Ep. 45 – Rob Dunn on what the laws of biology predict about our future

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Amid the cataclysms of the Anthropocene, an era defined by humans’ attempts to control the natural world, it’s easy to forget that we remain as subject as ever to the ecological laws that govern living things. Like the laws of physics, paying attention to our planet’s biological laws empowers us to understand how the world works and to make predictions about the outcomes of our actions. In his new book, A Natural History of the Future, ecologist Rob Dunn warns that continuing to ignore these laws will cause us to fail again and again in our attempts to build a sustainable future for our species. In this interview, we speak with Dr. Dunn about how across life big and small, remote and within our own bodies, these immutable laws of ecology, evolution, and biogeography will shape our future; what the trajectory of life could look like in our absence; and about the marvelous unknowns still to be discovered around and within us.