starlet decadence. Lees meer
Marabou-trimmed silk pajamas and well-stocked libraries with crackling fires abound in this absolute joy of an episode with author Daisy Buchanan.
Listen in as Daisy imagines herself preparing for a Grand Ball, with all the pleasure of a day spent wrapped in enormous fluffy white towels and none of the anxiety. She also romps through an array of subjects with Katherine, from her newfound love of reiki to the quest for calm in the neurodivergent brain and why she is so drawn to reading about the strangeness of large families.
The most wonderfully realised escape to indulge in at any time.
Links from the episode:
Daisy’s Instagram
Daisy’s books
Mortification edited by Robin Robertson
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
Laurie Colwin’s books - Home Cooking, More Home Cooking, Happy All the Time, Family Happiness
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Poorna Bell’s New Zealand vista
21 februari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Floor to ceiling windows overlooking a temperate blue ocean off the coast of New Zealand is where this week’s guest, journalist and author Poorna Bell, dreams of rest and retreat. Lees meer
Since the death of her husband in 2015, Poorna has become well-versed in making the most of the everyday. As a result this is a conversation filled with the joy of small things. From relishing the prospect of unstructured days, to finding unquantified pleasure in movement. From an appreciation of the smell of toast to being able to say no to picnics. And why she never wants to receive another present again. Ever.
Links from the episode:
Poorna’s Substack As I Was Saying
Poorna’s website
Poorna’s Instagram
Banana Yoshimoto’s novel Kitchen
Lucy M. Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe
Lottie Hazell’s novel Piglet
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Emma Gannon’s year of desert rest
14 februari 2026 · 59 min
Prolific author of nine books and writer behind the Substack phenomenon The Hyphen, Emma Gannon takes us away for a whole year to her imaginary retreat in Palm Springs, where she plans to indulge almost solely in her number one favourite pastime - reading. Lees meer
Revealing the extent to which she craves alone time, she tells Katherine about her very real experience of burnout, how she went from someone who lived to work to appreciating downtime and why she relates to The Hermit in Tarot.
An inspiring listen that challenges our ideas of ‘the right way’ to live and embraces the concept of letting go.
Links in the show:
Emma’s Substack The Hyphen
Emma’s website
Emma’s Instagram
A link to buy her books including A Year of Nothing
Find Emma’s conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert about memoir here
Max Richter’s track On the Nature of Daylight
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Mike Sowden’s island of curiosity
7 februari 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Settling in amongst the sparkling sea views and scented coniferous trees of Corfu, writer Mike Sowden tells Katherine why he is ditching the concept of escape to run towards places and people with enthusiasm and curiosity. Lees meer
Conjuring up a beautiful stay on the island so beloved by author Gerald Durrell, where people are still viscerally connected to the changing seasons, Mike and Katherine find creativity in discomfort, stories from failed adventures and a shared desire to get out into the world more and embrace the randomness of life.
Links from the episode:
Mike’s Everything is Amazing newsletter on Substack
Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen Johnson
Journey into Cyprus by Colin Thubron
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (and link to website all about her)
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Season One Interlude
31 januari 2026 · 9 min
Katherine explains why we are heeding our own advice and taking a tiny break this week. She also previews some exciting, listener-led bonus content that will be coming your way next season. We’ll be back next week with another wonderful guest for you. Meanwhile take care everyone. Lees meer
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ece Temelkuran’s landscape of belonging
24 januari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
A modern sage who forewarned the world of the rise of fascism, writer Ece Temelkuran explains why she ‘put her heart in the freezer’ ten years ago when she fled her country of birth and how finding traces of home all around are helping her to heal. Lees meer
From a beloved old cardigan to episodes of Downton Abbey, from being surrounded by Turkish food in Berlin to talking to her three favourite trees in the park; in this moving conversation Ece reveals the power of finding joy in the little things, as we collectively go through what she calls our ‘winter of humanity’.
A powerful call to arms and a must-listen for those of us searching for hope in difficult times.
