In This Episode:
Co-hosts Reid Taylor and Bryan Tagge sit down with Darin Mann and Jon Goodfellow, co-founders of The Village Cooperative in Salt Lake City.
What begins as a story of political organizing, spiritual seeking, and personal awakening turns into a blueprint for community transformation. Together, they explore the path from disillusionment to regeneration, the radical act of growing food, and how empathy, soil, and solidarity might be the keys to a better world.
This episode is a testament to walking the walk—even when institutions fail, movements fracture, or identities clash. The Village isn’t just an idea—it’s a living, growing proof of what’s possible.
Also available on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gEGj8Zg0LRRkD5AzwkWVY?si=m3Z_ClunQASMW4ZkluvURQ
🎧 Chapters & Timecodes:
00:00 – Welcome & Intro
Introduction to Climate By Us and setting the tone for collective action.
01:32 – Meet the Guests: Darin Mann & Jon Goodfellow
The co-founders of The Village share how they met and their shared origin story.
04:00 – From Playground Enemies to Partners in Change
A hilarious and heartfelt look at how a childhood rivalry became a lifelong bond.
06:40 – Jon’s Awakening: From Disillusion to Land-Based Living
Jon reflects on leaving corporate healthcare and entering a path of spiritual and ecological integrity.
08:00 – Darin’s Political Roots & Activism Timeline
From Bernie’s campaign to Indigenous solidarity and direct action, Darin shares how fighting injustice led to growing food.
10:50 – From Revolution to Regeneration
Disillusionment with mainstream politics prompts a radical shift: building food systems from the ground up.
14:00 – Feeding 40,000 People: The Village Model
How volunteer labor, backyards, and abundance turned into a network that fed tens of thousands.
17:30 – Needs-Based Community Systems
Applying permaculture and mutual aid to meet people where they are—literally.
20:00 – Jon’s Corporate Exit & Spiritual Shift
Leaving a $2B healthcare firm and finding purpose in van life, Vedic texts, and cooperative gardens.
26:00 – Returning to Serve: A Bodhisattva Path
How Jon and Darin reconnected, and why healing should never be a solo pursuit.
30:00 – Reckoning with Identity Politics & Cancellations
Tensions in organizing, the costs of cancellation, and finding a deeper empathy beyond labels.
35:00 – Building Post-Polarization Communities
The need for healing masculine and feminine energies in movement-building and daily life.
39:00 – The Cooperative Future of Work
How The Village aims to build out artists’ collectives, tool libraries, garden co-ops, and more.
44:00 – Empathy, Pragmatism, and the Need for Localism
Reclaiming empathy from weaponization and rooting change in relationships and neighborhood-scale action.
48:00 – Closing Reflections: Soil, Spirit, and Solidarity
Nature as teacher. Humanity as garden. A cooperative as sanctuary.
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🌍 It takes a village. Let’s build it.
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