What does a river teach us? And are you someone who is in love with rivers? An affirmative yes to latter question is the hope and mission of Esopus Creel founder, Todd Spire. In this episode of Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival, I sit down with Todd, a Catskills fly fishing guide who is devoted to helping people not only with fishing, but with the connection the river offers. I have been following Todd’s work with Esopus Creek since it began, during the years when I lived in Brooklyn and was craving a deeper connection to the natural world. Long before I knew him personally, I was drawn to the way he approached rivers, writing, and community. His work has always carried a sense of beauty and depth that stayed with me, and I wanted to understand more about his philosophy behind it. Todd and I talk about fly fishing as an art form, a practice in presence, and a gateway into a much larger experience of the natural world. We talk about the greatness of the Catskills, the Esopus, and all that unfolds when we're in the water. It feels like we barely scratched the surface, and yet touch on profound topics of grief, loss, meditation, and one of my favorite topics, the shared human experience. Our conversation moves beyond fly fishing into community building, environmental stewardship, and legacy. And herein the river becomes a metaphor for all of it. Todd is also an extraordinarily gifted writer. There is a particular beauty in what he shares, and an elegance in his depth in perspective. I hope this conversation inspires a reason to consider how the river opens pathways of reflection and exploration not just of the natural world, but of the life inside each of us as well. About Todd Spire and Esopus Creel: Todd Spire is the founder of Esopus Creel, a Catskills fly fishing guide service centered on the Esopus and the experience of falling in love with rivers. Through guided fly fishing trips, writing, and community, Todd invites people into a deeper relationship with the water, the landscape, and one another. Things I Learned from My Mother is a podcast from Arcadian Revival about home, land, nature, culture, stewardship, and the wisdom we inherit from the people who came before us.

What does an old house mean to us? For this episode of Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival, I sit down with Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein, the founders of Cheap Old Houses, to talk about much more than old houses. Over the past decade, Cheap Old Houses has introduced millions of people to forgotten houses across America: places with peeling wallpaper, original woodwork, old kitchens, beautiful proportions, histories, and stories that might otherwise disappear. What began as an Instagram account has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a much larger conversation about how we think about home, history, architecture, preservation, and the places we choose to invest in. Elizabeth and Ethan have created something remarkable by helping people see possibility where others might see decay. In this conversation, we talk about why old houses continue to capture our imagination, and what it is about their imperfections, materials, craftsmanship, patina, and accumulated history that can feel so meaningful in an increasingly fast and digitally mediated world. We talk about the sensory experience of an old house: the perfect creak of a stair, secret nooks that carry magic. These details connect us to something tangible at a moment when so much of our lives are becoming increasingly virtual, automated, and shaped by artificial intelligence. We also talk about the enormous cultural footprint Elizabeth and Ethan have created through Cheap Old Houses and how their work has expanded beyond individual properties. Saving an old house in a small Midwestern town, a rural community, or another part of the country is not only about preserving a building. It can mean preserving a piece of local history, supporting a community, maintaining a sense of place, and giving a future generation the opportunity to encounter something that might otherwise have been lost. Stewardship is a central theme of our conversation. We talk about what it means to invest in an existing home rather than simply replacing it, and the environmental, financial, emotional, and cultural dimensions of restoring an old house. We explore sustainability not simply as a question of energy efficiency or environmental impact, but as a broader question of whether the things we build, repair, care for, and pass along can endure. There is a deeply human side to the work. Elizabeth and Ethan share stories from their own childhoods and experiences with houses and places, and we talk about why certain buildings stay with us. We discuss the emotional connection people develop with homes, the responsibility that comes with taking on an old property, and the idea that a house can belong to a much longer story than the people living in it at any given moment. Old houses often carry architecture, memory, culture, environmental stewardship, history, and human experience at once and is perhaps part of the reason Cheap Old Houses has resonated so deeply with such a large audience. In a culture increasingly oriented toward speed, novelty, convenience, and digital connection, there is something powerful about being reminded that some things are worth slowing down for, repairing, learning from, and carrying forward. This is a conversation about old houses, but ultimately, it is about what we choose to preserve, what we value enough to care for, and what we hope will still be here when we are gone. Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein are the creators of Cheap Old Houses, the widely followed platform dedicated to sharing affordable historic homes and inspiring people to preserve and restore them. Through their work, they have helped bring historic architecture and preservation into the mainstream and created a community of people interested in old houses, restoration, architecture, and the stories embedded in the places we inhabit. Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival is a podcast exploring home through stories, generational wisdom, and our relationship with the natural world. In this episode we confirm that home is never just a house, it is part of a much longer story.

