Trees A Crowd
By David Oakes
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Category: Nature
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Subscribers: 72
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Episodes: 151
Description
Conversations with deep roots. From the Galápagos to the English hedgerow, actor and ecologist David Oakes talks with scientists, conservationists, artists and campaigners about the natural world and what it means to them.
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Many episodes are recorded in the field – beside the painted dog packs of Hwange in Zimbabwe, on puffin-strewn Lundy, in the gardens of Hampton Court. Others are unrushed conversations with some of the most influential voices in conservation today. Alongside them, the 56(ish) Trees series takes Britain’s native trees one at a time.
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David is Vice President of The Wildlife Trusts and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Trees A Crowd was Highly Commended at the 2025 Independent Podcast Awards and has been Podcast of the Week in The Times and The Guardian.
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Every episode, with notes and links: treesacrowd.fm
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Support the show (any profit goes to our guests’ charities): patreon.com/treesacrowdpod
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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Zack Polanski: Wild Card at the Wild Summit
|
Sep 23, 2026 |
|
Painted Dogs of Hwange: Where the Wild Pack Runs
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May 12, 2026 |
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The Executive Branch: Beccy Speight (RSPB), Darren Moorcroft (Woodland Trust) and Craig Bennett (The Wildlife Trusts)
|
Mar 17, 2026 |
|
Rakan Zahawi: Giant ambitions at the Charles Darwin Foundation
|
Mar 03, 2026 |
|
Prof. Carlos Mena: Trust the Locals, Trust the Science, Protect the Galápagos
|
Feb 24, 2026 |
|
Prof. Diana Pazmiño: Rays, Research and the Real Guardians of the Galápagos
|
Feb 17, 2026 |
|
Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”)
|
Dec 09, 2025 |
|
Iris Ho: Primates, Policy, and the Power of CITES
|
Dec 08, 2025 |
|
Elephant in the Room: Wildlife Trust of India’s Rapid Response to Grounded Humans & Uprooted Wanderers
|
Nov 20, 2025 |
|
Dr Bhaskar Choudhury: The Floodplain Guardians and the Elephants of Kaziranga
|
Nov 18, 2025 |
|
"Her Deepness" Dr Sylvia Earle & Dr Tessa Hempson: Protect the Oceans Like Your Life Depends Upon It... (Because It Does!)
|
Oct 21, 2025 |
|
More M.G. Leonard: Further Furry Tales from the Riverbank
|
Jul 01, 2025 |
|
M G Leonard: Storytelling and the power of Beetles! “Elytra Literature” from Shakespeare to Starship Troopers.
|
Sep 10, 2024 |
|
Dr Hannah Trayford & Rachel Bigsby: The State of the Badger, with the Badger Trust
|
Aug 13, 2024 |
|
Matthew Oates: A Paean to the Purple Emperor. One Man’s Passion-filled Past Devoted to Great British Butterflies
|
Jul 09, 2024 |
|
Tim Kendall & Fiona Mathews (PART TWO): Eye spy an eco-engineer! Deep in the Forest of Dean in search of the contentious Wild Boar...
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
Fiona Mathews & Tim Kendall: Wild Mammals are far from 'Boar-ing'
|
Jun 11, 2024 |
|
Rob Stoneman: Resurrecting Rainforests, Protecting Peat and Constructing Conservation Kingdoms along our Coastlines
|
May 14, 2024 |
|
The Horstmann Trust: Vultures in the Valleys!
|
Apr 09, 2024 |
|
Andy & Peter Holden: A Filial History of Nest Building
|
Mar 12, 2024 |
|
Dr David Hetherington: Reintroducing the Lynx lynx lynx to our Cairngorms (a cat so enigmatic that they named it thrice!)
