Kim Stanley RobinsonEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

This is our unabridged interview with Kim Stanley Robinson. Do you feel the weight of climate dread—and wonder whether hope is still intellectually honest? Acclaimed science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson joins Lee C. Camp to name our shared fear about the future without surrendering to despair. Drawing from ⁠ The Ministry for the Future ⁠ , Robinson offers a sober, deeply hopeful vision of change, one rooted not in heroics or denial, but in ordinary people, communal action, and the slow work of making things better. Together they explore how science, faith, and moral imagination can help us live well, even in a warming world. Key Ideas: Hope Without Illusion Robinson shows how genuine hope can coexist with fear, grounding optimism in science, collective action, and moral resolve rather than denial. Ordinary People Matter History often turns not on heroes or villains, but on everyday people, bureaucrats, scientists, neighbors, who do the right thing at critical moments. Utopia as Process A better future isn’t a flawless destination, but a continual movement toward less suffering, greater justice, and deeper solidarity. The Sacredness of the Biosphere Care for the planet is not just technical or political work, but a form of devotion rooted in humility, wonder, and reverence for life. Community Over Individualism Human flourishing depends on shared systems, food, labor, science, and governance that remind us how deeply we rely on one another. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠ Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠⁠ for abridged episode with Kim Stanley Robinson ⁠ Thank you to our sponsors: Boll and Branch : Get 20% off plus free shipping by visiting ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BollAndBranch.com/NSE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join NSE+ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening , member-only bonus content , and early access to live show tickets . Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @nosmallendeavor ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @leeccamp ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EN: A Conversation with Kim Stanley Robinson In this episode Adam and Marcelo talk to best-selling scifi author Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry of the Future, the Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars series, New York 2140, and many other books. The amazing conversation ranged widely, from imagining new futures to the craft of writing fiction, to space travel and colonization, ETs, and rethinking our collective future on this planet. PT: Uma Conversa com Kim Stanley Robinson Neste episódio, Adam e Marcelo conversam com o escritor de ficção científica best-seller Kim Stanley Robinson, autor de The Ministry of the Future , da trilogia Marte Vermelho, Marte Verde e Marte Azul , New York 2140 e muitos outros livros. A conversa percorre uma ampla gama de temas: da imaginação de futuros possíveis ao ofício da escrita de ficção, passando por viagens espaciais e colonização, vida extraterrestre e a necessidade de repensarmos coletivamente o futuro do nosso planeta.

This episode is available in video form on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1cGrD47eZSk American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson joins Kamran Abbasi to discuss climate disaster, the need for political imagination, and science fiction's vision for health. Kim Stanley Robinson is the acclaimed author of a trilogy of novels, exploring the terraforming and settlement of Mars. His most recent novel, 'Ministry for the Future', was published in 2020. 'Ministry for the Future' sets out a vision for real solutions to our climate crisis, covering global finance, the animal kingdom, rising sea levels, energy production and much more. The book imagines a Ministry that begins its work in 2025. Five years after publication, with 2025 past and gone, The BMJ spoke to Robinson to explore how closely the novel's vision for the future has reflected reality. 01:00 BMJ's New Climate Change Initiative 01:21 Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future 04:02 The Role of Political Violence in Climate Action 10:50 The Concept of the Carbon Coin 12:51 The Importance of Global Collaboration 27:32 The Role of Medicine in Climate Change 32:33 Youth and Climate Activism 37:53 Hope and Despair in Climate Action 41:29 Conclusion and Future Works Read more about The BMJ's climate coverage in the latest issue: https://www.bmj.com/content/392/8479

Sustainability Now! August 23, 2020. Host Ronnie Lipschutz and his guest Kim Stanley Robinson engage in a wide-ranging conversation about sustainability, politics, 2020 and after, and how we might prepare for the future. Robinson is a science fiction author, California futurist and environmental optimist of the will. His recent work, such as New York 2140 (2017) has addressed environmental and climate issues. His forthcoming book, The Ministry for the Future , which imagines a new, global organization that advocates for the world’s future generations and protects all living creatures, present and future. (Photo by Stephan Martiniere, https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/kim-stanley-robinson-coming-to-phoenix-art-museum-sept-20-9702004)

