356 | Andrea Wulf on Enlightenment, Nature, Romanticism, and Modernity

356 | Andrea Wulf on Enlightenment, Nature, Romanticism, and Modernity

From Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll

June 8, 2026 · 1h 17m · Episode 356

About this episode

Andrea Wulf discusses the historical context of Enlightenment ideas and their impact on nature and humanity through her works.

All ideas have a history, no matter how inevitable and well-entrenched they may seem to us today. The later Enlightenment was a heady time when people were exploring new conceptions of nature, humanity, and the self. Andrea Wulf is a writer of narrative histories, examining the origins of ideas through the lives of the people who explored them. In this episode we discuss three of her books: The Invention of Nature , about Alexander von Humboldt and environmentalism; Magnificent Rebels , about the Jena circle of Romantics including Goethe, Schiller, Schlegel, and others; and most recently The Traveller , about George Forster, an early naturalist, ethnographer, and champion of human equality. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/06/08/356-andrea-wulf-on-enlightenment-nature-romanticism-and-modernity/ Support Mindscape on Patreon . Andrea Wulf was born in India, raised in Germany, and studied design history at the Royal College of Art, London. She is the author of seven books. She is a Miller Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Invention of Nature won multiple prizes, including the Royal…

People in this episode

Host: Sean Carroll

Guest: Andrea Wulf

Topics covered

  • Enlightenment
  • Nature
  • Romanticism
  • Modernity
  • Environmentalism
  • Narrative History

Keywords

  • Enlightenment
  • nature
  • Romanticism
  • environmentalism
  • narrative history
  • George Forster
  • Alexander von Humboldt

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Santa Fe Institute, Royal Society of Literature

Books & works: The Invention of Nature, Magnificent Rebels, The Traveller

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