IN CONVERSATION: Bill McKibben & Alan Weisman

Please join us for an evening of critical discussion about the climate crisis, the power of renewable energy, and the global search for resilience and hope in an uncertain future. Bill McKibben and Alan Weisman come together to discuss the climate crossroads we now face—and the real possibilities for forging a livable, just, and sustainable future.

Bill McKibben (left) and Alan Weisman (right)

Our climate, and our democracy, are melting down. But Bill McKibben, one of the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis, insists the moment is also full of possibility. Energy from the sun and wind is suddenly the cheapest power on the planet and growing faster than any energy source in history—if we can keep accelerating the pace, we have a chance.

Here Comes the Sun tells the story of the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind—and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay. From the everyday citizens who installed solar panels equal to a third of Pakistan’s electric grid in a year to the world’s sixth-largest economy—California—nearly halving its use of natural gas in the last two years, Bill McKibben traces the arrival of plentiful, inexpensive solar energy. And he shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. You can’t hoard solar energy or hold it in reserves—it’s available to all.

In McKibben’s eyes, our best hope for a new civilization: one that looks up to the sun, every day, as the star that fuels our world. On this Monday evening, McKibben will be in conversation with award-winning environmental journalist and author of Hope Dies Last, Alan Weisman. Weisman's newest book is a literary evocation of our current predicament and the core resolve of our species against the most precarious odds we have ever faced.

To write this book, Weisman traveled the globe, witnessing climate upheaval and other devastations, and meeting the people striving to mitigate and undo our past transgressions. From the flooding Marshall Islands to revived wetlands in Iraq, from the Netherlands and Bangladesh to the Korean DMZ and to cities and coastlines in the U.S. and around the world, he has encountered the best of humanity battling heat, hunger, rising tides, and imperiled nature. He profiles the innovations of big thinkers—engineers, scientists, conservationists, economists, architects, and artists—as they conjure wildly creative, imaginative responses to an uncertain, ominous future. At this unprecedented point in history, as our collective exploits on this planet may lead to our own undoing and we could be among the species marching toward extinction, they refuse to accept defeat.

Hope Dies Last fills a crucial gap in the global conversation: Having reached a point of no return in our climate confrontation, how do we feel, behave, act, plan, and dream as we approach a future decidedly different from what we had expected?

This event will bring together two of the most urgent and inspiring voices in the climate movement for an evening of insight, action, and hope. Bill McKibben and Alan Weisman offer not only a sobering look at the challenges we face but also a compelling vision for how we might meet them—with ingenuity, resilience, and a renewed sense of shared purpose. Whether you're a longtime environmental advocate or simply looking for a way to better understand the path forward, this discussion is an opportunity to engage with the ideas shaping our future.

Ticket information:

Admission: $30 + Eventbrite fees and include admission and your choice of book

Thank you to our partners, Monadnock Sustainability Hub and Peterborough Renewable Energy Project, for helping make this event possible.