Conscious Chatter
Kestrel Jenkins
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Top 10 Conscious Chatter Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Conscious Chatter episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Conscious Chatter for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Conscious Chatter episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
S03 Episode 150 | LISA GRALNEK + BALANCING AUTHENTICITY AMIDST A TIME OF DISRUPTION
Conscious Chatter
01/30/19 • 39 min
In episode 150, Kestrel welcomes Lisa Gralnek, a Brand & Strategy Executive, to the show. The Founder + Principal of LVG & Co, Lisa has worked with brands including Chobani, moo.com, adidas, IKEA, Walmart and more over the past decade.
“Authenticity really ties back to why you wake up in the morning - you know, what are your values, what’s your mission in life or your raison d'être as the French would say.” -Lisa Gralnek, Brand & Strategy ExecutiveIn this week’s show, Lisa shares more on her journey and what led her to have such a distinct interest in brand strategy and sustainability. She shares more on the idea of authenticity and its elevated importance amidst a time of disruption. Kestrel + Lisa explore some of today’s current buzzwords, and whether or not those are driven by brands, shoppers or both, and how potentially important they are in influencing our behavior.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
- Cleo Wade + Rupi Kaur, poets that connect on a deep level through Instagram.
- “It’s grow or die — especially if you’re a publicly traded company.”
- “If we’re talking about heart and soul, happiness and success and personal, I think profits with purpose is what I’d call it for business. You know - it’s not just about earnings or about creating shareholder value (as we’re taught to do in business school), but it’s really about doing right, and that means doing right by your people, doing right by the world’s people, doing right by the planet.”
- “How do we redefine success in business to really take care of our planet and our people, and not just our profits?”
S02 Episode 97 | THE ZIRAN + XIANG YUN SHA SILK
Conscious Chatter
01/17/18 • 29 min
In episode 97, Kestrel welcomes Kelly Wang Shanahan, the founder of The Ziran, to the show. A Los Angeles-based label which offers a new line of luxury silks, The Ziran's mission is to weave tradition into the modern world, leading a new generation to live the Ziran way: natural, spontaneous, and free.
"Fashion is important and it's not only a physical reflection of how you perceive yourself, but also how you want to be perceived. Otherwise we would walk out of the house naked every day. So, every time you put on a piece of clothing, you're making a choice and there aren't a lot of things other than eating food that you choose to do every single day." -Kelly, founder of The ZiranThroughout this episode, Kelly shares insight into the cultural history connected to xiang yun sha silk, and the extensive process behind its creation. Kestrel and Kelly also discuss the pros and cons of manufacturing in Los Angeles, and the challenges that come with building a new luxury label.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
- Fashion Institute Of Design & Merchandising, where Kelly studied
- Libertine, LA-based label Kelly worked for in the past
- Ziran: in Daoist philosophy, ziran means natural, spontaneous and free, pushing away outside influence + and being authentic to yourself
- Xiang Yun Sha Silk: translates to "perfumed cloud clothing" - it started in the Ming Dynasty in a small region in southern China, and it was made for the elite + wealthy
- The Ziran Way Film (full length coming soon), a documentation of more of the process behind xiang yun sha silk
- It's made using all natural and sustainable ingredients
- It's only made in the south of China in one small region
- It's only made 4 months out of the year during the summer when the sun is the hottest
- It's dyed up to 30 times, and then coated with iron-rich mud
- The combination of the tannins, the dye and the iron in the mud create a chemical reaction and change the composition of the silk - making it wrinkle resistant and antimicrobial
- It's a type of peace silk
As mentioned in the introduction, if interested, you can check out CO (Common Objective)'s new report, Why Do Fashion Better: The Facts You Need To Succeed Sustainably In Fashion.
S02 Episode 75 | C&A FOUNDATION + COLLABORATION
Conscious Chatter
08/16/17 • 34 min
In episode 75, Kestrel welcomes Executive Director of The C&A Foundation, Leslie Johnston, to the show. The C&A Foundation is a corporate foundation pushing to transform the fashion industry.
