Journalists Bill McKibben, Sue Halpern to speak in New Marlborough on Saturday
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle Aug 12, 2021
A new series of conversations hosted by the New Marlborough Meeting House kicks off Saturday with a visit from Bill McKibben, a leading climate activist, and Sue Halpern, a prominent voice on technology and politics.
Known for his 1989 book “The End of Nature,” one of the first to address climate change, McKibben co-founded climate campaign 350.org and has become one of the most recognizable members of the climate movement. Halpern, who earned a doctorate in political theory from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, has written several books and now writes for The New Yorker as a staff writer. Both are affiliated with Middlebury College in Vermont, where they live. READ MORE
Authors Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern will talk about two of the most pressing issues of our times: technology and climate change. The Future You Can Have — Halpern explains how your smart speaker isn’t smart and artificial intelligence isn’t intelligence. Coming to terms with technology is the only way to hold onto (our collective) humanity, especially in the face of catastrophic climate change. The Future You Don’t Want — McKibben, a nationally known environmentalist, shows us where we stand now in the climate crisis, and the prospects for heading off as much damage as we still can.
Sue Halpern — “The Future You Can Have” — August 14, 4:30pm /New Marlborough Meeting House
Photo courtesy Nancie Battaglia
Your smart speaker isn’t smart; artificial intelligence isn’t intelligence. Yet we use technology more than ever before, and it is rapidly changing how we live and who we are. It is imperative that we come to terms with these devices, and understand what they really do for us and those around us. Author and New Yorker-staff writer Sue Halpern will present her vision of our relationship with technology, and what it means for the future of humanity and our world.
Bill McKibben — “The Future You Don’t Want” — August 14, 4:30pm/New Marlborough Meeting House
Photo courtesy Nancie Battaglia
Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben has been writing, warning and educating about the risks from climate change for decades. He has emerged as America’s most powerful voice on this most pressing subject, and has led the movement to reduce carbon emissions not only by the pen but also by his actions. For the New Marlborough Meeting House, McKibben will discuss where we stand today in the climate crisis, and the prospects for heading off as much damage as we still can.
Seating will be limited; buy a ticket early.
BIOS
Sue Halpern is the author of seven books, including the best-selling A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home and Four Wings and a Prayer, which was made into an Emmy-nominated film. She was a columnist for Mother Jones and Ms., and has written on science, technology and politics for The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone and The New Republic, as well as for The New York Review of Books, where she is a regular contributor. Halpern is a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, where she directs the program in narrative journalism. She is the recipient of Guggenheim and echoing green Fellowships, and earned a doctorate in political theory from Oxford University. She lives with her husband, Bill McKibben, in Vermont, where she is a major supporter of the ice-cream industry.
Bill McKibben’s 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He is a co-founder and senior adviser emeritus of 350.org, an international climate campaign that works in 188 countries. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors. In 2014, biologists credited his career by naming a new species of woodland gnat—Megophthalmidia mckibbeni–in his honor.