Shamanic earth-based wisdom reminds us of our interconnectedness with the earth and all the other living beings around us. We can discover ways to restore and strengthen these relationship through science as well. This podcast episode, from The Detour with Adams Davis, is called “Democracy of Species." It was recorded in May 2022, and explores the relationships between human beings and other beings, between humans and animals, humans and plants, and humans and the earth itself.

Robin Wall Kimmerer and Emma Marris pay careful attention to the interconnections between these beings. Whether they are looking at mosses or sweet grass, maples or wolves or humans, Robin and Emma are wonderful teachers, helping us to see our world and ourselves more fully, and challenging us to reconsider our role in this fluid and dynamic web of relationships and responsibilities.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned her wide acclaim. Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

Emma Marris is the author of Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World and Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World. She also writes about the human and nonhuman worlds, and the enduringly complex relationships between them for National Geographic, the Atlantic, the New York Times, Wired, and other publications. She lives in Oregon with her husband—with whom she occasionally co-authors environmental philosophy papers—and their two children.

Listen here

Learn more about Robin

Learn more about Emma