EPISODE · Apr 6, 2026 · 12 MIN
Nature in Crisis: ‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith
from Close Readings · host London Review of Books
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 In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsnature 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/v42/n22/pooja-bhatia/the-end-of-the-plantocracy 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 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
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 In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsnature 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/v42/n22/pooja-bhatia/the-end-of-the-plantocracy 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 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Nature in Crisis: ‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith
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