|
Feb 13, 2024 |
|
Dr Ruth Tingay: From Birds in Boxes to Rivers of Raptors; One woman’s mission for Wild Justice against Raptor Persecution
|
Jan 09, 2024 |
|
Katie Holten: The Three Questions
|
Dec 23, 2023 |
|
Katie Holten: Hedge Schools, Tree Time and the Language of our Forests
|
Dec 05, 2023 |
|
Paul Donald: Birds, Buddhists and Bypasses; Tales of Trafficking & Traffication with that Lark Sex Ratio Guy
|
Nov 07, 2023 |
|
Samuel West: The West Wing live at the Global Bird Fair
|
Oct 05, 2023 |
|
Paul Vorster: The Secrets of Sanbona, or: “Hippos!” and How Best to Become an Impact Player in Conservation
|
Oct 03, 2023 |
|
Nardstar*: Illuminating Cape Town's Evolving Streets, One Caracal at a Time
|
Sep 05, 2023 |
|
Chris Fallows: The flight and plight of the Great White Shark, as documented by Cape Town’s legendary Shark Man
|
Aug 01, 2023 |
|
Piet Beytell & Tommy Hall: Two very different perspectives united in thwarting Rhino poaching across Namibia
|
Jul 11, 2023 |
|
Save the Rhino Trust Namibia: Desert days with the Black Rhinos and the Rangers who protect them from Poachers
|
Jul 04, 2023 |
|
Sophie Pavelle: Ten Remarkable British Species and the Fable of Janet who fondly found their Faeces
|
Jun 06, 2023 |
|
Tan Twan Eng: The Master of the Nature Metaphor with his roots deep in the Concrete Jungle
|
May 16, 2023 |
|
Dr Brian Briggs: The Return of the Marsh Warbler and his Secret Identity hidden amongst the Reed Beds
|
May 02, 2023 |
|
Emma Marsh: Feathers and Feminism with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Kazakh Antelopes
|
Apr 04, 2023 |
|
Chris Packham (Part Two): Through sand and snow with Rothko and Rimbaud... (No, that's not what Chris calls his dogs!)
|
Mar 14, 2023 |
|
Chris Packham (Part One): Deep in the New Forest with the Really Wild Showman
|
Mar 07, 2023 |
|
Bison Whisperers: The Return of the Native
|
Feb 07, 2023 |
|
Dr Trevor Dines (Part Two): Mapping “The Trevor Dines Effect” with North Wales’ Meadow Maker
|
Jan 17, 2023 |
|
Dr Trevor Dines (Part One): Nobody ties themselves to buttercups (unless you’re born a botanist!)
|
Jan 10, 2023 |
|
Sarah Gillespie: Of Moths and Mezzotints - an Artist’s Metamorphosis
|
Dec 06, 2022 |
|
Dan "Swampy" Hooper: The power of protest and learning to live with it (and pooing in tunnels with friends)
|
Nov 01, 2022 |
|
Leigh Morris: Sexy carrots & feral wallabies - the adventures and curiosities hidden behind Manannan’s cloak
|
Oct 04, 2022 |
|
Dr Amy-Jane Beer: The 3 R’s of Nature Writing - Reading, Roaming and the Radial symmetry of Sea Urchin larvae
|
Sep 06, 2022 |
|
Dr Gavin Broad: Broadening horizons with Darwin's wasps and other tales of cannibalism, incest and zombies
|
Aug 02, 2022 |
|
Lost on Lundy: The hidden treasures of a wildlife landmark; aka, “David adventures to Puffin Island!”
|
Jul 05, 2022 |
|
Bonus Beatrice: Bearded Seals & Ice Flowers - further stories from the ice sheets
|
Jun 14, 2022 |
|
Beatrice von Preussen: All the little things that inspired an artist to travel from pole to pole
|
Jun 07, 2022 |
|
George Monbiot: Feeding our future with heaven-sent bacteria and home-brewed scrumpy!
|
May 24, 2022 |
|
Norwegian Spruce: Our Viking Christmas Tree; aka ‘The Return of the Native’
|
Dec 24, 2021 |
|
Holly: Merry berries & mistle thrushes deck our true native Christmas tree
|
Dec 21, 2021 |
|
The Viburnums: Ways fared to Guelderland via chalk paths and waterlogged fens
|
Dec 14, 2021 |
|
Elder: The people’s purple medicine chest lined with pariahs, period pop-guns & poo
|
Dec 07, 2021 |
|
Wild Privet: Your country needs Spitfires, stick-insects and an untrimmed bush!
