Kim Stanley Robinson: The Best Journey in the World

Overview

Kim Stanley Robinson has spent his career imagining other worlds. But one of the most extraordinary places he has ever encountered is right here on Earth.

The acclaimed science fiction novelist and climate visionary, author of the bestselling Mars trilogy and The Ministry for the Future, joins us for the launch of his new book, The Best Journey in the World: An Antarctic Story, a thrilling account of his travels to the world’s most remote continent.

Robinson first traveled to Antarctica in 1995 while researching his Mars novels. What he discovered was a landscape of almost unimaginable beauty and extremes, and a fascination that would draw him back decades later. In his new book, he interweaves his own adventures with the harrowing story of Robert Falcon Scott’s 1911 expedition and Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s classic account, The Worst Journey in the World.

Once considered a frozen wilderness at the edge of human concern, Antarctica is now central to the future of life on Earth. What happens to its vast ice sheets will help determine what happens to coastlines, cities, and communities around the world. For Robinson, understanding what’s at stake begins with something more fundamental: falling in love with a place.

Join him for a fascinating conversation about the golden age of polar exploration, the unexpected kinship between science fiction and scientific discovery, and what Antarctica reveals about the extraordinary planet we call home.

“Since there are no humans native to Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson may be the best person our species has to write about this most remarkable part of our planet. He’s done the hard work to understand its significance in our history, in our present, and most of all in our shared and imperiled future.” — Bill McKibben