Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel: Unearthing Ashkenazi herbalism practices
Listen now
Description
Partners in life and work, herbalist Deatra Cohen and reference librarian and researcher Adam Siegel are the authors of the incredible resource Ashkenazi Herbalism. Together they spent years researching little known texts, translating ethnobotanical surveys and cross-referencing cultural databases to unearth lost Ashkenazi plant practices from the pale of settlement region. They share the stories and traditions of a few of their favourite plants along with Deatra's own journey to plant healing work. Bio: Deatra Cohen is a former reference librarian and herbalist who trained with the Berkeley Herbal Center. She also belongs to a clinical herbal collective and is a Master Gardener at the University of California. Adam Siegel is a research librarian at the University of California, Davis, and a historian of Central and eastern Europe, studying issues around cultural contact and plant knowledge in the region. Adam is also a literary translator, focusing on works in Russian, Czech, German, Croatian, Serbian, French, Italian, Swedish, and Norwegian. In 2014, he was awarded a Literary Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. This conversation is produced by Catherine Polcz and music by Carl Didur.
More Episodes
Micronesian marine botanist and ocean advocate Dr Nicole Yamase meditates on the Pacific with a conversation spanning Hawaiian seaweeds, snorkelling across the Federated States of Micronesia and her submersible expedition to the Mariana trench. She generously shares her cultural perspective as a...
Published 04/22/24
Forest ecologist Jen Sanger spends more time in big trees than most. In our conversation, she takes us into another world of canopy of Australia's tallest trees and into Tasmania's aptly named Grove of Giants. She shares the story of the evolution of the distinctive Tasmanian flora, the ecology...
Published 04/08/24