Monocle Radio’s Meet the Writers: Jean McNeil

August 4, 2025

On bearing witness to a disappearing world

Continuing the success of her latest book, Latitudes: Encounters with a Changing Planet, Jean McNeil was recently in conversation with Georgina Godwin of Monocle Radio‘s Meet the Writers.

And what an introduction. Georgina Godwin explains how she reads four or five books a week, and ‘This one has knocked me sideways. On a sentence-by-sentence level honestly the best thing I’ve read all year.’ And in conclusion: ‘It’s a really brave examination of self and of human kind but ultimately it’s a beautiful love letter to the Earth.‘

They discussed Jean’s extraordinary journey from growing up in the wilderness of Canada to a metropolitan life in London with a career in writing, publishing and lecturing. The conversation follows Jean’s meandering experience through Earth’s wildest places, from Antarctica to Africa, Greenland to the Falklands, and what she encountered along the way: a disappearing world, the far-flung effects of the Anthropocene witnessed up close. Their chat explores grief, climate change and honouring the earth, all while celebrating a book that Georgina calls “the best thing I’ve read this year”.

Many thanks to Georgina and the team at Monocle for this riveting interview. Listen below or click here for the full podcast, and be sure to check out Monocle Radio and subscribe for more fantastic episodes of Meet the Writers.