Earth Day Special: Greg Wrenn, MOTHERSHIP & Elizabeth Kolbert, H IS FOR HOPE

Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

We talk with Greg Wrenn about his book Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis. It’s about healing the maladaptive imprinting of childhood trauma with Nature — and psychedelics.

Then, a climate journalist tries a new tack to craft a narrative about the climate emergency. We talk with Elizabeth Kolbert about her illustrated alphabet book, H Is For Hope: Climate Change From A To Z.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.

Key Words: author interview, memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, climate change, climate crisis, ayahuasca, Greg Wrenn, Elizabeth Kolbert

Greg Wrenn’s Journey of Healing

When Greg Wrenn was growing up, he loved to snorkel in the Florida coral reefs. They were still beautiful, but already threatened from pollution.

Threat was also something Wrenn experienced nearly every day of his life. As a child, he was the victim of emotional and physical abuse that deeply scarred him.

His love of Nature led Wrenn to become an environmental educator teaching writing about the environment to college students. But the complex PTSD resulting from his childhood trauma crippled his relationships and his sense of self.

Then, Nature provided him with a cure — in this case in the form of the psychedelic preparation, ayahuasca.

Bringing together the personal and transpersonal, Wrenn’s memoir Mothership charts his journey from trauma to healing. It’s an eloquent testament to how connecting to Nature can make us whole, not only as individuals but as members of our planetary community.

---

Elizabeth Kolbert Talks Climate From A to Z

There are 26 letters in the alphabet. That fact gives Elizabeth Kolbert 26 ways to talk about the climate emergency, possible solutions and obstacles to deploying them.

In her new book, H Is For Hope, Kolbert tells a nuanced story, one that holds the truth of fierce hope and daunting challenges in the same embrace.

Beautifully illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook, H Is For Hope is a complicated story told with elegant simplicity. This alphabet book for grownups is an innovative way to teach about the most existential threat we face with charm, humor and accessablity.

Kolbert has been a guest on Writer’s Voice stretching back to 2008, when we first interviewed her about her New Yorker article about the world’s first wind farm to provide 100% renewable energy to its community, “The Island In The Wind.” We spoke with her also about her books, The Sixth Extinction and Under A White Sky.

Read An Excerpt