George Saunders Takes on Mortality, Morality and Climate, Comically, in New Novel ‘Vigil’

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

George Saunders is one of America’s most celebrated writers. His worlds and characters often live in a reality just beyond or behind our own, and his latest novel “Vigil,” is no exception. The novel opens with an angel falling to earth with the task of comforting an unrepentant oil tycoon in his final hours alive. What spills forth from this zany setup is a comic novel about climate change, personal responsibility, and the kind of honesty that matters most. Guests: George Saunders, author, "Vigil"; MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow; his previous books include "Lincoln in the Bardo," "Tenth of December" and "Liberation Day; English professor, Syracuse University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Now, are all the traitors present?
0:02.5	Let's get started, shall we?
0:04.5	From rags to riches.
0:05.8	I'm so sick of this.
0:07.0	Working like a dog and being treated worse.
0:09.1	Yorkshire to New York.
0:10.7	Or climbers, you and me.
0:12.4	A life dedicated to revenge.
0:14.4	Let's make this an occasion to remember.
0:16.9	A woman of substance on Channel 4.
0:19.1	Stream now.
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0:31.0	and families across the East Bay.
0:32.7	For all ages, for all stages of life, for all communities, lifelongmedical.org.
0:39.6	From KQED.
0:42.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:45.8	These men, these powerful men, these powerful men who do the wrong thing when they could do
0:51.4	the right thing. Isn't that so much of what our world is reckoning with right now?
0:56.9	From the White House to the Epstein Files to the fossil fuel industry
1:00.7	to just all these men who cause harm in pursuit of power and money
	...

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