A few weeks ago, Sir David Attenborough joined Instagram. Four hours and 44 minutes later, one million people had followed @davidattenborough (a world record) and today, 5.6m people follow a brilliant man who has become, in his twilight years, one of the most compelling advocates for the changes in human behaviour that may arrest what he sees as the ruination of the planet.
While social media is perhaps not the natural habitat of this 94-year old broadcaster, and campaigner, there is something greatly encouraging about Attenborough’s dramatic arrival on Instagram (his first post has been viewed nearly 18 million times) and the power one hopes he is gathering to influence all generations as he promotes his latest documentary, A Life on our Planet, which has been described as an obituary for our world and the most important documentary of the year.
That documentary has been reviewed in Wired and is included here in our weekend reading list. Or you could just go straight to Netflix and judge for yourself. Elsewhere, our list this week is a typically diverse and interesting collection, from the black holes that I do not profess to understand, to poverty, diversity, empathy and a delightful wander along an old drovers’ road in a Scottish highland glen.
I hope you enjoy them, and the weekend too.