Emerging from the forests of Finland, entrepreneur, author, and Hiro Technologies co-founder Tero Isokauppila joins us for a journey into one of the most overlooked frontiers of fungal innovation: the modern landfill. Together, we explore the promise of plastic-eating fungi, the biology behind fungal decomposition, and how Hiro is working to rethink waste management from the ground up—starting with one of the most persistent everyday waste streams: diapers.
We head into the forest and beneath the soil to explore how mycorrhizal fungi shape ecosystems—from community assembly and symbiosis with trees, to their surprising role in soil carbon and long-term storage—with mycologist Dr. Peter Kennedy as our guide.
Leaving behind our compass and GPS, we intentionally set out on a journey of natural navigation developing our own maps based on observations of trees, patterns in water and sky footprints on the land with educator, author and natural navigator Tristan Gooley as our guide!
We travel across the planet, and into the cosmos, exploring the transformative power of fungal mycelium. From turning invasive blackthorn into food and shelter in Namibia, to transforming demolition waste into new buildings in Cleveland, to imagining inflatable space colonies, architect and biomaterials pioneer Christopher Maurer of Red House Architecture guides us through a living future.
Into the Mycocosmic we shape strands of thoughts and feelings on fear, the underworld, hope and transformation through the discipline of poetry into fungally-inspired narratives and find ourselves opening up to let in more fungal intelligence with poet, author and college professor Lesley Wheeler as our guide!
We don our mosquito nets and full coverage gear to brave the rugged "crown lands" of Ottawa on a great fungi quest in search of fungal diversity and choice edibles with our identification guide, culinary mushroom expert, and founder of Think Fungi - Robert Coutreau!
Off to England, a land of ancient oak trees, we find ourselves under a canopy with Jules Acton, author of Oaklore, to wander through tales of oaks that shaped kingdoms, sheltered faeries, and still stand as living sentinels of ecology, myth, and conservation.
We visit the Bristol countryside for an advanced course in medicinal mushroom farming, commercial supply chains and the realities of making medicinal mushroom products with Tom Baxter of the Bristol Fungarium as our guide!
We roll through the woods of Kentucky exploring the local ecology, looking for wild mushrooms and just developing our hillbilly skills with the author of "Go Forth and Forage", Appalachian Forager Whitney Johnson as our guide!
We get lost in the beautiful Ozark mountains on a quest to learn more about this underexplored bioregion and uncover a growing community of mycologists in the Missouri Mycological Society who are creating courses and certifications for foragers with Michael Synder of Wildwise Botanicals as our guide!
We wander the Mendo-Sonoma coast searching for delicious wild mushrooms that we cook alongside cultivated gourmets over an open fire, accompanied by friends and fine wine, with forager, chef and winemaker Julie Schreiber as our guide!
In this episode, we journey into the bubbling world of fermentation with Wade Fox—a curious mind bridging fungi, food, and alchemy. From koji and cordyceps to myco-molasses and enzyme extraction, we explore how fermentation can unlock new possibilities in farming, medicinal mushroom extracts and more!
