Throughout history, fabric has been used, produced, and altered by humans. We have engineered textiles to allow humans to survive in space and Antarctica. Fabric has clothed our best athletes and with-stood ocean winds on sailboats.

Author Kassia St Clair researched fabric in her second book The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History. She joins us to talk about how fabric has evolved alongside humans and society. We also discuss the intersection of story-telling and fabric; Kassia tells us of fables that center textiles, linens, and clothing.

Kassia St Clair is a writer based in London. Her first book The Secret Lives of Color is a top-ten bestseller and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Her second book  The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History was a Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Sunday Times Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Award. Her contributions include NPR’s Marketplace, BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, Woman’s Hour, and CNN.

Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash