Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn

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Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn: Episode 5

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BBC Radio 4 - Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn, Episode 5

Southeast California is the setting for both deluge and desert.

The absence of water does not necessarily erase all signs of life in the Californian desert.

Islands of Abandonment, by Cal Flyn, explores the extraordinary places where humans no longer live - or survive in tiny, precarious numbers - to give us a glimpse of what happens when mankind’s impact on nature is forced to stop. 

Flyn brings together some of the most desolate, eerie, ravaged and polluted areas in the world - and shows how, against all odds, they can offer remarkable opportunities for environmental recovery. 

By turns haunted and hopeful, this luminously written and wide-ranging account shines a light in the direction of some of the answers to the big questions - what happens after we’re gone, and how far can our presence be erased and the damage be undone?

Written by Cal Flyn
Abridged by Jill Waters and Isobel Creed
Read by Morven Christie
Produced by Jill Waters 
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4

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A book about abandoned places and what happens when nature is allowed to reclaim them.

Book of the Week. Cal Flyn writes about abandoned places: ghost towns, exclusion zones and post-industrial hinterlands - and what happens when nature is allowed to reclaim them.

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