{"podcast":{"title":"Nature in Crisis","slug":"nature-in-crisis-7731357","podcast_index_feed_id":7731357,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LRB7056230002","website_url":"https://www.lrb.co.uk","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/58b32d62-17c8-11f1-a39d-cffe2f0a32e2/image/19d3b7227a4cc33a26e07b9ed261d97b.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"London Review of Books","episode_count":7,"summary":"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?…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-04T06:20:32.964020+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357"},"episodes":[{"title":"‘Is a River Alive?’ by Robert Macfarlane","slug":"is-a-river-alive-by-robert-macfarlane","published_at":"2026-06-03T15:36:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/is-a-river-alive-by-robert-macfarlane","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB5571839611.mp3","duration_seconds":849,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/is-a-river-alive-by-robert-macfarlane/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/is-a-river-alive-by-robert-macfarlane.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"'Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth' by James Lovelock","slug":"gaia-a-new-look-at-life-on-earth-by-james-lovelock","published_at":"2026-05-04T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/gaia-a-new-look-at-life-on-earth-by-james-lovelock","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB6906275802.mp3","duration_seconds":1679,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/gaia-a-new-look-at-life-on-earth-by-james-lovelock/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/gaia-a-new-look-at-life-on-earth-by-james-lovelock.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith","slug":"the-burning-earth-by-sunil-amrith","published_at":"2026-04-06T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/the-burning-earth-by-sunil-amrith","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB2298636050.mp3","duration_seconds":729,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/the-burning-earth-by-sunil-amrith/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/the-burning-earth-by-sunil-amrith.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"‘Blue Machine’ by Helen Czerski","slug":"blue-machine-by-helen-czerski","published_at":"2026-03-09T06:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/blue-machine-by-helen-czerski","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB9977879837.mp3","duration_seconds":866,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/blue-machine-by-helen-czerski/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/blue-machine-by-helen-czerski.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"‘The Light Eaters’ by Zoë Schlanger","slug":"the-light-eaters-by-zo-schlanger","published_at":"2026-02-09T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/the-light-eaters-by-zo-schlanger","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB7582119013.mp3","duration_seconds":893,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/the-light-eaters-by-zo-schlanger/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/the-light-eaters-by-zo-schlanger.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson","slug":"silent-spring-by-rachel-carson","published_at":"2026-01-12T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB6025552954.mp3","duration_seconds":891,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]},{"title":"Introducing ‘Nature in Crisis’","slug":"introducing-nature-in-crisis","published_at":"2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/introducing-nature-in-crisis","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB5217096405.mp3","duration_seconds":240,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-in-crisis-7731357/episodes/introducing-nature-in-crisis/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357/introducing-nature-in-crisis.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}]}