spoiler
Most people drive through South Texas and see nothing — scrubby brush, dry heat, thorns. I used to see it that way too. Then I met Joey Santore.
Joey is a botanist, illustrator, and the voice behind Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t. A few years ago, he did something most people only talk about: he acquired a piece of Tamaulipan Thornscrub — one of the rarest ecosystems in North America — and started protecting it.
Less than 1% of this ecosystem is formally protected. Most of what remains sits on private ranch land, unrecognized or actively cleared. We spent a day walking his land to understand what’s actually out there, and why it matters.
00:00 — What Most People Miss in South Texas
01:00 — The Tamaulipan Thornscrub
01:45 — Walking the Land with Joey Santore
03:00 — The Goliad Gravels
04:00 — Plants That Wait
06:00 — Peyote and the Plants Worth Protecting
08:30 — Javelinas, Feral Pigs, and Evolutionary History
11:00 — Why This Place Is Worth Paying Attention To
Oh, absolutely. His “Spiritually Depraved and Misery-Inducing Landscapes of North America” series is so fucking cathartic as someone who deeply hates American lawn culture.
i’d never heard of him until yt started recommending those videos but i’m a fan now