Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers discusses his new novel 'Bewilderment'

A man and a book jacket side by side.
Richard Powers is a prolific and award-winning author. His new novel is “Bewilderment.”
Author image courtesy of Dean D. Dixon | Book image courtesy of W.W. Norton

In his new novel, award-winning author Richard Powers probes an essential question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

Called an “ecological parable,” Powers’ latest book, “Bewilderment,” tells the story of a widowed astrobiologist as he struggles to raise his precocious son alone, in the midst of our all-too-real climate crisis.

“We really are in need of a change in cultural consciousness,” Powers told MPR News host Kerri Miller. “Or we need a new way of thinking about ourselves, on the Earth. Not as something separate from the nonhuman, but as an integrated neighbor, situated in a real place, not one that we're trying to master and dominate.”  

Guest:

  • Richard Powers is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. His latest book is “Bewilderment.”

Use the audio player above to listen to their conversation.

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