Paul Stamets: Solutions from the Underground

In her new bestselling book, "The Apology," Eve Ensler has attempted to transform, with unflinching truthfulness and compassion, the horrific betrayal she suffered into an expansive vision for the future. She shares her story and explores how other survivors of abuse might be able to mobilize their imagination and inner strength to move from humiliation to revelation to find healing and inner freedom.

David Orr, one of the nation’s most lucid and influential thought leaders, draws from his forthcoming book, "Democracy Unchained: Politics as if All People Matter," to consider what we must do to return to the better angels of our collective nature and turn the ship around. What happens next is up to us.

Wind, water and time are agents of erosion evident in the desert. They have shaped the spectacular physical landscape of our nation from the Great Smokies to the Grand Canyon. But Terry Tempest Williams is also seeing another kind of erosion in America: erosion of democracy, erosion of science, decency, compassion and trust. She is one of this country’s most beloved authors and defenders of public lands and social and environmental justice. She writes, “Beauty is its own resistance. Water can crack stone.”

What lessons can we draw from three decades of struggles to address the existential threat of climate disruption? What do our failures reveal about the flaws of our political system and the economic nihilism of the fossil fuel industry? What strategies are most likely to lead to greater success to save our species from itself? Bill McKibben is perhaps our nation’s most influential environmental activist as well as one of our most brilliant thinkers and authors.

Heather McTeer Toney addresses how we must embrace climate action as the social justice issue of our time, and tear down old stereotypes so that we can build sustainable and resilient alliances to fight effectively together and affirm our common humanity.