Jessica J. Lee is the author of one of my favourite swimming books, Turning. When she was 28, Jessica found herself heartbroken in Berlin where she was completing a PhD in Environmental History. In search of courage, she decided to swim fifty-two of the lakes around Berlin, no matter what the weather or season. Turning is a stunning memoir about that experience. 

In this episode, we look back on her adventure in Berlin (including an encounter with some nude winter swimmers yielding an ice axe) and chat about connecting with new places through swimming and how to do that in a way that doesn’t feel problematically touristic. I also learned a lot about how we can make nature writing more inclusive, and hope you find it insightful too. 

Follow:

@freybromley #TheTidalYear 

@jessicajlee

Turning by Jessica J. Lee is available wherever you buy your books. 

Thanks to this episode’s sponsor TRIHARD. Say goodbye to chlorine and shop their skin and hair products at 15% off with the code Tidal at trihard.co

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