Episode 252: When Trees Testify w/ Dr. Beronda Montgomery
From The Deep Dive by Philip McKenzie
March 19, 2026 · 53 min
About this episode
Philip McKenzie discusses the relationship between Black people and the natural world with Dr. Beronda Montgomery.
Philip welcomes plant biologist Dr. Beronda Montgomery, author of Lessons From Plans and When Trees Testity: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy to the show. In their conversation, they trace the intimate relationship between Black people and the natural world and our historical legacy as told through America’s trees. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and his guest share tasty morsels of intellectual goodness and creative musings. Philip’s Drop: Museum of Innocence – Orhan Pamuk (author) TV series (Netflix) https://www.masumiyetmuzesi.org/en https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34692373/ Beronda’s Drop: Family Tree – Jennifer MacArthur (documentary) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32034856/ https://thefilmcollaborative.org/films/familytree
People in this episode
Host: Philip McKenzie
Guest: Dr. Beronda Montgomery
Topics covered
- Black botanical legacy
- relationship between Black people and nature
- plant biology
- historical legacy
- intellectual discussions
Keywords
- Black botanical legacy
- plant biology
- nature
- historical legacy
- Museum of Innocence
- Family Tree
- intellectual discussions
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Lessons From Plans, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy, Museum of Innocence, Family Tree
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