This week we’re re-sharing our interview with Irish teenage author, naturalist, and conservationist Dara McAnulty. His debut book, Diary of a Young Naturalist—which he wrote at the age of fourteen, and which is in part an intimate portrait of his love of the living world and his distress at its destruction—is a testament to the power and importance of joy, a joy that encircles his relationship with nature. In a world where many are incentivized to act out of fear, Dara’s instinct to wonder at all that unfolds around him feels regenerative—a return to the essence of our connection with the living Earth.

In this conversation we spoke about the importance of approaching living in an era of crisis from a place grounded in joy, and his realization that writing, music, and art can be activism.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices