a life more wild by Canopy & Stars

At the age of 20, Jordan Stephens achieved his dream - when Rizzle Kicks’ album Stereo Typical went platinum. He’d always loved music and had seen it as a way he could transform the lives of himself and his mother. With the album’s success, he should have had it all but it’s never that simple. On a walk along the shores of the Isle of Sheppey, he talks about the problems with selling young people dreams of fame and wealth, making mistakes, walking dogs, his mixed feelings about the city and starting it all with raps that dissed his teachers.

Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival has always been the centre of Tim Key’s professional life. For over 20 years, he’s been bringing shows to the city, honing his craft in the intensity of month-long runs. Every time he visits, he climbs Arthur’s Seat, so while he was in town for some Christmas gigs, we joined him on the ascent. He talks about the city’s place in his heart, the unfortunate year of 2002, being ignored in favour of Mark Watson and not getting any clarity on why he spent almost all his screen time in Bong Joon Ho’s film Mickey 17 dressed as a pigeon.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Luke Adam Hawker, once a designer and architect, is now a full-time artist, whose work is a deeply emotive exploration of nature, our relationship to it and our connections with each other. As he walks through the woods near his home, he talks about creating a book entirely of etchings, learning from his non-verbal son and the challenges of work in situ in all conditions.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Mark Diacono has always grown, cooked and written about food. But despite a life lived in and around nature, he felt disconnected. A simple weekly diary helped him get back in touch with the natural world and himself, and an even simpler soup helped him cope with being “happily heartbroken”.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Lia Leendertz has revived the tradition of the almanac, charting nature for the coming year. As she walks through Ashton Court, in Bristol, she thinks about how easy it is to shut ourselves off from nature and the joy she’s found in starting a community dedicated to noticing the passage of the year the world over.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Adrienne Adhami was a trained dancer, with a keen understanding of physical fitness. But when a friend suffered a sudden illness, she began to rethink everything she thought she knew about health. She shares her insights on personalised medicine, nutrition, wearable tech and more, drawn from a 15-year career in the wellness industry.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

As a young man, TJ Power developed an addiction to his phone that many of us would find familiar. Using his background in neuroscience, he managed to break that addiction, then go on to help thousands of others to live more connected, healthier, happier lives. Here he is with some simple advice on rebalancing your tired brain.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild.

Sophie Pavelle spends her life travelling the British Isles, highlighting the beauty and brilliance of its wild spaces on a mission to inspire people to protect them. We walked with her in the woods near her home to find out how she feels our relationship with nature could be improved and learn a little about symbiosis through her stories of confused crabs and tricksy barnacles.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. 

Xanthe Ross went to Wales to get out of London for a while. She pottered around in her parents’ walled garden, trying her hand at growing some herbs and vegetables. A few years later, she’s released her first cookbook on the back of hosting the most sought after supper clubs in the city.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with guests from A Life More Wild. In this episode, we look at how nature has helped some of our guests through the toughest moments of their lives.

Artist and architect Claudia Robalino grew up in Ecuador, with volcanoes, the ocean and the Amazon giving her a powerful connection to nature. It was only when she moved to London however, that she realised how much a part of her it was.

One thing that comes up time and again on A Life More Wild is access to nature. Something that many of us take for granted was, to a lot of our guests, a complex social and cultural issue that had shaped their lives and work. On this Quick Stroll, we hear from Mya Rose-Craig, Lira Valencia and Ollie Olanipekun of Flock Together, on the challenges they faced from the traditional culture of the outdoors and how they each went about changing it.

Dwayne Fields moved to London from Jamaica when he was just a child. The contrast between the two places was almost too much for him to handle until a chance encounter gave him hope, a sense of belonging and eventually a purpose that would see him becoming the UK’s Chief Scout.

It’s time to step back outside. A Life More Wild returns for season 5, when we’ll be taking a walk with more fascinating people and chatting about their connection to nature.

Ollie Olanipekun first met Nadeem Parera on Instagram, where they bonded over a love of birds. Realising how rare it was to see people of colour engaged with nature in the UK, they formed a walking group. One terrible flyer and a few years of enormous effort later, Flock Together has branches around the world, providing people with a place to meet and common ground.