The C&A Foundation's mission is "to inspire belief that change is possible, and to support those initiatives that can drive that change."From Leslie's perspective, the big way to push the needle when it comes to the fashion industry, is through a business to business play. While customer education is key, Leslie believes that the brands, retailers and manufacturers really need to step up and act differently. And as she acknowledges, within the industry, these players have been stepping it up in recent years.
Leslie shares insight on how currently, the data from supply chains is living in a collection of separate silos. One of the ways that the C&A Foundation is working to collaborate with others in the industry is by finding ways to accurately aggregate the information, so people can access it. One of the partners they are working on this project with is SourceMap.
Throughout this conversation, Leslie brings up several organizations and initiatives that the C&A Foundation is working with on some capacity. These are outlined below:
- Organic Cotton Accelerator
- New Foresight
- Sumangali Scheme + Bonded Labor in India
- Labor Link + Labor Voices: allow C&A and others to hear directly from workers, with realtime supply chain data
- Global Fund For Women
- Thomson Reuters
- Forum For The Future
S01 Episode 38 | EXPEDITION 196, PEACE + SUSTAINABILITY VIA TRAVEL
Conscious Chatter
11/29/16 • 29 min
Episode 38 | EXPEDITION 196, PEACE + SUSTAINABILITY VIA TRAVEL
Episode 321 features Teju Adisa-Farrar, the founder and co-creator of the Black Fiber & Textile Network and the creator/host of the Black Material Geographies podcast, alongside Layla K. Feghali, the founder of River Rose Remembrance, a Plantcestral & Ancestral Re-Membrance practitioner, cultural worker, author & story re-collector (archivist).
Teju is currently the Director of Outreach & Programs for the Fibers Fund, and co-creates with members of BFTN. Layla’s book, The Land In Our Bones, showcases an exploration of the herbs & land-based medicines of Lebanon & Cana’an, highlighting the power of culture’s relationship with land.
“I think of culture as a way of relating to your environment, including those around you, making sense & beliefs based on your environment, & creating a sense of a shared identity based on the place that you are in. With the creation of colonialism & the transatlantic slave trade, and this very globalized neoliberal world, now culture is less connected to a place & more connected to what and how we consume.” -Teju
“I feel like that relational way of existing or of relating is kind of what ultimately yields or inspires I guess what folks would call a sustainable way of navigating things. Because it requires a conversation beyond the self and with the entirety of the living world that I dwell in and that I’m a part of and that I impact and that impact me, and the ways that they’re alive.” -Layla
MAY THEME — Connecting With Nature To Unveil Ways To Reimagine Futures
As the sustainability conversation continues to evolve, we often will hear mention of regionality, or the importance of thinking more locally in supply chains or manufacturing. While this is a great aspect to explore further, it only touches the surface of the depth connected to geography, location and place. This week’s guests each approach education and storytelling through place-oriented lenses. While they are each uniquely different, these geography-oriented avenues teach us so much about what is often missing from the conversation.
As we’ve explored through various angles this season, culture is integral to sustainability. Our guests this week shed light on the many ways that culture can teach us about land, history and legacy. How understanding the land, its history and the cultures woven into it, can lead us toward restorative justice and regenerative practices. As one of our guests so beautifully writes in her book:
“The real focus of sustainability should be to recenter these Indigenous technologies rooted in multigenerational relationships to place, and teach younger generations how to harvest in ways that ensure the life of these plants will not only continue but spread per this ancestral knowledge.”
Links from the conversation:
S05 Episode 213 | REZA CRISTIÁN OF SUSTAIN THE MAG ON THE FUTURE OF MEDIA, RESOURCEFULNESS + SHIFTING THE SUSTAINABILITY NARRATIVE
Conscious Chatter
11/10/20 • 46 min
In episode 213, Kestrel welcomes Reza Cristián, the founder and editor-in-chief of SUSTAIN The Mag, to the show. An online media platform, SUSTAIN The Mag is a space where eco-conscious warriors cultivate a healthy, planet-friendly lifestyle.
