{"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"},"episode":{"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","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-in-crisis-7731357","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB6025552954.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB6025552954.mp3","summary":"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 In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠⁠⁠ture","meta_description":"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. S…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"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."}]}}