Why people recommend it
One River by Wade Davis is an extensive nonfiction work detailing the exploration of the Amazon basin and the legacy of ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes. The book captured the attention of several podcast guests who reflected on its monumental scale and bittersweet historical footprint. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Paul Rosolie noted that the work functions as a massive, five or six hundred page tome introducing readers to Schultes. Rosolie returned to the title later in the conversation, highlighting how the book chronicles the heartbreaking transformation of vibrant wilderness areas and intact native belief systems over the decades. Similarly, on The Jordan Harbinger Show, the host and guest Paul Rosolie brought up the book while discussing ethnobotanists and Ayahuasca, noting that Schultes spent extensive time in the Amazon and that the volume remains an incredible read. Dennis McKenna also referenced the book on The Joe Rogan Experience, identifying Davis as the author who wrote about these botanical explorations as a protégé of Schultes. Together, these commentators highlight the text as a definitive, sweeping narrative of deep ecological exploration, vanishing indigenous cultures, and the profound personal journeys of pioneering researchers who dedicated their lives to mapping the botanical wonders of the South American rainforests.
Who recommended it
- Paul Rosolie Discussed
- Dennis McKenna Discussed
Paul Rosolie — 2 mentions
“Richard Evan Schultes, I know about him from reading Wade Davis' book "One River", which is this big, hefty, you know, five or 600 page tome about the Amazon.”
“And then "One River" is where Wade Davis comes back, I believe in the '70s, and the heartbreak of the book is that all of these incredibly wild places with naked, native tribes and these intact belief systems,”
Dennis McKenna — 1 mention
“he's the person that wrote one river he was a protege of shulte”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 2
“But what I find interesting is, like ethnobotanists have talked about it—like Wade Davis wrote about it in 'One River.' Mark Plotkin's really into it.”
“Yeah, back to—there's this book called 'One River,' and it's about this ethnobotanist, Richard Evans Schultes, who was in the Amazon. It's by Wade Davis, it's an amazing book, but he was supposed to go with us on our trip, but something happened, and he couldn't make it.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
- Born Free
- Changing Our Minds
- Communion
- Hallucinogenic Plants
- Magic Mushroom Explorer
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“he wrote a book called One River”