Links from the episode:
Ece’s Instagram
Buy her latest book Nation of Strangers here
Buy How to Lose a Country here
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Kaitlin Curtice’s sanctuary of the subconscious
17 januari 2026 · 55 min
Author, storyteller and enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin Curtice, shares her beautiful image of the perfect retreat, created by her own consciousness during the Covid pandemic. Lees meer
Exploring this space together, Katherine and Kaitlin discuss the little-appreciated power of ageing, looking for stories beneath the stories, the art of listening, feeling the presence of the ancestors and asking permission from the stones and shells before you bring them home.
A wonderful episode of Indigenous wisdom, stillness and calm - the perfect moment of retreat.
Kaitlin’s Links
Kaitlin's website where you can find her books
Kaitlin's Substack
Authors mentioned by Kaitlin
Alastair McIntosh
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
John O'Donohue
Billy Collins
Musicians’ mentioned by Kaitlin
Gregory Alan Isakov
Glen Hansard
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Martha Beck and Rowan Mangan on the magic of communing with every living thing
10 januari 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
This episode of The Clearing with renowned, Oprah-endorsed American life coach Martha Beck and her wonderful wife and podcast co-host Rowan Mangan skips the small talk and delves right into the mysteries and wonder of life and death. Lees meer
From the consciousness of stones to the nonsensical hierarchy of different sentient beings on earth. From the spiritual repression of our age to the societal need for a shaman. From the realities of living in a liminal space as an autistic person, to parenting neurodivergent children to each of their own unique ‘awakenings’.
With uncannily similar experiences of the world, Martha, Ro and Katherine roll through a dizzying array of mind-expanding subjects and shared interests, resulting in a truly captivating and enriching episode.
Martha and Rowan’s Links
Martha’s website where you can find her books
Rowan’s website
Martha’s Instagram
Rowan’s Instagram
Martha and Rowan’s Bewildered podcast
Things mentioned in the show
Poet Andrea Gibson’s website and movie Come See Me in the Good Light
Nisargadatta Maharaj wiki
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis here
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Melissa Hemsley’s calm chaos
3 januari 2026 · 1 uur
Chef and cookery writer Melissa Hemsley shares her bucolic, Darling Buds of May-esque fantasy of ‘safe’ escape with Katherine. Lees meer
Filled with wild and domesticated animals roaming freely, Chi Gong, nudity, a hammock, friendly neighbours who are close but not too close, the sea, also close but not too close; it’s a warm hug of a landscape where everything is chaotic but controlled. Wild but safe. With people but alone. Calm chaos.
A chance to escape the anxiety that accompanies her daily life, Melissa fully embraces the opportunity to imagine a place where her brain could take a rest from the worry and conjures something very beautiful in the process.
Melissa’s links
Melissa’s website where you can buy her books
Melissa’s Substack
Melissa’s Instagram
Things mentioned in the show
The Darling Buds of May TV Show wiki
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sam Baker on the challenges of letting go
27 december 2025 · 58 min
Writer and former magazine editor Sam Baker is dragged kicking and screaming into this getaway as she admits she can never let go of her internal chatter and is not someone who ‘does rest’. Lees meer
Giving us a fascinating insight into the brain of someone who has dedicated their life to hard work and busy-ness, we come to understand how different our visions of escape can be.
Needing to be ‘at the edge’ of somewhere, looking out to sea with mountains nearby, and her faithful, tail-less cat Sausage, Sam only truly rests when entering the world of her favourite anime box set. Sam’s discomfort with the concept of retreat and the realisation she doesn’t like having to choose will be utterly relatable and ring the truest for many.
Sam’s Links
Sam’s Substack The Shift
Sam’s podcast The Shift podcast
Sam’s Instagram
Buy her book in the UK here
Things mentioned in the show
You can watch The Apothecary Diaries here on Crunchyroll
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Andy J. Pizza’s magical, moving ADHD landscape
20 december 2025 · 1 uur 15 min
The ADHD and autistic tendency to rest in motion is fully realised in American author and illustrator Andy J. Pizza’s vision of the ideal retreat. Choosing an extraordinary fictional setting which incorporates an ingenious method of travelling the world, this episode showcases the wonder of a brilliantly creative, neurodivergent brain. Lees meer
Along the way, and with many fascinating tangents, Andy and Katherine discuss the power of Miyazake films, their shared love of Fraggle Rock and longing for direction from the universe.
