The Songs of Trees, The Language of Birds & The Path of Beauty | David Haskell (2020)

David Haskell joins us for Season 1 (2020) of Birdsong.

David is best known as a writer, scientist, and sound recordist; his work playing its role in reminding us that life’s substance and beauty emerges from relationship and interdependence.

His first book, The Forest Unseen, was finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction and received numerous other honors. Haskell’s latest book, The Songs of Trees, examines the life-giving links between people and trees.

The book was winner of the 2020 Iris Book Award and 2018 John Burroughs Medal, and was named one of the Best Science Books of 2017 by Science Friday, among other honors. Haskell received his BA from the University of Oxford and PhD from Cornell University.

He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, where his classes have received national attention for combining action in the community with contemplative practice.

In addition to his books, he has published scientific papers, essays, poems, and op-eds.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

[4:20] David’s thoughts on “the sacred”

[6:55] Transcending the self to connect with other beings

[8:37] “The sacred isn’t something that descends on us, it’s almost like an aroma rising up from the soil”

[11:40] Transcending our humanness to tap into the universality of language?

[12:18] The dangers of anthropomorphizing and navigating the middle path

[13:20] Part of the joy of the diversity of humanity

[14:30] We are replacing the voices of nature with technology

[16:10] Scientific education rarely encourages direct personal experience in the wild

[16:47] What are the songs of the trees?

[18:46] The acoustic dimension of a song and beyond…

[20:26] The multi-dimensional meanings behind the music of trees

[22:00] Trees: the great connectors and the blurriness of death

[24:00] Listening with our hands

[24:53] Using technology to listen to the whispers of trees

[26:55] Electronic calipers and the 24 hours cycle of a maple tree

[31:43] Listening to trees is a fairly ordinary experience… and that’s the whole point

[32:20] A particularly memorable tree in Manhattan

[33:40] Listening to the “second song” of a forest through musical instruments

[35:00] The extraordinary ceibo tree in the Amazon

[37:25] Putting a hydrophone down by the roots of a palm tree in the ocean

[39:45] Constructive vs destructive ways to use technology

[42:38] Spending 10x more time with trees than we do with tech

[43:49] The etymology of Sewanee, Tennesee + Jon Young and the “sitspot”

[45:00] Returning to the same patch of earth over and over again

[48:04] The Forest Unseen - a celebration of life in the forest

[49:50] Lending an ear to the language of the birds

[51:30] Where Song Began - Tim Low (the origin of songbirds / parrots)

[52:47] The different layers of bird song - starting at the names of species

[53:30] Most people go through life without being able to name different birds

[54:00] Learning bird sounds can add colours and dimensions to our life

[54:50] Sound and aroma are some of the last senses to go when we leave our body

[55:50] Tuning into the voices of the living earth as our ancestors did

[56:30] Another layer of learning bird song: the multiple rhythms of the seasons

[58:45] Each individual bird, just like humans, has its own personality and identity

[59:20] The changing landscape of soundscapes and the sorrow from birds disappearing

[1:00:00] What kind of ethical responsibilities do we have as participants in the greater weave of life? [

1:03:20] Re-establishing right relationship insinuates we’re in relationship to begin with

[1:04:00] To be an animal is to consume other beings, but how do we go about it and do the right thing?

[1:05:10] Paying attention to our senses as an act of right action

[1:06:00] Cultivating awareness around the aesthetic response of beauty vs ugly

[1:07:30] How do we tell the difference between beauty as a moral guide vs beauty as a great deceiver?

[1:10:00] Beauty within the context of harmony

[1:10:48] Is beauty actually subjective?

[1:12:58] Writing a new book about the flourishing of sounds and the destruction of soundscapes

[1:13:50] As an educator, David believes we have a crisis of shutting off the senses within the learning experience

[1:16:45] The mentors, role models and teachers that opened the portal to nature, poetry and literature

[1:17:34] The teachings of Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson

[1:20:30] The final invitation by David…