Broadcast

#BBC #Nature #Art

Nature and Us: A History through Art

BBC series on our ever-changing relationship with nature, told through the lens of art history. Presented by James Fox.

In this ambitous series, art historian James Fox tells the story of our ever-changing relationship with nature through the lens of some of the world’s most extraordinary artwork.

Series 1: episode 1/3. In this first episode, art historian James Fox explores the art of the ancient world to reveal the story of our earliest relationships with nature. From the art of prehistoric hunters and the advent of agriculture and our first cities to the arrival the great faiths, including Hinduism and Christianity, James shows how we began to wrestle with our place in nature and tried to control the great forces that shape our world. Along the way, we journey from Arctic Norway to the jungles of Guatemala and the holy city of Varanasi in India. 

Series 1: episode 2/3. James Fox uses art to explore how humans began to try to understand nature for the very first time. From the Song dynasty in China and the Islamic world, through to the Scientific Revolution and the advent of the industrial era, James shows the very different ways in which humans came to both appreciate and understand nature, whilst at the very same time beginning to dominate and control it.

Series 1: episode 3/3. In the concluding episode of the series, James explores how the art of the last hundred years reflects how we swapped nature for progress in the first half of the 20th century before rediscovering its beauty in the decades following the Second World War, and how today’s artists are re-imagining our future relationship with nature.

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#wearenature

The film is available for download and sharing on any platform in any country for free
under a creative commons license C (BY-NC-ND) 4.0

We Are Nature

Short, independent film made during lockdown. The film looks at our connection to nature, with Jane Goodall, David Quammen, Peter Daszak, and others.

The film argues that policies are not enough. We need a paradigm shift in how we view nature and the rest of life on this planet.

The film was made during lockdown conditions, a fact made clear in the style of the film. Our speakers appear on screens via zoom, which we filmed from inside our homes. Each speaker offers a different perspective on the origins of the pandemic in the ways we see and value nature. If humans can’t escape their connection to the natural world, it’s time for a better one. The health of us and the planet depends on it.

It was made with the assistance of EcoHealth Alliance, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services, and the Jane Goodall Institute.

Narrator: Melanie Challenger
Director: Chad Hodgson
Sound: Daniel Kinde
Contributor: Jane Goodall
Contributor: Riley Taitingfong
Contributor: David Quammen
Contributor: Peter Daszak
Contributor: Natalie Kofler
Contributor: Mallessa James
Contributor: Mark Bekoff

Copyright Mirrorbox Ltd, CC (BY-NC-ND) 4.0 available.

#WIRED #Deextinction #ExtinctAnimals

What if... we could bring extinct animals back to life?

Short film by Big Sky productions for Wired, on whether we should de-extinct other species.

Jurassic Park may have first put the idea of bringing dinosaurs back from the dead into people’s heads, but the question of whether we can bring back more recently extinct species is still very much alive and kicking for scientists.

In the latest episode of WIRED’s What If series, we look at the three techniques scientists are using today to potentially bring extinct animals back to life – breeding, cloning, and the use of CRISPR-cas9.

This video was produced as part of Digital Society, a publishing partnership between WIRED and Vontobel where all content is editorially independent.

With thanks:

Melanie Challenger, Author and Bioethicist, How to Be Animal: A new history of what it means to be human

Rich Grenyer, Associate Professor in Biodiversity and Biogeography, Official Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College, Oxford

Helen Pilcher, Science writer and author of ‘Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction

Dr Britt Wray, Author and Fellow in Human and Planetary Health at Stanford University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The Big Sky

#animalintelligence #animalmind

The Psychosphere: A podcast on intelligence and agency in nature.

Our world is made up of trillions of different kinds of minds and agents...I call this the "psychosphere" and it's what makes life on Earth so remarkable.

The Psychosphere is a series of conversations with some of the world’s foremost thinkers and scientists on intelligence, consciousness, and agency. What is it like to be an octopus or an elephant? Why do living beings behave with such purpose and how do their choices and behaviours transform the world and each other? The first series, recorded between 2021-22, has been produced by Lucia Scazzochio of Social Broadcasts