When James Wong first visited Kew Gardens, he asked his mum if this was what heaven looked like. The ethnobotanist, born and raised in Singapore, can barely remember a time when he wasn’t fascinated by plants, a love which has led him around the world, onto TV and into a flat that looks like a jungle.

Venetia La Manna loves clothes, but knows more than most about the evils of fashion. For years, she’s been campaigning to change one of the most unregulated industries in the world - fighting over production and underpayment of garment workers around the world.

When she was 16, Lise Wortley read a book by the explorer Alexandra David-Neel, who had undertaken a 14-year journey through Asia. The idea of it stayed with her until ten years later, when she was searching for a way to improve her mental health. It dawned on her that David-Neel and other female adventurers like Nan Shepherd and Henriette D’Angeville, were far less well-known than their male counterparts. She set out to change that, by the incredible method of recreating their journeys, in the clothing they wore at the time. 

Gaz Oakley was an intensely energetic, sporty person, who pursued fitness by loading up on carbs and protein, and hitting the gym. He was also a chef, so it’s fair to say his life was quite intense. When health problems made him go looking for dietary solutions, he began a journey that would end with him becoming a champion of plant-based eating, rediscovering his love of the land and trying to bring the simple joy of food to as many people as possible.

Athena Mellor never dreamed of writing a guidebook, but the knowledge of a lifetime hiking, a passion handed down by her father and grandfather was just too extensive to stay in her head. Now a successful writer and YouTuber, she’s making sure her daughter will follow in the family footsteps.

When she dropped out of the sky in front of Russian hunters in the Arctic, Sasha Dench wasn't quite sure how she'd be received. She was on a mission to understand and halt the decline in the numbers of the Bewick Swan by following their epic migration route from the Arctic to the UK on a paramotor.

Julius Roberts was exhausted and overworked, as chefs often are. He couldn’t help but compare himself to the happy, healthy-looking farmers who delivered produce to the restaurant he was working in. So, he decided to become one of them. It was a huge leap of faith that encompassed a commitment to seasonal eating, nature-first farming and the emotional impact of knowing exactly where his food had come from. 

Emma Gannon had been writing books for ten years, almost solidly. She hosted podcasts, spoke at numerous events and maintained one of the most popular substacks on the internet. Having decided not to have children, she began to wonder how and when her life would significantly change. She decided to take a year for herself, to get a new perspective and refresh her ideas. We join her in Hackney Marshes, the place she now comes to when she needs a break in nature.

Mikaela Loach remembers the moment her grandmother told her that their local beach had disappeared. Years later, she would place that emotional conversation in the context of the wider problem - rising seas caused by climate change, in turn caused by global capitalism - and decide to dedicate herself to the fight for climate justice. We join her in Stanmer Park, the site of a protest against the mining company Glencore, as well as an inspiring community project.

Lira Valencia grew up in Croydon, surrounded by the kind of urban sprawl that keeps the natural world at a distance. However, thanks mostly to the snails in her grandma’s garden, she developed a passion for nature and forged a path to a career in the overwhelmingly white world of conservation. We join her for a walk around Walthamstow wetlands, where she’s a ranger who helps preserve the habitat and encourage others to enjoy it.

Alastair Humphreys spent four years cycling round the world. He’s rowed across the Atlantic, run a marathon in the Sahara and taken part in an expedition to the arctic. But we’ve caught up with him on an industrial estate on the edge of the city, to talk microadventures and the power of thinking small.

It’s time to get outdoors again… In season 4 of ALMW you’ll walk with more fascinating people as they take you to some of their favourite spots and talk about their connection to nature.

While we were working on series 4 of A Life More Wild, which launches in June, Joe Wilkinson and David Earl shamelessly name-dropped us on their podcast, Chatabix. We got in touch to see if they’d like to record at one of our spaces and they said they’d love to, so here they are (or at least one of them is) at Humble Bee, a giant beehive in Devon, chatting with owners Ron and Yvette.

Sarah Wilson is always on the move. Her work as an author, presenter and speaker takes her all over the world. In the course of her wandering, she’s learned a couple of things. How to ground yourself in a new place by hiking, how getting people to love something is how you get them to fight for it… and how long is too long to wear the same pair of shorts. 

