Why rivers need human rights
The Story
The Times
4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A council in Hampshire has passed a motion to grant ‘personhood’ to the River Test, an ancient chalk stream which runs through the county. Although largely symbolic, calls for rivers to have rights are becoming more widespread. What’s driving this burgeoning environmental movement, and what difference could it make to our lives?
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory
Guest: Adam Vaughan, Environment Editor, The Times.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Edward Drummond.
Read more: The benefits of human rights for rivers
Further listening: Thames Water: the business model built on shit
Clips: BBC, Sky News.
Photo: Getty Images.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Adam Grant from Worklife, a podcast from TED. |
| 0:05.3 | This episode is brought to you by FreshWorks. |
| 0:08.0 | FreshWorks believes the complexity is the enemy of efficiency. |
| 0:11.2 | So stop wrestling with bloated expensive service software that takes forever to implement an update, |
| 0:16.4 | where ROI is someday, not today. |
| 0:19.1 | You've been overcharged and underserved for way too long. |
| 0:22.7 | Uncomplicate with fresh service for IT and fresh desk for customer support. |
| 0:27.9 | And with FreshWorks AI-assisted service software, you'll work smarter, not harder. |
| 0:33.1 | FreshWorks uncomplicates. |
| 0:35.2 | Learn more at freshworks.com. |
| 0:38.5 | 1350. Three years on from the siege of Calais, the Black Death has wreaked havoc in Europe. |
| 0:45.3 | The Castilians are moving against England. The Essex dogs have scattered, but the battle |
| 0:50.8 | isn't over yet. Lionheart's, the greatest fighters, have everything to lose. |
| 0:57.2 | The unmissable conclusion to the Essex Dogs trilogy |
| 0:59.9 | from Sunday Times bestseller Dan Jones. |
| 1:03.5 | Lion Hearts. |
| 1:04.8 | Out now in hardback, e-book and audio. |
| 1:12.5 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 1:16.3 | I'm Luke Jones. |
| 1:20.9 | There are codified rights for children, employees at work, soldiers on the battlefield, animal welfare, even tree welfare. |
| 1:33.3 | But what about our rivers? Stay with me. |
| 1:39.0 | This week, so aggrieved at the state of the river test, a council in Hampshire decided to grant the river a sort of personhood, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.