Épisodes

  • Carissa Potter’s hot springs artist retreat
    Mar 21 2026

    California-based illustrator, author and Instagram phenomenon Carissa Potter chats to Katherine about the complexities of taking rest during challenging times.


    In a masterclass of self-reflection, Carissa questions whether the political left have failed to cultivate tolerance and understanding, if we should brand people as evil and how to ‘show up’ when you are the caregiver of a child with complex medical needs.


    It is no surprise that someone who thinks so deeply about the world has also developed a fully formed fantasy of where she would go to get away from it all; just her and her ‘platonic love at first sight’ creating art together and dipping in the waters at Indian Springs Calistoga. Bliss.


    Tell us about your own vision of a dream retreat:


    As mentioned at the end of the episode, if you have your own ideas about where you would go to rest and restore you can tell us about them here


    We may select your retreat for our bonus content next season!


    Links from the episode:


    Carissa’s website

    Carissa’s Instagram

    Carissa’s Substack

    Carissa’s online shop People I’ve Loved


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 h et 3 min
  • Elissa Altman on the beauty of impermanence
    Mar 14 2026

    Experiencing everything, everywhere, all at once is where we find our guest Elissa Altman this week, as she chats to Katherine in the midst of a snow cyclone in Connecticut.


    An author and speaker whose work touches on issues of family, trauma, and the permission to create, she acknowledges her deep need for rest and retreat as she whisks us away to her favourite place in the world; a tiny cottage set back from a stony beach in Owl’s Head, Maine.


    Overlooking the sea and with guitar to hand, Katherine and Elissa grapple with overcoming guilt, the pleasures of re-reading, the fetishisation of Mary Oliver and the horror of people placing items on their desks.


    A glorious and warm-hearted episode with some timely reminders about the impermanence of things, good and bad.


    Links from the episode:


    Elissa’s website where you can find her books

    Elissa’s Substack

    Elissa’s Instagram

    Devotions poetry collection by Mary Oliver

    Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

    The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 h et 1 min
  • Jen Hatmaker’s escape from the hate lane
    Mar 7 2026

    As someone whose life was turned upside down by an unexpected divorce and a subsequent move away from the evangelical church, US author and podcaster Jen Hatmaker has learned, and earned, a wisdom that is tangible.


    In this episode of The Clearing Jen transports Katherine to her grandparents’ 1970s cabin in the snowy Colorado mountains to share the many ways she has come to terms with life’s challenges. Against a blissful setting of floor to ceiling windows, low lighting and a crackling fire, Jen describes letting others ‘drive their car in the Jen Hatmaker hate lane’, the comfort of feeling small, saying yes to everything and how ‘Me Camp’ changed her life.


    Links from the episode:


    Jen’s website where you can buy her books including her memoir Awake

    Jen’s Instagram

    The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

    Various books by David Sedaris

    Learn more about Anne Lamott

    The Correspondent by Virginia Evans


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 h et 6 min
  • Daisy Buchanan’s Swiss mountain glamour
    Feb 28 2026
    A deliciously glamorous escape to the snowy setting of a luxury Swiss chalet hotel where 1920s faded English aristocracy meets 1950s Hollywood starlet decadence. Marabou-trimmed silk pajamas and well-stocked libraries with crackling fires abound in this absolute joy of an episode with author Daisy Buchanan. Listen in as Daisy imagines herself preparing for a Grand Ball, with all the pleasure of a day spent wrapped in enormous fluffy white towels and none of the anxiety. She also romps through an array of subjects with Katherine, from her newfound love of reiki to the quest for calm in the neurodivergent brain and why she is so drawn to reading about the strangeness of large families. The most wonderfully realised escape to indulge in at any time. Links from the episode:Daisy’s InstagramDaisy’s books Mortification edited by Robin RobertsonThe Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. DelafieldThe Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane HowardInvitation to the Waltz by Rosamond LehmannThe Weather in the Streets by Rosamond LehmannThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Pursuit of Love by Nancy MitfordBallet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild Little Women by Louisa May AlcottRachel's Holiday by Marian KeyesThe Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson Laurie Colwin’s books - Home Cooking, More Home Cooking, Happy All the Time, Family HappinessVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 h et 2 min
  • Poorna Bell’s New Zealand vista
    Feb 21 2026

    Floor to ceiling windows overlooking a temperate blue ocean off the coast of New Zealand is where this week’s guest, journalist and author Poorna Bell, dreams of rest and retreat.


    Since the death of her husband in 2015, Poorna has become well-versed in making the most of the everyday. As a result this is a conversation filled with the joy of small things. From relishing the prospect of unstructured days, to finding unquantified pleasure in movement. From an appreciation of the smell of toast to being able to say no to picnics. And why she never wants to receive another present again. Ever.


    Links from the episode:


    Poorna’s Substack As I Was Saying


    Poorna’s website


    Poorna’s Instagram


    Banana Yoshimoto’s novel Kitchen


    Lucy M. Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe


    Lottie Hazell’s novel Piglet


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 1 min
  • Emma Gannon’s year of desert rest
    Feb 14 2026

    Prolific author of nine books and writer behind the Substack phenomenon The Hyphen, Emma Gannon takes us away for a whole year to her imaginary retreat in Palm Springs, where she plans to indulge almost solely in her number one favourite pastime - reading.


    Revealing the extent to which she craves alone time, she tells Katherine about her very real experience of burnout, how she went from someone who lived to work to appreciating downtime and why she relates to The Hermit in Tarot.


    An inspiring listen that challenges our ideas of ‘the right way’ to live and embraces the concept of letting go.



    Links in the show:


    Emma’s Substack The Hyphen

    Emma’s website

    Emma’s Instagram

    A link to buy her books including A Year of Nothing


    Find Emma’s conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert about memoir here

    Max Richter’s track On the Nature of Daylight


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    59 min
  • Mike Sowden’s island of curiosity
    Feb 7 2026

    Settling in amongst the sparkling sea views and scented coniferous trees of Corfu, writer Mike Sowden tells Katherine why he is ditching the concept of escape to run towards places and people with enthusiasm and curiosity.


    Conjuring up a beautiful stay on the island so beloved by author Gerald Durrell, where people are still viscerally connected to the changing seasons, Mike and Katherine find creativity in discomfort, stories from failed adventures and a shared desire to get out into the world more and embrace the randomness of life.


    Links from the episode:


    Mike’s Everything is Amazing newsletter on Substack


    Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen Johnson


    Journey into Cyprus by Colin Thubron


    Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert


    Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie


    A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (and link to website all about her)


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 2 min
  • Season One Interlude
    Jan 31 2026

    Katherine explains why we are heeding our own advice and taking a tiny break this week. She also previews some exciting, listener-led bonus content that will be coming your way next season. We’ll be back next week with another wonderful guest for you. Meanwhile take care everyone.


    Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

    Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

    Follow Katherine on Instagram

    Visit Katherine’s Website


    Production Credits


    Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins

    Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong

    Producer - Alice Lloyd

    Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Voir plus Voir moins
    9 min