Robin Wall Kimmerer and Azita Ardakani Walton — To Bring Life Into a Trembling World

About this episode

"What does it mean to bring life into a trembling world? What does it mean to bless existence without denying its terror?" These questions animated the writing of Azita Ardakani Walton's beautiful children’s book, Ocean of Stars. It is a story of life’s beginnings. And it was a joy to sit with Azita, together with the wise and renowned botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, and dive deep into why such an offering is not merely serious and relevant but essential and urgent — even and especially in a time like ours. Like every good children's book, Ocean of Stars speaks to the mind and heart of the adult as well as the child. But children, Azita has written, “may be the last among us who still understand that a creation story is not a primitive explanation for what adults now know better. It is a way of staying tender before the facts. The facts are strange enough ... To say that water remembers the stars is not only poetry. It is also a way of listening to chemistry.” This conversation unfolded at the New York Public Library. Find an excellent transcript, edited by humans, on our show page. Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to