Paula Whyman — Bad Naturalist - with Dana Milbank

When writer Paula Whyman climbs to a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of an empty-nester home in the country, her plans for a tidy backyard ecology project quickly morph into a massive endeavor. Just as quickly, she discovers how little she knows about hands-on conservation work. In Bad Naturalist, Whyman struggles with conflicting advice from experts, an influx of invasive species, delayed plans, and the occasional rattlesnake--but none of it dampens her irrepressible passion for protecting this place. Bad Naturalist is woven with Whyman's lyrically deft, delightful storytelling as she attempts to coax a beautiful piece of land back into shape. Readers meander with her through orchards and meadows, forests and frog ponds as Whyman's hair fills with broomsedge and she gets lost in her own woods. Preconceived notions about nature fall by the wayside when she discovers that fire can be good, and certain plants can be bad. The mountaintop is, after all, teeming with life and hope amid the seeming chaos of nature, and some of Whyman's plans for the place eventually go right. In the end, she forms a deep connection with her own corner of the natural world and is reminded that the quest for control is a fool's errand. PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781643262178?ic_referral=PWm_SNxI-q_EsGXMS4a4ya_wan5GUSzU3JiTjwG5e38wMwQpKrBMWWPEdtFXqmrRN2yNa94RIw5L1O6-5lkypWGuwKPQh-lfbLA1vdeVh3W_PADaXatyOEtu_LqS7Fqovc8YsA Paula Whyman's first book of nonfiction is Bad Naturalist. Her earlier book, You May See a Stranger, is an award-winning linked short story collection. Her writing has also appeared in The Washington Post and The American Scholar, and in journals including McSweeney's Quarterly, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, and The Hudson Review. She was awarded residencies by MacDowell, Yaddo, VCCA, The Studios of Key West, and Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Her work on this book was supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council. She spends her time on a mountain in Virginia with her husband and a mercurial standard poodle. Visit Paula online at paulawhyman.com Whyman is in conversation with Dana Milbank, a nationally syndicated op-ed columnist with The Washington Post and a New York Times bestselling author. His column appears in the Post and hundreds of other newspapers. Milbank also has provided political commentary for MSNBC, CNN and various other TV and radio outlets, and he is the author of four books on politics, including the New York Times bestseller The Destructionists and the national bestseller Homo Politicus. He is a graduate of Yale University. *recorded 1/14/2025