Nature in Crisis: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer
About this episode
This episode discusses Robin Wall Kimmerer's 'Braiding Sweetgrass' and its arguments for integrating Indigenous knowledge with scientific understanding for environmental harmony.
Through folktales, memoir and hard science, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass argues for the intertwining of Indigenous knowledge systems and empirical science, to support ‘mutual flourishing’ between humans and the environment. Braiding Sweetgrass was an enormous success for a small press publication, becoming a bestseller and a touchstone for readers searching for alternatives to extractivist realpolitik. In this episode, Meehan and Peter look at the most compelling features of Kimmerer’s technique – reminiscent of Darwin at his best – and where her book risks scientific overreach. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrnature In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsnature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Hosts: Meehan, Peter
Topics covered
- Indigenous knowledge
- empirical science
- environment
- mutual flourishing
- extractivism
- folktales
- memoir
Keywords
- Braiding Sweetgrass
- Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Indigenous knowledge
- science
- environment
- folktales
- memoir
- extractivism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: London Review of Books
Books & works: Braiding Sweetgrass
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