Embedded in Earth’s Story: Geology, Rocks, and Time with Marcia Bjornerud

Aug 14, 2024

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In this week’s episode, I sit down with geologist Marcia Bjornerud to talk about her new book Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks and to explore how we can gain a sense of feeling embedded in the time and space of Earth, as earthlings. We explore the mentorship rocks have to offer us and putting the story of Earth as a dynamic planet front and center. We talk about how learning about process, not just end product, through the lens of geology, can give us a sense of empathy and story that mirrors our own inner experiences on Earth. It’s also about the paradoxical qualities of geology, the vetoing of the term ‘Anthropocene’ in the geologic community and why it matters, and what it means to look at the future through the lens of the past. This episode is about putting Earth in the foreground, not as a backdrop for our human endeavors, but as a living and active system. Marcia is excellent at being a translator for the Earth and her books and way of speaking both illuminate Earth in an intriguing and dynamic way.

Find Marcia Bjornerud:

Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks

Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World

Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of Earth

Geopedia: A Brief Compendium of Geologic Curiosities

Resources Mentioned:

In the Weeds Interview with Marcia (Part 1 and Part 2)