“There was mostly you know, white people that were at the top, executives and editors-in-chiefs for example, and then, people on the covers — they weren’t really everyday people, so I was really turned off by that. And that’s really what led me to want to shift and change the perspective around media, and really tie it into sustainability because in a whole, it’s not just about caring for the planet — it’s caring about everyone and just interconnecting it all — so, that was my main priority to start Sustain The Mag.” -Reza Cristián, Founder + Editor-In-Chief of SUSTAIN MagOn this week’s show, Reza shares more on her background and how resourcefulness has always been integrated into her lifestyle, growing up in a Mexican family. She also shares more on what led her to actually build Sustain The Mag, and some of the ideas she has for the future of the platform.
Kestrel asks Reza to ideate on what the future of media looks like from her perspective, and they also discuss if and how the sustainability narrative is shifting away from a consumeristic-driven approach toward more of a focus on resourcefulness.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
- Dominique Drakeford + Céline Semaan, two people in the sustainability industry that Reza looked up to while she was in college
- SUSTAIN The Mag Fall 2020 Cover Shoot, featuring the cofounders of Intersectional Environmentalist
- “Another thing that I love to always mention is to just not feel so lost in the consumerism part of sustainability, because that goes back to colonialism, that goes back to the mindset of capitalism where people think they have to purchase in order to be a part of something, and I always love to mention that we were brought to think that we were the problem because corporations didn’t want to take accountability for their mistakes, but in actuality, we are the solution.” -Reza
- Follow SUSTAIN Mag on Instagram >
- Follow Reza on Instagram >
Thanks to this week's sponsor ECO-STYLIST — a marketplace for sustainable men’s clothes, Eco-Stylist helps you dress like you give a damn and allows you to look sharp without compromising your values. Check out more at https://www.eco-stylist.com/conscious/
In episode 289, Kestrel welcomes Amy Powney, a UK based fashion designer, creative director and activist living in London. After starting as an assistant who swept the cutting room floor, Amy worked her way up, and is now the Creative Director and owner at Mother Of Pearl. A luxury womenswear brand, Mother of Pearl celebrates individuality, authenticity and sustainability. Amy is also the star of a new documentary called Fashion Reimagined, that tells some of her story building Mother Of Pearl into what it is today.
“I guess growing up on a farm, growing up the way I did, working you know, in the bottoms of the supply chains and agriculture, et cetera, it just kind of — it felt homely and it felt raw and it felt honest and it felt important and it’s really motivated me even more to want to tell that story, and for us to really understand when we see our product, what people and places and craftsmanship has been added. And that we can’t just focus on this pure kind of end part, and we need to be really respectful and honored for the farmers and these workers — you know, without them, we don’t have clothes and without them, we don’t have food. I think we need to connect that supply chain up and respect it. And it’s given me so much more respect as a designer to what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.” -Amy
In Fashion Reimagined, Amy takes folks along with her on a journey to shift Mother Of Pearl toward a more sustainable direction. It all starts in 2017, when she wins the British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund award and decides to invest that cash into tracing her supply chain back as far as possible to the raw materials.
The most exciting part of the film is watching them navigate their way through the sourcing process. We see their adventures in Uruguay to find a wool supplier, and their journey in Turkey to find a denim mill and factory, we see how they cultivate a relationship with a mill in Austria that uses steam rather than chemicals to soften the fabric, and of course, unexpected events happen, reminding us how important it is to be an exceptional problem solver in this industry.
The film culminates in the launch of the No Frills collection at London Fashion Week in September of 2018 – when Mother Of Pearl was the ONLY sustainable collection on the schedule. A reminder that this was only 5 years ago.
While we are undoubtedly seeing a lot of shifts in recent years – more brands showing more sustainably-focused collections, entire fashion weeks like Copenhagen dedicated to sustainability, and more mainstream discussion about it, Amy reminds us in the film that – “It’s not enough – we aren’t changing fast enough.”
As Pedro, the owner of Lanas Trinidad (Mother Of Pearl’s wool supplier), says in the film —
“We talk about sustainability and the environment – but we have to live the way we say.”
