The Mushroom Hour Podcast

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to interview biophiliac and artist Chris Ritson. His practice is informed by societies relationship to Nature, and ranges from video and installation to living, generative sculpture. He studied New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute and has since exhibited internationally.

Taking a much needed vacation to the tropics, we visit Mt. Tantalus on the Hawaiian island  of Oahu. This is where we'll find native plant propagator, mushroom cultivator and sculptural artist Chris Ritson. To our resident alchemist, art is a process, initiated to produce phenomena which impacts the viewer with a novel perspective. Truly his practice in creating art is generative, unique and inspiring as he grows crystals, algae and mushrooms into pieces that quite literally take on a life of their own. Lifting the veil on his creative process, Chris reveals how his stunning creations are conceived and executed. Diving deeper, we get a sense of purpose and understand the message being conveyed with such organic works. How can art using expanding organisms trigger anxiety in us about the growth of a non-human "other" and our strained relationship with nature?

A passionate student of the mycelium, Chris guides us through the lush Hawaiian forests to forage for mushrooms. We'll learn how the lines between endemic, native and invasive fungi often blur given Hawaii's history of tourism, imports and a ethnomycological history that has not been fully uncovered. The unique mushroom artworks he creates are sourced from strains found in his own backyard then cultured and inoculated in his studio. What are the strains of polypore he uses to make such vibrant, living canvases? How has his relationship with fungal organisms influence his perspectives on spirituality?

It becomes clear that for Chris, a lifelong relationship with the resplendent environs of Hawaii has instilled a passion for protecting nature. His work highlights the relationship between natural systems and human society in a visceral and tangible way. Many artists convey a message of environmentalism with their work, but fewer consider how the creation of their work effects the very environment they are symbolically venerating. He articulates the idea that only by weighing the environmental, social and economic impacts necessary for its creation, can the intent of any artist's work of art be considered. What are some ways that artists who seek to highlight environmental concerns can offer solutions to the viewers of their art?
 
Episode Resources
Chris Ritson IG: https://www.instagram.com/chrisritson/
Chris Ritson Website: https://sites.google.com/view/chris-ritson/page
Tantalus Botanicals Website: https://www.instagram.com/tantalusbotanicals/
Microporus Affinus (mushroom): https://www.mybis.gov.my/sp/21901
Pycnoporus Sanguineus (mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pycnoporus_sanguineus

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with John Rensten. John lived and worked and foraged in London for 20 years before finally escaping to Dorset, via Hampshire, in 2016 to concentrate on mushroom hunting and coastal foraging. He runs and organizes numerous urban foraging events, wild food walks and mushroom forays. On a daily basis, John studies wild food, picks wild food and really obsesses about wild food! He has a deep passion for sharing what he has learned, running city foraging walks and taking groups mushroom hunting in The New Forest or combing the seashore in Dorset. John founded Forage London to give city dwellers a chance to enjoy and discover some of the amazing wild foods that grow all around us.
TOPICS COVERED:

• Lush Diversity Found Urban Foraging
• Complex Interlocking Ecologies of Greater London
• Avoiding Terrestrial Mushrooms in Urban Environments?
• Understanding Historical Land Use Where You Forage Fungi
• Emotional Relationship with Local Green Spaces
• Permaculture and Wild Foraging Permeating the Mainstream
• Foraging Cycles, Seasonality, Multiple Crops & Geographic Variation in Fruiting
• Edible and Medicinal Winter Mushrooms in the UK
• Ancient Practice of Foraging Dovetailing with Modern Technology
• Secrets of Wild Food Preservation & Preparation
• Wending Path of Forage Knowledge Accumulation Through Gentle Repetition
• Importance of Foraging & Learning Local
• The Association of Foragers
• Foraging Love Story

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Forage London Website: https://www.foragelondon.co.uk/
• Forage London IG: https://www.instagram.com/foragelondon/
• The Edible City (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Edible-City-Year-Wild-Food/dp/0752266136
• Andy Overall: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andy-Overall
• Clifford Davy: http://forestforagers.co.uk/about-us/
• Pascal Baudar: https://www.instagram.com/pascalbaudar/
• Phillip Stark/Berkeley Open Source Food: https://osfood.berkeley.edu/
• "Restharrow": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ononis_repens
• "Sneezewort": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_ptarmica
• Sea Arrowgrass: https://gallowaywildfoods.com/sea-arrowgrass-identification-distribution-edibility/
• "Velvet Shank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enokitake
• "Scarlet Elf Cup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoscypha_coccinea

Today on Mushroom Hour we are blessed by the presence of the illustrious Dr. Michael Beug. Dr. Beug taught chemistry, mycology and organic farming at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington for 32 years. He lectures to mushroom enthusiasts throughout the Western US and loves to teach beginners workshops. He is a member of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) where he serves as Editor of the Journal McIlvainea, Chair of the Toxicology Committee, and member of the Education Committee. Michael has served four terms as President of The Pacific Northwest Key Council, a group dedicated to writing macroscopic keys for the identification of fungi. His specialties are the genus Ramaria and all toxic and hallucinogenic mushrooms. He is also doing research on oak-associated fungi of the Columbia River Gorge, especially Cortinarius species. His newest book is Mushrooms of Cascadia and he regularly writes about mushrooms in McIlvainea, The Mycophile, Fungi, and Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming and he somehow finds the time to be on the editorial board of Fungi magazine. I’m excited to learn from this master mycology educator about the past, present and future of mushrooms.
TOPICS COVERED:

