Episode 50: A Conversation with Scott Russell Sanders, author of “Small Marvels
In this podcast, Carrie and Parker talk with author Scott Russell Sanders about his new book Small Marvels. Scott’s work often explores the spirit of place, our relationship with the natural world, and creating communities of care and generosity rather a culture of fear and division. In this episode we talk about what inspired the stories in this lovely work, and share thoughts about the power of story and creativity. I hope you’ll join us for this heart-opening conversation.
Here’s some more links for Scott Russell Sanders and how to find his books or attend a workshop.
Official Scott Russell Sanders Website
Link for Small Marvels
If you would like to join our community conversation about this book, please join us on Substack at
Note from Parker about this Podcast From Our Substack NewsLetter
On this month’s podcast, we had the pleasure of talking with environmental activist and author Scott Russell Sanders about his 2022 novel, Small Marvels. Scott—who spent four decades as professor of English at the Indiana University—has written twenty-plus books related to “a culture of caretaking” and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2012.
Small Marvels is a collection of stories about Gordon Mills and his three-generation family. They live in a fixer-upper in Limestone, Indiana, a fictional town where humdrum everyday life is frequently enlivened by small marvels that arise from the human spirit and from the non-human world. As Carrie put it in her review of the book, Scott “reminds us of all that is still right in the world and shines a light on what is luminous and extraordinary in an ordinary day.”
Someday, historians will give our era a name, and it’s unlikely to be anything like “The Age of Enlightenment.” The “big story” of our time, as told by the mass media, is one of lies, corruption, violence, threats to democracy, and failures of compassion. But that’s not the whole story. There are millions upon millions of “little stories,” stories of your life and mine, in which small marvels abound. Gifted story-tellers like Scott Russell Sanders remind us that we can always find cause for hope in the human-scale stories of our daily lives. Put them all together, and they are the biggest and best story in town.