In this week’s episode rerun, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kim Stanley Robinson, acclaimed author of many books, most recently “The Ministry for the Future.” Robinson’s books vividly illustrate some of the most devastating potential consequences of climate change, but that’s not all they do—the books also offer innovation and optimism, imagining the ways in which we can prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change and adapt to the impacts that are unavoidable. Robinson discusses his recent visit to COP26 and his views on climate economics, modern monetary theory, space opera, and more. We’re rebroadcasting this episode from the Resources Radio archive while the podcast team is on a break through the rest of December. We’ll be back with new episodes in the new year; in the meantime, enjoy this throwback and poke around the archive at Resources.org for more topics you might be interested in. References and recommendations: “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/ “The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes” by Zachary D. Carter; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563378/the-price-of-peace-by-zachary-d-carter/ “Improving Discounting in the Social Cost of Carbon” by Brian Prest, William Pizer, and Richard Newell; https://www.resources.org/archives/improving-discounting-in-the-social-cost-of-carbon/ “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist” by Kate Raworth; https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/ The concept of “carbon currency” by Delton Chen; https://globalcarbonreward.org/carbon-currency/ “Hypothesis for a Risk Cost of Carbon: Revising the Externalities and Ethics of Climate Change” by Delton B. Chen, Joel van der Beek, and Jonathan Cloud; https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-03152-7_8 “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet” by David Attenborough and Johan Rockström; https://www.netflix.com/title/81336476

Many objections to solar radiation modification (SRM)--such as the fear it could undermine other forms of climate action--have been overtaken by events, says The Ministry of the Future author Kim Stanley Robinson in this C2GTalk . The world is in a growing crisis, and cutting and removing emissions is taking too long. It's time to learn whether SRM can help, and how to govern it. Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer. His books include the best-selling Mars trilogy, Red Moon , New York 2140 , and The Ministry for the Future . He was part of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers' Program in 1995 and 2016, and a featured speaker at COP-26 in Glasgow, as a guest of the UK government and the UN. For more, please go to C2G's website .

What is the role of literature in the climate policy and technology discussion? How does the genre allow us to explore uncomfortable climate scenarios, including those to do with heat death and direct action? While ultimately successful, the path laid out in the book is very bumpy, volatile, and rife with violence – strikingly different from the smooth and orderly transition often offered up by politicians and techno-optimists. On S5E7 of Energy vs Climate, David, Sara, Ed, and New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson (of The Ministry for the Future ) discuss how science fiction can help us explore different climate scenarios and solutions. EPISODE NOTES @0:21 – Kim Stanley Robinson @0:21 – The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson @3:13 – How hot is too hot for humans? Understanding wet-bulb temperatures @9:00 – Carboncoin @10:25 – The unprecedented Pacific Northwest heatwave of June 2021 @13:55 – Karl Popper @18:45 – How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Andreas Malm @20:32 – Dave Foreman @21:30 – Climate protesters throw tomato soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ @27:50 – Who is Wiebo Ludwig? A thunder storm wrapped in the flesh of a man. Part 1 @30:52 – Glacier geoengineering to address sea-level rise: A geotechnical approach (Lockley et al, 2020) @31:50 – Solar Geoengineering - should we go there? @39:25 – Empowering Female Climate Change Activists in the Global South: The Path Toward Environmental Social Justice - Peggy Ann Spitzer @44:05 – The Hottest Year @46:10 – Utility of the blockchain for climate mitigation (Chen, 2018) @49:05 – Overshooting 1.5 C limit 'looks inevitable' with record CO2 emissions from fossil fuels Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email) Follow us on: LinkedIn Bluesky X/Twitter Instagram Energy vs Climate relies on the support of our generous listeners <a href='https://www.energyvsclimate.com/

In this episode, WGSN Creative Director Lisa White and acclaimed climate fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson discuss biodiversity, sustainability incentives and regulations, and whether AI is impacting human creativity. Kim Stanley Robinson has been writing for over 40 years and has published more than 20 books, focusing on near and far futures. He talked with Lisa as part of WGSN’s recent Trends Days – a biannual brainstorming event exploring future forecasts – where they discussed the future of the biosphere, nature and human nature, plus how speculative fiction can and should play a role in the worlds of business and industry. Stan’s work incorporates so much of what we value at WGSN, in particular our STEPIC methodology, which focuses on insights into Society, Technology, the Environment, Politics, Industry and Creativity. Through his rigorous research and storytelling skills, he gives readers a seat in the future to better understand how our actions today can and will impact the outcomes of tomorrow.

