BBC Radio 4 has appointed author Robert Macfarlane as the 2026 Reith Lecturer. The series, titled The Human Superiority Complex, consists of four lectures examining the belief that humans exist apart from nature. Mohit Bakaya, controller of BBC Radio 4, confirmed the appointment of the writer.
The first lecture, Earth: The Ladder and the Web, uses The Epic of Gilgamesh to trace the development of the human superiority complex. The second lecture, Air: The Great Thinning, focuses on birds and scientific data regarding the capabilities of non-human life forms. The third installment, Fire: Deep-Time Thinking, addresses the application of deep-time perspectives within political and narrative frameworks. The final lecture, Water: The Geography of Hope, examines legal and democratic structures that grant rights to oceans, rivers, and mountains.
Robert Macfarlane has produced work across literature, science, and film for over twenty years. He is a bestselling author specializing in landscape and language. The 2026 series uses the four classical elements as the structural basis for each of the four scheduled broadcasts.
The Reith Lectures are a long running series of annual talks broadcast by the BBC.