New Times,
New Thinking.

Melissa Harrison’s podcast The Stubborn Light of Things brings nature to you

In each episode, Harrison walks through the nearby countryside – she might explore an arable farm, a stately home or simply her garden.     

By Anna Leszkiewicz

It was 3pm on Thursday when I realised I hadn’t left the house all week. My flat in south London can feel cut off from the ­natural world at the best of times, and the nearest I’d been to nature in four days was when I stood beside the spice rack. But ­Melissa Harrison brought me a couple of inches closer. Harrison lived in London for two decades, where she felt “insulated from the seasons”, moving “from flat to Tube to air-conditioned office”. Now she lives in an old cottage in rural Suffolk, where she takes daily walks, goes birdwatching and explores nearby beaches and villages with her dog. She started this podcast, The Stubborn Light of Things, in the middle of lockdown in April, as a way to bring the natural world to those isolating away from it. The final episode was released on 5 October.

In each episode, Harrison walks through the nearby countryside – she might explore an arable farm, a stately home, an abandoned Second World War base or, simply, her garden; at sunrise, twilight or after dark. She is minutely attuned to the changes of the seasons, describing the weather and the wildlife, the appearance of toadstools or the migration of birds. An earthy soundscape – wet leaves underfoot, a scramble in the bushes, even the vague white noise of a big, red combine harvester bringing in wheat – provides much of the series’s mood, along with Harrison’s slow, half-whispered voice. And the sense of pleasure, and the security that she gets from her daily interactions with her surroundings, is audible too.

It’s earnestly reflective: Harrison muses on the importance of connecting with the wilderness, and every week she ends with a ­poetry reading. In a recent episode, recorded indoors due to wet weather, ­Harrison offers a tour of her charming cottage, curling up on the sofa with a “slight shabby blanket”. This scene would not have felt out of place on a YouTube video title: “ASMR #Cottagecore House Tour for ­Relaxation” or one of those deliberately uneventful ­bedtime stories you can listen to on ­meditation apps, where an old man croaks “Hellooo, welcome to Rainy Day Antiques! Come inside and ­shelter from the storm.” For some it will tip into tweeness; but this crackling, windswept atmosphere is crucial to its charm. 

The Stubborn Light of Things 
Podcasts/Spotify

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

Content from our partners
The UK’s skills shortfall is undermining growth
<strong>What kind of tax reforms would stimulate growth?</strong>
How to end the poverty premium

This article appears in the 07 Oct 2020 issue of the New Statesman, Long Covid