A meticulously thought out and fully realised world that accommodates his own personal experience of ADHD, Andy unveils the most beautifully zany and imaginative dreamscape. An absolute treat.
Links
Andy’s website where you can find his books
Andy’s Instagram
Andy’s Creative Peptalk podcast
Mentioned in the show
Fraggle Rock
Last of the Summer Wine Wiki
The Master and his Emissary book about left and right brain
The Little Prince
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Oliver Burkeman’s art of the non-retreat
13 december 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
Kicking off the episode with an existential crisis, the inimitable Oliver Burkeman joins Katherine to explore his own, unique take on rest and retreat. Lees meer
A familiar name to many in both the US and the UK, Oliver’s book Four Thousand Weeks has put him at the heart of the global conversation around building a meaningful life. As you might expect, Oliver turns the concept of the podcast on its head whilst taking Katherine on a wild ride through topics from whether we should use AI as a creative tool to favourite notebooks to whether TS Eliot was on the path to spiritual enlightenment.
A wonderful, brain-stretching conversation that reaches way beyond the confines of an imagined cabin in the woods to explore wider ideas around what it really means to get away from it all and if we should even try.
Oliver’s Links
Oliver's website to buy his books and sign up to his newsletter
Things mentioned in the programme
Kendra Allenby’s New Yorker beach cartoon
NYC stationery store Goods for the Study
Shinzen Young on T.S. Eliot
Visit The Clearing website 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Laura Pashby's lighthouse at the end of the world
6 december 2025 · 58 min
In this episode Katherine chats to Laura Pashby, author of the incredible book Chasing Fog and master of ethereal photography, about her vision for the perfect retreat when things get tough. Lees meer
A magical dreamscape unfurls of a fog-bound lighthouse on an island in the Arctic circle; a liminal space filled with books and a favourite painting which acts as a portal through which Laura can step whenever she needs to escape.
The perfect, escapist listen for anyone needing to give their mind and body a fleeting moment of rest and retreat.
Laura’s Links
Laura's website where you can buy her book Chasing Fog
Laura's Instagram
Things mentioned in the episode
The Light Alone Instagram
Hammershoi's Interior, Sunlight on the Floor painting
Visit The Clearing website https://katherine-may.co.uk/the-clearing-podcast 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Cariad Lloyd’s mossy, mythical retreat
6 december 2025 · 1 uur 16 min
Katherine launches her new podcast The Clearing with British actor, comedian, author and 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction judge Cariad Lloyd. Together they explore Cariad’s vision of a dream retreat; a place she would conjure given the opportunity, and of course the privilege, to rest and retreat. Lees meer
The result is pure joy. A Tolkien-esque riot of ancient oak trees, moss and mythical creatures merging into a Brambly Hedge world replete with tiny mice making jams and apple crumble.
At a time when the world feels more uncertain than ever, allowing ourselves to dream of hope and rest feels indulgent but also vital and restorative. Cariad does not hold back in letting her imagination run wild, dancing her way through the chaos and sharing with us, briefly, the blissful, joyous and often hilarious inside of her brilliant mind.
Cariad’s Links
Cariad's Instagram
Cariad's Substack
Cariad's website where you can order her books
Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club - Podcast
Things mentioned in the episode
Empire - Podcast
Brambly Hedge (@bramblyhedgeofficial) • Instagram photos and videos
Blue - Album by Joni Mitchell | Spotify
Mothers Who Write
Winterfold candles
Visit The Clearing website https://katherine-may.co.uk/the-clearing-podcast 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Introducing The Clearing
28 november 2025 · 5 min
Katherine is delighted to let you know she’s back with a new podcast series called The Clearing. Lees meer
In each episode she asks writers and creatives, where would you go to rest and retreat, in good times and bad?
Drawing on memory, inspiration and imagination, she explores the things we seek out when we need to restore our joy, hope and energy.
It begins with a forest clearing. What will we find there? A log cabin or a grand hotel? What cherished object or talisman would you bring? And what single work of art, be it a book, record, film or something else, would provide you with enough sustenance to see you through the darkness and remind you of the good times?
