The Power of One

Mothering Earth—A Labor of Love

“Each month we update the Mothering Earth front page to feature the people, because the whole program is based on people taking action. To me they are my heroes.”—Salwa Khan

Mimi Cavender and Betsy Cross

“Salwa Khan is producer and host of a monthly radio program and podcast called Mothering Earth, which can be heard on Wimberley Valley Radio. She recruits and interviews subject matter experts on sustainability, conservation, and gentle living for the protection of Mother Earth.”

So Salwa Khan describes herself with the concision of an orderly mind. Dr. Khan (Ph.D. in Adult, Professional, and Community Education from Texas State University, 2011) is a retired adjunct instructor in the Department of Education and in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at TSU. She designed curriculum for and taught courses in media enhanced education and media production. She coordinated IT projects and produced professional development workshops for faculty and staff. Salwa and her husband, Hays County Master Naturalist Bob Currie, have their own media production company, vcYES Productions in Wimberley, Texas. Together they write and produce educational and instructional video and other media. All this takes the orderly mind of an educator, businesswoman, and information scientist.

But her words “gentle living for the protection of Mother Earth” betray the soul in this scientist. Since 2014 Salwa has produced Mothering Earth podcasts of solidly professional scope and depth.

Salwa interviews about bees and beekeeping on site with Tara Chapman of Two Hives Honey in Austin, Texas.

Salwa’s education, her polymath interests, her conservationist passions all come together in Mothering Earth. And as she describes her work with the interviews, we hear a clear refrain:

“I like to focus on sustainability and on the Power of One—the power of each individual. I try to ask my guest about how, from their perspective, one person can do something, in whatever area is their expertise, to promote sustainability. I think a lot of people are overwhelmed with what they can each do…so the podcast focuses on “Here’s what I, one person, can do. I can change my eating habits, garden, conserve and plant native species on my property… If every person did one little thing, …”

Sustainability is avoidance of damage to or depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.

“To me sustainability is the most important issue in the world today. It affects every individual, all of us every day, and will affect our next generations. One of the issues recently is food. We can all be more conscious of our food choices—of how [its production, processing, shipping, packaging, and disposal] affects water, land, and climate. Unfortunately, most environmental groups don’t even consider animal production, and how it contributes to greenhouse gasses. Almost all the conversation around climate change today is related to fossil fuels and transportation, which are important, but we often overlook the effects of animal agriculture. Plus, [in the U.S., in Texas] it’s a sensitive thing.”

The topic was wind power when Salwa interviewed Jeffrey Clark, President and CEO of The Advanced Power Alliance, Austin, Texas, in 2019.

“[To produce a podcast] I do a lot of research online, looking at different groups, looking for those issues, to find someone who is an expert on a topic. I do a lot of reading online to get good background. When I do an interview, I like to be really knowledgeable about the topic.”

“We use software, currently SquadCast, to record the podcasts. We send a link for the recording session to the interview guest, who has received the questions ahead of time. We record a set of audio files. I select and transcribe the parts that will make up the program. I write an introductory paragraph and an ending paragraph. Bob Currie is my audio engineer, so he records the interviews and my narration bridges and follows my script to put together the edited program—one version for the radio and one for the podcast. He also does a lot of work to make sure the sound quality is good by taking out background noise and adding audio filters if necessary. It is exacting detail work.” Read more about Bob Currie and his spectacular history of investigative reporting and media production in the December 2019 Hays Humm.

“The finished 30-minute program is uploaded to Wimberley Valley Radio, KWVH 94.3 FM, and a podcast version is uploaded to Soundcloud, my podcast hosting platform. They send it out to the various podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music. Over 100 Mothering Earth podcasts are currently available directly on Soundcloud.”

Master Naturalists who have been interviewed include:

Christine Middleton and Dick McBride - #95 - Habitat Enhancing Land Management
Constance Quigley - #87 - Pollinators
Bonnie Tull - #86 - Creating a Bird-Friendly Habitat
Cathy Downs - #67 - Monarch Butterfly
Cindy Luongo Cassidy - #28 - Dark Night Skies
Jamie Kinscherff - #21 - Thoughtful Land Management

For Mothering Earth’s 100th podcast, December 2022, superstar environmentalist author Doug Tallamy talked with Salwa about his movement, Homegrown National Park. Click and listen! This is something powerful we individuals can—and must—do.

The Power of One is unleashed, too, when we each support folks like Salwa. We can listen to her monthly interview program on Wimberley Valley Radio, KWVH 94.3 FM. And we can each subscribe to her podcast—“Right now it’s a labor of love.” We multiply her work when we subscribe because the more subscribers, the more likely Mothering Earth is to be promoted on different platforms. Select a podcast provider option on your mobile phone, and search for Mothering Earth, and then “follow” or “subscribe.” When you’re subscribed, the platform notifies you when there is a new Mothering Earth podcast. And while you’re at it, be sure to add your review! Also, there’s word of mouth; tell everyone you know! Salwa likes to promote Mothering Earth on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Some of us also use online neighborhood forums like Nextdoor.

There’s also a new website for Mothering Earth, which includes an archive of more recent past programs. “Every month we switch out the front page, and feature the guest. The whole program is based on these people—individuals taking action. They are my heroes.”

We each cherish the natural world and want to unleash our own Power of One to make a difference. To our smart shopping, recycling, native gardening (and Master Naturalist volunteering?!) we can add Salwa Khan and Mothering Earth. Listen, subscribe, be inspired. Tell everyone you know!

“I’m in one of my favorite places, the garden, with my hands in the soil. I’ve been gardening organically for 50 years now.”

“I would like to be a part of something to make our world better—a good, beautiful planet for us to live in. I believe in the Power of One, our changing a habit here and there. Start small and go big. And that’s what I’m going to do.” Salwa, we’re with you.

Salwa retired from her position at TSU in December, 2021. She and her husband, Hays County Master Naturalist Bob Currie, wanted to travel more, spend more time on Mothering Earth, and just relax. She reads for her enjoyment and in meticulous preparation for the interviews. Her naturalist’s soul lives outdoors; she and Bob love paddling, biking, and maintaining an organic home garden. “All of these are very important to me.”

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