24. Gordon Buchanan: Rewilding Scotland, ADHD, and the second half of life

Preview

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Aug 18, 2026

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Gordon Buchanan is one of Britain’s best-known wildlife filmmakers and presenters. Over three decades, he has filmed for landmark BBC series including Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, and starred in acclaimed programs such as The Polar Bear Family & Me, Predators & Me and Big Cats 24/7. His memoir is In the Hide: How the Natural World Saved My Life.

We discuss:

• Gordon’s favorite childhood book (The Talking Parcel), movie (Toy Story), and album (Bad, by Michael Jackson).

• What a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis meant for Gordon.

• How future-oriented ecological hope may play a role in our present day relationship with some landscapes.

• What Gordon would do if he lived on in ghost form.

• Beavers being used a fire risk mitigation in California.

• Gordon gets to imagine a rejuvenated Scotland in the year 2526. (Wolves, bears, lynx?)

• Will there be wolves in Scotland by the end of our lives?

• Gordon and I imagine “eco robots” and a “drone shepherd.”

• I ask Gordon what communities he’s been envious of on all his travels:

• Ken pitches five half-baked wildlife documentary ideas to Gordon.

• Some eco-robots:

Gordon recommends:

• Homophobia & island life

• Did Gordon coin the term “re-emotion yourself”?

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Ken.