Kim Stanley Robinson—author of "The Ministry for the Future"—reflects on the complexity of the challenges we face with climate change. Hosted by the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, the science fiction writer gives a lecture recorded in front of a live audience at the University of San Diego’s Peace & Justice Theatre. After the lecture, the author takes questions from Kroc School students Franco Castro Escobar and Théa Klement. His novel, The Ministry for the Future, was selected as one of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020 and one of Bill Gates’ “5 Great Books for the Summer” in 2022. To buy the novel, "The Ministry for the Future", visit https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Future-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316300136

This conversation is part of a series of interviews with various brothers and teachers, including many fellow writers, all of which are part of the body of work surrounding my book-length memoir An Ordinary Disaster —one man's proof that we can all learn to listen to ourselves, and to act upon the inner voice of our self, our sanity and our soul. Today I'm speaking with Kim Stanley Robinson, a true legend of a writer, and also as an advocate for better stewardship of planet Earth and for sustainable cohabitation with all the species that inhabit this unique gem of a planet. Stan has published more than twenty books including the pioneering Mars Trilogy , 2312 , Shaman , The Ministry For the Future , and, most recently, The High Sierra: A Love Story . He has received great recognition for both his creative work, his advocacy—and, although he's quick to qualify it as the work of a novelist, the fact is that he’s made quite a mark with his scientific thinking as well. Stan and I met through the Long Now Foundation here in San Francisco and reconnected through our mutual love of the high Sierra, in particular through the shared experience of independently coming across Paiute obsidian knapping sites simply by following our intuition in looking for good places to rest while out hiking. Especially since I'm working on building a third career as a writer, I value very highly Stan's life experience as a working artist who's met with such success—and also as someone who embodies warmth, curiosity, irreverence, adventure, poise, truth, and openness, just to name a few of the values that I see in him. Topics Stan and I cover a lot of ground that should be interesting to fans of his writing as well as lovers of the high Sierra of California, including the Cardboard Set Problem , physical places as characters in writing, how he became a writer , poetry, how he feels about formal training in creative writing (and MFA programs in particular), the connection between geography and outdoor sports , intuition and the practice of wayfinding , the difference between micro and macro lost , risk and danger, the spiritual practice of ‘ being a dog ,’ learning to love the inhuman—and other species of ‘people,’ dualism, escape, and balance, our collective embodiment , moving from a model of masculinity based on dominance to one based on resistance , his relationship with Gary Snyder , civilization and progress as “ lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, win ,” and the Kingdom of San Francisco . As you read or listen, you might scan the questions at the bottom of the show notes, or just consider this: what is your relationship with the natural world? How does it feel to be in nature and to be part of nature? And how does that inform you in your daily life, and as you look towards the future? The Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson Bowen Dwelle: Stan, welcome to Brothers and Teachers. Kim Stanley Robinson: My pleasure, Bowen. Good to be with ya. [00:03:27] The High Sierra Kim Stanley Robinson: I know that we're here today also to talk about my most recent book, The High Sierra . And that of course is a whole different thing. It's non-fiction. It has a bit of memoir in it. Never have I written directly about myself as much as I have in that book. And it was kind of uncomfortable to tell you the truth. But in order to express th

We can’t tear down the existing economic framework and replace it with a better one without first telling a persuasive story about how the economy actually works. And few people in the world are more compelling storytellers than science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson. In his speculative near-future novel The Ministry for the Future, Stan explains complicated economic theories better than most economists. He joins Nick and Goldy for a fascinating conversation about the role of economics in both climate change fiction and climate change reality. Kim Stanley Robinson is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He is the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed New York 2140 and The Ministry for the Future. Facebook: Kim Stanley Robinson The Ministry for the Future https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300148 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

In The Ministry for the Future , science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a near-future where climate change has wreaked havoc, from severe heat waves, to flooding, limited resources, and a global refugee crisis. It’s a terrifying set of circumstances. But it’s not without hope - and Robinson brings to life a possible path for survival. Robinson has also published a memoir, The High Sierra: A Love Story. On June 7, 2022, Kim Stanley Robinson talked with his friend, author and environmental activist, Bill McKibben, about his work, the challenges facing environmentalists, and how older people can play an important role. This program also includes an excerpt from the audiobook of The High Sierra read by the author, courtesy Hachette Books.

