Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel: Unearthing Ashkenazi herbalism practices
Partners in life and work, herbalist Deatra Cohen and reference librarian and researcher Adam Siegel are the authors of the incredible resource Ashkenazi Herbalism. Together they spent years researching little known texts, translating ethnobotanical surveys and cross-referencing cultural databases to unearth lost Ashkenazi plant practices from the pale of settlement region. They share the stories and traditions of a few of their favourite plants along with Deatra's own journey to plant healing work. Bio: Deatra Cohen is a former reference librarian and herbalist who trained with the Berkeley Herbal Center. She also belongs to a clinical herbal collective and is a Master Gardener at the University of California. Adam Siegel is a research librarian at the University of California, Davis, and a historian of Central and eastern Europe, studying issues around cultural contact and plant knowledge in the region. Adam is also a literary translator, focusing on works in Russian, Czech, German, Croatian, Serbian, French, Italian, Swedish, and Norwegian. In 2014, he was awarded a Literary Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. This conversation is produced by Catherine Polcz and music by Carl Didur.