Amitav Ghosh’s 'Wild Fictions' gathers essays on empire and the environment

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: NPR's Book of the Day
Episode Title: Amitav Ghosh’s 'Wild Fictions' gathers essays on empire and the environment
Date: January 8, 2026
Host: Andrew Limbong
Guest: Amitav Ghosh, Indian Bengali writer and essayist
Main Theme:
This episode explores Amitav Ghosh's new essay collection Wild Fictions: Essays on Literature, Empire and the Environment. The conversation dives into humankind’s relationship with the environment, migration patterns, and how the elevation of humans above all else is central to current ecological and societal crises. Ghosh offers nuanced, global perspectives on the interconnectedness of life, drawing on history, culture, and the latest scientific research.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Climate Crisis as Political, Cultural, and Imaginative (02:37–03:17)

• Host's Framing: Host Andrew Limbong opens by recalling childhood lessons about ecological interconnectedness, setting the stage for Ghosh’s broader discussion about environmental responsibility.
• Political Roots of Climate Change:
  • Ghosh argues the "climate crisis" is not just political, but "also... cultural and imaginative."
  • He explains, “it’s very hard for us today... to recognize that the world is in a sense, animate, that it’s actually an actor. And this actor is now sort of lashing out against us.” (Amitav Ghosh, 02:43–03:04)
  • He attributes nature’s current “lashing out” (e.g., climate disasters) to greenhouse gas emissions created by humans.

Rethinking the Migration “Crisis” (03:17–05:21)

• Beyond Politics and Economics:
  • Ghosh provides a nuanced take that migration is not purely about politics or economics:
    • “There is also a very important factor... really modern technology, especially modern communications technologies... these journeys, you know, they occur through the cell phone.” (03:24–04:19)
  • He reflects on field research in Italy during Europe's migration surge, emphasizing how digital networks (phones, communications) drive migration as much as aspiration or need.
• Historical Migration Networks:
  • Ghosh, referencing his Bengali heritage, notes that migration follows historical patterns:
    • “During the age of sail, a very large percentage of the world’s seamen were actually from Bengal... these networks become really an engine for moving people.” (04:29–05:21)
  • He draws parallels between past and present, suggesting that both historic and modern networks foster aspirations and continual movement.

Human-Centrism and Environmental Collapse (05:21–07:13)

• Anthropocentrism at the Core:
  • The host cites a provocative concept from Ghosh’s writing: “it is the elevation of human above all other species... responsible for our current planetary crisis.” (05:21–05:37)
  • Ghosh expands, criticizing the anthropocentric worldview:
    • “Our culture has become more and more anthropocentric... we really don’t even recognize that other forms of sentience might exist.” (05:37–06:21)
  • He summarizes rapidly evolving scientific insights, “recent work in botany... shows us that trees communicate... that a forest is much more than just a collection of trees, that it’s a living entity which makes history, which adapts to changes of various kinds.”
• Interdependence of Species:
  • Ghosh rebuts the idea of prioritizing human needs above all else:
    • “It’s not really a question of even out of just the purest self interest, we find ourselves in a position of care, where we must care for these other entities all around us because our own lives absolutely fundamentally depend on them.” (06:34–07:06)
  • Memorable analogy: If bees are exterminated, "all our food systems will collapse."
  • The message: Survival is a web—all species’ fates are intertwined.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[Climate change] is very hard for us today... to recognize that the world is in a sense, animate, that it’s actually an actor. And this actor is now sort of lashing out against us.”
  — Amitav Ghosh (03:04)

• “This modern communications technology is really one of the drivers, in my opinion, of this enormous movement of people that we are now seeing across the planet.”
  — Amitav Ghosh (04:17)

• “Our culture has become more and more anthropocentric... to the point where we really don’t even recognize that other forms of sentience might exist.”
  — Amitav Ghosh (05:37)

• “If we do end up exterminating all the bees, all our systems will collapse, all our food systems will collapse. We know that now.”
  — Amitav Ghosh (06:34)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:02 — Host introduction and theme-setting on ecological interconnectedness
• 02:37–03:17 — Ghosh on the climate crisis as a political, cultural, and imaginative challenge
• 03:17–05:21 — Ghosh on migration: the role of technology, communications, and historic networks
• 05:21–07:13 — Ghosh on anthropocentrism, plant sentience, and interdependence
• 06:34 — Ghosh on the consequences of losing bees and interconnected survival

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Tone and Language

The conversation is thoughtful, urgent, and reflective, mirroring Ghosh’s thoughtful prose in his essays. Ghosh speaks with clarity, blending scientific references with cultural observation. The host supports with insightful questions, giving space for depth and nuance.

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Summary

This episode offers a powerful lens into Amitav Ghosh’s worldview, as sampled from his new essay collection Wild Fictions. It challenges listeners to rethink human exceptionalism, consider the deep historical roots and modern drivers of migration, and respect the vital web of interdependent life. Ghosh’s essays, as discussed, make the case that both planetary and social crises demand more expansive, interconnected thinking—rooted in humility, care, and a reimagining of our place in the world.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Do you remember being a kid and learning about the environment and how interconnected everything was? How, I dunno, bees spreading pollen was in some way related to your breakfast that morning? It's one of those facts of life that's mind blowing when we learn about it. But I'm not sure how many adults spend their day to day thinking about the ecosystem, but maybe we should be. Amitav Ghosh's new essay collection is titled Wild Essays on Literature, Empire and the Environment. In the book, he talks about everything from migration patterns to 911 to the Indian Ocean. He talks to NPR Scott Simon about how we are responsible for caring for the entities around us because we are dependent on their survival.

[B]

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[D]

The new book asks, among many provocative questions, is the elevation of human above all other species, indeed above the earth itself, responsible for many of earth's problems? Amitav Ghosh, the Indian Bengali writer whom Foreign Policy magazine has named one of today's most important global thinkers, has collected some of his most striking essays from over the past 25 years. His collection is called Wild Fiction Essays on Literature, Empire and the Environment. And Amitavgos joins us from the studios of member station WVTF in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thanks so much for being with us.

[E]

Thank you so much for having me.

[D]

You believe that what we call the climate crisis at its heart is a political crisis?

[E]

Yes, it's certainly political, but it's also, I would say, cultural and imaginative. I mean, it's very hard for us today, after, you know, several centuries of Moder, to recognize that the world is in a sense, animate, that it's actually an actor. And this actor is now sort of lashing out against us.

[D]

Lashing out against us?

[E]

Yes, absolutely, yes. Reacting to, you know, our greenhouse gas emissions that human beings have put in the atmosphere. Absolutely.

[D]

You have a different view of what many in the west call a migration crisis.

[E]

Yes.

[D]

Help us understand your point of view.

[E]

Well, my point of view, I have to say, is largely sort of based upon the European Mediterranean experience. I did do a lot of research in Italy, especially during the height of the so called European migration crisis. And that was when I realized that, you know, what is actually driving these journeys is not just political or economic. There is also a very important factor is really modern technology, especially modern communications technologies. Every bit of these journeys, you know, they occur through the cell phone. So it was a really sobering realization that, you know, this modern communications technology is really one of the drivers, in my opinion, of this enormous movement of people that we are now seeing across the planet.

[D]

As you note, you're Bengali and you see the migration kind of fitting a historical tradition of young Bengalis going far across the world.

[E]

Yes, absolutely. It's a little known fact that during the age of sail, a very large percentage of the world's seamen were actually from Bengal. So what happens with these migrations is that they set up networks. You know, people write back to their villages. That creates, as it were, a sort of model of aspiration. You know, so for the young kid in the village, he thinks, okay, my cousin or my grandfather made this journey, so maybe I should set off on this journey as well, just as happened with Europeans in the United States. You know, I mean, these networks become really an engine for moving people. And essentially I think this has become also these pre existing networks are a very important element of the migrations that we are now seeing.

[D]

We cited the afterword in introducing you because it's a thought that really shook me up when you say it is the elevation of human above all other species, indeed above the Earth itself, that is responsible for our current planetary crisis. How so?

[E]

Yes, you know, our culture has become more and more anthropocentric that is centered upon human beings to the point where we really don't even recognize that other forms of sentience might exist. But recent work in botany, for example, shows us that trees communicate with each other, that they have languages, that they work as communities, that a forest is much more than just a collection of trees, that it's a living entity which makes history, which adapts to changes of various kinds. And I think we are beginning to see increasingly more and more kinds of ascensions, you know, in the world around us, more and more kinds of consciousness.

[D]

This is a question I can't even believe I'm even posing. But should we put our human species and our survival, our welfare above that of, well, fill in the blanks. Animals, plants.

[E]

Well, what we know about life now is that it's a very complex web, so that everything is dependent on everything else. For example, if we do end up exterminating all the bees, all our systems will collapse, all our food systems will collapse. We know that now. So it's not really a question of even out of just the purest self interest, we find ourselves in a position of care, where we must care for these other entities all around us because our own lives absolutely fundamentally depend on them.

[D]

Amitav Ghosh is new collection of essays, Wild Fictions. Thanks so much for being with us.

[E]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

And just a reminder that signing up for book of the day plus is a great way to support NPR's book coverage and public media. And you'll get to listen to every episode sponsor free. So please go find out [e-mail] BookOfTheDay.

[B]

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