This year's BBC Radio 4 Reith lecturer will be the best-selling author Robert Macfarlane.

Macfarlane will argue that a belief in human superiority has brought us to the brink of planetary catastrophe.

He says: “We imagine ourselves perched atop a pinnacle, when in fact we are entangled in a web of life." 

Across four lectures, each taking one of the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) as its focus, he explores the causes and consequences of this ‘human superiority complex’ for our relationships with the larger living world. And he shows how scientists, writers, artists and activists around the world are contesting the story of human exceptionalism in order to realise a hopeful, viable future on Earth.

The lectures will be chaired by presenter, journalist and author, Anita Anand and will be recorded in front of live audiences in London, Bangor, Aberdeen and Amsterdam. They will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service later this year and will be available to listen to on BBC Sounds.

For more information about the Amsterdam recording email ReithLecturesRSVP@bbc.co.uk

Tickets will be allocated by random draw.

You can register at any time until 10pm on Wednesday 30 September.

You can apply for a maximum of two tickets per lecture and if your application is successful you will only receive tickets for one lecture in the series.

To apply, select from the available options below.