Why We Need to Be Wild

Is it possible to live like our ancient ancestors in the 21st century? One woman decided to find out

A writer and mom with decades of experience working in Silicon Valley, Jessica Carew Kraft grew fed up with her life filled with digital screens and deep anxieties about the future of humanity and nature. She quit her job and set out to learn about "rewilding" from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization to live in nature using Stone Age tools and skills. A suburbanite with a husband, kids, and a mortgage, she learned to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, animal skins into clothes, reeds into baskets, and bones into tools.Weaving deep research and reportage with the fascinating tale of her own experience pursuing this path, Jessica tells a remarkable story that illuminates the way we live now, how we survived in the past, and how each of us can choose to thrive in the challenging years ahead.

About the Author

JESSICA CAREW KRAFT is an independent journalist trained in cultural anthropology, with degrees from the University of London, Yale University and Swarthmore College. Her reporting on health, culture, tech and education has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, Politico, NBC News, KQED, and many other outlets. She has also taught anthropology, urban agriculture, and sustainability at UC Berkeley, the Academy of Art University, California College of the Arts, and the California Institute of Integral Studies.