Naturalist Robert Macfarlane on the wonder — and warning — of birds
Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri MillerShow Notes
Every fall, thousands of bird lovers stand far above Lake Superior, on Duluth’s Hawk Ridge, and watch as thousands of raptors soar overhead on their way south.
But for all of their abundance, even majestic osprey, hawks, eagles and falcons are affected by the steep declines in bird populations across the western hemisphere.
In his gorgeous new book, naturalist and conservationist Robert Macfarlane asks, “What is lost when birds are lost? Above all, the creatures themselves, in their own splendor and right. And for humans — language, story, beauty, possibility, imagination, lifts of the spirit, ways of being otherwise. Birds are our place-makers, memory-keepers, calendars and clocks. They stitch the world’s parts together: earth to sky, river to woodland, mountain to sea, country to country, hemisphere to hemisphere.”
Click here
Macfarlane’s new book, “The Book of Birds,” finds him collaborating once again with artist Jackie Morris for a beautifully illustrated ode to birds. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Macfarlane joins Kerri Miller to talk about the birds he loves — even though he says he’s not really a birder — and lament the disappearance of so many birds from our planet. His hope is that “The Book of Birds” will reignite a sense of wonder because “we will not save what we do not love.”
Guest:
Robert Macfarlane is an award-winning writer, who has authored many books about nature and our interconnectedness. His new book, “The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss” was co-created with artist Jackie Morris.
Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.
More from Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
Min Jin Lee was disappointed she didn’t get to come to Talking Volumes in 2017 to talk about her novel “Pachinko.” She says that’s probably because it struggled initially. Her editor quit just three months before the book was published. Her husband lost his job the day “Pachinko” was released. And besides The New York Times and USA Today, no media companies would review her book.
To mark the fall member drive, Kerri Miller dips back into three conversations she’s had this year with authors who write about nature — and thus, wrestle with what they see climate change doing to our planet. How do we live richly in the midst of a great unraveling?
Miss Marple rides again in Lucy Foley’s new novel, “Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.” This time, the beloved spinster sleuth finds herself on holiday, at a glamorous and isolated hotel nestled high in the Swiss Alps — where a body is quickly discovered on the first gondola ride of the day.
Carol Anderson has been sounding the alarm for years.
Have Americans given up a sense of virtue in their political leaders? What does character mean when so-called “authenticity” is prized over moral goodness?