Jessica Carew Kraft
Jessica Carew Kraft | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 28, 1978 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | jessicacarewkraft |
Jessica Carew Kraft is an American writer, journalist, and anthropologist known for her work exploring the intersection of modern life and ancestral human practices.[1] She is the author of Why We Need To Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems, a first-person account of learning ancestral skills[2] and the anti-civilization rewilding movement.[3]
Her reporting on health, culture, and education has appeared in The New York Times,[4] The Atlantic, Forbes, KQED, Christian Science Monitor, ARTNews, YOGA Magazine, and NBC News Online.[5]
Early life and education
Kraft was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and grew up in the American Midwest. Kraft is the great-grand-niece of H. S. Kraft, a blacklisted screenwriter and playwright.
She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology from Swarthmore College, a master's degree in cultural anthropology from Yale University, and a master's from The University of London’s Consortium program.[6]
Journalism
Kraft has written for publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic,[7] Forbes, Christian Science Monitor, NBC News online, KQED, and other publications. She is a regular contributor to Proto.Life.[8]
Her 2014 article on a racial controversy in American college debate competitions[9] has been widely cited.[10][11][12] She has written about unjust genetic testing policy in the Medi-Cal system,[13] Tunisia’s post-revolutionary arts scene, and emerging mindful tech designers at Stanford.[14] She frequently writes about ecological issues and sustainability. Kraft also published graphic memoir essays about motherhood in Motherwell Magazine, Hip Mama, and Mutha Magazine.[15]
Books
Kraft is the author of Why We Need To Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems.[16] The book was called "A great read for naturalists, those interest in rewilding, survivalists, and anyone searching for a different way of life" by Booklist,[17] and a "spiritual field guide" by Alta Magazine.[18] It was chosen as an August 2023 selection on Next Big Idea and excerpted in Big Think.[19] The author has been profiled in several publications that depict her use of ancestral skills in urban contexts.[20][21][4]
References
- ^ Orvino, Rachel (2024-01-26). "Five Questions for Jessica Carew Kraft". Diablo Magazine. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ Dorado, JordaN Hyatt-Miller / Arts and Culture El (2025-07-11). "Creative Currents: Making the case for rewilding". Mountain Democrat. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ "Human "rewilding": To have a better life, live like a hunter-gatherer". Big Think. 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ a b Tomlin, Natalie. "A Conversation with Jessica Carew Kraft". Literary Mama. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ "Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems". Next Big Idea Club. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ "Jessica Carew Kraft | KQED". www.kqed.org. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ Kraft, Jessica Carew. "Atlantic Author: Jessica Carew Kraft". The Atlantic. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Jessica Carew Kraft". proto.life.
- ^ "Hacking Traditional College Debate's White-Privilege Problem". The Atlantic. April 16, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Hicks, Darrin; Greene, Ronald Walter (2015). "Managed Convictions: Debate and the Limits of Electoral Politics". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 101 (1): 98. doi:10.1080/00335630.2015.994903. ISSN 0033-5630. S2CID 54687142.
- ^ Hogan, J. Michael; Kurr, Jessica A.; Bergmaier, Michael J.; Johnson, Jeremy D. (2017-11-08). Speech and Debate as Civic Education. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-08034-5.
- ^ Cooper, Brittney (13 May 2014). ""I was hurt": How white elite racism invaded a college debate championship". Salon.com.
- ^ Kraft, Jessica Carew (2014-08-20). "Medi-Cal denies patients access to now-basic genetic tests". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Kraft, Jessica C. (20 July 2012). "Digital Overload?". The New York Times.
- ^ "hip mama | Jessica Carew Kraft: Motherwhelmed". 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Coiro, Angie. "Embracing a wild life". KALW. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
- ^ Townsend, Kathleen (July 2023). "Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems, by By Jessica Carew Kraft. | Booklist Online". Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Scheeres, Julia (11 December 2023). "Back to Nature". Alta Online. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Jessica Carew Kraft". Big Think. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Baron, Ethan (31 October 2023). "Roadkill for Supper? How a Bay Area tech worker went back to the Stone Age". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Furio, Joanne (10 September 2023). "Sautéed roadkill dinner parties are just the start of Berkeley author's adventures in 'rewilding'". Berkeleyside.