|
Nov 30, 2021 |
|
Ash: Unlocking dieback with firelight, hurley sticks & Heiðrún the Viking goat
|
Nov 23, 2021 |
|
Strawberry Tree: No, not that kind... rather, a god-sent Irish oddity with several subterranean secrets
|
Nov 16, 2021 |
|
Dogwood: Victorian dating & rodent reanimating; the secrets of the bloody whippletree
|
Nov 09, 2021 |
|
Brigit Strawbridge Howard: As busy as a bee, whilst remaining humble as a bumble
|
Nov 05, 2021 |
|
The Limes: Bast-ardly BIG trees smothered in glamrock moths & decapitated bees
|
Nov 02, 2021 |
|
Sycamore: The mucilage & mysteries stuck upon our misunderstood martyr maple
|
Oct 26, 2021 |
|
Field Maple: Is it a BIRD (tongue)? Is it (an experimental Second World War) PLANE (cargo drop)? No! It's the colourful corky bungs of the SAPINDACEAE!
|
Oct 19, 2021 |
|
Hornbeam: Hardwood for smelting Boy Scouts & yoking chariots to hunt Ben Hur!
|
Oct 12, 2021 |
|
Hazel: "Monsieur, with your mellow fruitfulness, Dormice and ancient epigenetic poetical-pescatarianism, you are really spoiling us!"
|
Oct 05, 2021 |
|
The Birches: Magic Shrooms to Witches Brooms, the A to Z of the Birch nurtured
|
Sep 28, 2021 |
|
Alder: Swamp thing! You make my heart (-sized root nodules) sing / fix nitrogen with a symbiotic bacterium!
|
Sep 21, 2021 |
|
Sweet Chestnut: Legendarily tasty, but as prickly and trustworthy as a Borgia
|
Sep 14, 2021 |
|
The Oaks: From two tiny acorns grow Viking Gods, Druidic ritual sacrifice, Nazis and... Mr Darcy?!
|
Sep 07, 2021 |
|
Peter Wohlleben: The hidden life of the ‘Green Sheep’ who wanted to become an Ent
|
Sep 03, 2021 |
|
Beech: Never judge a ‘buche’ by its leaf-cover - (Buchen sollst du suchen-ish!)
|
Aug 31, 2021 |
|
Wych Elm: Which wonky wych is the survivor; our world's first wood woman?
|
Aug 24, 2021 |
|
English Elms: Dreams in Crystal Palaces, but coffins by Cathedrals
|
Aug 17, 2021 |
|
Sea Buckthorn: Fuelling flying horses & fixing sand dunes - the tree that started it all?
|
Aug 10, 2021 |
|
The Buckthorns: Fire, brimstones and the invasive aliens hiding in a pig's bladder
|
Aug 03, 2021 |
|
Rowan: All hail the Witchwood; the high-flying hero of Thor & dairy-maids!
|
Jul 27, 2021 |
|
Wild Service: A checkered past spent pizzled with politicians & ancient french knights
|
Jul 20, 2021 |
|
Whitebeam: The gorge-ous (geeky) sub-science behind our mighty 'Plant Elephants'
|
Jul 13, 2021 |
|
The Hawthorns: May Fairies protect your Midland bush against any Common Haws
|
Jul 06, 2021 |
|
Crab Apple: 'A' is for sin, cider, gravity and pip-popping Auroch-pat parties
|
Jun 29, 2021 |
|
Wild Pears: Infanticide, scampi & Barbarossa’s bloody bearded pear conference
|
Jun 22, 2021 |
|
The Cherries: Drupes adored by birds; blossom revered by Kamikaze suicide pilots
|
Jun 15, 2021 |
|
Blackthorn: Burgeoning with Booze, Black Magic and Butcher Birds
|
Jun 08, 2021 |
|
Richard Nairn: One man & his 'meitheal' replanting the ancient Wild Woods of Ireland
|
Jun 04, 2021 |
|
White & Grey Poplars: Twelve labours of Heracles, vs. Two non-native Poplars
|
Jun 01, 2021 |
|
Aspen: The tremulous beauty & ‘beaver-bonds’ of our immortal Quaking Poplar
|
May 25, 2021 |
|
Black Poplar: Devil’s fingers & flame-breathing horses heralding the fall of a giant
|
May 18, 2021 |
|
The Willows: Highly immoral, incestuous, SEX-obsessed, b*stards!
