THE NATURALIST Maria Sibylla Merian

What'sHerName

Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 538 Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Germany was still burning witches when Maria Sibylla Merian daringly filled her 17th-century home with spiders, moths, and all kinds of toxic plants. Bold choices saved her from accusations of witchcraft–and from a mundane life. Merian’s fascination with metamorphosis led her all the way to the rainforests of South America, where she recorded countless new species, 130 years before Darwin! Guest Kim Todd is the author of four books of literary nonfiction, including Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis, Tinkering with Eden: a Natural History of Exotic Species in America, Sparrow, and her newest work, Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters,” which dives into the lives of undercover journalists who exposed societal ills in the 1880s and 1890s. Todd was raised in California, educated in Montana, and after moving from coast to coast and landing many places in between, now lives in Minneapolis. She is on the faculty at the MFA program at the University of Minnesota. Music for this episode was provided by Aaron Kenny, Kevin MacLeod, Emmit Fenn, Daniel Foster Smith, Sir Cubworth, and Doug Maxwell. Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was sponsored by our patrons. Taylor Anzolone, Catherine, Laura Godley, Constance Sellers, Jessica Smith, Rachel Kaye, Jan Elise Cannon, Jamie Lang, Jill Harrigan, Maria Sanchez, Heather McKinnon, Valerie Jacobson, Chantelle Oliver, Ellie MacDonald, Caitlin McTaggart, and Monique Harris Pixato. Thank you so much for being our
0:24.3	sponsors. We couldn't do it without you. Hi, Olivia. Hi, Katie. Welcome to the rainforests of Suriname.
0:37.5	Ooh. We're on the bankss of Suriname. Ooh.
0:38.8	We're on the banks of the Suriname River, which honestly isn't safe or pleasant.
0:44.7	You can see them if you look closely.
0:47.0	Cayman and Anacondas hunting in the dark water.
0:51.8	Sting rays, piranhas.
0:54.2	Oh. So manyhas. Oh.
0:54.9	So many bugs.
0:57.6	There's venomous snakes and frogs.
1:00.7	And the sun is beating down.
1:03.6	It's humid with the smell of rotting vegetation everywhere.
1:08.1	It's the year 1700.
1:10.2	Oh.
1:11.3	And we are in the early
1:13.0	years of European imperialism.
1:16.2	Which explains why
1:18.0	as a boat winds its way
1:20.7	up the river, we see
1:22.7	a pale, blue-eyed
1:24.7	woman from Germany aboard.
1:32.1	She's in her 50s, traveling with her 21-year-old daughter.
	...

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