Episode 141: Ellen Zachos - Mythic Plants

Ellen Zachos is a Harvard graduate, former Broadway actor, professional gardener and the author of eleven books including, most recently, Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Gardens of the Gods. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Ellen shares her varied personal background and takes us back to revisit the Greek myths anew by focusing on the fascinating roles plants play in the stories. Many of the mythic plants were real and still exist today, and Ellen colorfully describes how the ancient Greeks used these plants in their lives and loves and conquests.

Giant Fennel

Episode 140: Dr. Vandana Shiva - The Nature of Nature

The author of more than 20 books, Dr. Vandana Shiva is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization writer. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Dr. Shiva lays out the emergency we all face: extinction, climate havoc and the global food crisis. Our future, Shiva argues, lies in following the ecological laws of the earth by de-colonising, decreasing food miles, de-industrialising and de-globalizing food systems. A future sustained by biodiversity, local foods, and end to deforestation and an ethical and organic farming system in which degenerative cycles are transformed into regenerative cycles.

The Nature of Nature book

Episode 139: Eiren Caffall - The Mourner's Bestiary

Eiren Caffall is an award-winning writer and musician whose writing on loss and nature, oceans and extinction has appeared in numerous publications. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Caffall talks about her recent first novel The Mourner’s Bestiary, a literary memoir on loss and chronic illness, as well as a meditation on grief and survival told through the stories of animals in collapsing marine ecosystems. Caffall carries a family legacy of two hundred years of genetic kidney disease, raising a child who may also. As she describes, the process of writing the book was a way for her to weave environmental research with a memoir of generational healing, and the work it takes to get there for the human and animal lives caught in tides of loss.

Episode 138: Amy Tan - The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Amy Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989) as well as other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. Tan is the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, among other awards, and her writing has been praised for its bravery in exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Tan discusses her latest work The Backyard Bird Chronicles. What initially began as a way to find respite from the country's increasing social division, hostility and misinformation, the act of observing and drawing the birds in her backyard became something greater - a meaningful way to connect with nature, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.

American Bird Conservancy