In the first episode of Season 2, we explore the resilience and creativity of the Bronx through the eyes of acclaimed author Ian Frazier, whose new book— Paradise Bronx: The Life & Times of New York’s Greatest Borough —is an ode to the City’s greenest and most diverse borough. Frazier’s love for the neighborhoods of the Bronx introduces us to a rich history of rebuilding and revitalization driven by the people who call it home, even as the borough grew and evolved around institutions like th...
Mar 10, 2025•34 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Are you a plant person? If you’re not quite sure, we can help get you there—with Season 2 of Plant People, dropping March 10! After an award-winning first season for NYBG’s podcast about the ways plants and people help each other thrive, we’re BACK with an all-new season of in-depth talks featuring gardeners, authors, scientists, and activists. Jump back in with NYBG President Jennifer Bernstein as she dives deep into topics like global food security, gardening as resistance, extreme botany in t...
Mar 03, 2025•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 abil...
Sep 23, 2024•28 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Sep 09, 2024•32 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast 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 wor...
Aug 26, 2024•33 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Aug 12, 2024•36 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jul 29, 2024•33 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Jul 15, 2024•32 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 01, 2024•35 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jun 17, 2024•33 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jun 03, 2024•29 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast 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 und...
May 20, 2024•38 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
May 13, 2024•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
