David Farrier

Exciting news!!!!!!
Thanks @wainwrightprize.bsky.social!

Update: no one can identify a single person as belonging to a group that The Times says has 130 academic staff.

Totally unnamed and likely fictitious academics being quoted by the Daily Express, The Times, the BBC & the Times Higher.

Edinburgh University had ‘outsized’ role in creating racist scientific theories, inquiry finds Investigation finds one of Britain’s oldest and most prestigious universities benefited from transatlantic slavery and was haven for white supremacist theories

Every strand of this Edinburgh University report could be its own front page.

Yes, some of it will be familiar to historians, but this kind of frank public recognition is all too rare.

Incredible work by many different scholars.

Off topic, but I visited the Garden Futures exhibit at V&A Dundee yesterday--think you'd like it. Among the surprising things I learned: Patrick Geddes designed the layout of Tel Aviv's green spaces.

Reform-led Durham county council scraps climate emergency declaration Durham is thought to be first UK local authority to rescind its statement, in a move condemned as a ‘very dark day’

Durham council is run by fantasists, idiots, and grifters.

Ed Miliband would let a turbine farm destroy Brontë country. We need net zero, but at what cost? | Simon Jenkins Of course the climate crisis must be confronted, but history, tranquility and beauty must also count for something, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

Who's going to tell him what 3 degrees of warming will do to Bronte Country
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I had a great time chatting to @littleatoms.bsky.social about Nature's Genius - somehow, in 30 minutes we touched on almost the entire book!

All within a few miles of where I grew up: Pity Me, No Place, Stanley.

Is this good? Tempted

Just received news that 27 people have been arrested in Parliament Square under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".
This is real police state behaviour.

Nature's Genius by David Farrier: Longlisted for the 2025 Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing

We're delighted to have two books on the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social longlists! Congratulations to @david-farrier.bsky.social for Nature's Genius, a remarkable story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us, longlisted for the Conservation Writing Prize

I'm thrilled beyond words that Nature's Genius has been long listed for the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social Conservation Writing prize! Congratulations to all the fantastic authors on the list.

Sincere thanks to the #wainwright judges and for everyone @canongate.co.uk for supporting the book!

Heard them over north Edinburgh late last night

I'm thrilled to see this fantastic review of Nature's Genius in Literary Review!

"Farrier's achievement is to make change feel not just possible but also exciting."

"'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid"

Just seen #28yearslater and my main takeaway is: if they walk south past the Angel of the North to meet Ralph Fiennes' character, does that mean the bone temple is in Chester-le-Street?

Nature's Genius: Evolution's lessons for a Changing World. Talking with author David Farrier. The San Francisco Experience · Episode

I had a great time discussing Nature's Genius on The San Francisco Experience podcast

open.spotify.com/episode/11om...

Overfishing has caused cod to halve in body size since 1990s, study finds Evolutionary change driven by intensive fishing led cod to ‘shrink’ from average 40cm length in 1996 to 20cm in 2019

Human action (and inaction) is driving evolution.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A friend is currently on remand for taking part in direct action w/ Palestine Action. They've been held since August, moved around with no notice, treated as liable to escape because they (an artist) sketched their room, had their trial pushed back. They are a political prisoner, not a terrorist.

The Dust of Ancient Suns: Making Art and Meaning From the Depths of Deep Time Featured photograph by John Mackenzie. In May 1655, on an otherwise unremarkable day, Thomas Browne—physician and antiquarian—received a visitor. The visitor’s name is lost to history, but they bro…

A while ago, I wrote about Katie's extraordinary 'Requiem'
lithub.com/the-dust-of-...

A Science-Minded Artist Shrinks the Universe to Human Scale

It's fantastic to see this profile of the amazing Katie Paterson in the NY Times. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/a...

🎉

Deep Water by James Bradley

Sunil Amrith: The Burning Earth From Sun 10 Aug - In The Burning Earth, environmental historian at Yale University and MacArthur Genius fellow Sunil Amrith creates an ambitiously complete history of the way 500 years of human develo...

I'll also be chairing an event with Sunil Amrith about how 500 years of empires and extraction brought us to the point of crisis.

www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

David Farrier & Alex Riley: Life Unstoppable From Thu 21 Aug - Our planet teems with life – across four billion years of evolution, organisms have adapted to thrive in even the most inhospitable environments. This fascinating conversation will t...

I can't wait to chat with Alex Riley and @calflyn.bsky.social about Nature's genius for resilience and transformation, as part of @edbookfest.bsky.social!

www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

My book new, Nature's Genius: Evolution's Lessons for a Changing Planet, has a lot in common with this thread, I think. It looks at how humans are driving other species to adapt and what this can teach us about facing the challenges of breaking climate.

It's been a pleasure to be part of this and meet some great writers/lovely human beings!

Read an extract from Nature's Genius on the Encouter Nature app
www.encounter-nature.com/features

I wrote about translating animal languages for the Guardian's Big Idea. Read or listen to it here!

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...