Heat! Camera! Action!

In the garden at Bottengoms, on an early spring morning, biographer and art curator Ian Collins chats about the 100-year-life of Ronnie Blythe. We talk about how Ronnie was hyper-local to the landscapes of south Suffolk and north Essex, yet wrote in a way that told of the whole world. His life was hard. He lived in the shadow of the workhouse, and yet he found great contentment. Visitors were always charmed by the magic of his home and garden. Ronnie published most of his book aged over 60, some of the best at over 80. His was a fine life of example. Like most, though, he needed support, and this came from Christine Nash. Says Ian, “She was the sort of person who pushed you off.”Ian recommends Ronnie’s final book, Next To Nature; and talks of his biography of Ronnie called Blythe Spirit, winner of the New Angle Prize in 2025. His recommended action: try not to feel overwhelmed; savour the moment; bring joy. For a film short of Ian Collins talking to me at Bottengoms, see https://youtu.be/TYErZWYaCd8.For more on the Essex Wildlife Trust and Bottengoms, see https://www.essexwt.org.uk/bottengoms My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It is called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."

In his garden in the Norfolk Broads, philosopher, author and climate activist Rupert Read talks to me about climate movements and action. We hear of the formation of Extinction Rebellion, thrutopian ideas and transformative adaptation. And how too the declaration of climate emergencies moved thinking and local policies. We hear about the need to focus on a climate majority: the middle 60-70% of the population who know something bad is going on, but don’t know quite what to do. Thrutopia implies going through, a leaning in, the taking of good from bad. Rupert’s heroines are Joanna Macy and Greta Thunberg (“small people can change the whole world”, he says).His books include “This Civilisation is Finished”; Why Climate Breakdown Matters; The Climate Majority Project”; “Transformative Adaptation”.Rupert recommended action: believe this: most of us are capable of far more than we dare to imagine.See Rupert’s website: https://rupertread.net/ Climate Majority Project: https://www.climatemajorityproject.com/ My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It is called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."

I’m chatting online with prize-winning global change scientist and film-maker Phoebe Barnard in her borrowed home in Ireland, as the sun breaks through on her and her happy dog. We talk about Phoebe’s life as a climate scientist, about international negotiations and processes that bring countries together, about film making for positive stories. She describes having to leave beautiful Washington State in the US. “We work on change, after all," she says.” We talk about the need for new thinking, a new story. “We can choose” she says of taking agency and ownership. “Feminism is a public good mindset,” she also says. “We need to move towards more feminism and a world of greater ancient-culture influence.”Phoebe’s book recommendation is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.Her heroine and mentee: Abidemi Raji, Nigerian researcher at Cornell University. Her recommended action: recognise you are not alone. Join something with others, like a climate repair café and the climate majority project. The Climate Restorers films: https://www.theclimaterestorers.com/The Climate Repair Café films: https://www.climaterepaircafe.com/  My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It is called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."

In his brim-full office at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, I chat with Lloyd Peck just after his return from a spell at Rothera Research Station. We talk about how fast things are changing. He’s a veteran of some 800 cold water dives, often under the ice. The Antarctic is the site of enormous aquatic biodiversity, much completely unique. We talk of great sea spiders and fish with no haemoglobin; of low temperature enzymes that will help in organ donor transport. But he’s seen glaciers and ice sheets retreat two miles; he’s seen rain fall instead of snow, soaking albatross chicks; he’s seen great abundance of humpback and orca whales. He says, “I find it really wearing; it gets me down.”Lloyd recommends Jared Diamond’s Collapse for its warning call about care for nature. His hero is a teacher who took great interest in him.His recommended action: look at what you do, and choose something small to foster climate action and positive change. Do it bit by bit. British Antarctic Survey: https://www.bas.ac.uk/ My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It is called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."

In a borrowed room at local Tone Dale House, author and activist Anita Roy chats to me about personal and community transformation. We are in Wellington in Somerset, winner of the national prize for best transition town, and we hear how the people did it. They created a new commons, a 65-acre woodland-orchard that all are free to use. Anita talks about the up-down down-up arc of writing and how it mirrors our own lives. She says, “I wonder what this is going to be like in 20 years; everything’s getting worse, except when I think of Fox’s Field.”Anita recommends two books: Wild by Jay Griffiths; and The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram.Her own books include Gifts of Gravity and Light and her children’s book about death, Gravepyres; The School for the Recently Deceased. She is a writer for The Guardian’s Country Diary.Her recommended action: be messy, leave ecological spaces, and maybe holes are good.See Anita’s website: https://anitaroy.net/Transition Town Wellington: https://ttw.org.uk/ My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027. It’s called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformative Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery."

A 5 minute trailer for Heat! Camera! Action!Heat – too much in the air and oceansCamera – for focus and attentionAction – what we need We’re in a hole. The planet’s losing. This is how we get out.Story with a swerve, slantwise.More hope, more agency.In the pod, we hear from culture leaders and wanderers, the crossers of boundaries, the story-tellers. Good story is not just a hiding place. It’s a finding place.My guests are writers and poets, artists and scientists, environmentalists and farmers, business leaders and activists, international negotiators and free festival directors.  Containing clips from 7 episodes - featuring:Anita Roy, author, scyther and transitioneerLloyd Peck, veteran of 800 Antarctic dives Jo Roberts, wilderness therapistRupert Read, on activating the climate majorityMandy Haggith poet and Assynt activist – who says verse can’t make it worseIan Collins, on the 100-year-life of Ronnie BlytheNicky Saunter, mask maker, and on being a magpie Launch date for the podcast: midsummer 2026, 2 episodes Friday May 29th and 2 on June 3rd, then weekly.