In a series of frank, thoughtful and deeply personal conversations, The Clearing will explore the cultural, social and spiritual mindset needed to survive difficult times.
Visit The Clearing website https://katherine-may.co.uk/the-clearing-podcast 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 on Instagram
Visit Katherine’s 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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sarah Moss on memory and meaning-making
16 november 2024 · 47 min
Recently, Katherine interviewed Sarah Moss about her incredible new memoir, My Good Bright Wolf, an account of growing up as a difficult girl in a difficult family, and how this ultimately led to her eating disorder. Throughout the book, she repeatedly argues against herself. A voice rises up in the text and says, What are you trying to claim here? That’s not how it happened! Why can’t you tell the truth? Lees meer
The point she makes is that we are unsteady in our remembering. We’re often incredibly uncertain, not just about the content of our memories, but also what they represent. We're unsure when the meaning-making took place. Was it something that arose at the point that those events happened? Or was it something we constructed far later in adulthood? And if so, what purpose did they serve?
Links from the episode:
Sarah Moss' book, My Good Bright Wolf
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Join Katherine's Substack
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Exploring Hilary Mantel's memoir with Jillian Hess
1 november 2024 · 1 uur 1 min
What’s to be done with the lost, the dead, but write them into being?’ Lees meer
So writes Hilary Mantel in her extraordinary memoir, Giving Up the Ghost. First published in 2003, it offers a snapshot of the great writer before the Wolf Hall era: a literary, if not commercial, success, and a fragile soul with a dark, scuttling imagination.
Katherine was joined by Jillian Hess of the brilliant Noted Substack to explore this wonderful book. They discussed the way that Mantel captures her childhood and family, her relationship to her body and the endometriosis that assailed it, the way she talks about writing, and - of course, given that it’s Halloween week - those ambiguous ghosts.
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Jillian's Substack, Noted
Hilary Mantel’s book, Giving Up The Ghost
Join Katherine's Substack for a free reading guide, video recordings and transcripts
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Kate Fox on the potential and power of poetry
17 oktober 2024 · 59 min
It was National Poetry Day in the UK earlier this month and Katherine talked to Kate Fox about her new book, On Sycamore Gap, in an extra Book Club event. Kate’s book is about a very special tree in the north of England that was chopped down by vandals, but that has brought people together in the aftermath of its felling. Lees meer
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Kate on Instagram
Kate's website
Kate’s book, On Sycamore Gap: UK
Join Katherine's Substack for a free reading guide, video recordings and transcripts
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Oliver Burkeman on mortality, acceptance and imperfectionism
27 september 2024 · 1 uur
September - when we’re almost as likely to be trying to reform ourselves as in January - is the perfect moment for Oliver Burkeman’s new book, Meditations for Mortals. Lees meer
Katherine sat down to talk to Oliver for her Book Club, and there was one question she was burning to ask: do you confuse lots of readers too?
Oliver, you see, has mastered the art of subverting the self-help genre. It’s not that he doesn’t want to offer succour to people who are struggling, nor that he denies we can change. It’s just that he wants us to understand how unrealistic we’ve learned to be about our capacity to do things. He urges us to accept our imperfections, our limitations, our fundamental humanness.
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Oliver on X
Oliver's website
Oliver’s book, Meditations for Mortals: UK | US
Join Katherine's Substack for a free reading guide, video recordings and transcripts
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Lucy Jones on matrescence, maternal myths and transformation
30 augustus 2024 · 54 min
This month, Katherine spoke to Lucy Jones about Matrescence, her book about the profound changes wrought by pregnancy and birth. Combining the biological, the social and the political with exquisite writing, this is a radical revision of a subject veiled in forced cosiness and obfuscation. Lees meer
Lucy's frankness and curiosity - her utter realness - are an absolute balm for anyone who’s navigated the very particular environment of contemporary western maternity, whether that contact has been personal or at one remove. It helps us to understand why pregnancy feels like such a hinterland, and also why it doesn’t need to be this way.