|
May 11, 2021 |
|
Spindle: Linnaeus' favourite charcoal with splashes of Indian celebration
|
May 04, 2021 |
|
Box: The music, art and sensory secrets hidden within Queen Anne’s box
|
Apr 27, 2021 |
|
Scots Pine: Wolves, woodants and the wonder of our keystone species
|
Apr 20, 2021 |
|
Juniper: A gin-fuelled journey to Oregon, via Holland and Georgian London
|
Apr 20, 2021 |
|
Yew: From Agincourt to cancer-cure, the ancient tree of life and death
|
Apr 20, 2021 |
|
Oakes on Oaks: Introducing our 56(ish) Trees
|
Apr 16, 2021 |
|
Dr George McGavin (Part Two): Putting the “Ooo!” into Zooology with evil cats and spider penises!
|
Oct 05, 2020 |
|
Dr George McGavin (Part One): A World of Colour! The vertebrate in an invertebrate world!
|
Sep 28, 2020 |
|
Doug Allan: A witness beneath the waves on World Manta Day
|
Sep 17, 2020 |
|
(More) Mark Carwardine: On the realities of anti-poaching patrols & his conservation heroes
|
Sep 14, 2020 |
|
Georgina Lamb: A Lamb leading lions, elephants, pangolins, snow leopards, rhinos and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
|
Aug 31, 2020 |
|
Will Travers OBE: Born free and committed to compassionate conservation
|
Aug 17, 2020 |
|
World Oyster Day: Prof. Rowan Lockwood & Dr Bryce Stewart “shell-ebrate” the mighty mollusc!
|
Aug 05, 2020 |
|
Prof. Kate Jones (Part Two): Bats - mixing your margaritas since 55,000,000 BC
|
Jul 27, 2020 |
|
Prof. Kate Jones (Part One): What do you get if you cross David Attenborough with Harrison Ford?
|
Jul 20, 2020 |
|
Dr William C. Tweed: Whale < Bear < Human < Squirrel
|
Jul 13, 2020 |
|
Dr William C. Tweed: The secret histories of John Muir’s Giant Redwoods
|
Jul 06, 2020 |
|
Serena Manteghi: Ophelia and Shakespeare's floral secrets
|
Jun 22, 2020 |
|
Rosalind Forbes Adam: The field of dreams at the Woodmeadow Trust
|
Jun 15, 2020 |
|
Jennie Martin: Foraging, fungi and forest bathing in lockdown
|
Jun 08, 2020 |
|
Life on Langholm Moor: Wild justice and community spirit seeking the raptors’ return
|
Jun 01, 2020 |
|
Dara McAnulty: The young naturalist providing new perspectives on old problems
|
May 25, 2020 |
|
Éanna Ní Lamhna (Part 2): The trees of Ireland and our snake-free run up to the sixth extinction
|
May 17, 2020 |
|
Éanna Ní Lamhna (Part 1): The force of nature teaching teachers about the Emerald Isle
|
May 10, 2020 |
|
Alastair Humphreys: Living adventurously, yet learning how to love home
|
Apr 26, 2020 |
|
"Curlew" by Bella Hardy
|
Apr 22, 2020 |
|
CURL-EW-PHORIA!
