Earthy Governance: How to Learn about Democracy from Indigenous Peoples? @shrishteebajpai.bsky.social & I propose an Earth-centered form of democracy, the idea that all of nature has agency in decision-making. berlinergazette.de/earthy-gover... @berlinergazette.bsky.social @vikalpsangam.bsky.social

Earthy Governance: How to Learn about Democracy from Indigenous Peoples? · BG | berlinergazette.de

In light of the planetary polycrisis, it is time to challenge the dominant strand of Western thought that asserts only humans possess rights and that other species exist solely for human benefit. In t...

berlinergazette.de

I wrote (briefly and elliptically) about the phrase I've been thinking about most from @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social’s 𝘐𝘴 𝘈 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦? A river is not a person but ‘a god. For now, I want to call the river 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘥.’ www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ju...

Jay Owens | Rights for Gods

Britain’s waterways are filthy and flowing with sewage, as well as fertiliser and pesticide pollution, thousands of...

lrb.co.uk

Beautiful and informative interview on BBC Today with @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social and Dr Louise Bodnar, Voice of the River Wye, ahead of the Rights of the River Wye charter launch tomorrow in Hay on Wye. Listen from 13.40 minutes: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 23/05/2026

News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

bbc.co.uk

The new eponymous album by sunn 0))) is a visual and aural work of art, with sleeve notes by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social that perfectly describe the connection between what you are hearing and feeling. Epic #NowPlaying #VinylSky #VinylCommunity #sunn0))) #drone

'A 2007 analysis...found that wild salmon in the Broughton Archipelago were “on a trajectory toward rapid local extinction,” driven by infestations of sea lice from nearby farms.' Then people fought back: story.futureoffood.org/beacons/cana...

Survival Instead of Extinction: First Nations Rally to Save Wild Salmon on Coastal British Columbia

Indigenous-led action and the Broughton Aquaculture Transition Initiative are restoring wild salmon to coastal British Columbia. Discover how three First Nations reclaimed their ancestral waters from ...

story.futureoffood.org

Retractions never get proportional attention. This one should.

Influential study touting ChatGPT in education retracted over red flags

The retracted study on ChatGPT in education was already cited hundreds of times.

arstechnica.com

“First week of May — and ears are peeled each day for that bodkin-shriek and devil-cry, for the screaming that comes across the sky…” They’re back! The Swifts are back, and the world has turned once more... My first swifts of the year, thrillingly, spine-tinglingly, above Oxford. Seen them yet?

Hello—The Book of Birds by me & the artist Jackie Morris is published…today A re-imagining of the field guide/bird book for our age of wonder & loss, from Avocet to Yellowhammer. Jackie has painted over 300 original artworks for it; I’ve tried to let language soar, glide & plunge. For the birds!

I had a small part in writing OUR LAND, Orban Wallace’s brilliant new film about land access in England, feat. @guyshrubsole.bsky.social et al. “We’ve found that [with access] people really do care for the land…We all belong to the land, it doesn’t belong to us.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Momentum building for Scottish-style land access rights in England, says film

Documentary makers seek to start ‘informed conversation’ in country where public is allowed on just 8% of land

theguardian.com

On May 7th I & the artist Jackie Morris publish The Book of Birds, our love-letter to birds & our re-imagining of the humble, wonderful field guide/bird book form. Jackie’s painted more than 300 new pieces of art for the book; a jaw-dropping body of work. First set of events detailed below. Come!

- clean energy surpassed global growth in demand in 2025 - fossil fuel power went into reverse for the first time - coal power dropped to less than a third of global power generation In spite of every obstacle put in its way, renewable energy just keeps growing share.google/oojbxRlHpm7G...

118 angels soar aloft in the hammerbeam roof of a Fenland church—their carved feathers echoing the wings of the Marsh Harriers who once lived in this region in abundance. I made a Radio 4 programme about the entanglements of ornithology & theology, raptors & raptures. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Illuminated - Harrier Angels - BBC Sounds

Robert Macfarlane on C16th carvings of angels based on the wings of hen and marsh harriers

bbc.co.uk

Finished @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social’s Is A River Alive, and could have underlined the whole thing. A call to arms to protect our waterways.

Is a River Alive @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social is an absolute wonder. Part call to action, part hopeful manifesto all immersive reading. If you can read it on audiobook DO. Macfarlane narrates himself. To listen is to be fully engaged in the wonder, the tragedy, and the glory of natural communities.

Finally been absorbing this deeply inspiring book. Fitting that I'll finish it today on Earth Day. Covering far more than rivers themselves, it explores what it means to be a living part of our world, and our relationships & responsibilities to the more-than-human collaborators sharing this journey.

Robert Macfarlane@robgmacfarlane.bsky.social · last yr.