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Lucy's Instagram
Lucy's website
Lucy’s book, Matrescence
Join Katherine's Substack for a free reading guide, video recordings and transcripts
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Daniel Tammet on real autistic lives
26 juli 2024 · 55 min
Katherine was excited to speak to Daniel Tammet about his latest book, Nine Minds: Inner Lives on the Spectrum. Katherine has been reading Daniel’s writing for a long time - his first book, Born on a Blue Day, came out in 2006. At the time, he was writing about his experience as a savant (his synaesthesia means that he conceptualises numbers and dates in a completely different way to most of us), and in this conversation Katherine and Daniel talk about the way that he was treated during those years. Daniel is a beautiful writer, but his talent was often invisible to people who only wanted to see him as a kind of specimen, not fully human. Hear as they talk about the way Daniel’s persisted, asserting his rightful place as a thinker and a master of prose. Lees meer
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Daniel's Website
Daniel’s book, Nine Minds
Join Katherine's Substack
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Tom Newlands on writing neurodivergence with a light touch
5 juli 2024 · 47 min
Join Katherine as she talks with Tom Newlands about his debut novel, Only Here, Only Now. Katherine talks with Tom about his female main protagonist, the unforgettable Cora, setting the book in 1990s Scotland and how it offers a new way of writing about neurodivergence. She also explains the thinking behind choosing Only Here, Only Now for a non-fiction book club, and why it captivated her enough to break her own rules. Lees meer
Katherine's book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Tom's Instagram
Tom’s book, Only Here, Only Now
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Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
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Samantha Irby on being a person
21 juni 2024 · 57 min
Join me for a recent conversation with comedian, essayist, blogger, and television writer Samantha Irby. Recorded as part of my True Stories Book Club hosted on Substack, we talked about realising you have a body again after lockdown, dogs that don’t love us enough/love us too much, writing about the darkest parts of our life, and terrorising Sex and the City fans by writing on And Just Like That… If you haven’t read it already, do check out her latest essay collection, Quietly Hostile. Lees meer
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Samantha’s website
Samantha’s book, Quietly Hostile
Join Katherine's Substack
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
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Camille T. Dungy on unearthing histories
15 december 2023 · 50 min
At a superficial level, Soil is a gardening memoir, full of gorgeous descriptions of plants and getting your hands in the soil. But the garden in question is a political gesture, an act of resistance and an assertion of belonging. Camille T. Dungy uproots the staid monoculture of the suburban garden, and takes a fierce, critical look at its assumptions. Lees meer
In this conversation, we talk about the way that gardens can become a means of social control and conformity, but also an expression of freedom and solidarity that crosses generations. We also touch on the idea of outsidership, and the difference between choosing to stay at the edges, and being forced out of the centre.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Camille’s website
Camille’s book, Soil
Camille's Instagram
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
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Kaitlin Curtice on resisting with integrity
17 november 2023 · 1 uur
In the past few years, resistance has been a live issue for many of us, whether we’re wondering for the first time how to bring about social change, or realising that we need to find new ways to be activists. Lees meer
For Kaitlin Curtice, this resistance is an ongoing practice, informed by her perspective as an Indigenous American, and imbued with gentleness, integrity and personal sustainability. In this episode, we talk about her book, Living Resistance, how her own perspective developed over time, and - appropriately for this podcast - how we can live in this unsettling moment.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Kaitlin’s website
Kaitlin’s book, Living Resistance
Kaitlin's Instagram
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
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Erica Berry on the meaning of wolves
20 oktober 2023 · 1 uur 4 min
The wolf carries an almost unbearable amount of symbolism in western culture, encapsulating the predatory, the carnal, the supernatural and the ravenous. But in her book Wolfish, Erica Berry suggests that it’s time to understand wolves differently: as tender, as hunted, as guardians of the landscape. Lees meer
What’s more, those evil qualities may be better attributed to ourselves than to wolves. Berry weaves memoir with natural history, cultural critique, folklore and conservation to show that wolves have too often been a cypher for all our fears, and that this has left them under threat of extinction.
