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)

Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025

Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025

When President Donald Trump began his tariff rollout, the business world predicted that his unprecedented attempt to reshape the economy would lead to a major recession, if Trump went through with it ...

14 Nov 202534min

Patti Smith on Her Memoir “Bread of Angels,” Fifty Years After Her Début Album, “Horses”

Patti Smith on Her Memoir “Bread of Angels,” Fifty Years After Her Début Album, “Horses”

Patti Smith’s album “Horses” came out fifty years ago, on November 10, 1975, launching her to stardom almost overnight. An anniversary reissue came out this year, to rapturous reviews. Yet being a roc...

11 Nov 202540min

What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker

What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker

Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggest...

7 Nov 202527min

From In the Dark: “Blood Relatives”

From In the Dark: “Blood Relatives”

The New Yorker contributing writer Heidi Blake has been investigating a new story for the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast In the Dark. This season is about one of the most notorious crimes in modern Br...

4 Nov 202544min

Jon Stewart on the Perilous State of Late Night and Why America Fell for Donald Trump

Jon Stewart on the Perilous State of Late Night and Why America Fell for Donald Trump

Jon Stewart has been a leading figure in political comedy since before the turn of the millennium. But compared to his early years on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”—when Stewart was merciless in hi...

31 Okt 202546min

It’s Not Just You: The Internet Is Actually Getting Worse

It’s Not Just You: The Internet Is Actually Getting Worse

“Sometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment,” the columnist Kyle Chayk...

28 Okt 202521min

Zadie Smith on Politics, Turning Fifty, and Mind Control

Zadie Smith on Politics, Turning Fifty, and Mind Control

Since Zadie Smith published her début novel, “White Teeth,” twenty-five years ago, she has been a bold and original voice in literature. But those who aren’t familiar with Smith’s work outside of fict...

24 Okt 202528min

Richard Linklater on His Two New Films, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”

Richard Linklater on His Two New Films, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”

Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors working today, and yet moviegoers may admire him for very different things. There are early comedies such as “Slacker” and “Dazed and Confused”; ...

21 Okt 202521min

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