Marshall and Steve from Androids & Assets join Seth for a discussion of the second and third books in Kim Stanley Robinson’s MarsTrilogy Green Mars and Blue Mars, which won the 1994 and 1997 Hugo Awards for Best Novel. Start – 7:56 Intro through “Why this book?” 7:57 – 19:55 Non-Spoiler discussion 19:56 – end … Continue reading "HT#65: Green Mars and Blue Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson (feat. Androids & Assets)"

Our guest today is Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the greatest living science fiction writers and one of the few people to have developed a credible solution to the climate crisis. In this interview, he discusses with Scott Snibbe about transcendental experiences, Buddhism in his life and fiction, the outdoors as meditation, and the potentials for space exploration; but the main focus of this episode is the pressing issue of climate change. How can we survive the climate crisis, and what can every one of us do to help? This episode is the fruit of a collaboration between Science & Wisdom LIVE and A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment draws on modern science and psychology to bring the ancient inner science of Buddhist meditation to twenty-first century people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. Find out more: www.skepticspath.org ______ “Daily life can be devotional, if you treat the world as sacred” “We’re on the brink of starting a massive extinction event” “Humanity is an expression of Earth’s biosphere” “You should know your carbon burn the same way you know your weight on a scale” “Spend more time outdoors than you usually do. It’s great for you, and it’s fun!” ______ Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the international bestselling Mars trilogy: Red Mars,Green Mars , Blue Mars , and more recently Red Moon , New York 2140 , and 2312 , which was a New York Times bestseller nominated for all seven of the major science fiction awards—a first for any book. 2008 he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, and he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, and UC San Diego’s Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. Stanley Robinson has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy awards. In 2016 he was given the Heinlein Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction, and asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson.” In 2017 he was given the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. Find out more: https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/ Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions. Subscribe to our Newsletter Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Youtube Visit our Website

How can we get from the current edge-of-catastrophe to a world where we have addressed the huge issues of the climate and ecological emergency? Only in fiction can we bring the answers together in a vision of a better world. Author Kim Stanley Robinson talks about his 'The Ministry for the Future' - One of Barack Obama's favourite books of last year. 'If I could get policymakers and citizens everywhere to read just one book this year, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future ' Ezra Klein, Vox 'A novel that presents a rousing vision of how we might unite to overcome the greatest challenge of our time' TED.com 'A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity' Booklist (starred review) 'Gutsy, humane . . . a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet' Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'A sweeping epic about climate change and humanity's efforts to try and turn the tide before it's too late' Polygon (Best of the Year) Kim Stanley Robinson is one of our foremost visionary writers. Author of 19 novels, numerous short stories, blogs and essays, his Ministry for the Future' was one of Barack Obama's 'must-read' books of 2020. This is one of the few genuine 'Thrutopian' novels which aims to take us from squarely where we are, through a clearly defined route (with all its pitfalls, prat-falls and fights back by the Status Quo) to a place where we have a decent chance of survival. In today's podcast, we explore the book, the author's experience of being invited to COP26 in Glasgow, and where we might go next. Buy the book: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Ministry-for-the-Future-by-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/9780356508863 KSR Website: http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/ A view of KSR as one of the few contemporary novelists dealing with 'big ideas' of how we could be: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/11/kim-stanley-robinson-socialist-novelist KSR TED Talk - 'Letter from the year 2071' https://www.ted.com/talks/kim_stanley_robinson_remembering_climate_change_a_message_from_the_year_2071#t-594961 Network for Greening the Financial System: https://www.ngfs.net/en

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kim Stanley Robinson, acclaimed author of many books, most recently “The Ministry for the Future.” Robinson’s books vividly illustrate some of the most devastating potential consequences of climate change, but that’s not all they do—the books also offer innovation and optimism, imagining the ways in which we can prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change and adapt to the impacts that are unavoidable. Robinson discusses his recent visit to COP 26 and his views on climate economics, modern monetary theory, space opera, and more. References and recommendations: “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/ “The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes” by Zachary D. Carter; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563378/the-price-of-peace-by-zachary-d-carter/ “Improving Discounting in the Social Cost of Carbon” by Brian Prest, William Pizer, and Richard Newell; https://www.resources.org/archives/improving-discounting-in-the-social-cost-of-carbon/ “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist” by Kate Raworth; https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/ The concept of “carbon currency” by Delton Chen; https://globalcarbonreward.org/carbon-currency/ “Hypothesis for a Risk Cost of Carbon: Revising the Externalities and Ethics of Climate Change” by Delton B. Chen, Joel van der Beek, and Jonathan Cloud; https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-03152-7_8 “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet” by David Attenborough and Johan Rockström; https://www.netflix.com/title/81336476

