Nature in Crisis

'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 circumstances and the environment to suit its needs. While many scientists reject the fullest formulation of this idea, it has nonetheless had a profound influence on our understanding of the ways in which animal and plant life interact with the non-living parts of the environment, to the extent that observations in biological and earth systems science are often assessed for which version of Gaia they might support. In this episode, Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith look at the origins of the Gaia hypothesis in the radical work of Lynn Margulis and the contributions of Lovelock’s academic collaborator Dian Hitchcock, and in the science of cybernetics. They then consider the degree to which any formulation of Gaia can explain certain processes, from the impact of the ecological competition between daisies on the reflection of solar radiation to the carbon-silicate cycle and its control of carbon dioxide levels, and consider some of Lovelock’s wilder theories, including his suggestion that humans should merge their minds with those of whales. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture⁠⁠ [https://lrb.me/applecrna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0] In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture [https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture%E2%81%A0] Read more in the LRB: Meehan Crist on ‘Novocene’: https://lrb.me/natureep501 [https://lrb.me/natureep501] Peter Godfrey-Smith on Lovelock: https://lrb.me/natureep502 [https://lrb.me/natureep502]

‘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 stable planetary state to one that's characterised by increasing environmental instability. Alongside measures of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane levels, this shift can be tracked in numerous other areas of human activity, such as GDP, financialisation, foreign direct investment and the spread of telecommunications. In ‘The Burning Earth’ (2024), Sunil Amrith uses history as a way of understanding why we got to this moment, drawing on multiple strands of human activity over more than 500 years to trace the origins of environmental crisis. In this episode, Meehan and Peter interrogate some of Amrith’s major themes and examples, from the damaging impact of 18th-century ideas of freedom on our relationship to the natural world, to his analysis of postwar environmentalism through the figures of Hannah Arendt, Rachel Carson and Indira Gandhi. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture⁠⁠⁠ [https://lrb.me/applecrna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture⁠ [https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] More from the LRB: ⁠⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n24/alexander-bevilacqua/friend-or-food⁠⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n24/alexander-bevilacqua/friend-or-food] ⁠⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n22/pooja-bhatia/the-end-of-the-plantocracy⁠⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n22/pooja-bhatia/the-end-of-the-plantocracy] ⁠⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n05/benjamin-kunkel/the-capitalocene⁠⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n05/benjamin-kunkel/the-capitalocene] Meehan Crist and Alison Bashford on Indira Gandhi and the anthropocene: ⁠⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/climate-politics-and-procreation-alison-bashford⁠⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/climate-politics-and-procreation-alison-bashford] Recommendations for the London Review Bookshop from Sunil Amrith: ⁠⁠https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/blog/2025/october/british-academy-book-prize-2025-sunil-amrith-s-reading-recommendations⁠ [https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/blog/2025/october/british-academy-book-prize-2025-sunil-amrith-s-reading-recommendations]

‘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 as an ‘absence’ but an intricate series of operations that makes life as we know it possible.  In this episode, Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith reflect on the ways Czerski’s book has altered their thinking about the ocean, and whether new perspectives can ever be enough to change public policy. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture⁠ [https://lrb.me/applecrna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture⁠ [https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] Get the book: ⁠https://lrb.me/czerskicr⁠ [https://lrb.me/czerskicr] More from the LRB: Richard Hamblyn on deep-sea exploration: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n21/richard-hamblyn/hurrah-for-the-dredge⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n21/richard-hamblyn/hurrah-for-the-dredge] Katherine Rundell on the greenland shark: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n09/katherine-rundell/consider-the-greenland-shark⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n09/katherine-rundell/consider-the-greenland-shark] Liam Shaw on coral: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n22/liam-shaw/in-the-photic-zone⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n22/liam-shaw/in-the-photic-zone] Amia Srinivasan reviews Peter’s book on octopus minds: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n17/amia-srinivasan/the-sucker-the-sucker⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n17/amia-srinivasan/the-sucker-the-sucker] Film: Forecasting D-Day ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/videos/lrb-films-interviews/forecasting-d-day⁠ [https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/videos/lrb-films-interviews/forecasting-d-day] Next episode: ‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith ⁠https://lrb.me/amrithcr [https://lrb.me/amrithcr]

‘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 challenge our ideas of plants as passive life forms. Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith explore Schlanger’s account of new research into plant behaviour. They examine the case for plant agency – and the far more speculative claims for plant consciousness – and attempt to make sense of some astonishing discoveries. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture [https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/68e1eab6-ccec-11ef-abb0-8b66b7d284ed/podcasts/8048b732-4c5a-11f0-b296-b352f3a58800/episodes/Non-subscribers%20will%20only%20hear%20an%20extract%20from%20this%20episode.%20To%20listen%20in%20full,%20and%20to%20all%20our%20other%20Close%20Readings%20series,%20sign%20up:%20Directly%20in%20Apple%20Podcasts:%20%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/applecrna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture%20In%20other%20podcast%20apps:%20%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture [https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture]

‘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 (1962) investigated the synthetic pesticides that proliferated after the Second World War, which were assiduously defended by overconfident policymakers, industrial chemists and agribusiness. The book quickly became a bestseller and kickstarted the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency. In the first episode of Nature in Crisis, Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith discuss one of the truly great success stories in science writing. Carson was a masterful stylist and gifted scientist who could make abstruse developments in organic chemistry compelling, accessible and alarmingly intimate. Meehan and Peter show how Carson wrote at the edge of science, anticipating the study of epigenetics and endocrine disruption. They illustrate why, though some of her proposed solutions fell short, Silent Spring remains ‘both an exhilarating and melancholy pleasure’. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ture [https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/68e1eab6-ccec-11ef-abb0-8b66b7d284ed/podcasts/8048b732-4c5a-11f0-b296-b352f3a58800/episodes/Non-subscribers%20will%20only%20hear%20an%20extract%20from%20this%20episode.%20To%20listen%20in%20full,%20and%20to%20all%20our%20other%20Close%20Readings%20series,%20sign%20up:%20Directly%20in%20Apple%20Podcasts:%20%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/applecrna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture%20In%20other%20podcast%20apps:%20%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture] In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture [https://lrb.me/closereadingsna%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0ture]