|
Apr 21, 2020 |
|
Alastair Gunn: Roses, wildflowers and tending ‘to the manor’s thorn’
|
Apr 17, 2020 |
|
Nick Cooke: Beneath the boughs with bluebells and brambles
|
Apr 15, 2020 |
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Nick Howard: Heritage, home and honing the Howard’s way
|
Apr 13, 2020 |
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Luci Ryan: A hidden battle against HS2 to preserve five ancient woodlands
|
Mar 31, 2020 |
|
Dr Helen Pheby: Sculpture for sheep, and rhubarb trains; the place ‘Extraordinary’ can happen
|
Mar 30, 2020 |
|
Edward Davey: Learning how to feed the planet in response to COVID-19
|
Mar 26, 2020 |
|
Tim Pears: Foraging fables from the hedgerows of the West Country
|
Mar 16, 2020 |
|
Rob Rose & Nat Stoppard: Food as a by-product of conservation at Rosewood Farm
|
Mar 02, 2020 |
|
Ingrid Newkirk: One woman and ‘Animalkind’; the tale of PETA’s rabbits
|
Feb 17, 2020 |
|
Dr Bryce Stewart: The man who writes his phone number on lobsters
|
Feb 03, 2020 |
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Dr Catherine Barlow: No puffins were harmed in the making of this golden eagle podcast
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Jan 20, 2020 |
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Mark Carwardine: "Don’t ever french-kiss a Narwhal”... and other words of wisdom
|
Jan 03, 2020 |
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Joanna Lentini: Swimming with crocodiles to photograph her fears
|
Dec 16, 2019 |
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Victoria Bromley: Producing wildlife documentaries and inspiring the next generation
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Dec 13, 2019 |
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Dr Richard Benwell: Carbon footprints and coots’ feet; the Greenman running in Wantage
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Nov 22, 2019 |
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Dr Jo Elworthy: Living in Eden – how to leave the world better than you found it
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Nov 14, 2019 |
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Sir John Lawton: The wit, wisdom and winged omens of the man who would re-wild Chernobyl
|
Nov 04, 2019 |
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Amanda Owen: Deep in the Dales with the Yorkshire Shepherdess
|
Oct 18, 2019 |
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The Art of Trees: Live from the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Woodland Trust
|
Oct 10, 2019 |
|
Harry Barton: Balancing Wildlife in Devon and a Vision of Natural Justice
|
Oct 02, 2019 |
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Tannis Davidson: Bulletproof elephants, 3D-printing a quagga and cloning thylacines
|
Sep 12, 2019 |
|
Chris Watson (Part Two): If a podcast is recorded in a forest, and no one is around to hear it…
|
Aug 21, 2019 |
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Chris Watson (Part One): The winds catching the conifers – and the secrets of the dawn chorus
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Aug 20, 2019 |
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Dr Jess French: Two legs, good – six legs, better! One woman and her many minibeasts
|
Aug 09, 2019 |
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Dr Terry Gough: Sowing seeds in the flowerbeds of Kings and Queens
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Jul 29, 2019 |
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Rebecca Speight: The Overstory and Understory of the Woodland Trust
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Jul 11, 2019 |
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Wolfgang Buttress and Dr Martin Bencsik: Hive minds waxing lyrical
|
Jun 26, 2019 |
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Bella Hardy: Singing in the Shadows of Mountains
|
Jun 13, 2019 |
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Maldives Underwater Initiative: Diving with Pearls
|
May 30, 2019 |
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Dr Guy Stevens: Guarding the Big Blue’s Gentle Giant
|
May 16, 2019 |
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Dr Fay Clark: Ring-tails, Killer Whales and the history of the British Zoo.
|
May 06, 2019 |
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Dr Ellinor Michel: Snail shells and concrete dinosaurs in deep time
|
Apr 25, 2019 |
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Dr Steve Etches MBE: Plumbing the prehistoric depths of the Kimmeridge Clay
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Apr 22, 2019 |
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Dr Katherine Brent: Morris dancing, bees and badger cull protestors
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Apr 11, 2019 |
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Astrid Goldsmith: Puppets, politics, and The Wind in the Willows with extra Wombles
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Apr 04, 2019 |
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David Fettes: Going against the crowd - and the best moment to press the button
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Mar 25, 2019 |
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Polly Morgan: Form and colour rather than life and death
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Mar 07, 2019 |
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Mark Frith: a legacy of Britain's ancient oaks
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Feb 21, 2019 |