“I was well aware of this synchronicity: that Cornwall was going onto lithium, or what I prefer to call ‘lithifying’, just as I was ‘delithifying’, or coming off it. This wasn’t an accidentally aligned pairing of incidents. I’d planned it that way.”

In 2022, Laura Grace Simpkins made two big life changes. She decided to stop taking lithium (a medication she was prescribed for her mental health) just as she moved to Cornwall—the only place where lithium is being mined in the UK. In 'Lithified', Laura gets ready for her future without the silvery-white metal, while exploring the landscape it will soon be coming from.

Featuring the voices of: Marcia Bjornerud, Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies at Lawrence University Jeremy Wrathall, Founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium Dr Beth Simons, Cornish geologist and author of ‘Variscan Coast’

Written and narrated by Laura Grace Simpkins Music and sound by Alice Boyd Produced by Alice Boyd and Laura Grace Simpkins A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4