Buckle up! We are heading down to the fields of Clemson, South Carolina!
I got an email from 3 Booker Rumble D. back in February which said “Neil, I have a guest suggestion for you. J Drew Lanham is a 2022 MacArthur fellow and an American ornithologist. I loved his book and would love to hear you interview him (maybe while you guys go birding?)” Intrigued, I looked him up and discovered I … sort of already knew him? I had read and loved his wonderfully thoughtful and nuanced essay last year called "What Do We Do About John James Audubon?" and his viral YouTube clip called "Rules for the Black Birdwatcher". (“You’re gonna need at least two pieces of ID. And never wear a hoodie. Ever.”)
So I bought Drew’s memoir The Home Place and found it completely entrancing. His writing is poetry — vivid, transportive, meditative. After that, I reached out to Drew and we set a time to make the 10-hour haul down to Clemson farm country, wake up at the crack of dawn, and then get picked up by Drew in his Dodge Ram to spend a morning together — birdwatching.
J. Drew Lanham is a naturalist, birdwatcher, hunter-conservationist, MacArthur 'Genius' Grant-winning distinguished professor. He is a meditative, philosophical, nature- and wild-loving soul who has deeply considered our long relationship with the natural world and is never afraid to confront harsh truths. “European Starlings are a dark-plumaged being brought over the Atlantic for the services of others,” Drew says at one point. “Hmmm, where have I heard that before?”
You’ll be riding in the middle seat of the truck, getting out with us between fence posts and grassy meadows, hearing Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Red-Shouldered Hawks, and listening to Drew’s endlessly wise observations about everything from South Carolina’s slavery past, why there’s blood in tofu, what your birdwatching ‘starter kit’ should look like, how to observe a land ethic, how we might behave differently if Chicken Nuggets blinked at us, formative books (of course!), and much, much more. “You can’t see everything at once,” Drew reminds us. “So learn to see the everything in one.”
With birds serving as a metaphor for everything in life I think you’ll love this slow, soul-fueling, wisdom-stuffed conversation with Professor J. Drew Lanham. I left his truck that morning thinking “I want to be more like Drew.” I think you’ll feel the same way.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 131 now...
Chapter 131: J. Drew Lanham on breaking boundaries to become better birdwatchers
CONNECT WITH J. Drew
J. Drew’s 3 Books
First book (46:10)
Second book (1:24:30)
Third book (2:01:40)
Quotes
"Conservation means taking some and leaving some for later."
"4 out of 10 kids think bacon came from a plant. They didn’t know that a pig had to die for them to eat a slice of bacon. That’s disturbing."
"You can't see everything at once so try and see the everything in one."
"European Starlings are a bird that was brought here. A dark-plumaged being brought to this country for the service of others. Hmm, where have I heard that before?"
"Joy is the justice we give ourselves."
"We’ve objectified birds into oblivion. Birding is one of the most popular outdoor avocations in North America. They’ve become something to just count. We’re counting them as they dwindle but we’re not doing enough to stop that dwindling count."
"When we become experts at something, sometimes it leads us to believe that we have all the answers. And we hardly have any answers."
"Part of what I hope that people are able to do over time is take down the binoculars and see the broader view."
“We’ve been told that nature is 'out there.' But it’s really all around us. I’ve been in the heart of Manhattan and I look up and there’s a Peregrine Falcon.”
