The Long View is out today!
Some publication announcements, news ...and a discount offer
Hello readers,
The big week is finally here – The Long View – is published this Thursday the 30th of March!
In this edition of the newsletter, we dive into some exciting announcements surrounding the book launch.
Before we jump in, we want to thank you for following along throughout this process, and for all your support, feedback, and engagement! We appreciate you bearing with us through this uptick in newsletters and are enormously grateful to those of you who have already pre-ordered and helped us spread the word.
If you would like to get hold of The Long View, the publisher is offering an exclusive 25% discount code for the UK readers of this newsletter… scroll down to the end to use it. You can also find links to other retailers here, as well as the e-book and Audible version (read by Richard!)
Announcements
A lot has been happening leading up to publication! Here is a non-exhaustive list:
The BBC deep time films
Here’s Richard to explain:
A long-term project recently published that I am *extremely* excited to see live... a three-part series of short films for the BBC, a collaboration with the filmmaker Adam Proctor, and featuring author David Farrier, artist Katie Paterson and musician Karine Polwart.
The three films are about the mind-expanding scale of 'deep time' and my quest to take a longer view.
In Film One, ‘The man who discovered the “abyss of time”’, I visit Siccar Point on the east coast of Scotland, a place of huge significance to geology, not to mention our understanding of the long-term. It’s home to Hutton’s Unconformity, a feature that led to the recognition of “deep time”. But as we discovered, this stretch of coastline is now notable for more than its natural features: it also hosts a nuclear power station and a carbon-intensive cement works.
Film Two, 'The art of taking the very, very long view' is a profile of the mind-expanding work of the artist Katie Paterson, an artist who approaches long-term thinking through a creative and participatory lens. In this film, you’ll see how her art helps us extend our perspectives into longer timescales.
Finally Film Three explores ‘The 22nd-century people who already live among us’. I reflect on my daughter and how she, along with many other children, could live to 2100. Our family ties stretch far further – and are more entwined – across long-term time than we might realise.
Supported by stunning animation and videography from Adam Proctor at Fort Sunlight Studios, these films allowed me to delve into several of the ideas and projects in The Long View. You can check them all out by going here.+++ Inspired by the films, I also wrote a piece for BBC Future - out today - about the ‘The benefits of ‘deep time thinking’ +++
The Long View was reviewed in the Sunday Times
“Fisher, an editor of BBC Future and a geology enthusiast, has poured a decade’s worth of thinking on this issue into The Long View. The result is an erudite survey of a subject he believes could decide the fate of humanity…”
Feature in New Scientist adapted from The Long View
This article is about why we need to expand our temporal sense, and the psychology that underpins our perception of time. It describes the pressures that force us into blinkered decision-making and how we might free ourselves from the clutches of short-term thinking.
We particularly liked the opening artwork in the print magazine, based on an optician’s chart:
Feature in Vox Future Perfect about why the long view needs pluralism
The aim with this essay was to explore the relationship between the long view and longtermism, a philosophy of the future that emerged in the effective altruism movement.
The Long View, in Chapter Nine, tells the story of how longtermism emerged, its implications, and what to make of it. But a lot has happened since those pages were written, such as the launch of William MacAskill’s What We Owe the Future – not to mention some strong pushback and controversy too.
If longtermism is not for you (or even if it is), the Vox piece is about broadening the long-term view, and why we don’t need to set near-term and long-term needs against one another. There are other, plural, routes to the long view out there to be found.
Upcoming:
Conversation with Rowan Hooper for the New Scientist Podcast
Rowan and Richard spoke on a windy day on top of an ancient barrow in south-west London. Perhaps appropriately given the book’s cover, in this photo there’s a tree growing out of the top of Richard’s head…
Richard will also be appearing on various other podcasts in the coming weeks, including Converging Dialogues, How To Academy and more, as well as appearances on Times Radio.
Literary festivals and speaking
Richard will be speaking at:
Stratford Literary Festival on 6 May
Guernsey Literary Festival on 13 May
Edinburgh International Book Festival on 14 August
The Long View: in wood!
We wanted to mark the launch of The Long View with something special. This wood engraving of the book’s cover was made by Luke Blades and Jenna Peters. Inspired by the relationship between trees and long-mindedness, Jenna and Luke created this lovely -interarboration- between the signifier and the signified. Here’s the ‘making of’ story behind it.
If you have ideas for art related to The Long View, please do reach out. We would love to see it!
If you’d like 25% off the cover price and live in the UK, visit the Headline shop, and use this code at checkout: LONGVIEW25
The book is also available via many other retailers. For options, visit the book’s Hachette page here (which also has e-book and audio options) or Book Depository which promises free international shipping.
best wishes,
Richard & Xander - The Long View Team
This looks fantastic! Can't wait to read!
Congratulations! What a day!
As a quick FYI, both Safari and my local service provider are blocking the Book Depository site because it's "suspicious". I live in Canada and would like to buy the physical book, but it won't be available here until September... so it would be good to buy it from Book Depository with their " free international shipping".