The Newt Podcast

In this episode, we leave The Newt and travel across Somerset to Cannwood, the home of environmentalist and rewilding advocate Ben Goldsmith. Here, a once conventionally farmed landscape is being transformed into a rich mosaic of woodland, scrub, meadow and wetland.
We explore a landscape shaped by beavers building dams along the headwaters of the River Frome, red deer moving through regenerating woodland, and free-roaming English Longhorn cattle and Tamworth pigs helping to create new habitats. Ben is  involved in ambitious species-recovery work, from European wildcats and white storks to the return of the endangered turtle dove, while newly created ponds provide habitat for newts, frogs and countless insects.
Walking the land with Ben, we discover what happens when nature is given the space to begin taking the lead again.
The Newt Podcast is created by the team at The Newt in Somerset and produced by Harry Coade at Sound Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Newt Podcast to enjoy more walks and talks across the estate, or better still become a Newt Member to visit our estate yourself, stay the night, or shop The Newt online. 
Your 12-month membership also gives you free entry to The Newt's 17 national and international Partner Gardens and inspirational Sister Estates.
Follow us on Instagram @thenewtinsomerset

In this episode, we step inside the Bristol Fungarium for a behind-the-scenes journey into the art and science of growing functional mushrooms.
Founder Tom Baxter leads us through the laboratory, introducing the team of mycologists working at the frontier between nature, cultivation and science. We follow the extraordinary life cycle of fungi—from wild specimens and cultures in the lab, through mycelium, incubation and fruiting, to harvesting, drying and the final extraction of their remarkable compounds.
The Fungarium works with a number of mushrooms cloned from carefully foraged UK-native specimens, including Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Maitake and Oyster. Once cultivated, the team uses analytical chemistry to examine compounds including beta-glucans, ergothioneine and ganoderic acids, before the mushrooms are harvested, dehydrated, ground and extracted under one roof.
Along the way, we discover just how precise mushroom cultivation can be—how temperature, humidity, sterility, substrate and time all play their part—and meet the people who have learned to create the perfect conditions for these strange and beautiful organisms to thrive. Some varieties can spend more than six months developing before they are finally ready to harvest.
From petri dish to fruiting chamber, and from mushroom to tincture, this is a glimpse inside a fascinating world where ancient organisms meet modern science.
Join us for a walk through the Fungarium.
The Newt Podcast is created by the team at The Newt in Somerset and produced by Harry Coade at Sound Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Newt Podcast to enjoy more walks and talks across the estate, or better still become a Newt Member to visit our estate yourself, stay the night, or shop The Newt online. 
Your 12-month membership also gives you free entry to The Newt's 17 national and international Partner Gardens and inspirational Sister Estates.
Follow us on Instagram @thenewtinsomerset

The Bristol Fungarium's founder, Tom Baxter, leads us through the genesis tale of the UK's most recognised functional mushroom company, the weird and wonderful kingdom of fungi, the story of fungi and human evolution, the association between the compounds in mushrooms and our bodies.
We dig deep into functional mushrooms, what they may provide for us as a species. We learn about cordyceps, the 'zombie fungi' species and how they takeover their host insect species. We travel back millions of years to origins of life of this planet. And we look into the future and what opportunities this remarkable kingdom may have in store for the next generation of humans overcoming the challenges of modern life.
Join us for a trip into the fantastic world of fungi.
The next episode will be a walk through the fungi laboratory where we meet Tom's team of mycologists and learn the art behind breeding, growing, harvesting and extracting the compounds from a host of exceptional mushrooms, tune in in two weeks...
The Newt Podcast is created by the team at The Newt in Somerset and produced by Harry Coade at Sound Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Newt Podcast to enjoy more walks and talks across the estate, or better still become a Newt Member to visit our estate yourself, stay the night, or shop The Newt online. 
Your 12-month membership also gives you free entry to The Newt's 17 national and international Partner Gardens and inspirational Sister Estates.
Follow us on Instagram @thenewtinsomerset

Our host, Arthur Cole, takes us on an early morning tour of the Newt's most recent garden, The Four Seasons Garden. We delve into the design, planting and midsummer blooms bursting from the beds. We get closer to the early 20th Century Peter Pan statue, and move through all four seasons in one morning. We learn how Queen Anne's Lace got it's name, philosophise over the liminal nature of the seasons, tumble down the rabbit hole into a wonderland, and sneak a peak at the new feature in the Secret Garden. 
Join us for this early morning, enlightening and calming walk through the Four Seasons Garden.
The Newt Podcast is created by the team at The Newt in Somerset and produced by Harry Coade at Sound Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Newt Podcast to enjoy more walks and talks across the estate, or better still become a Newt Member to visit our estate yourself, stay the night, or shop The Newt online. 
Your 12-month membership also gives you free entry to The Newt's 17 national and international Partner Gardens and inspirational Sister Estates.
Follow us on Instagram @thenewtinsomerset

In this episode, we welcome flower farmer, florist, seed grower and author Milli Proust for a beautiful conversation about growing with the seasons and finding creativity in the garden.
Recorded as part of The Great Garden Show 2026, Milli shares her thoughtful approach to flowers, seed saving, naturalistic planting and the rhythms that shape life on a flower farm.
From the joy of cultivating beauty by hand to the lessons learned through patience, imperfection and close observation, this gentle and uplifting episode is full of inspiration for gardeners, growers and anyone drawn to the quiet magic of flowers.
The Newt Podcast is created by the team at The Newt in Somerset and produced by Harry Coade at Sound Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Newt Podcast to enjoy more walks and talks across the estate, or better still become a Newt Member to visit our estate yourself, stay the night, or shop The Newt online. 
Your 12-month membership also gives you free entry to The Newt's 17 national and international Partner Gardens and inspirational Sister Estates.
Follow us on Instagram @thenewtinsomerset