Hi, everybody. This is Joe Lampel, the Joe Behind Joe Gardner, and welcome to the Joe Gardner Show.

Today's guest invites us to see the world not just as a place that we live in, but as a vibrant community we share.

Brandon Kime is a science and nature journalist whose work has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and Wired.

His latest book, Meet the Neighbors, Animal Minds, and

Life in a More Than Human World is a deeply thoughtful exploration of the lives, consciousness,

and agency of the animals around us. In Meet the Neighbors, Brandon challenges us to go beyond

simply observing wildlife to recognize animals as neighbors, fellow beings,

with rich inner lives and their own ways of seeing and shaping the world.

This idea should resonate powerfully with gardeners and nature lovers alike,

because after all, a garden isn't just a human endeavor, it's a shared habitat,

a patch of earth alive with birds, insects, mammals,

and more. And whether you're planting for pollinators, coaxing native plants to thrive,

or simply watching the daily rhythms unfold in your backyard, you're participating in a complex

web of relationships that reaches far beyond that connection we have with just what's growing in our

garden. Brandon's work offers a lens that should deepen our appreciation for the creatures that

live among and sometimes depend on our cultivated places. And it also invites us to ask what kind

of neighbors do we want to be. So let's get started with this conversation and one that I hope

will expand your sense of wonder and leave you looking at your garden and your fellow animals

in a whole new light. And as we begin, thanks to our sponsors for today's episode, Soil Cubed and

malorganite. Having access to good quality compost is my not-so-secret weapon for the success of everything I grow in my garden.

That's why I am so proud to be partnering with Soil Cubed.

If you live in their delivery zone of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, this message is for you.

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