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David G Haskell

@dghaskell.bsky.social
4.5K followers 3.4K following 3K posts

Writer, biologist 🌻How Flowers Made our World, now in bookstores! Sounds Wild and Broken 13 Ways to Smell a Tree The Songs of Trees The Forest Unseen

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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The regime has proposed to open roadless areas on National Forests to new road building and to new logging. Comment here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/FS... Thread...
regulations.gov
Regulations.gov
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Finally got a sniff of the flowers of the rare Franklinia alatamaha! Like a sweet rose when it opens. Matures to almond-bitter cherry with apple core overtones. Given the tea-family open bloom, the aroma perhaps evolved to appeal to a wide variety of pollinators like bumblebees and beetles.
man's face dips toward white bloom. dusky blue light behind. shadows of leaves from streetlight on face.looking into bowl of white petals. a mop of yellow filaments surround a column
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 13/09/2026
This will devastate our research+innovation capacity, bedrock of the 21st century economy. 35% of *all* employed people in the US with STEM PhD degrees are both foreign-born *and* graduated from a US university. —> nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/292... Shutting them out is extremist folly.
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A Labor Day reminder: having a job is no longer enough to protect millions of Americans from homelessness. For many workers, the greatest threat isn't losing their job. It's that their job will never pay enough, never provide enough hours, never offer enough stability to keep them housed.
nytimes.com
Opinion | America Is Pushing Its Workers Into Homelessness (Gift Article)
The working homeless are casualties of our prosperity.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Please join me at a live event! I'm looking forward to meeting readers and to sharing floral tales🌻 This is an updated and corrected schedule. I'll post times and registration links as I receive them on my website dghaskell.com.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A world made by flowers! Please join me for an event celebrating our flowery co-creators. More details and registration here: dghaskell.com/speaking/
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
«Blumen können betrügen, täuschen oder gar töten» – der Biologe David George Haskell über die wahren Heldinnen der Evolution. Interview by Carole Koch. www.nzz.ch/nzz-am-sonnt... @nzz.ch
nzz.ch
Die wahren Heldinnen der Evolution: Warum Blumen mehr als Deko sind
«Blumen können betrügen, täuschen oder gar töten» – der Biologe David George Haskell über die wahren Heldinnen der Evolution.
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スコット @y2skot.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
@olivia.science icymi
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The beauty and brokenness of gardening, aromatic discoveries, and the creativity of flowers... I join Marcus Smith in conversation on Constant Wonder 🌿 www.byuradio.org/c9c49328-b25...
Man peers through hand lens at bright red hibiscus flower. The flower is nearly as wide as a human head
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The song, Plant People FTW, now streaming thanks to @martinebotany.bsky.social and his botanico-musical friends
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
In other words, when the regime attacks NGOs, the big donor-advised funds block donations even before the cases go to trial. This gives extremist politicians one more way to cause harm and to stifle freedom.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
In honor of today's eclipse, here's a 30-sec video of what the total eclipse of the sun sounded like back in April of 2024...as totality hits, birds go silent, humans cheer, and crickets immediately start their night-time songs
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Grass! This weekend: live show with Radiolab. In The Glade, Little Island, Manhattan. With Molly Webster, Steven Wendt, Pilobus Dance Company, and me. (5pm on Aug 14th, 15th, 16th). Free, unticketed one-hour show. Come celebrate grass with us!
Poster with large husked corn lying on its side on an old wooden cart. Corn plants and trees in background. Text above -- Aug 14, 15, 16. 5pm. Little Island, NYC. Grass Fed (in large font) How grass was foundational to humans and society
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Shane Mulligan @shanem-editor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
One for @dghaskell.bsky.social
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Tonight!
