Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What is the role of art in any crisis? To understand what is and to imagine what could be; to transcend and birth and promise.
This is the message of today's guest, David Farrier. David is a professor in literature and the environment at Edinburgh University, and the author of 'Nature's Genius: Evolutions Lessons for a Changing Planet'. He joins me to discuss poetry, literature, relationality, language and intelligence. In this wide-ranging and meditative conversation, we discuss how space and time are made between species, how the entire world is evolving with and through the crisis, and what we can learn from Nature herself to meet this moment exactly where we are.
From the Enlightenment to whale song, this conversation explores just how critical art is in a moment of breakdown to be a vehicle for transformation, for transmutation, and, perhaps most importantly, daring—mirroring Nature's very own life force.
🔴 Nature's Genius (UK): uk.bookshop.org/a/17225/9781837261161
🔴 Nature's Genius (USA): bookshop.org/a/122791/9781837260539
🌎 Support Planet: Critical: patreon.com/planetcritical
🌎 Subscribe: planetcritical.com
🌎 BSky: https://bsky.app/profile/racheldonald.bsky.social
What is the role of art in any crisis? To understand what is and to imagine what could be; to transcend and birth and promise.
This is the message of today's guest, David Farrier. David is a professor in literature and the environment at Edinburgh University, and the author of 'Nature's Genius: Evolutions Lessons for a Changing Planet'. He joins me to discuss poetry, literature, relationality, language and intelligence. In this wide-ranging and meditative conversation, we discuss how space and time are made between species, how the entire world is evolving with and through the crisis, and what we can learn from Nature herself to meet this moment exactly where we are.
From the Enlightenment to whale song, this conversation explores just how critical art is in a moment of breakdown to be a vehicle for transformation, for transmutation, and, perhaps most importantly, daring—mirroring Nature's very own life force.
🔴 Nature's Genius (UK): uk.bookshop.org/a/17225/9781837261161
🔴 Nature's Genius (USA): bookshop.org/a/122791/9781837260539
🌎 Support Planet: Critical: patreon.com/planetcritical
🌎 Subscribe: planetcritical.com
🌎 BSky: https://bsky.app/profile/racheldonald.bsky.social
