From The Vault – Interview with Robert Macfarlane, Underland: A Deep Time Journey

A very special interview is brought out of the archives as acclaimed British writer Robert Macfarlane joins Amy for an in-depth conversation about the connections between landscape, language, people, and place. This expansive conversation begins with an exploration of the aspects of nature, landscape, and place that motivate Robert’s writing. Robert says, “We can think of thought itself as site-specific and as motion sensitive,” and that bodily movement in a particular landscape can prompt transformative thoughts and feelings that are not always accessible outside that place. “There are thoughts I’ve had while climbing mountains that I could not have had at sea-level. There are thoughts that I’ve had while walking 20 to 30 miles a day that were borne of the tiredness in my body and the landscapes through which I was moving at that time,” Robert recounts. He explains what motivated his inquiry into the underland – that part of the landscape that exists underfoot, and which has long-standing significance for human culture and practices. While writing 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey,' Robert realised this was “a very, very old human story... [and] began from that apparent paradox, why have we gone into the darkness to see things for as long as we’ve been human?” Amy and Robert also draw on ideas from his past works including, Mountains of the Mind, The Old Ways, and Landmarks. Robert is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. First broadcast on 1 September 2020. Re-aired on 30 July 2024.