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Delighted to be in conservation about the marvels of flowers with @breezybrik.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social Listen: www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis... And online article: www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
For no particular reason, I've just read two books about plants that I recommend. How Flowers Made Our World by @dghaskell.bsky.social: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775876... The Light Eaters by @zoeschlanger.bsky.social: www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
Book cover titled "The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries: How Flowers Made Our World" by David George Haskell, author of Sounds Wild and Broken and The Songs of Trees. The cover features a classical oil painting style depicting a lush, dark tropical forest with a prominent pink and white orchid in full bloom near the center. To the left of the orchid, a small hummingbird perches on a branch amidst deep green foliage and hanging moss.Book cover titled "The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth" by Zoë Schlanger, featuring a quote at the top left reading "'A masterpiece of science writing.' —Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass." Against a solid black background, a vibrant, glowing plant with bright pink, purple, neon green, and gold hues grows upward through the center of the bold white title text.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I'll be speaking this Thursday at 6pm @ Cambridge Public Library. Flowers as catalysts for life's diversity, creativity, and vitality! Please let your Cambridge/Boston friends know 🏵️ Free reg: cambridgepl.libcal.com/event/17160556
cambridgepl.libcal.com
CPL Presents: David George Haskell (Main/Virtual)
Join the Cambridge Public Library in celebrating our Summer Reading theme—“Plant a seed, read!”—by gathering with us for a reading and talk with author and biologist, David George ...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Jewelweed launch velocity varies from 0.2 to 4 m/s. Data from Hayashi, M, KL Feilich, and DJ Ellerby. "The mechanics of explosive seed dispersal in orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)." Journal of experimental botany 60, no. 7 (2009): 2045-2053. www.instagram.com/reel/DbEQs0G...
instagram.com
David George Haskell on Instagram: "Bang! The five walls of the pod coil inward, slapping against the seeds and sending them spinning away. Launch velocity varies from 0. 2 to 4 m/s. Data from: Haya...
0 likes, 0 comments - davidgeorgehaskell on July 21, 2026: "Bang! The five walls of the pod coil inward, slapping against the seeds and sending them spinning away. Launch velocity varies from 0. 2 to...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
On the other hand, squash bees: www.instagram.com/p/Da74DoqRPCq/
instagram.com
davidgeorgehaskell on Instagram: "In the early morning, look in your squash plants for these amazing bees. They have longer antennae, friendlier faces, and more gold…"
In the early morning, look in your squash plants for these amazing bees. They have longer antennae, friendlier faces, and more golden thoraxes than other bumble-like bees. Quite why they only fly in the early morning, sometimes well before dawn, I don't know. Perhaps to avoid hungry birds? To get the day's first flush of nectar? I think this one may be Xenoglossa pruinosa but I am no bee expert and am happy to be corrected
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Let's celebrate some flowers. Please join me at an upcoming event! Details and registration here: dghaskell.com/speaking/
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Mike Henry @mxhenry.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
As you enjoy your morning coffee, did you know that bees can be addicted to caffeine, too — the original “caffeine buzz”? (Excerpt is from @dghaskell.bsky.social’s excellent “How Flowers Made Our World”.)
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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
The level of punnery in this thread is perfect for Fathers Day. I for one am conflicted as an anti-monarchist who wants to cheer on the valiant soldiers of the Protista Kingdom
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Nahel Belgherze @wxnb.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
France will be at the epicenter of the most significant heat anomaly on the planet over the next few days. The sheer extent of the country that could experience temperatures above 40°C is nothing short of astonishing.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
What to do with the freshly torn-down letters from the Kennedy Center? Give them to artists who can then melt them down and make...[the floor is open]
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
For many flowers, aromas and visual signals are strongest when the flower is shedding pollen. So give the fathers in your life flowers this year 🌼 The symbolism of flowers belong to all.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Next, they'll shoot love darts at one another Lapidary snails (Helicigona lapicida) getting amorous in the rain, southern France For more on the endlessly fascinating and highly contorted subject of snail love, check out the excellent recent @radiolab.bsky.social episode on the subject 🐌❤️🏹
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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Another rainy day and I’m curled up on the couch, thoroughly inspired by David George Haskell’s descriptions of how flowers transformed our planet, sustain us and connect us with nature in his latest delightful book. @dghaskell.bsky.social
Book cover jacket art for “How Flowers Made Our World” showing a small red-throated hummingbird perched next to a pink orchid blossom and bud, against an ethereal forest background.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Appalling focus in this article on the "threats" to US corporate profiteering from cancer. How about the benefits to, you know, human beings with cancer? A reminder that patients are commodities in US. "China’s Rise in Drug Development Looms Over U.S." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/b...
nytimes.com
China’s Rise in Drug Development Looms Over U.S.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Can we condemn the regime without making derogatory comments about the culture of rural America? The tsunami of comments/"jokes" about "white trash" and trailer parks feels like "deplorables 2.0". The problem is Trump, not that some folks, usually not urbane pundits, like to watch wrestling.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Nicotinotia, Magnolia, Robinia, Begonia ... so many plant names from 16-17th century French aristocrats, royal gardeners, diplomats, often people with little to no relationship with the actual living plants. My video over in Zuckerlandia: www.instagram.com/reel/DYzZIuG...
instagram.com
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Allison Cobb @allisoncobb.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Just finished reading @dghaskell.bsky.social new book "How Flowers Made Our World." It's the best kind of book, a work of beauty that transforms perception. I now understand flowers as life-shaping beings filled with evolutionary wisdom, which humans respond to out of our own evolutionary wisdom.
