You're listening to a special weekend edition of the world and everything in it.

I'm Les Silers.

British novelist and poet Paul Kingsnorth was a popular figure among radical eco-activists

until he began to write about dark ecology. That was his name for what he called

a personal philosophy for a dark time. He wrote in 2014 that the modern world has made

ecological collapse inevitable and eco-activism is worthless. That made him less popular among

environmentalists than the proverbial garden party skunk.

So he moved to rural Ireland with his wife and two kids and took to mowing grass with a scythe,

at least for a while.

But he continued to write and he founded a popular substack newsletter called the Abbey of Miss Rule about technology and culture. Then, six years ago, he became an Orthodox Christian.

But it's been profoundly altering in the way that I see the world.

And also in the sense I have of the future, because being a Christian gives you hope.

King's North's latest book is Against the Machine on the Unmaking of Humanity.

It's been reviewed everywhere from the New York Times to the Gospel Coalition.

And he spoke with me recently from Ireland.

You can find an edited version of this interview in the December issue of World magazine.

Critics on the left and right often misunderstand his critiques of modern technology, consumer culture, and the West.

His analyses are severe but thoughtful, and Kings North takes aim at some things that many American evangelicals tend to take for granted.

I don't agree with him on everything. But if you're feeling kind of uprooted, and it seems that your phone and laptop are taking over your entire life,

and it's not a good feeling,

then I think you'll find this really interesting.

I'll be back with Paul Kings North, right after this.

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