James Bradley is an essayist, novelist, and critic, and the acclaimed author of several climate fiction novels, including Clade, Ghost Species, and the young adult trilogy The Change. In this conversation, James, Molly, and Ramanan discuss Clade, capitalism, and the importance of hope in the face of climate disaster.
We asked James to be on our launch episode because he is both an author and a knowledgeable commentator on climate fiction. A great interview, with his selection of five climate change novels, is here; and a very thoughtful essay on what our future might hold (and how to deal with it!) is here.
The full transcript is available by clicking above. This episode is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Highlights
[00:03:33] Capitalism and planetary exploitation
[00:07:27] Why write about the climate?
[00:08:27] An unsentimental imagining of the future
[00:12:28] Fiction vs non-fiction
[00:22:01] Parenting in the climate crisis
[00:25:34] Multiracial representation in Clade
[00:29:11] Lack of solutions in Clade
[00:33:49] Clade - a hopeful book?
[00:37:08] Writing utopian fiction
[00:40:18] Storytelling as a survival tool
[00:44:51] Who should we interview next?
