A Life More Wild

Charlie Cooper shot to fame when he and his sister Daisy wrote and starred in the hit TV series This Country. While some might see the show as poking fun at rural life in the south west, Charlie’s affection for the countryside in which he grew up, and still lives, is clear. Now an obsessive metal detectorist, having taken up the hobby a few years ago, he loves nothing more than walking the fields and unearthing the history beneath his feet. On a day of mixed weather, we went detecting with him in Gloucestershire, as he talked about collecting junk, discovering treasure and how the character Big Mandy nearly got him in serious trouble. He also turned up something pretty special! A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

This year, as well as walks with interesting guests, we’re doing something a little different on A Life More Wild. Working with our charity partner Campaign for National Parks, we’re creating bonus episodes with seasonal soundscapes from some of the UK’s most precious green spaces.   In this episode, we’re listening to the breeze in the grass and the trout in the streams of the South Downs National Park, in the company of Dr Rose O’Neill, an environmental scientist and CNP’s Cheif Executive.

We walk among the headstones of a cemetery with journalist and author of Matrescence, Lucy Jones, as she talks about the struggle to reconcile the societal ideal of a mother with her own experience, how her search for insight led to her book Matrescence and what she learnt by observing slime moulds and lichen. Lucy always knew that having kids would be a big shift, but when she did, she was shocked to find that not only had her life changed, something fundamental to her identity had changed as well. Her own experience was so at odds with society’s ideal picture of motherhood that she became fascinated by the science and sociology of what becoming a mother entailed. On a walk through her local cemetery, she examines what she learnt about parenting, how we could shape a world around care and what slime moulds have to teach us. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Emily Chappell went from being a bike messenger in London to winning the Transcontinental, a 4000km race across Europe, in 2016. But cycling is far more than a physical test for her. Her relationship with the sport has changed many times over the years and it has become a community, a way to travel, a way to live and a cause to further. On a ride from her home in Kendall, to which she’s recently moved, she talks about relearning her love of riding for its own sake, and how an early love of the Tour de France came full circle in a wonderful moment on the streets of Paris.  A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Joycelyn Longdon wears many hats. She works on conservation with communities in Ghana, she speaks and writes about environmental action and she also specialises in something called bioacoustics. It keeps her pretty busy, so we caught up with her to take a break from her desk and a stroll into one of her favourite places - Paradise Nature Reserve in Cambridge. On the way, she explains how all her worlds come together and how important it is that cultural interaction creates a new way to imagine our future.

This year, as well as walks with interesting guests, we’re doing something a little different on A Life More Wild. Working with our charity partner Campaign for National Parks, we’re creating bonus episodes with seasonal soundscapes from some of the UK’s most precious green spaces. We start with The Sounds of Spring in Eryri National Park. You’ll follow Rhys, a shepherd from Dolgellau, as he takes his flock out into the wind and rain of a fairly typical spring day in Wales.

Barney Murray was in his late teens, studying art and hating it. He took a casual labouring job with a couple of guys who ran a drystone walling company. He never looked back. Nine years later and now a certified Master Craftsman, he loves working out in the fields, even when the weather is at its most challenging. Join him as he works to patch a gap in the wall of a sheep field, a more technical process than you might think. As he builds “skins”, packs the centre and lays coping stones, he talks about finding himself already a veteran builder as a young wave of wallers emerges, brutal weather, wildlife habitats, and how he can read the walls like handwriting. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode ten, we talk to three guests who have taken on incredible challenges in nature, from a six-month trail hike and wandering the Cairngorms in period costume, to a paramotor flight from the Russian Arctic to the UK.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode nine, we examine how design and architecture have been inspired by nature, from a tiny private garden to a London landmark.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode eight, we talk to guests who’ve leant on nature to help them through some of the most difficult times in their lives. This episode of Quick Strolls deals with the potentially triggering issues of grief, death and suicide right from the outset.

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”. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode seven, we look back on the responsibility that many of our guests have felt to ensure that others love and value nature, whether it’s their own family, their community or the whole of the UK.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode six, we meet a musician and two writers who use nature to guide their work and lives, from a wintry metaphor to the call of the sea.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with the guests from A Life More Wild. In episode five, we meet fearless adventurers and unstoppable hikers, all of whom say something very similar - that getting outside is about what’s right for you, not how far you go or how many mosquito bites you get.

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. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.