Okay, joining us now is the author Kim Stanley Robinson and Kim, before we get into

discussing climate change and the fate of human civilization, I have to ask you because

the last time I interviewed you, you mentioned that you were on your porch doing some bird

watching and I just want to check in.

Have you seen any good birds this summer?

Yeah, I sure have. Most of this summer I spent out on the coast of Maine at my wife's

family place. So we spent the summer with loons, ospreys, bald eagles, pretty exotic.

And now I'm back to Davis with my white crowned sparrows. So you know, it's back to the local

birds and for the sake of good zoom contact, I've kind of moved indoors alas. But yeah,

that's my birding life. It's been great.

Always good to just check in on what the birds are up to and you know, bald eagles are becoming

more and more common the further down the east coast you go.

Yeah, they have gone through a big recovery. On Mount Desert Island, they're actually

somewhat of the villain of the piece because they often pick off baby loons and loons only

have one or two babies per season. So it's a question which one of these charismatic

megafauna you cheer for in that situation because the bald eagles are very beautiful. And

despite their their crazy ridiculous voices, which are not in keeping with their visual

magnificence, but they're quite the loon killers. So it's a it's a weird situation on the

island.

If only there are some sort of a ministry for the future that could adjudicate these issues

for us. But no, Kim, I want to get into the new novel and this piece you wrote for the

financial times about climate change. And it's a topic that I, you know, we've mostly

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