What does it mean to make a life of paying attention and to offer that attention in service of a more beautiful, grounded, and human way of living? In this episode of Things I Learned from My Mother, Bethany speaks with Caleb LaRue, a wallcovering hanger, painter, father, grandfather, and lifelong student of the world around him. With a background in biochemistry and religious studies, Caleb never set out to build a career in the trades. Yet what began as a practical way to support his growing family became a decades-long study in craftsmanship, curiosity, beauty, and human connection. Through his work in people’s homes, Caleb has learned to see the sacred in the ordinary: in the way a well-loved paintbrush changes over time, in the rooms where families live with dirty dishes, treasured objects, pets, unfinished projects, and in the care people take to shape their surroundings. He reflects on the influence of his artistic parents, his unexpected awakening to color and art, and the role curiosity has played throughout his life. For Arcadian revivalists, those seeking beauty, craftsmanship, attentiveness, and a deeper relationship with the places they inhabit, Caleb offers a practical and lived philosophy. His knowledge comes from working with his hands, entering people’s homes with humility, noticing what others overlook, and caring for what already exists. He offers a way of seeing ordinary materials, rooms, tools, and objects as carriers of memory, meaning, and possibility. At the heart of Caleb’s approach is a simple philosophy: stay curious. Curiosity is the seed from which creativity grows. Making space to wonder is essential to becoming more fully human. This is a conversation about beauty, faith, family, art, and the subtle ways we learn from one another. Most of all, it is an invitation to look more closely at the lives and places we  inhabit, helping restore them with patience, skill, reverence, and care as we carry ourselves into each day.

What does it mean to build a life around what you value? Season Two of Things I Learned from My Mother, from Arcadian Revival begins with Pippa Biddle, co-founder and co-owner of Quittner, the Hudson Valley lighting and homewares company she runs with her husband, Benjamin Davidson. Pippa begins by sharing one of the most formative experiences of her early life: working with Jane Goodall. From Goodall, she learned to step outside her comfort zone, live according to her values, and let those values guide the life she builds. We explore what it means to carry that philosophy into adulthood, from building a business to creating a home and finding a community that gives life meaning. We talk about staying true to yourself, finding joy in the way you live, and allowing the things you surround yourself with to reflect what matters to you. It is a fitting beginning to a season about home, generational wisdom, stewardship, and our connection to the natural world and one another. What is worth carrying forward? And how do our values shape the lives we choose to build? Welcome to Season Two.

Welcome back to Things I Learned from My Mother from Arcadian Revival, a podcast grounded in slow living, seasonal beauty, and the art of creating a life connected to land, lineage, and meaning through the lens of home. In this episode, host Bethany Khan steps away from the tangible work of creating home to explore a more poetic kind of living. She’s joined by Anna Knapp, a neighbor and kindred spirit in Saratoga Springs. Anna is a beekeeper, mother, educator, and community leader whose life embodies what it means to live in tune with the seasons. From her early fascination with bees as a child in New Mexico to her thoughtful approach to building community and slowing down in upstate New York, Anna invites us into a world where tending becomes a form of beauty, perseverance, self-discovery, and meaning through connection. So settle in. Pour a cup of tea, perhaps sweetened with local honey, and join us as we journey into the world of bees and the quiet lessons they hold about home, care, and the sweetness found in the smallest and most nuanced ways of the world.