There is reason for hope as I take you on a very personal voyage into a lifelong quest for contact with nature and the biosphere: the Madre. She is the entity that for me represents the sentient yet very alien presence that is the planetary living bolus, The following interview, conducted  in Sierra Madre, California in November 2012, is the first of two parts in what became a conversation with the Madre. It is a drama of the evolution and the fight for the soul and survival of us monkeys and the Madre herself. Credits: Bruce Damer (speaker, intro, edit), Chris Aman (editing), Mystical Sun, William and Bruce Damer (music), Jacob Aman (art). Find voice-only version here and individual pieces [released 24 May 2013].