Philosophy. Production. Community. Politics.
The Agrarian Librarian is a podcast about reevaluating our priorities, reducing unnecessary dependence, and becoming more connected to the people, places, and systems that sustain our lives.
Through conversations about philosophy, production, community, and politics, the show explores what happens when we redirect our attention away from distant institutions and abstract national debates and toward the people, places, skills, and systems directly around us.
Agrarianism here is not nostalgia or a rejection of technology and modern life. It is about recovering what remains valuable from the past while making thoughtful use of the present. It means understanding where things come from, developing useful skills, strengthening local relationships, producing more of what we need, and becoming less dependent on systems that leave us with little agency.
Episodes range from food, farming, land, and local production to economics, culture, technology, political philosophy, and the institutions that shape our lives. The common thread is a simple question: what can we actually build, improve, and influence from where we stand?
The Agrarian Librarian is about becoming more capable, more connected, and more deliberate about the lives and communities we build.
Watch or Listen to The Agrarian Librarian
LATEST EPISODE:
The Agrarian Librarian Ep 1 Trailer
If you know what Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, or Gavin Newsom are doing this week—but don’t know your neighbors’ names—you may be part of the problem. In the first episode of The Agrarian Librarian, I explain why I left my career as a pharmaceutical chemist to build Edmund Farms—and why this podcast is ultimately about something larger than one farm.
We examine the relationship between dependence and political power, why local production matters, and the difference between a producer and a product maker. Using soap, fertilizer, food and energy as practical examples, I argue that stronger communities begin when ordinary people recover the capacity to produce, exchange and solve problems together.
You don’t need a farm to participate in an agrarian community. You need a capacity you can develop, something you can produce, a service you can provide—or simply a willingness to support the people already producing around you.
00:00 Are you part of the problem?
01:18 Why I started The Agrarian Librarian
03:03 Who this show is for
05:02 Politics within our sphere of influence
11:29 Dependence, trade and local resilience
18:44 Building a parallel system
23:50 Producers versus product makers
26:01 Rebuilding a regional soap supply chain
32:00 Economics, autonomy and antifragility
33:43 Locally produced fertilizer 36:46 Closing thoughts
37:53 Bureaucracy Is Violence
Support the show and buy the “Bureaucracy Is Violence” shirt below!
The Agrarian Librarian explores philosophy, production, community and politics from the bottom up.
#TheAgrarianLibrarian #Agrarianism #Localism #BureaucracyIsViolence
Wear the Ideas
Support the show and carry the message beyond the podcast
The first official Agrarian Librarian shirt is available now!
Designed around one of the ideas behind the show.
100% cotton. Printed locally. Available soon.
Please note, these are printed locally on-demand. Expect an approximately 15-day handling period prior to shipping. Thank you for your support!
The first official Agrarian Librarian shirt is available now!
Designed around one of the ideas behind the show.
100% cotton. Printed locally. Available soon.
Please note, these are printed locally on-demand. Expect an approximately 15-day handling period prior to shipping. Thank you for your support!