Overview of Our Common Nature
This episode is a promo excerpt and the first full episode of Our Common Nature, a WNYC Studios / Sound Postings podcast hosted by Ana Gonzalez and centered on Yo-Yo Ma’s project to reconnect people to the natural world through music and cross-cultural collaboration. The series follows Yo-Yo and Ana as they travel across the United States—performing in national parks, caves, oceans, and tribal lands—and explores how music, ritual, and place can rebuild empathy, belonging, and ecological awareness.
Key takeaways
- The show frames music as a bridge between people and the environment: art expands your world and makes you more empathetic and curious.
- Yo-Yo Ma uses music (notably Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1) as a way to access images of nature and the “infinitude of life”; he describes joining an ongoing flow he likens to water.
- Collaborative, place-based performances—like powwow songs at sunrise in Acadia National Park or cello in caves and on the ocean—create meaningful cross-cultural exchange and new ways to listen to landscape.
- Indigenous traditions (Passamaquoddy/Wabanaki sunrise songs) and Western classical practice differ in rhythm and intent, but can be respectfully integrated through listening, humility, and relationship-building.
- The series documents intimate, often transformative moments: communal gatherings, prayers and talking circles, and small interpersonal acts (e.g., Yo-Yo and a tribal elder connecting), emphasizing human connection as central to environmental stewardship.
Episode highlights / Narrative beats
- Intro by Jad Abumrad: announces the new show and recounts a surreal Smoky Mountains gathering with Yo-Yo Ma (improvisation in a wheat field, a baby bear appeared).
- Yo-Yo’s travels in the series: West Virginia, Kentucky (huge cave and Louisville Orchestra), North Carolina/Tennessee (Smokies), Hawaii (humpback whales on the double-hulled canoe Hokulea), and the coast of Maine (Acadia sunrise).
- Hawaii anecdote: Yo-Yo plays cello from a canoe into the water with chanters and marine biologists attempting to communicate with whales; dramatic natural phenomena accompanied the event (double rainbow, Mauna Loa activity). The whales’ response is left for listeners to discover.
- Main episode: Ana Gonzalez in Maine meets Passamaquoddy artists Chris Newell and Lauren Stevens. Yo-Yo learns to perform for dawn and collaborates on a powwow piece adapted for cello—built from an old cassette recording of Chris’s late friend Kenny.
- Sunrise performance at Acadia: Yo-Yo plays Bach, then collaborates with drum and traditional singers, bringing together people across cultures during a pandemic-era gathering. A talking circle follows, with prayers (Wayne Newell) and reflections on hope, gratitude, and shared stewardship.
Themes explored
- Art as empathy: music opens people to broader perspectives and helps rebuild civic and ecological ties.
- Place-based ethics: living on the land creates a common denominator—regardless of history, people share responsibility to live with and on the land.
- Humility and learning: Yo-Yo adopts a posture of being “a human being first” when learning new traditions; cross-cultural collaboration requires listening, vulnerability, and respect.
- Survival of tradition: Indigenous songkeepers preserve language and ritual despite historical repression; visibility and collaboration can help protect and pass on those practices.
Notable quotes
- “The purpose of art is to expand your world.” — Yo-Yo Ma (paraphrased in conversation)
- “I use the energy of that flow that’s happened before.” — Yo-Yo Ma, on playing Bach’s Prelude and imagining a flow of water
- “I’m a human being first, a musician second, and a cellist third.” — Yo-Yo Ma
- “We have a duty as Wabanaki people to welcome the sun with music.” — Chris Newell
- Excerpt from Wayne Newell’s prayer: gratitude for life, ancestors, children, and hope for the future—anchoring the gathering in communal care.
Practical info & listening notes
- Series length and availability: The feed currently has three episodes and more episodes are released weekly; the full show runs across seven episodes (per the host’s plan). The Our Common Nature feed is separate from Jad Abumrad’s other shows—search “Our Common Nature” or find it wherever you get podcasts.
- Recommended for: listeners interested in music, cultural exchange, nature-based storytelling, Yo-Yo Ma fans, anyone curious about how art can shape environmental empathy.
- Extra content: an Our Common Nature EP (Yo-Yo with collaborators) is available on streaming platforms; a film by the Upstander Project about Yo-Yo’s Acadia visit is linked in show notes.
Production credits (selected)
- Host: Ana Gonzalez
- Series conceived by: Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings; creative direction by Sophie Shackleton
- Producers/editors: Alan Gofinski (producer, sound design), Pearl Marvel (editing)
- Mixed by: Joe Plourd; fact-checking: Ana Alvarado
- Executive producers: Emily Botin, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, Jonathan Bays
- Partners/support: Upstander Project, Acadia National Park, Emerson Collective, Tambourine Philanthropies
- Production: WNYC Studios and Sound Postings
Why it matters
Our Common Nature shows how humble, place-based music-making can open unexpected pathways to connection—between people of different cultures, and between humans and the landscapes they inhabit. The series models listening, humility, and practical collaboration as tools for cultural survival and ecological stewardship. If you want a podcast that mixes immersive field recording, intimate human stories, and reflections on art’s civic role, this is a strong recommendation.