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★★★★★

4.7

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174 reviews

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Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

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Check latest episodes from Plant People podcast

Moss with Robin Wall Kimmerer

2026/02/02

Have you ever stopped to admire a patch of green moss—really gotten up close and SEEN the tiny forest of plantlife in all its complexity? For the first episode of Plant People Season 3, we’re doing just that. Today we’re joined by botanist and best-selling author Robin Wall Kimmerer, who sees moss and other up-close experiences in nature as the doorway to greater curiosity about our world. In today's episode, Kimmerer and host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG CEO & President, explore the things ancient plantlife can teach us about surviving and truly thriving as people.

Plant People Season 3 Trailer

2026/01/26

From the tallest chestnut trees to the strangest pitcher plants, the botanical world is FULL of fascinating stories. And this season on Plant People—the third for NYBG’s award-winning podcast—we’re doing a deep dive on a different plant each episode. Tune in every other week starting February 2 as Jennifer Bernstein, the Garden’s CEO and President, joins authors, scientists, and other experts to explore the lives of particularly unique plants on our planet.

Special feature from the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: "King of the Herbs"

2025/08/05

While Plant People is between seasons, we have a special episode, "King of the Herbs", from our friends at the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: It’s a wild herb that countless cultures have used for centuries as a wonder drug to cure any ailment. It's so rare and valuable that it’s been dug to extinction nearly everywhere, except a small area of the United States. This time on Sidedoor, we go searching for the elusive wild American ginseng—and find that scientists, conservationists, and criminals are also on the hunt.

Ecotourism: Inspiring a Plant-Powered Economy

2025/07/14

We’re wrapping up Season 2 with NYBG’s Chief Science Officer, Mauricio Díazgranados, Ph.D., who discusses how engaging with nature through travel makes us more inclined to protect it—and the ways that tourism can actually help our planet. As an avid adventurer and botanist who has worked all around the world, Dr. Diazgranados knows how vital it is to make exploration both sustainable and economically beneficial. Here he walks us through his vision for the bioeconomy, where the world’s biodiversity hotspots become opportunities for ecotourism, enhancing the lives of local communities while funding the conservation of our planet’s irreplaceable flora and fauna.

Let's Botanize

2025/06/30

In today’s episode, we’re proving that botany is for everyone—yes, even you! We’re joined by Jacob Suissa, Ph.D., and Ben Goulet-Scott, Ph.D., botanists and founders of Let’s Botanize, a nonprofit dedicated to making plant science fun and accessible. Using social media, they share everything from practical foraging to plant identification—making it not only educational, but also exciting and easy to understand. We’ll discuss their book, learn how to dig into botany (especially for beginners!) and acknowledge why it’s important to democratize plant science—for the health of people and the planet.

Mangroves: Earth's Coastal Caretakers

2025/06/16

This week we’re getting right to the root of our coastlines—particularly the roots of mangrove forests, some of the most crucial and vulnerable ecosystems on Earth. Listen in as Dr. Brad Oberle, Associate Curator at NYBG’s Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology, shares what makes these oceanside forests so important, from their role in carbon sequestration to fighting coastal erosion and providing habitat for marine animals. Dr. Oberle has worked around the world in an effort to restore these forests, and it’s to the benefit of each and every one of us that they continue to thrive.

The Tree Collectors

2025/06/02

Listen in as we talk about a niche and noble hobby: tree collecting. Author Amy Stewart joins us to discuss her newest book, The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession, which profiles 50 different tree aficionados ranging from scientists cataloging rare species, to families preserving their heritage, and conservationists fighting to reforest their land. Their stories shed light on both the cultural and environmental necessity of trees—and how climate change, policy shifts, and financial barriers are all hindering their protection. Stick around for insights into the ways these collectors are benefiting biodiversity, and what roles you can play in the effort.

Extreme Botany

2025/05/19

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by NYBG Assistant Curator Ana María Bedoya, Ph.D., whose career as a scientist takes her on many a wild adventure. She spends much of her time tracking down aquatic plants that live in some of the harshest conditions, including steep cliffs, river rapids, and tumbling waterfalls—a practice Bedoya likes to call “extreme botany.” Listen in as we discuss her research in the wilderness of South America, the reasons many aquatic plants are especially vulnerable to climate change, and her journeys getting her feet wet (literally) in Earth’s most extreme ecosystems.

Moving Past Peat

2025/05/05

In this week’s episode, we discuss the future of horticulture—and the simple, sustainable changes that can help the planet heal. Come join Chad Massura, founder of Rosy Soil, and Kurt Morrell, VP of Horticulture Operations at NYBG, for a chat about the importance of peat-free soil for a carbon-neutral world. Massura shares the story behind potting products like his that move beyond the extractive model of the peat industry, while Morrell elaborates on eco-friendly practices in horticulture. You’ll leave the conversation with a new tactic in hand to make your own garden greener!

