nature

Author, botanist, and Native American scholar Robin Wall Kimmerer's work explores the natural world as teacher, partner and gift. Her new book "Bud Finds Her Gift" marks departure: an illustrated picture book for young readers that addresses the themes her adult volumes - "Braiding Sweetgrass" and "The Serviceberry" - have come to be known for.We welcome Robin Wall Kimmerer to to discuss how this picture book emerged, why Kimmerer chose the form, and what she hopes children (and their grown-ups) will carry with them.

Dr. Marc Berman, the pioneering creator of the field of environmental neuroscience, has written a new book, “Nature and the Mind."

Growing up, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house in the Hudson Valley. A child who frequently felt out of place, too much of one thing or not enough of another, she found acceptance in these settings, among other amphibious beings. In snakes, snails, and, above all, fungi, she saw her own developing identities as a queer, neurodivergent person reflected back at her—and in them, too, she found a personal path to a life of science.In her new book, "Forest Euphoria", Kaishian shows us this making of a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness of all the life around us. Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized—and they have lessons for us all.

On this week's 51%, we speak with the authors of Breaking Trail: Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks. Compiling both historical research and folk songs, Breaking Trail spotlights some of the women hikers, hunters, artists and legends who had a profound impact on New York's Adirondack Park.

Helen Phillips is one of the most interesting and original writers working today. In her latest novel, “Hum,” she turns her eye to marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and artificial intelligence.

Indigenous ecologist and MacArthur Genius, Robin Wall Kimmerer has a brand new book, "The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World."

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her new novel, “The Vaster Wilds,” is at once an adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. It tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history.

Helen Phillips is one of the most interesting and original writers working today. In her latest novel, “Hum,” she turns her eye to marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and artificial intelligence.

Becky Cushing Gop is an award-winning environmental educator and director of Mass Audubon West, encompassing 18 wildlife sanctuaries, conservation partnerships, and widespread community and school programming. She is based at the 1,400-acre Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox, home to a healthy population of the North American beaver.

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her new novel, “The Vaster Wilds,” is at once an adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. It tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history.