What Rosa Lister has said about Sycamore Gap trial

3 quotes · 1 episode · Jul 20, 2026

Rosa Lister, London-based writer who covered the Sycamore Gap trial for Harper's Magazine, has been quoted on Sycamore Gap trial 3 times in 1 episode of This American Life, most recently on July 20, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.

In their words

  • Lister reported the two men were charged with criminal damage valued at over 623,000 pounds, calculated partly with a tree valuation system.

    “The two men were charged with criminal damage amounting to 623,335 pounds, over 800,000 American dollars”

    This American Life: 892: Trapped on a Bus (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 36:19

  • Lister considered the prison sentences unusually harsh, noting that cutting down a tree in England usually results in nothing or a fine.

    “The sentence seemed weirdly over the top. When people cut down a tree in England, what usually happens is nothing”

    This American Life: 892: Trapped on a Bus (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 46:02

  • Lister cited a tree lawyer who said this was the first UK case of imprisonment for cutting down a single tree.

    “According to a tree lawyer I talked to, it was the first time anyone in the United Kingdom had gone to prison for cutting down a single tree”

    This American Life: 892: Trapped on a Bus (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 46:02

Episodes

  • 892: Trapped on a Bus

    This American Life · Jul 20, 2026 · 1 h 3 min

    Guest host David Kestenbaum presents stories of unwanted journeys: a runaway bus, a neighbor-spy and bipolar paranoia, Havana blackouts, the Sycamore Gap felling, and an in-flight bite.

Rosa Lister on other topics