Earth Sciences · London Review of Books

Nature in Crisis

by London Review of Books

In a time of climate breakdown and mass extinction there is a new urgency to environmental writing, both as literature and as science. So In their series, Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith consider some of the most significant books published in the last few years, along with classic texts by Rachel Carson, James Lovelock and Robin Wall Kimmerer – tracing a loose arc from biology to society via questions of plant intelligence, biodiversity loss, the rights of nature, ecofascism and green capitalism. Meehan Crist is writer in residence in biological sciences at Columbia University. Peter Godfrey-Smith is a professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney Non-subscribers will only hear an extracts from the episodes. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture Books featured in the series: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring Zoë Schlanger, The Light Eaters Helen Czerski, The Blue Machine Sunil Amrith, The Burning Earth James Lovelock, Gaia Robert Macfarlane, Is a River Alive? Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass Emily Raboteau, Lessons for Survival Roy Scranton, Impasse Alex Moore and Sam Roberts, The Rise of Ecofascism Thea Riofrancos, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism Venomous Lumspcuker by Ned Beauman and Helm by Sarah Hall

Latest episodes

Showing 10 · updated from the feed

‘Lessons for Survival’ by Emily Raboteau

Over the past twelve years, the walls and shop shutters of Upper Manhattan have been gradually filled by giant paintings of climate-threatened birds, inspired by the spec

Aug 24
11 min

‘Impasse’ by Roy Scranton

At Chaco Canyon in the New Mexico desert lie the ruins of a once vibrant and extensive Ancestral Puebloan civilisation. Sometime in the 12th century the society fell into

Jul 26
14 min

‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Through folktales, memoir and hard science, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s 'Braiding Sweetgrass' argues for the intertwining of Indigenous knowledge systems and empirical science,

Jun 28
14 min

‘Is a River Alive?’ by Robert Macfarlane

The idea that a river is a living being has important legal consequences. But it also has imaginative consequences, which can, in George Eliot’s words, ‘enlarge the imagi

Jun 3
14 min

'Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth' by James Lovelock

In ‘Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth’ (1979), James Lovelock proposed that the Earth is something like a single living organism, capable of manipulating its circumstance

May 4
27 min

‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith

The ‘great acceleration’ is a term used to describe the dramatic surge in the 1950s of both human and earth systems indicators that marked a shift from a relatively stabl

Apr 6
12 min

‘Blue Machine’ by Helen Czerski

In Blue Machine (2024), Helen Czerski refigures the ocean as an enormous planetary engine, converting light and heat into motion. Her book invites us to see the ocean not

Mar 9
14 min

‘The Light Eaters’ by Zoë Schlanger

In The Light Eaters (2024), Zoë Schlanger reports from the frontiers of botany, where researchers are discovering forms of sensing, signalling and responding that challen

Feb 9
14 min

‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson

After following up a lead from a birdwatcher, Rachel Carson drew a web of connections that led to one of the most influential books of the 20th century. Silent Spring (19

Jan 12
14 min

Introducing ‘Nature in Crisis’

In a time of climate breakdown and mass extinction there is a new urgency to environmental writing, both as literature and as science. So In their series, Meehan Crist an

Jan 1
4 min