“a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.” -Robert MacFarlane

Something has been lost. Children see it, animals, too. Some of us retain the sight as we grow and move into the bright, busy world. But to many – far too many – the wonder and connectedness of nature have simply slipped away. We exist indoors, a species removed from our habitat, installed within controlled settings, devices in hand to distract us from the world we once knew.

Marci Vogel joined us in mid-September from L.A. She recently moved from her home of 24 years to the Village Green neighborhood of Los Angeles. The area has a lot of green space and trees and Vogel says she feels fortunate to have landed there, especially during this strange time. A poet, writer and translator, Vogel collects and recently began writing on typewriters. As part of her position at the University of Southern California, Vogle receives a research budget that is typically used for travel, but as there aren’t many opportunities to travel at present, she has used her budget to have typewriters from far-flung places like Italy travel to her. To hear more about her experience working on a typewriter and more, listen to the complete interview.

Austin Thomas was delighted to speak on the phone to us (and a landline at that) from New York where she works at Fashion Institute of Technology as the exhibitions manager at the art and design gallery. She began an exhibition program that showcases faculty, students and alumni. Previously, Thomas was director of Pocket Utopia gallery and she is an artist in her own right. Most recently, she has been creating prints inspired by the city around her with geometric patterns based on the architecture she sees while walking around New York. To hear more about what goes on at the gallery at F.I.T as well as Thomas’ own work, listen to the complete interview.