A River Runs Through The Bronx

2025/04/21

In this episode we’re joined by Todd Forrest, NYBG’s Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections, who turns our attention to the Bronx River—NYC’s only freshwater river and one of the highlights of the Garden’s landscape. He’ll talk us through the River’s redemption arc: from its former state as an “open sewer,” to its renewal as a hotspot for plants, animals, and the local community. We’ll discover how the Bronx River Watershed is ecologically important not only to the Garden, but to The Bronx itself—and the City at large.

Sowing Change

2025/04/07

Acclaimed author and poet Camille Dungy joins us this week to explore the intersection of nature, identity, and systemic change. With insight from her latest book, SOIL: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, Dungy shares her view of gardening as another form of storytelling. Listen in as we talk about environmental advocacy and stewardship—and the ways nature and narrative are more intertwined than you might think.

The Periodic Table of Food

2025/03/24

Join Dr. Alex McAlvay, Assistant Curator at NYBG’s Center for Plants, People, and Culture, and Dr. John de la Parra, Director of the Global Food Portfolio at the Rockefeller Foundation, as they chat about the problems in modern agriculture (like monocrops!) that are threatening our food security worldwide. Together, they'll share some of the ways that historical farming methods might help solve these problems, diversifying our daily menu and making our food system more resilient against climate change.

Paradise Bronx

2025/03/10

In the first episode of Season 2, we explore the resilience and creativity of the Bronx through the eyes of acclaimed author Ian Frazier, whose new book—Paradise Bronx: The Life & Times of New York’s Greatest Borough—is an ode to the City’s greenest and most diverse borough. Frazier’s love for the neighborhoods of the Bronx introduces us to a rich history of rebuilding and revitalization driven by the people who call it home, even as the borough grew and evolved around institutions like the New York Botanical Garden, which was first established in the 1890s. Through Ian’s perspective, we’ll navigate the Bronx’s complex past, from its historical landscapes and development, to environmental and municipal neglect—and its incredible bounce-back efforts over the decades.

Plant People Season 2 Trailer

2025/03/03

Are you a plant person? If you’re not quite sure, we can help get you there—with Season 2 of Plant People, dropping March 10! After an award-winning first season for NYBG’s podcast about the ways plants and people help each other thrive, we’re BACK with an all-new season of in-depth talks featuring gardeners, authors, scientists, and activists. Jump back in with NYBG President Jennifer Bernstein as she dives deep into topics like global food security, gardening as resistance, extreme botany in the world’s most challenging environments—and of course, NYC’s greenest borough, The Bronx.

Decay is an Ally

2024/09/23

In our final episode of the season, we sit down with Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, to talk fungi. Mushrooms are a culinary sensation, but they’re also lifeforms that we’re still trying to understand. Join in as we learn how the grim work of fungi—death, decay, and “the end” of organic life—is key to the survival of all living things, and far from a foraging fad, mycology is at the root of Earth’s ability to function.

Podcast reviews

Read Plant People podcast reviews

4.7 out of 5

174 reviews

★★★★★

Usagi888 2025/12/02

Plant People

This podcast is excellent and informative. I have been looking for an entertaining, interesting and informative podcast. This fills all those points....

★★★★★

Thisisdumbnow 2025/05/20

Plant Power

Absolutely fascinating insight into NYBG and all of the amazing expertise on boar to make this wonderful garden exist!

★★★★★

ghelleb 2025/04/23

Informative and Interesting

New to podcast. I live in an apartment so don’t have a yard to work on, but really enjoyed the first show I just listened to. Very informative and int...

★★★★★

DC of VT 2024/12/31

Listen 🌱

Amazingly great podcast. I love botanical gardens and visit them wherever I travel. This podcast opens up so much of what the New York Botanical Garde...

★★★★★

Rita Pierson 2024/08/26

Great podcast for the curious

Absolutely love this podcast and the variety of things it teaches about. The topics dive into all aspects of plants, and how they are important to the...

★★★★★

LuluBaggins 2024/05/31

Growing My Inner Plant Person

Wildly fascinating and informative! I loved all the interesting fact filled easy flowing banter. Fossilized plant pollen?! Unreal! I loved this debut ...

★★★★☆

Pxx23 2024/06/18

Fire country

I enjoyed hearing the topic of indigenous relationships with fire in the landscape. Native peoples certainly took advantage of fire such as the wild b...

★★★★★

botanicalk 2024/05/20

Looking Forward to Future Episodes

I enjoyed the very first podcast , and I look forward to hearing Jennifer Bernstein interview more of the amazing people who make NYBG the botanical ...

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