Amitav Ghosh’s book The Great Derangement was published in 2016. It’s a moving polemic, accusing contemporary novelists of failing to find the right forms, or the necessary urgency, in addressing the climate crisis. And it’s a crucial intervention. Which novelist hasn’t been anguished by this widening gap, like a chasm opening under our own […]
In this final couple of chapters, we find some signs of resistance to the dominance of Heroism in two of the most successful films of all time. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR 2018 and AVENGERS: ENDGAME 2019 Unlikely as it may seem, the two recent Avengers films give signs of possible hope. (I’m going […]
This is an edited version of a speech given to XR Scientists at the Science Museum on 29th August 2021 My name is Emma. I am a Research Fellow at Cambridge University looking at behaviour change and sustainable diets. But I’m not here to talk about that. Instead, I’ve been asked to speak today […]
This stirring speech was given by author and co-founder of XR Writers Rebel, Monique Roffey, at XR’s Impossible Rebellion in London, Monday 23rd August, 2021. Why, are we here in the City, today? Why have we marched all this way? To speak truth to power. To speak truth to the City of London, […]
In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is murdered. Denial is central to the terrible calamity engulfing us: the collapse of nature and climate and the knock-on collapse of social order. There are five kinds. These are climate denial, budget denial, policy denial, lifestyle denial, and denial denial. Climate denial, now […]
This time we look at the most recent of the screenwriting gurus, John Yorke, and then take a hard look at the transformations of World War Z. What happens when a novel without a hero goes through four of the scriptwriting machines? INTO THE WOODS: HOW STORIES WORK AND WHY WE TELL THEM […]
Chloe Aridjis interviews Philip Hoare about his new book, Albert and the Whale (Fourth Estate) Starting with the monkey in the prologue you brilliantly set up the myriad ways in which our relationship to other species has been defined (artistic, scientific, utilitarian). Would you say much has changed over the centuries or was it […]
On 22nd July, three rebels were convicted of taking action at the Brazilian Embassy against the ecocidal and genocidal regime of President Bolsonaro. Possible sentences range from a community order to 18 months in prison. This is the address given by one of the rebels, 24 year old Zappi Taylor, to the jury. […]
The wildlife biologist and campaigner Raphael Coleman, known in XR as Iggy Fox, joined Extinction Rebellion as part of the Media and Messaging team in 2018. He was active in XR Youth, a beloved member of the Snowflakes affinity group, and the force behind XR’s iconic Paint The Streets campaigns. When still a zoology student, he […]