Hello—Is A River Alive? is published today in the US by @wwnorton.com. The beautiful jacket of living, writhing rivers is based on art by the great @stanleydonwood.bsky.social. I feel deeply committed to the rivers, people & ideas in this book—& can’t wait to come to North America with it next week.

hello—on Monday 20 April @curzon.com Soho is showing Lost For Words, a beautiful film about language, nature & hope based on The Lost Words by me & Jackie Morris. Jackie & I will both be there for a Q&A. Please let others know who might be interested—& come join us! www.curzon.com/films/lost-f...

The @nationaltrust.org.uk only rarely ask their members to take political action, but when they do, it’s seismic. Please take the NT’s action, email your MP demanding the Government protect 30% of the UK for nature by 2030: campaigns.nationaltrust.org.uk/page/186395/... bsky.app/profile/nati...

National Trust@nationaltrust.org.uk · 4mo ago

Nearly 1 in 6 UK species are threatened with extinction. We've lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the 1930s. We have 73 million fewer birds than in the 1970s - a decline of almost a third. And yet some politicians still just see wildlife as a blocker to progress.

After some time litter picking by the Water of Leith, I thought I'd reward myself with a couple of pints at my favourite pub, the Dreadnought and continue reading @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social Is A River Alive?, a fabulous read.

Massacre upon massacre in Beirut in the last hour. AUBMC announced a “code disaster.” Over 100 airstrikes in 10 minutes across the country. One hit right behind my house. Sirens ambulances & the smell of sulphur. The city is in total chaos the people in complete panic

Book no 15: Is A River Alive? Part travel, part conservation, part philosophy, this is @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social's passionate plea for us to recognise the importance of rivers. His writing is lyrical, at times almost a prose-poem, and utterly immersive. An important and compelling work. #Booksky📚

The spectacular film adaptation of my book Underland is in cinemas as of Friday. More details at: www.underlandfilm.com Working on more screenings in Scotland, Wales & NI.

Announcing a deal to pay $1 billion to stop two wind farms, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said: “The era of taxpayers subsidizing unreliable, unsecure energy is officially over.” Hours later, a massive American oil refinery accidentally exploded, spiking gas prices nationwide

What oil actually costs

The market price of oil has never reflected its true cost. This week made that impossible to ignore.

heated.world

“This isn’t just about my livelihood – it’s about justice for the lough before there’s nothing left for the next generation.” The slow murder of Lough Neagh—the largest lake on the island of Ireland & across the British Isles—is a tragedy and a travesty. Go go Declan Conlon.

Coming to the US in June from @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social: The paperback of his NY Times bestseller IS A RIVER ALIVE?, and his third magnificent collaboration with the artist Jackie Morris, THE BOOK OF BIRDS.

The New School of the Anthropocene is an experimental micro-university, which offers an affordable, radical, alternative to mainstream higher ed. I teach there each year & we have students from Gaza, Ukraine & around the world. 2026 enrolment is now open. www.nsota.org @nsota.bsky.social

On the origins & making of the film adaptation of my book Underland, including director Rob Petit on needing to become “a buttered otter” to film where he did! In UK cinemas from 27 March www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

‘Fear is good’: my scary subterranean journey into Underland, the film of Robert Macfarlane’s dazzling book

As the hit travelogue about the worlds beneath us becomes a film, its maker takes us on a voyage through Las Vegas storm drains and the caves of Yucatán – via Goatchurch Cavern in the bowels of Somers...

theguardian.com

They said it would take 193 years to clean London’s air. We did it in nine. 💨 London has now met legal limits for nitrogen dioxide air pollution.

London, San Francisco and Beijing achieve ‘remarkable reductions’ in air pollution

Cycle lanes, electric cars and other interventions have helped 19 global cities slash levels of pollutants by more than 20%

theguardian.com

There's a broken cuneiform tablet from the Old Babylonian period, nearly 4,000 years ago, which preserves a tiny portion of a dialogue between two friends. It feels a bit like the conversations I've been having for the past week, so I wanted to share it.

This is a really important @katiesurma.bsky.social piece on the strategic state silencing of land & water defenders in Ecuador—including colleagues of mine—as Noboa’s gov. moves to intensify mining & drilling (Trump playbook). Please share widely. insideclimatenews.org/news/1003202...

The Latest Tactic for Silencing Ecuador’s Environmental Defenders: Shuttering Their Bank Accounts - Inside Climate News

As the country moves to intensify mining and oil operations, environmental and Indigenous leaders’ bank accounts are being frozen or closed. Such “debanking” cuts them off from financial support and p...

insideclimatenews.org

“Winston Churchill did intervene in Iran and we are living with the consequences of that today” @georgemonbiot.bsky.social