In this episode of The Membership, David and John discuss a book that is an unusual in the Port William series -- it's about a mouse, and is sometimes classified as a children's book -- but still feels right at home. That book? Whitefoot: A Story from the Center from the World, by Wendell Berry. We talk about the experience of compressing the imagination to the size of a mouse, where this book sits among Berry's other works, and why the realization that one lives at the center of the world is "the world's profoundest thought." And much more.

• "Whitefoot" in Orion Magazine

• Website of illustrator Davis Te Selle

• "Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel," by Carl Safina

• "Black Elk Speaks," by John G. Neihardt

• "Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023," by Wendell Berry

• The Membership Podcast Online

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• The Berry Center

• The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

• Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

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In his poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,” Wendell Berry calls the reader to “Practice resurrection.” In today’s episode, we discuss one of Berry’s Sabbath poems. It has a Christmas theme that could be summarized this way: “Practice incarnation.”

• Sabbath Poem 1987, No. VI - “Remembering that it happened once…”

• The Berry Center (our recommendation for year-end giving)

• Who should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

• The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

• The Membership Podcast Online

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In this episode, we interview singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler about his new album, A Hard History of Love. That album is inspired by five short stories in Berry’s story collection, That Distant Land. We talk about the process of writing songs inspired by great literature, about some of our favorite Port William characters, and what “membership” looks like in Matt’s life.

UPDATE: The Kickstarter for Matt’s album release is now fully funded. All backers will now receive a print of Ned Bustard’s cover art for the album. The Kickstarter ends on August 25 at 7:15 a.m. Eastern.

Kickstarter for A Hard History of Love: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardhistory/a-hard-history-of-love-by-matt-wheeler

• Kickstarter for Matt Wheeler’s Port William-inspired album A Hard History of Love

• Ned Bustard (Instagram), the Lancaster artist who did the album cover art

• “Invited into a Rich Community: An Interview with Matt Wheeler,” by Matt Conner

• Matt Wheeler Online

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• Who else should we interview on the podcast? Let us know at hosts@membershippod.com

• The Rabbit Room Podcast Network

• The Membership Podcast Online

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.