Quotes & links from the conversation:
- “I guess, the highlights, albeit being obviously one of the hardest parts of the process, was just reconnecting with the people in the supply chain. You know, in the fashion industry, it’s notorious for promotion and sales and social media. We see fashion and we very much see it a kind of a glossy moment. And I think historically, a lot of the conversations around supply chains has been a bit boring and it’s turned people off. And I think there’s one thing learning about a supply chain or thinking about it, but another thing is when you actually meet these humans involved in it.” -Amy (17:11)
- “If you look at a cotton garment, a wool garment, a viscose garment — I mean, even if you get into polyester and synthetics; obviously it’s all been through these plastic processes and fundamentally, it is plastic. But its origin is actually oil, so we’re actually taking from the planet in a very raw way to make our products, but we’re so disconnected at the end. And actually, if we look at farming and agriculture, it’s exactly the same in fashion — it’s just it’s a few more steps back, and people just don’t connect the dots, and I think that’s the piece of education that we all need to understand to respect our things in a different way.” -Amy (21:54)
- Lanas Trinidad, Mother Of Pearl’s wool supplier
- Fashion Reimagined Website (Fashion Reimagined - in cinemas 3rd March, 2023 and available on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW from 9th April, 2023)
- Mother Of Pearl Website
-
In episode 230, Kestrel welcomes Kiana Kazemi, a current undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, studying the intersections of technology and environmental justice, to the show. The Editor in Chief of the campus environmental publication The Leaflet and the Digital and Community Operations Coordinator at Intersectional Environmentalist, Kiana is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Circularity, a soon-to-launch multi-medium environmental justice platform.
“Climate change is a huge problem that we’re facing, but it’s really the symptom of capitalism, of the patriarchy, of so many other systems that have bigger histories and have been in place for such a long time. And so, if as engineers, we’re only taught to tackle those surface-level symptoms, we’re not tackling the wider systems, which is what we need to be tackling. ” -Kiana Kazemi, Intersectional EngineerOn this week’s show, Kiana shares more on her backstory, what led her to pursue engineering, and what being an “intersectional engineer” means to her. Also, she helps provide some historical context on the ways in which engineering has and continues to perpetuate systemic injustices.
For Kiana, community engineering is important for a more equitable future — she shares more on what this means to her, and how it can be more effectively integrated into practice for the engineering and tech industries.
- Of course technology perpetuates racism. It was designed that way. by Charlton McIlwain in the MIT Technology Review
- Khalid Kadir, professor Kiana mentions
- “Because engineering is often about innovation and about the future, we’re never told to study the past or even the current systems — it’s always about create, create, create more, innovate more and think about the future. But again, if we don’t take into account that context and that history, then we’re just going to perpetuate those same problems over and over again.” -Kiana
- Why intersectional environmental pedagogy belongs in all fields by Kiana Kazemi
- Engineering x Social Justice Conversation with Kiana Kazemi and Diandra Marizet
- Co-Founder of Circularity (launching soon!)
- Tech Community Leader at Intersectional Environmentalist
- Slow Factory Foundation, founded by Céline Semaan
- Follow Kiana on Instagram >
S05 Episode 239 | Ganni on the importance of action over labels & their 44 responsibility gameplan goals
Conscious Chatter
06/15/21 • 47 min
In episode 239, Kestrel welcomes Lauren Bartley, the head of sustainability and CSR for GANNI, to the show. A Danish contemporary ready-to-wear fashion brand, Ganni is known for building a cult following in the fashion space.
“Nowadays, sustainable or sustainability — it means different things to different people. To you, it might mean plastics and to me, it might mean human rights or circularity or carbon. You know — it’s so broad. I just think we need to move away from this broad brush approach to the subject and I guess, be more specific with which issues actually we’re trying to tackle.” -Lauren
On this week’s show, Lauren shares a bit of background on her distinct way into the fashion industry, and how she found her way to working with Ganni.
