Episode 5.19, Thinking with Plants and Fungi, with Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien Scott

This episode of Spotlights features Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien Scott, who co-launched the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative” at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University in fall of 2022. Sam Mickey speaks with them about the initiative and its culminating conference, which took place in May of 2025. They also discuss their interdisciplinary exploration into how plants and fungi help humans rethink the nature of mind and matter and humans’ relationship to the more-than-human world. Listeners can learn more about the initiative and conference here.