A State of Change: Practicing Honest Hope, S1:3
Art from A State of Change by Laura Cunningham (c)
October 22, 2026
What does it mean to practice hope in a changing world? In this final episode based on A State of Change: California’s Forgotten Landscapes (Heyday Books, 2026), Ayana Young and artist-naturalist Laura Cunningham explore how we might stay present to what can still be protected, restored, and cared.
Laura reflects on the role of art and imagination in reconstructing California’s ecological past, describing her paintings as “visual hypotheses” shaped by science, historical records, observation, and a willingness to revise what we think we know. Together, they consider the difference between optimism and what they name as “honest hope,” a grounded commitment to protecting the particular places within our reach.
“You have to keep fighting. I guess that has to become part of your life. But I’d have to have a whole chapter on: don’t let this suck all the soul out of you. Keep fighting, but also take care of yourself. Go outside and take a hike and try to forget about it all, but then come back and be staunch in that you’re going to save your bit of nature and work with other people to do this in a realistic, hopeful way.”
Their conversation moves through ideas of cyclical time, grassroots action, and the enduring possibility of ecological change. Laura shares her vision for a future Central Valley shaped by native grasslands, vernal pools, wildlife, and places where people can encounter the beauty of ecosystems that have often been overlooked. They reflect on the power of local communities to care for creeks, shorelines, parks, and small pieces of wild nature, and on the importance of tending to ourselves as we continue the work.
As this three-part series comes to a close, the episode leaves us with one of Laura’s formative field experiences: a flash flood that transformed a canyon in the Mojave Desert overnight, revealing the immense forces of geological time in a single moment. The experience became a lasting reminder that landscapes are always changing, sometimes slowly and sometimes all at once. We are left to deeply consider: what might it look like to meet an uncertain future with attention, imagination, and grounded care, allowing our relationship with place to become a lifelong practice?
About this Series
A State of Change is an audio interview series by For The Wild Studio in partnership with Heyday Books that asks what becomes possible when we learn to see a place through close observation, memory, and imagination. Following artist-naturalist Laura Cunningham’s practice of field sketching for her newly revised and expanded A State of Change: California’s Forgotten Landscapes (Heyday Books, 2026), each episode explores how art and science can help us reconstruct landscapes of the past, deepen our cultural memory, and expand our sense of what a healthy future might hold. Through attention to what has been lost and what remains, the series considers how we might recognize the richness of the past and use that knowledge paired with a slow and thoughtful presence to imagine what can be restored.
Biographies
-
Laura Cunningham is an artist-naturalist who studied paleontology and biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked field biology jobs for the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States Geological Survey, and various universities, gaining experience with such species as Owens Valley pupfish, salmon and steelhead trout, Yosemite toads, Panamint alligator lizards, and tule elk. Simultaneously, she taught herself the arts of sketching and oil painting and pursued studies of California’s historical ecology. She currently works in the conservation nonprofit field. Her studio is next to Death Valley National Park along the Amargosa River. Support Laura’s work at https://www.patreon.com/Mesophyticum.
-
Ayana and her daughter spend their days exploring the wilderness of Coastal Alaska (US) while strategizing ways to halt large-scale industrial projects within wild salmon habitat. She is the co-founder and host of For The Wild, an independent slow media project and podcast devoted to land-based protection, co-liberation, and the tender work of remembering our place within the living world. Through over a decade of intimate dialogue with visionaries, knowledge keepers, and artists, Ayana brings forth stories that awaken reverence, ignite resistance, and dream toward a future shaped by reciprocity and collective care. Her work is rooted in devotion; to the Earth, to truth telling, and to the quiet transformation that comes from listening deeply.
Credits
For The Wild Podcast is created by Ayana Young, Erica Ekrem, and Caitlin Brehm. This series is made possible by Heyday Books. The music featured in this episode is “Junglessa (w/ Dylan Golden Ayock)” by Lake Mary and “Sequoia” by Abby Litman. Artwork © 2026 Laura Cunningham.
Heyday Books →
A State of Change, reissued in this highly anticipated updated edition, transports us to centuries past, offering a vision of the American West outside the grasp of modern memory. Widely regarded as a classic, this magnum opus from artist and naturalist Laura Cunningham melds lyrical observation and scientific literature to trace the evolution of these superlatively biodiverse landscapes, depicting a world untrammeled by industrial technology, habitat disruption, and non-native species. Including masterful illustrations throughout, Cunningham envisions grizzlies foraging under oak trees, American cheetahs hunting pronghorns, and herds of elk grazing coastal prairies. This fully redesigned edition features new material on the reintroduction of wolves to California, the latest issues in grassland conservation, and traditional Indigenous uses of fire on the land. A State of Change will stun the imagination with glimpses of what has been lost—and give hope for what can be restored.
Order your book >
Behind-the-Scenes Extras
We invite you to join Slow Earth Companion Practice Community on Patreon where we gather to slow down, strengthen our attention, and deepen our relationships with the living world. Members receive bonus podcast content, simple seasonal practices, reflections, reading recommendations, digital practice booklets, Flow Notes from Ayana, and invitations to gather together online.
Listen to the series…
In the final episode of A State of Change: Practicing Honest Hope, Ayana Young and artist-naturalist Laura Cunningham explore honest hope, cyclical time, grassroots action, and the particular places we can still protect and restore. Laura reflects on using art and imagination to reconstruct California’s ecological past, and imagines a future shaped by native grasslands, wildlife, local stewardship, and renewed relationships with place. They consider how small, sustained acts of attention can become meaningful forms of ecological care, and Laura shares a formative story of a flash flood that transformed a Mojave Desert canyon overnight, revealing the power and rhythm of natural change.