Return to this celebration of the milestone episode of Sustainability of your earsin a detailed conversation with Paula Whatman, author of the 500th program since its release in 2018, and an enchanting collection of essays, Bad naturalist. It tells the story of her purchase and her efforts to restore hundreds of acres of Meadowlands to Blue Ridge Mountain, Virginia, which was once a farm and orchard. Paula’s story explores the complex interactions of identity, vulnerability and nature, with wit, depth and eye for nature’s details. Paula’s book reflects the relationship between our internal lives and the landscapes we live in. She explains how she learned about pasture land, plants and fauna through conversations with scientists, conservation experts, and her neighbors.
Paula’s decision to move and care for her is in the sense that she is preserving and restoring, and the plot of land represents new options for people made possible by digital technology, keeping connected to the economy and making a living by investing time and energy in new local relationships with the land and people. You can find Bad naturalist Above Amazonin Powell’s Bookor your local bookstore. Sign up for her bad naturalist newsletter. She describes it as an update from the author’s “Bramble and Bear’s Fed up.” https://paulawhyman.com.
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on January 13th, 2025.
