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Plant People — Earth Sciences
Plant People

Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive.

Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations.

Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

Listen and subscribe to Plant People every two weeks starting May 20, 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 The New York Botanical Garden

Latest Episodes:

Decay is an Ally Sep 23, 2024

In our final episode of the season, we sit down with Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, to talk fungi. Mushrooms are a culinary sensation, but they’re also lifeforms that we’re still trying to understand. Join in as we learn how the grim work of fungi—death, decay, and “the end” of organic life—is key to the survival of all living things, and far from a foraging fad, mycology is at the root of Earth’s ability to function.

The African American Garden Sep 09, 2024

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by renowned culinary historian, author, and NYBG Trustee Dr. Jessica B. Harris, curator of the African American Garden at NYBG. Over the last three years, this important collection has used plants to tell the stories of migration, dispossession, and reclamation that inform so much of the African American experience—and define much of what American cuisine is today. As we take a stroll through the space, come hear about the ways the African diaspora has, over the course of more than 500 years, transformed the Western Hemisphere with its cultures, labor, and agricultural know-how.

Eating To Extinction Aug 26, 2024

We’re joined by renowned food journalist, author, and broadcaster Dan Saladino, who's been a host on the BBC’s Radio 4 show The Food Programme for almost 20 years. Recently, he published Eating to Extinction, which explores humankind’s relationship with food, including the world’s most uncommon bites and the communities that produce them—from rare cider apples on the brink of extinction to the vanishing Old Cornish cauliflower, and a variety of Indigenous plant-based edibles from around the world that many have never experienced. Together we’ll look at how stories of endangered plant cuisines have inspired Saladino throughout his career, and discuss the future of food security—and how the preservation of these endangered eats is integral to the health of our planet and humanity at large.

Native Plants Aug 12, 2024

In this week’s episode, we catch up with Doug Tallamy, Professor of Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Delaware. As an expert in their Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, he knows a thing or two about the benefits of planting natives, and feeding the birds and the bees is high on the list. Find out how healthy ecosystems rely on these plants to thrive, and how the home garden is just the start.

What Do Plants Have To Do With Flooding? Jul 29, 2024

In episode 6, NYBG’s VP of Urban Conservation, Dr. Eric Sanderson, takes us on a quick trip around the landscape of New York City—both today and in the distant past. He’ll get into the sudden rise of catastrophic floods worldwide, and how our relationship with plants centuries ago is impacting our situation right now. Then we talk solutions, ecosystem restoration, and the ways that the future of fighting floods will rely on the well-being of plant life.

Houseplants Jul 15, 2024

In episode 5, we cover the surge in home horticulture spurred by the pandemic, with apartment dwellers and homeowners all over the country—and indeed the world—filling their homes with greenery at a time when almost everyone was stuck indoors. NYBG’s Marc Hachadourian, Senior Curator of Orchids and Director of Glasshouse Horticulture, joins us for a chat on the ways conservatory and botanical garden horticulture have influenced our day-to-day lives with plants, from popularizing certain species of houseplants to their impact on cultivation and care. We’ll also discuss the other side of this sudden leap in everyone’s passion for houseplants, including wild plant poaching and the conservation efforts being made to stop it.

Guest: Marc Hachadourian

Invasive Plants Jul 01, 2024

Dr. Evelyn Beaury joins us for a look at the state of invasive plant species in the United States, which threats are greatest to the well-being of our native ecosystems, and how changing climates and land-use patterns can expedite the spread of invasive species. From knotweed in the northeast U.S. to kudzu in the south and cheatgrass in the west, hear how these species can overwhelm native plants and habitats—and discover ways that each of us can make a difference to stop them.

Guest: Dr. Evelyn Beaury

Fighting Fire With Fire Jun 17, 2024

Michael Dockry, Assistant Professor of Forestry Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, explores the state of our forests—and the increased threat of wildfires in today’s climate. Then we dig into the ways that traditional means of forestry, from controlled burns to carefully considered cutting, provides the knowledge we need to tackle this problem if only we acknowledge its value.

Guest: Michael Dockry

Better Lawns Jun 03, 2024

We're joined by landscape designer Edwina von Gal, founder of Perfect Earth Project, for a chat exploring America's love of grass, its historic roots as a ubiquitious plant, and von Gal's advocacy for toxin-free landscaping. Dig into the ways that changing our relationship to our lawns can help our gardens work harder as part of the solution to our most pressing environmental challenges. We'll examine lawn alternatives, the "Bee Lawn" and "No Mow May" movements, and some of the other ways we can turn suburban America's landscapes into a force for the good of our planet.

Guest: Edwina von Gal

The Importance of Collections May 20, 2024

Take an in-depth look at how NYBG has championed the natural world for over 130 years by caring for its unique and historic collections — together with Dr. Emily Sessa, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, and Rhonda Evans, Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
We’re first joined by Library Director Rhonda Evans for an exploration of the world-renowned Mertz Library, where she digs into the ways that a botanical literature archive like this is incredibly important for our understanding of plants and environmental health, past, present, and future. She goes into the highlights of our collection, how we’re growing it, and takes a peek into our book restoration and conservation lab.
Next, Emily Sessa takes us inside NYBG’s Steere Herbarium and its miraculous collections to share what our herbarium specialists do, and why studying the past through collections like these is key to protecting the future of biodiversity on Earth. The hidden stories of various herbarium specimens will come to life, to help listeners orient themselves amidst the centuries-old act of collecting, documenting and studying plant specimens.

Plant People Trailer May 13, 2024

At the crossroads of plants, people, and the planet, Plant People, from the New York Botanical Garden, connects the dots between the natural world and our own well-being. Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and explorers, we dig into the many ways we rely on plants to thrive—and what we can do to return the favor for the ecosystems that sustain us.

Join host Jennifer Bernstein as she explores humanity’s relationship with plants, greening our cities and communities, and how NYBG is working toward a bright and botanical future for all. Listen and subscribe to Plant People, out every two weeks starting May 20, 2024.

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