In this fascinating and wide-ranging conversation, recorded as part of Katherine’s True Stories Book Club, Erica discusses her experiences with wolves real and imagined.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Erica’s website
Erica’s book, Wolfish
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
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Dacher Keltner on awe, humility and purpose
4 augustus 2023 · 50 min
I stumbled across Dacher Keltner’s work when I was first researching Enchantment, and now - for the final episode in this season - I’m honoured to speak to him about Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. Lees meer
Dacher’s research attempts to understand this very fleeting, ineffable emotion. He and his colleagues have shown that awe induces a feeling of being small within a vast universe - a radical shift into context. What’s more, by absorbing ourselves in awe, we become better people, more motivated to go out and do good. In this episode, we explore how it feels to experience awe, how we can seek it out in the everyday, and we share the personal experiences of awe that have inspired both of our books.
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, and The Power Paradox. He has written for many popular outlets, from The New York Times to Slate. He was also the scientific advisor behind Pixar’s Inside Out.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Dacher’s website
Dacher’s book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Marjolijn van Heemstra on the overview effect
21 juli 2023 · 48 min
Marjolijn van Heemstra believes that we can change the world by gazing into the night sky. Her book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry, explores the ‘overview effect’, a personal transformation reported by astronauts who have seen the earth from space. People who’ve experienced this rare view often report an ethical shift taking place, a new sense of mission in their lives. They come to see themselves as guardians of their planet, rather than its passive citizens. Lees meer
Clearly not all of us can - or want to - leave the atmosphere to gaze over the earth from space. But in this thought-provoking conversation, Marjolijn makes a case for us learning to draw on the overview effect from where we stand, suggesting that this could lead us to become better stewards of our environment, and form closer bonds with the communities around us.
Marjolijn is a Dutch theatre-maker, journalist and poet who has recently been named Amsterdam’s Poet Laureate. Her most recent work has focused on reacquainting ourselves with darkness, and this includes her creative project The Night Watch, and the Amsterdam Dark Festival, of which she is the founder.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Marjolijn’s Instagram
Marjolijn’s book, In Light Years There’s No Hurry
Amsterdam Dark Festival
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Amy Jeffs on ancient stories and new understandings
7 juli 2023 · 56 min
How can we return to a richer, more complex understanding of national identity and personal ethics - one that can only come from folklore? Lees meer
Amy Jeffs is the perfect person to ask. An art historian and printmaker, she creates immersive retellings of ancient stories, beautifully illustrated with her own woodcuts and etchings. In this week’s episode of How We Live Now, we discuss the function and appeal of folklore, and roam around the wind-blasted landscapes of Medieval Britain. We get a glimpse of the British Isles through ancient eyes - a haunted place stranded on the far edge of Europe, isolated and vulnerable, but full of courageous, hardy folk. What can these tales tell us about who we are now? And how can we restore this agile way of understanding the world?
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Amy’s Instagram
Amy’s Twitter
Amy's book, Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain
Amy’s book, Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
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Báyò Akómoláfé on fugitive ideas
30 juni 2023 · 51 min
In this week’s episode of How We Live Now, Katherine speaks to author and public intellectual Báyò Akómoláfé. We consider how we can step out of the belief that humanity is in control of a passive planet, and instead wonder how we can learn to read the intelligence of the systems and landscapes that we inhabit. We meander our way to autism, and begin to think about how we can create a new language of neurodivergent experience that resists the labels applied from disinterested - or disgusted - outside viewers. And we take a look at ‘hushes’, the shadowy, scuttling figures that disrupt Báyò’s narratives. Lees meer
Born in Nigeria, Báyò is a writer, speaker, teacher and founder of The Emergence Network who finds his most sacred work in fatherhood. His book, These Wilds Beyond Our Fences, is an extraordinary meandering through the cutting edge of contemporary philosophy framed in letters to his daughter, Alethea. He is also the editor of We Will Tell Our Own Story, an anthology exploring Black African scholarship and knowledge. He now divides his time between Germany, India and the USA.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
Links from the episode:
Bayo’s website
Bayo's book, These Wilds Beyond Our Fences
Join Katherine's Substack to receive episodes ad-free, extended intros and immersive, bonus mini-episdes
Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website.
Follow Katherine on Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.