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Marthine Satris @msatris.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Lovely morning in West Marin at Commonweal hearing @dghaskell.bsky.social speaking about not just the biology of flowers but how we understand ourselves through flowers. And got to catch a few minutes chat with @ssparks.bsky.social while I distracted him from doing his business!
How flowers made our world and Thirteen ways to smell a tree by David George Haskell
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Chelsea Flower Show -- the elephant in the room = toxic chemicals and biodiversity collapse www.instagram.com/reel/DYhZciA...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
🏵️Bay Area friends🍃: UC Botanical GardenBerkeley with Alexis Madrigal. May 20, 5:30pm Tama One, Olema. May 21. 4pm, Incense - To Burn, Forest, Fire by Katie Paterson, then Flowers 5pm reading and chat. Commonweal New School with Susan Grelock Yusem. Bolinas. May 22nd, 11am Links in comments
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A Public Affair @apublicaffair.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
🎙️Combining scientific study with lived experience, @dghaskell.bsky.social's latest book, How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries, tells the story of the adaptability and cooperative nature of flowering plants. Listen here: www.wortfm.org/you-can-lear...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Friends near Bolinas, CA, please join us May 22. Also on zoom for all. tns.commonweal.org/events/
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Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Loving this book -- highly recommended. It begins w a deep dive into magnolias, one of my favorite flowering trees.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Inside that spiky seed pod, elaiosomes attached to seeds. Ant snacks. The seed gets deposited in a nice underground ant compost heap. A great wildflower nursery. Working with ants in this way is called myrmecochory. A meadow of vocab. Glad to see one of my fav flowers leaping into the next gen
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Bay Area friends: I'll be in conversation with Alexis Madrigal at University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley on May 20th. botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/event/how-fl...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Congratulations to the Pulitzer finalists and winners! I served on this year’s jury for the General Nonfiction category, alongside Luis Alberto Urrea (chair), Marcia Chatelain, Andrea Elliott, and David Greenberg. Three brilliant and important works stood out to all of us on the jury. Thread...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Flowers literally reinvented botanical motherhood, so this seems appropriate. Delighted to see How Flowers Made our World listed in NYT. Guess which kind of mother they thought would most like the book... www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/b...
photo of book cover with large pink orchid and book's title, How Flowers Made our World, underneath New York Times Book Review header
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Moving out to the 11th century step by step. Only 800 unelected cronies and two dozen bishops to go.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Thank you, @chrisirmscher.bsky.social, for this review of How Flowers Made our World, in @wsj.com
Quote from WSJ review “exuberant prose engages all our senses, beckoning us, the way a flower would a curious bee, into a world of hidden wonders”
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
A joy to join Alan Alda to chat about flowers, scicomm, and why "weeds" give me confidence (com-fidere = trusting together). Also: Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek meets Richard Dawkins' Selfish Gene in an impressionable teenage mind clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com/episodes/dav...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Floral revolutionaries on the road: Seattle and Miami Beach friends, I'd love to see you at my upcoming events. Register here: Seattle: www.elliottbaybook.com/events/50119 Miami Beach: shop.booksandbooks.com/event/2026-0...
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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Excited to do a bit of intellectual photosynthesis with new botanical books by a couple of the best writers in our field, @robertmoor.com and @dghaskell.bsky.social. 🌲 🌼 🌱
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Thank you, @rsmythfreelance.bsky.social, for these generous words. Working on this book upended my experience of the world, and transformed how I think/feel about life's narratives. I'm so glad that some of this comes through in the book's pages. Revolutionaries for real.
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
What a pleasure to be in conversation about flowers and their many meanings with Daphne Chouliaraki Milner in @atmosmag.bsky.social, with marvelous art by Max Attila Bartsch atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
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David G Haskell @dghaskell.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Blood red nectar. Attracts their pollinators, geckos, who love red dots on a purple background. Birds are also attracted and steal nectar. Sanguineous allegories here we go An endangered species from Mauritius, here at the amazing Missouri Botanical Garden Nesocodon mauritianus (Campanulaceae)
Bell shaped purple flower with red nectar at base
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