Our Future | Soil: Common Ground Podcast

About this episode

The episode explores the regenerative qualities of soil and composting, featuring personal stories of hope and healing through permaculture and art.

Our Future is tied to the future of our soil. Our decisions as to how we care for and use it matter. Soil teaches us that cycles are ongoing, and even in decline every day offers us opportunities for new beginnings. In this final episode Shenece Oretha explores the regenerative qualities of soil and composting as a model for personal redemption. We hear from Palestinian grower Mohammed Saleh whose life story offers a personal story of hope, looking at how permaculture and art can help to heal the destructive impacts of war. Somerset Studios artist Harun Morrision ’s singing compost invites us to see decay in a new light and Fin Jordâo lays out how composting can be a radical action for rethinking our relationships with each other and the planet. Does the future hold a closer, more natural relationship with the soil by rethinking our relationship to burial? Radical undertaker Ru Callander reconsiders our attitude to death. The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet . Presented by Shenece Oretha Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott. The series is mixed by Mike Woolley Original…

People in this episode

Host: Shenece Oretha

Guest: Mohammed Saleh

Topics covered

• soil
• regenerative qualities
• composting
• personal redemption
• permaculture
• art and healing
• relationship with death

Keywords

• soil
• composting
• regeneration
• permaculture
• art
• healing
• death
• burial
• hope
• environment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Somerset House

Books & works: SOIL: The World at Our Feet

More episodes of Somerset House Podcast

• The Process: How To Listen in a World of Noise · May 14, 2026 · 18 min
• The Process: The Sea Snake is Listening · April 15, 2026 · 25 min
• The Process Archive: Experimenting with Sound and the Voice · March 6, 2026 · 16 min
• The Process: Are drums a time-travelling device? · February 5, 2026 · 31 min
• The Process: What happens when performance meets everyday activism? · January 8, 2026 · 25 min
• The Process: How to authentically document your creative community? · December 4, 2025 · 34 min