In the first episode of Raising Wild, Ashley Arnold talks with Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World, about what children lose when they lose regular, direct contact with the natural world, and why the answer isn't as simple as blaming screens.

Richard traces the roots of nature-deficit disorder through technology, parental fear, urban design, over-structured childhood and the ways modern life has made outdoor freedom harder to come by. They talk about why kids don't need parents to know every plant name or turn every outing into a lesson; what children remember is discovering something in nature alongside an adult who feels the same sense of wonder they do. The conversation also moves into environmental grief, climate anxiety and the comfort of paying closer attention to the world we're afraid of losing, from frogs in a pond to mountain lions outside Richard's window.

As Richard puts it, "Nothing was ever protected that wasn't loved. And nothing is loved if it's not noticed."

Full show notes and links on our website.

Welcome to Raising Wild!

This is a podcast about raising kids—and ourselves—a little more feral. On purpose.
In this short trailer, host Ashley Arnold introduces Raising Wild, a new podcast from Wild Idea Media about childhood, nature, freedom, risk and the wild parts of ourselves we don’t want to lose.

Through conversations with writers, scientists, educators, adventurers, leaders, athletes and parents, Raising Wild explores how we give kids a wilder, more connected childhood in the world we actually live in—and how we reclaim it for ourselves—so we can take risks, think independently, and love, value and protect the wild places that shape us.

The first full episode launches on July 8th with Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and the forthcoming NOTICING: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World. In that conversation, Ashley and Richard talk about childhood, technology, awe, attention, nature connection and why learning to notice the living world around us may be one of the most important things we can practice.

Subscribe to Raising Wild today and follow along as the first season begins.