Join KQED's Climate Book Club to Explore Solutions in 'The Ministry for the Future'

The fingerprint of climate change is all over the current news. If considering the destruction now seen from Hurricanes Milton, Helene and the wildfires in the West this year feels hard, you’re not alone.

But let me offer an idea. Learning more about climate change, with the support of others, can help. It can make us feel less helpless, less overwhelmed, more engaged, able to talk about solutions with our friends and families and take action in our own lives.

That’s the idea behind the KQED Climate Book Club, which I host. Currently, we are reading “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson. The book is a work of climate fiction set in the near future, where climate change has worsened.

It follows an international organization – a bureaucratic supergroup – that advocates for the long-term survival and well-being of future generations. It examines a range of solutions we might do once we finally get serious about fixing climate change. Former President Barack Obama selected it as one of his favorite books from the year 2020.

For a taste of Kim Stanley Robinson’s verve and imagination in solving the climate crisis, sample this “letter from the future” from the TED YouTube channel.

I’m thrilled that the author has agreed to join us for the final discussion of the book, live at KQED headquarters on Dec. 18. We will also meet up on Oct. 19 at KQED, during KQED Fest, for a chat about the first half of the book. And we have an ongoing discussion aboard KQED Forum’s Discord.