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Podcast: Life Examined
Episode: ‘The Serviceberry’: Robin Wall Kimmerer’s guide to the gift economy
Description: Potawatomi botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer discusses the philosophy of a “gift economy” in her latest book The Serviceberry, expanding on the theme of reciprocity from her 2013 book Braiding Sweetgrass. At a time of increasing consumerism and declining natural resources, gifting, Kimmerer reminds us, is a truly renewable resource. She draws on the example of the serviceberry and its remarkable ability to give: “In my Potawatomi language, the word for berry ‘min’ is also the root word for gift and for gift giving. So when you see them hanging there ... They're just meant to attract us, right? An...