167. Neal Stephenson: Termination Shock

<p><strong>Bestselling author Neal Stephenson is known for delivering novels with poignant and incisive reflections on our present and future.</strong> He’s also no stranger to the Town Hall stage and has joined us in the past to discuss his novel <a href= "https://townhallseattle.org/event/neal-stephenson/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Fall</em></a> and collaborative work with Nicole Galland, <a href= "https://townhallseattle.org/event/neal-stephenson-nicole-galland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O</em></a>., among others.</p> <p><a href= "https://townhallseattle.org/event/neal-stephenson-2021/">Stephenson returned to the Town Hall stage</a> to discuss his newest thriller, <em>Termination Shock.</em> In his speculative vision of the not-too-distant future, sea levels are rising, heatwaves and global flooding endure, and deadly pandemics threaten humanity. When the rest of the world continues to respond with inaction, a billionaire hatches a plan that will quickly throw climate change into reverse — but action at such a grand scale is anything but simple. There are consequences of global proportion, and some of them might even be worse than climate change itself.</p> <p>Stephenson’s discussion invited audiences to consider questions that can extend far beyond fiction and resonate with us in the present day: <em>Will the world ever be able to take urgent action on climate change? What is the role of technology in this fight? Is there a role for motivated billionaires? What if the answers to these questions are highly unconventional? </em>Stephenson invited us to expand our minds, and ask.</p> <p><strong>Neal Stephenson</strong> is the #1 <em>New York Times </em>bestselling author of the novels <em>Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, Seveneves</em>, <em>Reamde</em>, <em>Anathem</em>, <em>The System of the World</em>, <em>The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon</em>, <em>The Diamond Age</em>, <em>Snow Crash</em>, and <em>Zodiac</em>, and the groundbreaking nonfict