Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
1. Civilisation
The first story I was told about rivers can be summed up like this: there is direct line from the Sumerian Ziggurat of Ur to the Chrysler Building. I was around nine.
2. Civilisation II
Rivers allowed us to grow food, store it, build houses, libraries, museums, cities and empires. I was maybe ten when I heard this one.
You can read the rest of this piece on the Dark Mountain site here.
Industrial landscapes are living reminders of how centuries of fossil-fuel development reshaped Earth’s systems. As the Anthropocene unfolds, that legacy continues to shape our future. Historian Sabine Höhler argues that bridging the divide between human and Earth history is essential to understanding where we are and at what cost.
July 16, 2026
Modern paints contain toxic chemicals that linger in our homes and bodies, while traditional lime-based whitewash offers a low-energy, low-tox alternative that brightens buildings, protects surfaces and can even ‘sweeten’ acidic soils to boost fertility.
July 16, 2026
What happens when the global economy depends on fish traveling 10,000 miles, oil flowing through a single strait, and enough cheap fossil fuel energy to build civilizations that previous generations couldn’t even imagine?
July 15, 2026