GFI02: TRANSCENDING THE CLIMATE CRISIS with Kim Stanley Robinson Show Summary Tune into the Bold.ly Now Show featuring Kim Stanley Robinson, the Hugo and Nebula winning author of the Mars Trilogy. He is known as a realistic, science-based highly-literary science fiction author with over 20 books published. Stan's work often focuses on themes like sustainability, economic & social justice, climate change, and speculative futures. Today, we discuss these themes covered in Stan’s atypical sci-fi novel, The Ministry for the Future. Stan uses the book to demonstrate a vision of a new future for humanity and investigate what it might take to survive and transcend the climate crisis. Learn More: ● Website: https://bold.ly/ ● Website: https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/ ● Website: https://proofzine.com/ ● Bold.ly YOU App: https://bold.ly/you ● Link Tree: http://linktr.ee/bold.lynow ● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boldlynow ● Twitter: https://twitter.com/boldlynow ● Instagram: bold.lynow ● Podcast:https://boldly-now.captivate.fm/listen ● Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBoldlyNOWShow Full Show Notes The world is on track to miss the target of keeping the global average temperature within 2 degrees celsius of the warming limit. That means humans will have to adapt to a higher temperature. But, how much can we adapt? It's a well documented fact that humanity cannot survive a high heat index – a combination of high heat and high humidity. So, no matter the eco-modernist's view, humanity faces more of an emergency than we think. Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel “The Ministry for the Future” runs wild with this idea. The book aims not just to transform people's thinking but also the culture itself. While his atypical approach to “novel writing” may seem borderline blasphemous, it's not something new. Stan believes he was inspired by the USA trilogy (by John Dos Passos) and Moby Dick (Herman Melville). Here, he talks in detail about his novel writing approach, entertainment VS education aspect, and how he manages to “tell” just as much as “show” to keep the novel fun and engaging for the readers. We live in a nation-state global capitalist world. To write a realistic plausible novel, discussing capitalism and how it exacerbates the climate problem is inevitable. This system favors a few, but the climate is a zero-sum game. Paris agreement was, therefore, a great step in the right direction. We need better pricing of our relationship to the biosphere. Only then can we attempt to morph the system into better treatment of people and the biosphere. Stan’s novel extracts a lot from the current economic conditions and gives us a viable picture of the future. The Carbon coin, introduced in the book, strikes a chord with the crypto-revolution currently taking place. Similarly, the targeted asymmetrical violence reminds of the occupy movement. Along the way, the book asks some very pertinent questions making a case for neoliberal capitalism. Unlike the often held view, neoliberal capitalism is not a hands-off approach to governance. It's still a very strong governance model that is indispensable for a socially just political economy. It's a mixed picture in the world right now. On the bright side, we have the EU commission announcing plans for forced labor import ban, the successes of the 30 x 30 movement, the Paris accord and similar steps taken by governments in the USA, China and India. On the negative side, we have the reactionary capitalist businesses which exploit the natural resources to death and would not go without a fight. This discursive battle is but just one aspect of the larger political and physical battle. Biological diversity is just important as human cultural diversity. We