We talk about the brand’s resistance to labeling themselves as “sustainable”, how their 44 responsibility gameplay is driving them, and some of the ways they are working to creatively reduce their overproduction and waste, by adjusting their business model.
- Soil Association - their mission is to help everyone understand and explore the vital relationship between the health of soil, plants, animals and people. Lauren worked with them in the past.
- “Brands Are Claiming That They Are Not Sustainable. Here’s Why That’s A Good Thing”, Refinery29 article Kestrel mentions
- Open Apparel Registry, an open map of global apparel facilities
- Fair Wear Foundation, Ganni is working with a consultant to further explore what a living wage means throughout their supply chain
- Fashion On Climate Report by McKinsey x Global Fashion Agenda
- circular.fashion
- Ganni’s 2020 Responsibility Report
- Ganni Repeat, Ganni’s rental platform
- Ganni’s Responsibility page
- Follow Ganni Lab on Instagram >
- Follow Ganni on Instagram >
This week's episode is brought to you by OEKO-TEX® - a worldwide association of 18 independent research and test institutes that sets standards for safer textile and leather production and products. The OEKO-TEX® portfolio of independent certifications and product labels help all of us make responsible decisions to choose products that are safer, more environmentally friendly, and manufactured in a socially responsible way.
In episode 313, you’ll hear from co-hosts (yes, co-hosts!) Kestrel Jenkins and Natalie Shehata in the launch of Season 7. This is also the first episode in which Kestrel and Nat showcase their new co-host dynamic. With this powerful community-driven change, they’ve teamed up to reimagine some aspects of the show. Here’s what you can expect this season:
- Roundtable Discussions — featuring at least 2 guests per episode
- Focus On Making The Conversation More Circular — bringing more folks to the table to learn from various voices at the same time
- Monthly Themes — we’ll hone in on a specific topic each month
- Bi-Weekly Episodes — expect to hear 2 episodes per month, instead of the previous 4 because, slow media :)
JANUARY THEME — FAST FASHION, CONSUMPTION & WHY SELF WORK IS INTEGRAL TO CHANGEMAKING
Do you remember episode 303 when we talked about slow media and telling stories through love, not labor? In our kickoff to the new season, we decided to go deeper into this love-not-labor concept – to explore what it really means and how this approach directly relates to sustainable fashion.
Pulling back a little further – our focus of this show is Self Work. But what does this really mean? In general, it gets aligned with the idea of self improvement. Across the fashion media landscape and socials lately, we’ve seen a heightened interest in looking inward to question what you really want out of your life. Why? Well, it’s the time for annual resolutions, as we just celebrated the launch of a new year.
And with that – in sustainable fashion lately, there’s been a lot of commentary about how things need to be reimagined across the industry, with folks voicing different approaches to achieve larger scalable transformation. At the same time, it feels like the movement needs to have a more organic approach and not be so defined or limited – because as it stands, sustainability is so different to each of us, and in order to cultivate a space that is truly diverse, we all need to be at the table to provide our unique approaches.
But whether or not we’re at the table, in order to take any sort of action, we need to go back to the beginning and tune into ourselves. When was the last time you questioned your values? What do you truly care about? Until we are clear on these aspects within ourselves, how can we live out these values and put them into practice?
Therein lies the crux of what we break down in this week's show.
Find more notes at www.ConsciousChatter.com.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Conscious Chatter have?
Conscious Chatter currently has 325 episodes available.
What topics does Conscious Chatter cover?
The podcast is about Organic, Society & Culture, Fashion & Beauty, Local, Podcasts, Arts and Sustainability.
What is the most popular episode on Conscious Chatter?
The episode title 'S06 Episode 268 | Venetia La Manna on the need to *Remember Who Made Them* (our clothes) & whether we should buy fast fashion secondhand' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Conscious Chatter?
The average episode length on Conscious Chatter is 43 minutes.
How often are episodes of Conscious Chatter released?
Episodes of Conscious Chatter are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Conscious Chatter?
The first episode of Conscious Chatter was released on Feb 19, 2016.
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