The Impossible and the Inevitable // Hope Jahren’s "Lab Girl"

How can you grow toward the light?

When geobiologist Hope Jahren picks up a seed, she sees what most of us miss – not just a potential plant, but a living testament to survival against impossible odds. In Lab Girl, Jahren's extraordinary memoir, these botanical insights become profound metaphors for human resilience, determination, and growth. Join my friend, Page, and I as we dig into this moving memoir.
 
Opening the laboratory doors wide, Jahren invites us into the challenging world of scientific research, where curiosity fuels discovery but funding dictates survival. "Ask a science professor what she worries about," she writes with candid honesty, "She'll look you in the eye and say one word: money." Through her experiences, we witness the precarious balancing act of pursuing knowledge in a system that often undervalues curiosity-driven research.
 
What truly elevates this memoir is Hope's unique ability to weave together scientific exploration with deeply personal narrative. Her friendship with lab partner, Bill, transcends conventional relationships, forming an unbreakable bond forged through shared passion and mutual understanding. Meanwhile, her raw accounts of navigating academia as a woman, managing bipolar disorder, and embracing unexpected motherhood reveal a scientist whose humanity is as remarkable as her intellect.
 
Throughout the book, Hope's botanical chapters serve as poetic interludes, illuminating connections between plant biology and human experience. When she observes that "people are like plants, they grow toward the light," or that trees are "both impossible and inevitable," she offers wisdom that resonates far beyond laboratory walls. Each scientific observation becomes a meditation on persistence, adaptation, and finding one's place in the world.
 

Plant a tree after reading Lab Girl, as Hope suggests. Watch it grow and consider its perspective. In doing so, you might discover what she learned through years of scientific inquiry and personal growth – that understanding the natural world helps us better understand ourselves, and that even the most remarkable lives begin as seeds, waiting for their chance to flourish.

P.S. Make sure you listen for the secret question you can answer to be entered to win a money tree! Enter by DMing me @babesinbooklandpod !!!!

Listener discretion advised: this episode includes adult language

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Link to this episode’s book:
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Transcripts are available through apple’s podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you’re interested in being a transcript angel, let me know. 

This episode is produced, recorded, and edited by me.

Theme song by Devin Kennedy

Special thanks to my dear friend, Page. So glad our roots are intertwined forever!

Xx, Alex