Kim Stanley Robinson , the legendary science-fiction novelist, has a private utopian hope: “to dodge a mass extinction event.” He joins Azeem Azhar to explore his recent novel, The Ministry For the Future , and what it would take for institutions, individuals, and emerging technologies to save millions of lives. They also discuss: When civil disobedience and direct climate action may become a moral necessity. Why central banks and a radical shift of economic incentives are vital to drive decarbonization. What climate restoration is and why it offers better prospects than climate engineering. @azeem @exponentialview Kim Stanley Robinson Further resources: “ Applying the Pandemic Mindset to Climate Change with Cory Doctorow ” ( Exponential View podcast, 2020) “ What can climate tech do for us? ” (Exponential View newsletter, 2020) “ The Ministry For the Future ” (Hachette, 2020) “ It’s Not Science Fiction ” ( The New York Review on The Ministry For the Future , 2020) “ Top central banks identify nine ways to make their policies greener ” ( Financial Times , 2021) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Friday, The United States will officially be back in the Paris Climate Agreement! *cue appropriate volume of fanfare* And while in a week where Dallas, Texas is colder than Anchorage, Alaska - our co-host Paul Dickinson takes us on a short list of topics discussing the social cost of carbon recently updated by Joseph Stiglitz and Lord Nicholas Stern to match the severity of the climate crisis, as well as a listener question regarding the unregulated growth and steadily growing emissions of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. But all of this in context, with the US “still in” as it’s being promoted - We anxiously await the United States’ Nationally Determined Contribution which should be announced anytime between now and late April. Once that number comes through, the race to COP 26 will be at full speed where the very first 5 year check in of global accountability and ambition towards a net-zero 2050 and beyond will happen. So with the world’s largest economy on track to boost the global coalition of nations dedicated to this collective goal, will we be able to achieve emission reductions fast enough to avoid catastrophe? This week our guest is legendary science fiction writer, Kim Stanley Robinson, whose prolific career includes the international bestselling Mars trilogy , and more recently Red Moon , New York 2140 , Aurora , Shaman , Green Earth , and 2312. Stan joins us for an exclusive look into the themes of his latest book: The Ministry for the Future , which offers an unflinching look at what our future may hold even in 2025 if we do not address runaway climate change. Optimistically he says, “We are all living in a science fiction novel we are coauthoring together.” So, what future will we write? Sci-Fi Pop Music this week from French duo, Toukan Toukän! — Thank you to our guest this week, Kim Stanley Robinson. Grab a copy of his latest book - ‘The Ministry For The Future’ Facebook | Twitter (Unofficial) — Our musical guest this week is Toukan Toukän! Music video for ‘Konowoulen’ Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Website — Keep up with Christiana Figueres here: Instagram | Twitter — Tom Rivett-Carnac: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn — Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn! LinkedIn — Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | L

In this episode, XPRIZE founder Peter H. Diamandis discusses AI and how it is often portrayed in science fiction with world renowned sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson, at XPRIZE Visioneering recorded at Paramount Studios. Robinson questions our relationship with AI and the important future of synthetic medicine. Although he is inspired by space exploration, he argues that the race to Mars is not an urgent problem, but rather a reward for fixing the problems on planet Earth. Recently named by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Peter H. Diamandis is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which leads the world in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions. He is also the executive founder of Singularity University, a graduate-level Silicon Valley institution that counsels the world's leaders on exponentially growing technologies. As an entrepreneur, Diamandis has started over 20 companies in the areas of longevity, space, venture capital and education. He is cofounder of BOLD Capital Partners, a venture fund with $250M investing in exponential technologies, and co-founder and Vice Chairman of Celularity, Inc., a cellular therapeutics company. Diamandis is a New York Times Bestselling author of two books: Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think and BOLD – How to go Big, Create Wealth & Impact the World. His newest book in this series of exponential technologies—The Future is Faster Than You Think—was released on January 28, 2020. He earned degrees in molecular genetics and aerospace engineering from the MIT and holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Diamandis’ favorite saying is “the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.” Kim Stanley Robinson is an American novelist, widely recognized as one of the foremost living writers of science fiction. Robinson began publishing novels in 1984. His work has been described as "humanist science fiction" and "literary science fiction". Robinson himself has been a proud defender and advocate of science fiction as a genre, which he regards as one of the most powerful of all literary forms. Robinson was born in Waukegan, Illinois, but moved to Orange County, California, when he was two. As a child he loved to play in the orange groves stretching out for miles around his home, so when suburban sprawl began to encroach and the groves were torn out and paved over, the rapid change of modern life hit close to home. It was not until college in 1971 that he would stumble upon new wave science fiction and find in it an expression of that very sense of rapid change that had made such an impression upon him growing up, at which point he knew almost immediately that he would be committed to science fiction from then on. He enrolled at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) in 1970 and received his B.A. in Literature in 1974. During that time he developed the idea to write a trio of books exploring three different alternative future histories in which southern California had gone down different paths, what became the Orange County trilogy. After briefly leaving California to receive an M.A. in English at Boston University in 1975, Robinson returned to UCSD to complete his Ph.D. Though science fiction was something of a "literary ghetto culture" in the academic world, Robinson could not have had a more sympathetic advisor in Fredric Jameson, who suggested that Robinson do his thesis on the works of Philip K. Dick, whom Robinson was not particularly familiar with at the time but whom Jameson regarded as the greatest living American novelist. Robinson agreed to the idea and finished his Ph.D. in 1982, a revised version of which was published in 1984 as The Novels Of Philip K. Dick. In 1978 Robinson took a break from his Ph.D. work and moved north to Davis, California, where he worked in a bookstore and spent a lot of time outdoors, especially backpacking in the mountains, where he continued to develop his love for landscape and the outdoors. While in Davis he met Lisa Howland Nowell, an environmental chemist, and in 1982 upon completing his Ph.D. he returned to Davis and the two were married. He taught freshman composition among other courses at UC Davis, another autobiographical tidbit that would be bestowed upon his fictional alter-ego Jim in 1988's The Gold Coast. Then a few years later, after publishing his first few novels, his wife's post-doctoral work in environmental toxicology took the couple to Switzerland, where they lived for two years, and at which point he began to write full time. Her work also took them to Washington, D.C., and during their four years there Robinson was a stay-at-home parent to their first son while his wife worked. Finally, in 1991 they moved back to Davis to buy a house in Village Homes -- a planned community that shares many things in common with the community depicted in his 1990 novel Pacific Edge -- where their second son was born. Robinson is still the stay-at-home parent, giving him plenty of time to write, while his wife continues to work full time as a chemist. As a result, much of the couple's social circle is made up of her friends and colleagues, giving Robinson ample material with which to write about scientists. As can be gathered from above, Robinson enjoys inserting personal life experiences or autobiographical elements in his works. For example: Robinson enjoys mountaineering greatly, which can be seen in landscape descriptions and trekking trips in nearly all his works. His stay in Switzerland is a likely inspiration for frequent references to Swiss government and people (Green Mars, Fifty Degrees Below). He has visited Greece and enjoys the architecture of the Greek islands (The Gold Coast, Blue Mars). He likes softball, referenced in Icehenge and Pacific Edge, and plays the frisbee golf described in Fifty Degrees Below. At times he is a stay-at-home dad, like Charlie Quibler in the Science In The Capital trilogy. He is a Californian teacher, like characters in The Gold Coast and The Years Of Rice And Salt. Links: https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today one of our most important novelists, Kim Stanley Robinson, joins Gary for a chat that touches upon the challenges of maintaining a consistent narrative voice in longer works, Daniel Defoe and the origins of the historical novel, Stan’s own new monthly column for Bloomberg Green, and his forthcoming novel, The Ministry for the Future . Books mentioned include: Three Californias by Kim Stanley Robinson The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel Daniel Defoe: His Life by Paul R. Backscheider A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe ]

