“Isn't this the purpose of education, to learn the nature of your own gifts and how to use them for good in the world?”

―Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

I have personally read or listened to all of the resources I am providing. My hope is with these resources folks can deepen their understanding of the interconnectedness of running, environmentalism, and social and cultural issues. I believe they offer insights into underlying principles of society, give historical context, and help us understand current and possible future implications of how we are choosing to live. These resources have nothing to do with running and everything to do with running because they have been created under the same systems that we run under.

If there is a book you are interested in, I encourage you to buy it used or new from your local book store, or the author themselves, borrow from your local library, or borrow it from a friend. I will strongly suggest to NOT purchase any of these books from Amazon.

Enjoy!

Environmentalism
- The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection, Dorceta E. Taylor
- This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption Are Ruining the American West, Christopher Ketcham
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Social
- How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell
- Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, Jenny Odell
- Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, adrienne maree brown
- The Ecological Other, Environmental Exclusion in American Culture, Sarah Jaquette Ray
Running
- Running While Black, Alison Mariella Désir
- Scene on Radio. “Scene on Radio is a two-time Peabody-nominated podcast from the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University that dares to ask big, hard questions about who we are—really—and how we got this way.” (Specifically seasons 2-7)
- Upstream. A podcast, that “explore[s] a wide variety of themes pertaining to political economy—from a Marxist and broadly anti-capitalist perspective.”
- Ologies, Critical Ecology, “How do societal structures affect the planet? Why should we get to know our neighbors? What’s the ecological price we pay for … stuff? Critical Ecology Lab is involved with research on the biomes of former plantations, air pollution, agricultural runoff, and even asking questions about wildfire science and the prison system. Before you know it, you’ll see Critical Ecology everywhere you go.”
Because the world needs more art and beautiful words to read.
- Mary Oliver. “She described her work as loving the world. Her poems capture the human spirit and nature’s complexity with wonder and awe. Starting with an openness to the teachings contained in the smallest of moments, Mary Oliver is a determined explorer of the mysteries of our daily experience.”
- Hanif Abdurraqib. Poet, essayist, and cultural critic.