Being a wildlife cameraman wasn’t something Hamza Yassin wanted to do. It was THE ONLY thing he wanted to do. Inspired by the attenborough documentaries he learnt english from after his parents moved to the uk from Sudan, he gave everything to make his dream a reality. What he never dreamt about though, was ending up lifting the glitterball on Strictly come dancing...

Despite having a passion for animals and farming, Mike Duxbury received only one offer from all the agricultural colleges he applied to. The rest dismissed him instantly because he was blind. After graduating with an impressive array of qualifications, he became an accessibility consultant in London, but his heart was always with the land. He decided that rather than telling people how to run an inclusive business, he would show them instead.

You often hear people talk about how getting out into nature gives them a change of perspective. But what happens when your profession is nature on the biggest possible scale? Dr Becky Smethhurst is an astrophysicist, author and YouTuber who studies supermassive blackholes and galaxy formation, but says that rather than making her feel small, it does exactly the opposite… 

When Freya Bromley first discovered tidal pools, she was dealing with the turmoil of grief. Those patches of calm water, surrounded by volatile seas, felt like places of refuge. From a single experience came a mission to swim every tidal pool in Britain, but while she went looking for healing, she found so much more. 

A few years ago, a walk on the south west coastal path opened Katharine May up to a whole new world.   She began to think about reconnecting with nature, and how it was the antidote to everything from anxiety to writer’s block. She even shaped her best selling book, Wintering, around the elements.

On a trip to Greenland, Jack Harries saw a huge chunk of ice break off a glacier and crash into the sea. Already a keen film maker with an interest in travel, he knew then what he wanted to dedicate his life to - telling the stories of climate change. Years later, he’s been all over the world, finding the people most affected by the climate crisis and giving them a voice in his documentary series A Seat at The Table.

What’s the best thing to do when you’re going through a bad breakup? How about get an allotment, develop a love of gardening and find yourself an entirely new career? Well, it worked for Tom Leonard, who, in a matter if months went from knowing nothing about plants to professional garden design and appearing at Chelsea Flower Show as his alter ego, Daisy Desire, aka The Drag Queen Gardener.

Liv Little often found herself asked to speak on behalf of all marginalised voices, as the only person of colour in the room… so she decided to build her own room. She founded Gal Dem magazine, a place and community where anyone could talk not just about their trauma, but about their joys and passions. It was the creation of a home that helped and inspired many people over the eight years for which it ran. She then took that search spiritual, emotional home as the theme for her debut novel, Rosewater.

Most of us probably feel pretty proud of ourselves if we manage to put up a shelf that's reasonably straight. So imagine how great it would feel to refurbish a lighthouse at the end of a narrow cliffside path on the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. Interior designer Banjo Beale, whom you may remember as the winner of the show Interior Design Masters, or his own programme Designing the Hebrides, knows exactly how great that felt. At least once all the heavy lifting was done. 

This time we join Nick Hayes. He’s one of the most prominent voices of the campaign for the Right to Roam in England and author of The Book of Trespass. He’s also an illustrator and musician who thinks that our broken relationship with nature is bound up with the loss of our cultural heritage.

We're back for series 3 and for our first wander we're in a wooded Welsh valley with Charlotte Church. Famous since the age of 11, it's a wonder she doesn't just want to shut the whole world out and shut the whole world out and live in peace but actually she's doing the opposite. Driven by a desire to give something back and help people facing mental and emotional struggle, she's opened the Dreaming - a wellness retreat deep in the valleys of rural mid Wales.

A Life More Wild is back with a whole new group of fascinating people taking you out into nature.

Our final episode of series 2 of A Life More wild sees us chatting to George Clarke about his humble beginnings creating treehouses as a kid, and the journey it took to building some of his more famous creations. Our very own Siri Thomas gets George chatting about nature in the city, inspiration for his recent work, and even, a little teaser for what’s to come…  

Wake to birdsong, walk in the woods, forage as you go, then dip into a stream to cool off before you head back to sit round the crackling fire. Leave feeling calm, connected and soothed by nature.

We took a trip around Southwark Park with TV presenter and award-winning disability advocate Sophie Morgan. We talked about growing up wild, how her relationship with nature has changed, and if she was a tree, what tree she would be. We also speak to author and passionate gardener Alice Vincent, about the single flower that inspired her to a life of growing and how to work with any size of space.

