Lives of Weeds

Opportunism, Resistance, Folly

By: John Cardina

Narrated by: Mike Lenz

Lives of Weeds explores the tangled history of weeds and their relationship to humans. Through eight interwoven stories, John Cardina offers a fresh perspective on how these tenacious plants came about, why they are both inevitable and essential, and how their ecological success is ensured by determined efforts to eradicate them. Linking botany, history, ecology, and evolutionary biology to the social dimensions of humanity's ancient struggle with feral flora, Cardina shows how weeds have shaped - and are shaped by - the way we live in the natural world.

Weeds and attempts to control them drove nomads toward settled communities, encouraged social stratification, caused environmental disruptions, and have motivated the development of GMO crops. They have snared us in social inequality and economic instability, infested social norms of suburbia, caused rage in the American heartland, and played a part in perpetuating pesticide use worldwide. Lives of Weeds reveals how the technologies directed against weeds underlie ethical questions about agriculture and the environment, and leaves listeners with a deeper understanding of how the weeds around us are entangled in our daily choices.

©2021 Cornell University (P)2021 Tantor

Informative on the weeds that surround us

As someone interested in botany and see all of these weeds on a daily basis, this was a great book. Weird pronunciations on things but got the point across!

Review from a weed professional

I got this audiobook because I am also a weed professional and am always seeking out relevant books.

Few of the weeds described in this book are problematic where I work, but the information is important regardless. The progression of plant to weed is profoundly interesting. The problem of relying on single herbicides for too long to deal with a problem is well covered.

The performance is disappointing. The narrator's voice is fine, but reads a bit off tempo or robotic--notably with occasional pauses, Christopher Walden-like. It sounds like the narrator is reading the work for the first time and not is not very fluid. Additionally, some fairly important words are very obviously mispronounced... such as Glyphosate. Since I'm listening to the book, there are other things that seem off... such as "private hedge" which I assume from context has to be "privet hedge." I don't know, maybe I'm easily frustrated, but a work about weeds should have the pronunciation of herbicides right.

The best book on weeds I've read or listened to

The New York Times magazine ran a story some months ago about Palmer's Amaranth, a weed which can't be touched by herbicides. And it's discussed in one of the chapters. Sure, weeds are annoying in agriculture but that's because we rely on chemicals too much. Weeds are plants, they interact with nature and people and they evolve.
It was marestail that got GMO crops in trouble. Buy RoundUp ready seeds from us, and spray roundup on the weeds liberally because it doesn't affect the crop plants. Until the weeds evolve like the marestail and develop resistance! The farmers were told this couldn't happen.
Respect weeds, and expect them to evolve. Some will fade away, and some new ones will rise up. What people do matters. Farming has to change. I also highly recommend Gabe Brown's "Dirt to soil". He shows that you can make great profits from farming WITHOUT relying on chemicals.

Wow.

Very eye-opening. I was fascinated in different ways in each chapter. This is a very good book.

Interesting read.

I had the pleasure of listening to John Cardina’s book, Lives of Weeds as I drove up to New Hampshire. I especially enjoyed listening to the evolutionary backdrop of the lowly dandelion. I've a new appreciation for this common beauty and its ability to adapt and survive. No more tug-of-war with its never ending root system for me. When it comes to the rules of my lawn, if it’s green, it stays. Weeds are everywhere. My own backyard contains a bounty of unidentified weeds.
Come spring I will venture into the weedy corners of my yard and attempt to identify some of my own resident weeds. Reading Lives of Weeds has inspired me to want to learn a little bit more about the weeds around me.

A must read/listen

If you want to know about the challenges that face our modern production of food, you have to listen to this book. It tells the story of how these weeds interact with our lives and modern agriculture.