People and Planet: The value of creating personal connections to the natural world

By Delaware Public Media

Published September 5, 2025 at 8:35 AM EDT

This week, we bring you the final episode of the Delaware Humanities’ podcast – ‘People and Planet.’ The podcast explores how Delawareans connect to the environments and cultures around them, and the cultural practices and creative works that bring us closer to the planet we call home.

On this episode, we feature a more grounded, personal look at the impact of connecting to nature and culture.

The natural world and cultural identity have played a substantial role in writer and nature photographer Leslie Hsu Oh’s professional and personal journey.

Her work has taken her around the country and the world to experience the vast array of what the planet and its cultures has to offer.

And the memoir she is working on, Fireweed, weaves together themes of family, cultural identity, and the natural world to tell her very personal story of self-discovery and healing after experiencing profound loss.

People & Planet podcast - Ep.6 - The value of creating personal connections to the natural world (full podcast)

If you are interested in checking out some of the stories Leslie mentioned in our conversation or excerpts of her upcoming memoir Fireweed, you can find them here:

Travel and Leisure’s All is Good : Excerpt from forthcoming Fireweed: A Memoir: https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/travel-leisure-all-in-good-time/

Published Excerpts from Fireweed:

https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/category/fireweed/

Alpinist Magazine’s Saying Something

Alpinist Magazine’s Lost and Found

Latest Vogue article: https://www.vogue.com/article/grief-travel

Riverventures: https://riverventures.com/

ATTA: https://www.adventuretravel.biz/

You can also find Leslie Hsu Oh and her work here:

Website: www.lesliehsuoh.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lesliehsuoh

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lesliehsuoh

www.facebook.com/lhsuoh

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lesliehsuoh

People and Planet is brought to you by Delaware Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is produced by Delaware Public Media.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.