Hello! We are so happy and proud to present this episode, our wide-ranging interview with the man himself! Kim Stanley Robinson, avid listener of our Kim Stanley Robinson podcast, graciously gave us some of his time during a layover at O'Hare in Chicago--hence the no doubt at times bad sound, so please forgive us. Hilary and Matt met Stan at the O'Hare Hilton bar, where we chatted over numerous topics, related and unrelated to the Mars novels. We talked about the origin of the novels, the historical moment of their creation (the so-called "end of history"), and the process of writing them. Is Hiroko dead? The answer is in the last two pages of Blue Mars! We touched on Stan's method of pattern-making beyond the conscious level of the reader, including his use of color and elemental imagery (I think there's a dissertation there for aspiring English PhDs...[don't go to grad school]), and share a chuckle over the dimwittedness of the New York Times. We talk also about the pathetic fallacy and the pre-modernist sensibility and realist tradition that informs the Mars Trilogy, and mention the structuralist influence of Gerard Genette (The Narrative Discourse: An Essay on Method). In addition we talk with Stan about his science fiction influences, inspirations, and resonances. Books mentioned are Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker and Last and First Men, Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed, Joanna Russ's The Female Man, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun, Julia Voznesenskaya's The Women’s Decameron, and Damon Knight, among others. We chat about Ann, and regionalism, and (self-indulgently for Matt) Orange County, the Dodgers, and the incomparable Vin Scully. All in service of the Battle of the Nutsedge! We were so thrilled to get the chance to talk with him, and we hope you enjoy this interview. (Sorry for the at times bad sound--Matt put some work into trying to get the levels right and clean it up, particularly taking out the parts where he just says "yeah" over and over. If you have complaints or can't hear it, email us at maroonedonmarspodcast@gmail.com and direct them to Matt. But also don't do that.) We will be starting on The Martians very soon, and are looking forward to moving forward with you, our faithful listeners, on this exciting and fun journey through these amazing books and into the wider world of utopian science-fiction! Thanks for listening! Email us at maroonedonmarspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter @podcastonmars Leave us a voicemail on the Anchor.fm app Rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Spirit of Space