Kim Stanley Robinson on “Utopian” Science Fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson on “Utopian” Science Fiction

One of the premier writers of thinky sci-fi, Kim Stanley Robinson opened his book “The Ministry for the Future” with an all too plausible scenario: a lethal heat wave descends on India, with vast, horrifying consequences. It’s a sobering read, especially after July, 2021, was declared the hottest month on record. And yet Robinson tells Bill McKibben that his work is not dystopian; his central concern is how the globe could respond to such a disaster and begin to halt the momentum of global warming. “That whole dystopian postapocalyptic strain—it doesn’t serve as a warning, it doesn’t make you change your behavior,” Robinson notes. “I reject all that. I write as a utopian science-fiction writer.” But, “at the moment we’re at right now in world history,” he admits, “I have to set a pretty low bar for ‘utopia.’ If we dodge a mass-extinction event in this century, that’s utopian writing. That’s the best we can expect from where we are right now. Having put that story on the table as being possible, it suggests that we ought to be trying for it.”

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Keeping Score: A Year Inside a Divided Brooklyn High School

Keeping Score: A Year Inside a Divided Brooklyn High School

Nearly seventy years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, our public schools effectively remain segregated. And, by some measures, New York City has the most segregated system in the countr...

12 Syys 202247min

How Will Liz Truss Govern a Britain in Crisis?

How Will Liz Truss Govern a Britain in Crisis?

This week, Liz Truss became the United Kingdom’s newest Prime Minister. She comes into office following a string of scandals in the Conservative Party under her predecessor, Boris Johnson, and faces a...

8 Syys 202226min

Jill Lepore on Why Biden Is No F.D.R.

Jill Lepore on Why Biden Is No F.D.R.

Joe Biden has had a remarkable reversal of fortune this summer. He signed three bi-partisan bills, and the Inflation Reduction Act, a multi-billion-dollar combination of climate and healthcare legisla...

1 Syys 202230min

The Risk of a New American Civil War

The Risk of a New American Civil War

Since the F.B.I. raid on former President Donald Trump’s home, Mar-A-Lago, the phrases “civil war” and “lock and load” have trended on right-wing social media. The F.B.I. and the Department of Homelan...

31 Elo 202225min

Could Engaging the Taliban Help Afghan Women?

Could Engaging the Taliban Help Afghan Women?

This August marks the one year anniversary of American military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s swift return to power in Kabul. It has been an excruciating year for the war-torn nation, ...

25 Elo 202223min

What’s Driving Black Candidates to the Republican Party?

What’s Driving Black Candidates to the Republican Party?

The Republican Party is clearly no place for Black activism as most of us know it. Members of the Party inveigh against what they call critical race theory, and oppose efforts to redress racial discri...

22 Elo 202218min

Uncovering Biden Family Secrets

Uncovering Biden Family Secrets

President Joe Biden’s political talents are inseparable from his folksy persona. In speeches, he emphasizes his modest upbringing and quotes aphorisms from his car-salesman father about dignity and ho...

18 Elo 202236min

Is the Historic Climate Bill Enough to Save the Planet?

Is the Historic Climate Bill Enough to Save the Planet?

Last week, after more than a year of drama and deal-cutting, the Senate passed a complicated piece of legislation called the Inflation Reduction Act. Its name notwithstanding,  it’s being celebrated a...

15 Elo 202219min

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