Bill McKibben has changed (but not that much)

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the very first books for the general public about climate change was written and published by Bill McKibben in 1989. In The End of Nature, Bill wrote that continuing to burn fossil fuels would “lead us, if not straight to hell, then straight to a place with a similar temperature.” Bill was right. The planet is hotter. Climate disasters are everywhere. You’d think he’d be more upset now than ever. But in his latest book, Here Comes the Sun, Bill sounds optimistic. In it he writes “For the first time, I can see a path forward. A path lit by the sun.” Host Nate Hegyi talks to journalist and activist Bill McKibben, about how he’s changed, how he’s stayed the same, and what his story tells us about the state of the climate crisis. Featuring Bill McKibben Produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. SUPPORT Grab a ticket for our 10 year anniversary live show here! Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS Listen to Studs Terkel’s 1989 interview with Bill about his first book, The End of Nature. Read Bill’s latest book, Here Comes the Sun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Outside In, a show where curiosity and the natural world collide.
0:04.0	I'm Nate Hedgy.
0:05.3	It was 1989, and a young writer named Bill McKibbon had walked into the studios of WBEZ in Chicago.
0:12.2	He was there to promote his first book, which had a pretty heavy and ominous title.
0:16.5	The end of nature, and the very title itselfokes, all sorts of commentary and thought.
0:23.2	Bill McKiven is talking about the imperiled planet that we've heard of many times.
0:27.3	That's Studs Terkel.
0:30.1	He's a legendary broadcaster and the guy interviewing Bill about the end of nature.
0:34.4	The book is in part of a scientific book.
0:37.9	It's about the greenhouse effect and the erosion of the ozone layer.
0:43.3	This interview, it is a time capsule.
0:46.2	Back then, climate change wasn't on the public's radar.
0:49.3	Bill was schooling studs about things that today would seem a little bit obvious. Fossil fuels, okay. We used, that's a somewhat coal, gas.
0:58.8	Coal gas and oil.
0:59.9	And oil.
1:01.0	They even talked about a gas-powered machine that was just getting popular in the U.S.
1:05.2	More and more and more people, instead of using rakes to clean up their leaves,
1:08.7	are using these leaf blowers, leaf plowers.
1:12.6	For the most part, the tone of this interview is friendly, but dark.
1:19.6	Bill warned in his book that if we didn't stop burning oil and coal, then it would, quote, lead us, if not straight to hell,
1:26.6	then straight to a place with
1:28.5	a similar temperature.
	...

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