Today, KALW’s Angie Coiro brings us a new episode of Book It, with her guest, Jessica Carew Kraft. Jessica lived a common Silicon Valley life: indoors, tech-focused, in service of power to the detriment of her family time. She turned that all away to examine life in keeping with nature: eating what the day provided – including road-kill - and building what she needed for a non-urban life. Oct. 9, 2024.

Join Angell Deer in an enlightening conversation with Jessica Carew Kraft, the author of "Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st-Century Questions," as they delve into the essence of rewilding our modern lives. June 1, 2024.

Returning to the wilder environment we evolved in, even temporarily, resets our mental compass. April 14. 2024.

You didn’t evolve to live in this techno-industrialised world. Find health and happiness by embracing your wild nature. A guide to being a Homo sapiens in the 21st century.

"I studied with artisans, wildlife trackers, botanists and indigenous folks, just trying to learn how i could have a more nature integrated life," Kraft explained.

When overwhelmed by the stressors of modern existence, who hasn’t wished to return to a simpler time? Berkeley’s Jessica Carew Kraft actually took that step, exploring a Paleolithic lifestyle in her book…

Jessica spoke to the spiritual community of Auburn, California about her book, rewilding, and why leaf blowers are the bane of suburban existence ;).

Novelist Julia Scheeres conducted this interview covering why Jessica left her marriage, moved to the Sierra Foothills and what she recommends anyone can do to start rewilding.

While being fully immersed in the world of tech, Jessica realized that happiness and health don’t lie in digital solutions. In this episode, we talk about how rewilding challenges the status quo and that our greatest act of reciprocity might be something completely different than what you think it is. November 24, 2023.

Speaking with KOH AM 780 Radio’s Daniela Sonnino about Why We Need to Be Wild.

https://ksqd.org/why-we-need-to-be-wild-jessica-carew-kraft/

Tim has transformed his life and is now dedicated to helping folks become self-reliant with his wide knowledge of the gear, tools, and repaired-ness needed to gain more autonomy, joy, and effectiveness in daily life. We spoke about my book and how the original human STEM can also empower us to become more self-sufficient, bad-ass, and ready for whatever's coming in the future.

Clay and Luke talk to Jessica Carew Kraft, author of Why We Need to be Wild. Jessica has drastically changed her life in research of ancient and forgotten skills. Tired of being caught in the modern pitfalls of fast paced modern life, she decided to make a change and learn the ways of our ancestors.

“We were not creating a better world through technology,” Kraft said on a recent afternoon at Remillard Park in Berkeley, where she still spends time after moving to a home in the Sierra foothills in 2021. “It wasn’t actually creating the healthy, happy future, but rather people on screens getting sicker, which was where I found myself.”

The Rewilding Podcast: Our conversation ranged from what taking rewilding ideas to the “mainstream” might look like, dissecting some larger trends with rewilding themes, taking a look at rewilding through the lens of motherhood, and much more. 

Even if we just come one step closer to the ways humans used to live, we will be reminded how we are nature and we belong to it. The further we walk away from our inherent pull towards nature, the further we fall into the pit of stress and dis-ease. We cannot forget who we are. Jessica helps remind us of the way back home.

I spoke with Meg Carney from the Outdoor Minimalist podcast about the appeal of living with less, the essential practice of escaping into the woods(!) and the link between microbiome gut health, mood, and sunshine. Listen/watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC5MWHOtGc4

Melachot U’Vrachot may be the first event in American Jewish history that gathered Jews in one spot to do the melachot as they were originally categorized. And it was the first explicitly Jewish primitive skills gathering. While some melachot, like baking challah, are still widely practiced today, over the course of four days, participants also processed animals, made shofars, built friction fires, and practiced the original, ancient form of scribal arts.

Do you feel like your working life goes against a lot of your natural instincts? To be outside when you want to, to get exercise, fresh air, sunshine, time with family and friends, and enough sleep? Here's how I dealt with that feeling. Check out my Q & A with the Boulder Book Store.

Kraft found paleolithic habits, skills and “lifeways,” based on a hunter-gatherer history that began about 300,000 years ago, provided a more appealing, healthier alternative to the contemporary life she was living.