• Early Career at Evergreen & Becoming a Mycologist
• DDT Controversy, Research into PCBs and Heavy Metals
• Multidisciplinary Teaching Career and Collaboration at Evergreen College
• Paul Stamets Jeremy Bigwood & Jonathan Ott Introduce Psilocybe
• Being Paul Stamets’ Professor & Friend
• Modern Psilocybin History from Wasson, Leary & Alpert to Recent Decriminalization
• Evolution of Academic Mycology
• Importance of Amateur Naturalists in Mycology
• Global Political Theory & Creating Positive Change
• Averting Disaster, Listening to Nature
• Rise of Mushroom Culture
• Psilocybin, Empathy & Hope
• Mushrooms of Cascadia & Next Book on Regenerative Design
• Trippy Tales featuring Mushroom Legends at Brightenbush

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Mushrooms of Cascadia Website: https://www.mushroomsofcascadia.com/
• Mushrooms of Cascadia Book: https://fungi.com/products/mushrooms-of-cascadia
• Columbia River Gorge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River_Gorge
• North American Mycological Association: https://namyco.org/
• Fungi Magazine: https://www.fungimag.com/
• Pacific Northwest Key Council: https://www.svims.ca/council/
• MycoMatch: https://www.mycomatch.com/index.htm
• Hericium erinaceus (AKA Lions Mane): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus
• Trametes versicolor (AKA Turkey Tail): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of one of my favorite biophiliacs and artists -Jon Ching. Jon grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world. A self-taught painter, Jon’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature. While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Jon’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth. His work is often driven by his personal desire to find balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Highlighting man-made threats to the natural world are a regular theme in his work to raise awareness of and evoke compassion for the kingdoms of life. Jon’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.
TOPICS COVERED:

• Childhood in Hawaii as Inspiration
• Unlocking Biological Imagination
• Powers of Observation
• Impact of Becoming a Father
• Slowing Down
• Communicating Ecological Messages Through Artwork
• Fungi Finding Their Way onto the Canvas
• Navigating the Professional Art World
• Gallery Shows
• Materials, Process and Timeline of Creating Paintings
• From Paintings to Murals
• Future Projects
• WTF NFTs
• Finding Equilibrium with Natural Systems

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Jon Ching Website: https://jonchingart.com/
• Jon Ching IG: https://www.instagram.com/jonchingart/
• Jon Ching FB: https://www.facebook.com/JonChingArt
• Jon Ching @ Beinart Gallery: https://beinart.org/collections/jon-ching
• Hericium erinaceus (AKA Lions Mane): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of mycologist and musician Andy Overall. Andy has had a fascinating journey from the Blue Zoo and pop stardom back through the hedges and woodlands when he became interested in mushrooms back in the early 1990’s. He realized he needed something else, another interest other than his involvement with music. Growing up as a boy during the 60’s in the English, market town countryside, of Braintree, Essex he nurtured an interest in nature...And then along came David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and everything changed course for a while! Later in life his rekindled interest in fungi evolved into obsession as he began to see an infinite variety of fungal species appearing before him and he wanted to get to know them all. Since his obsession began, Andy has published magazines, countless articles and in 2017 his first book all about fungi - “FUNGI-Mushrooms & Toadstools of Parks, Gardens, Heaths and Woodlands”. He is the fungi recorder for the London Natural History Society and a Group Leader in the London Fungus Group. I’m excited to learn about the mycological journey of a culture creator, artist and naturalist and his explorations into what he so poetically dubs, “the jewels in nature’s crown”
TOPICS COVERED:

• From Wilderness to Ziggy Stardust
• Birth of Blue Zoo
• Shifting from Pop Stardom to Mycology
• Evolution of the Amateur Mycology Community
• Professional Surveying for Fungi
• Insights from Biodiversity Databases
• Making Better Decisions About Forest Management
• Role of DNA in Fungal Surveys
• Heathrow Airport Cortinarius
• Contributions of Amateur Naturalists
• Tips to Making Better Observations
• Process of Mushroom Spotting & Identification
• Ethnomycology Travels in Oaxaca, Czech Republic, Australia
• Published and Unpublished Works of Gaston Guzman

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Andy Overall Website: http://www.fungitobewith.org/
• London Fungi Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/LondonFungusNetwork/
• British Mycological Society: https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/
• Blue Zoo Website: http://www.bluezoo.org.uk/
• Roger Phillips (Legend): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Phillips_(photographer)
• Marcel Bon (Mycologist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Bon
• Mark Spencer (Botanist): https://markspencerbotanist.com/
• GIGL: https://www.gigl.org.uk/londons-open-spaces/
• Cortinarius heatherae (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_heatherae
• Laetiporus sulphureus (AKA Chicken of the Woods): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus