David George Haskell

Before we had the words to explain the world, we understood it through the warmth of sunlight, the scent of rain, the sound of a mother's voice.

Today we are joined by composers Max Richter and Dustin O'Halloran, biologist David George Haskell, and cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman.

We hear from the host of First Voice's radio, Tiakashen Ghost Horse, Lincoln Center's chief artistic officer, Shanta Thaik, and photographer Ralph Gibson, who reflect on beauty, childhood, and the memories that give their life meaning.

This episode is part of the Creative Processes Autumn Festival of Arts and Ideas.

And they did that partly through reshaping the formerly adversarial relationship between plants and insects into one of mutual aid and cooperation, at least most of the time.

Biologist David George Haskell enumerates our debt to flowers.

From the studios of KPFA in Berkeley, California, this is Against the Grain on Pacifica Radio.

I'm Sasha Lilly.

In our uncertain times, what can we learn from the history and brilliance of the flower, long prized as just an ornament? In How Flowers Made Our World, The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries, biologist David George Haskell writes about how the flower not only transformed our world 100 million years ago, but continues to remake it today.

His other books include Sounds Wild and Broken and Songs in Trees.

David, when we conjure up flowers in our minds, we're likely to think of herbaceous flowers like the kinds in our gardens.

So, you know, when you look at a magnolia, you are looking at quite an ancient structure that, of course, it's been modernized as every species keeps evolving as it moves into the future.