We go for a walk in the Lake District with Russ Moorhouse, who points out a fraction of the 214 Wainwright Fells he wild camped on in an epic year-long adventure. We also talk to Lisa Shaw, who has taken on the impressive challenge of swimming round all the Balearic islands. Both find a calm in nature that they know nowhere else.

We walk in the woods with Richie Norton and hear about the long road from losing his rugby career to finding his calm as a breathing and movement coach. We also talk to Gail Muller, who pushed through a chronic pain condition to regain her adventurous lifestyle and walk the entire Appalachian trail.

We’re down in Poppy Okotcha’s Devon garden, helping her (by staying out of the way) as she pots some seeds and talks about finding her passion for growing and eating. Then we talk to Tom Hunt about the realistic challenges of sustainable, seasonal eating and some of the little steps we can all take.

We’re in Richmond Park with Fearne Cotton, to talk about how the open space and tranquillity of the waters have inspired, calmed and healed her. We also talk to Kris Hallenga about founding the breast cancer awareness charity Coppafeel, stepping back from it to get closer to nature and the painful news that Neighbours is coming to an end.

For episode two, we take a windy walk with radio and TV presenter Gemma Cairney, and her partner Cameron (founder of specialist coffee subscription service - MF Coffee) at the inimitable Jupiter Artland, near Edinburgh. We also talk to Tom Dixon, who runs community groups and an art gallery on his land in Devon and also just happens to be the co-founder of Canopy & Stars. 

We're down in Devon to plant a sapling and hear about Ellen Miles' two campaigns - lobbying the UN to make nature a human right and encouraging planting in communities through Dream Green. We also hear from Amira Patel, who's given thousands of people a space to connect with nature, their faith and each other through her group The Wanderlust Women.

We're back very soon for a second series. Just like in series one, we’ll be getting you into nature on walks with inspiring people who weave the outdoors into their lives and work. 

We walk in Richmond Park with Youth Mental Health Ambassador Dr Alex George and hear about his plan for community Health Hubs, his personal tragedy and his time as a Love Island contestant. Then we talk to Will, co-owner of Brook House Woods in Herefordshire and find out how a chance meeting with a spoon carver and a vague dream turned into treehouses in the herefordshire woods.

We visit Megan McCubbin in the New Forest, where the idea for the Self Isolating Bird Club was hatched, to talk conservation, bird calls and the amazing gardening skills of bees. Then we talk to Sarah, the owner of Swallowtail Hill in Sussex about the steep learning curve of swapping London life for sustainable farming. 

A walk in Hackney Marshes with singer songwriter Billie Marten, who told us about finding inspiration and calm in the natural world, followed by an inspiring talk with John, the owner of Hinterlandes, on sticking a camper van to a bus in the Lake District.

We head down to the river for some wild swimming with travel journalist and author Sian Lewis, who tells us the best ways to get out into nature, even if you’re short on time. We also chat with presenter Kate Humble, whose trip to the Dordogne a few years’ back resulted in her buying her very own remote lakeside cabin which has since become her personal refuge in nature.

We go for a drizzly, breezy walk around the Peak District woodland which psychotherapist Ruth Allen calls her office and discuss how people respond to the landscape. Later we talk to Natalie and Geoff, the mental health support worker and former drummer who now run glamping nature retreats for adults with autism at Wilderme, their stunning spot on the Cornish coast.

A fascinating and delicious nature walk in the company of River Cottage’s Gill Meller, who grazes as we walk through the woods then cooks up sea kale on the beach. We also talk to Tom, the unstoppable force behind Monachyle Mhor about his beautiful lochside home, his approach to food and how nature's calming effect helped him break his phone throwing habit.

We’re heading into the great outdoors to look for ravens and talk equal access to nature with campaigner, activist and birdwatching fanatic Mya-Rose Craig, aka Birdgirl. We also hear from the couple who have reintroduced beavers to the land where they run their glamping holidays in Cornwall and get interrupted by a nosy chicken.

Introducing A Life More Wild, a podcast that will transport you into the great outdoors and help you connect with nature. In each episode we’ll be taking a walk in the wild with some fascinating people to find out how nature inspires their work and lives.