The Origins of “Braiding Sweetgrass”
The New Yorker Radio Hour25 Aug 2023

The Origins of “Braiding Sweetgrass”

Robin Wall Kimmerer is an unlikely literary star. A botanist by training—a specialist in moss—she spent much of her career at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry. But, when she was well established in her academic work, having “done the things you need to do to get tenure,” she launched into a different kind of writing; her new style sought to bridge the divide between Western science and Indigenous teachings she had learned, as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, about the connections between people, the land, plants, and animals. The result was “Braiding Sweetgrass,” a series of essays about the natural world and our relationship to it. The book was published by Milkweed Editions, a small literary press, and it grew only by word of mouth. Several years later, it landed on the Times best-seller list, and has remained there for more than three years; fans have described reading the essays as a spiritual experience. Kimmerer herself was recently recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship. Parul Sehgal, who writes about literature for The New Yorker, went to visit Kimmerer on the land she writes about so movingly, to talk about the book’s origin and its impact on its tenth anniversary. “I wanted to see what would happen if you imbue science with values,” Kimmerer told her. She is an environmentalist, but not an activist per se; her ambition for her work is actually larger. “So much of the environmental movement to me is grounded in fear,” she explains. “And we have a lot to be afraid about—let’s not ignore that—but what I really wanted to do was to help people really love the land again. Because I think that’s why we are where we are: that we haven’t loved the land enough.”

Episoder(1018)

Marshall Curry and Judd Apatow on “The New Yorker at 100,” a Documentary

Marshall Curry and Judd Apatow on “The New Yorker at 100,” a Documentary

This year marked a hundred years since the birth of The New Yorker, and a documentary about the magazine’s past and present, “The New Yorker at 100,” is now streaming on Netflix. The director is the A...

9 Des 202532min

Chloé Zhao on “Hamnet,” Her Film About William Shakespeare’s Grief

Chloé Zhao on “Hamnet,” Her Film About William Shakespeare’s Grief

Chloé Zhao was the second woman to ever win an Oscar for Best Director, for her 2020 film “Nomadland.” After taking a wide turn to create the Marvel supernatural epic “Eternals,” Zhao has taken anothe...

7 Des 202523min

Senator Adam Schiff on How the Trump Administration Targets Its Opponents

Senator Adam Schiff on How the Trump Administration Targets Its Opponents

As a California congressman, Adam Schiff was the lead manager during the first impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. He later served on the January 6th committee. Trump has castigated him as “...

5 Des 202527min

Noah Baumbach on “Jay Kelly,” His New Movie with George Clooney

Noah Baumbach on “Jay Kelly,” His New Movie with George Clooney

The filmmaker Noah Baumbach can recall when he may have fallen out of love with his craft. He was shooting “White Noise,” based on Don DeLillo’s novel, “on a deserted highway in Ohio at 4 A.M. with a ...

2 Des 202520min

Ian McEwan on Imagining the World After Disaster

Ian McEwan on Imagining the World After Disaster

In his latest novel, Ian McEwan imagines a future world after a century’s worth of disasters. The good news in “What We Can Know” is that humanity still exists, which McEwan calls “nuanced optimism.” ...

28 Nov 202529min

Why Is Leaving MAGA So Difficult?

Why Is Leaving MAGA So Difficult?

Only thirty per cent of the American public identifies with the MAGA movement, according to a recent NBC poll, but that coalition remains intensely loyal to Donald Trump in the face of scandals and au...

25 Nov 202522min

Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Epstein Files, and the Leadership Crisis in Washington

Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Epstein Files, and the Leadership Crisis in Washington

Both major parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership in Washington. President Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein files acknowledges that, on this issue, at least, he has lost control of MAGA. ...

21 Nov 202527min

Rewriting Art History at the Studio Museum in Harlem

Rewriting Art History at the Studio Museum in Harlem

The curator Thelma Golden is a major presence in New York City’s cultural life, having mounted era-defining exhibitions such as “Black Male” and “Freestyle” early on in her career. Golden is the Ford ...

18 Nov 202516min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
stopp-verden
forklart
det-store-bildet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-ness
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
dine-penger-pengeradet
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
nokon-ma-ga
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-utenrikskomiteen-med-bogen-og-grasvik
e24-podden
bt-dokumentar-2