Book · 2020 · American literature
The Ministry for the Future
- mentions
- 16
- people
- 9
- podcasts
- 7
- episodes
- 15
- recommendations
- 7
I read the magnificent Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, and it completely upended the way I saw the world.
Seth Godin · The Tim Ferriss Show · May 2023 Listen at 13:08 What they say about it
- About climate change“is about climate change”2
- Praises the book“it's a very good book”2
The best things said about it
It exists in um ministry for the future which is kim stanley robinson's book that all the climate people are reading you should read this it's really really good.
Yeah again i would also if i could plug one other thing i would recommend a great book by kim stanley robinson called ministry for the future uh it sounds like you read it but it's a terrific window into the next 30 years and uh after all of the horrific death in the beginning it's actually quite optimistic.
Kim Stanley Robinson with The Ministry for the Future, again, beautiful research on what overheating wet bulb high temperatures can mean for human survival in places like India.
Stewart Brand Conversations with Tyler · Jan 2022 There's Barack Obama's favorite book, Ministry for the Future, which is a legitimately very good book. It's just funny that he likes it because it absolutely embraces terrorism in defense technology, killing politicians.
I just spent some time with Kim Stanley Robinson who wrote that book Ministry of the future which is this sprawling novel about a worst case a worst case outcome where everyone in India is dying.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
11
3
1
1
How it comes up
9 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson is a gripping speculative science fiction novel that chronicles a near-future world grappling with the escalating and devastating consequences of climate change through the efforts of a newly established UN subsidiary. The book has garnered immense praise from prominent figures across multiple podcasts. Seth Godin shared on The Tim Ferriss Show that reading the magnificent novel completely upended his worldview and inspired his own work on climate advocacy. Robert Evans recommended the book extensively on Behind the Bastards, praising its realistic depiction of climate solutions and its focus on future generations, though he noted some skepticism regarding its optimism. Molly Wood and Andrew Beebe both recommended the title on This Week in Startups, with Beebe describing it as a brilliant, ultimately optimistic window into the next thirty years of human society. Stewart Brand also endorsed the novel on Conversations with Tyler, commending Robinson for conducting beautiful and realistic scientific research into extreme wet-bulb temperatures and their dire implications for human survival in regions like India. Furthermore, Mike Flanigan briefly discussed the near-future setting and institutional strategies of the novel on This Week in Startups.
Every mention
Robert Evans And the last book I started in 2021 and the first book I finished in 2022 was called Ministry of the Future… 5
Recommended
“There's a a book that I've talked about on the show a couple of times um that is is quite popular called Ministry of the Future. Um and I think it's a very good book. And one of the attitude like the basic premise of it is that climate change is addressed finally”
Discussed
“There's Barack Obama's favorite book, Ministry for the Future, which is a legitimately very good book. It's just funny that he likes it because it absolutely embraces terrorism in defense technology, killing politicians.”
Recommended
“And the last book I started in 2021 and the first book I finished in 2022 was called Ministry of the Future uh by Kim Stanley Robinson who is an interesting science fiction author in part because Ministry of the Future is about climate change.”
Discussed
“So I think there's a degree of humility that needs to be had in terms of what actual change that makes a more livable world will look like and the way in which that's one of the reasons I did enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry of the Future.”
Recommended
“And the last book I started in 2021 and the first book I finished in 2022 was called Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson who is an interesting science fiction author in part because Ministry of the Future is about climate change.”
Andrew Beebe yeah again i would also if i could plug one other thing i would recommend a great book by kim stanley robin… 1
Recommended
“yeah again i would also if i could plug one other thing i would recommend a great book by kim stanley robinson called ministry for the future uh it sounds like you read it but it's a terrific window into the next 30 years and uh after all of the horrific death in the beginning it's actually quite optimistic”
Molly Wood it exists in um ministry for the future which is kim stanley robinson's book that all the climate people ar… 1
Recommended
“it exists in um ministry for the future which is kim stanley robinson's book that all the climate people are reading you should read this it's really really good”
Seth Godin I read the magnificent Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, and it completely upended the way I… 1
Recommended
“I read the magnificent Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, and it completely upended the way I saw the world.”
Stewart Brand and likewise kim stanley robinson uh with the ministry for the future um again beautiful research on what o… 1
Recommended
“and likewise kim stanley robinson uh with the ministry for the future um again beautiful research on what overheating uh wet bulb high temperatures can mean for for human survival in places like india uh”
Andrew Revkin I just spent some time with Kim Stanley Robinson who wrote that book Ministry of the future which is this s… 1
Discussed
“I just spent some time with Kim Stanley Robinson who wrote that book Ministry of the future which is this sprawling novel about a worst case a worst case outcome where everyone in India is dying”
Jon Lovett and then I'm reading the ministry for the future by Kim Stanley Robinson I love Kim Stanley Robinson uh I'v… 1
Discussed
“and then I'm reading the ministry for the future by Kim Stanley Robinson I love Kim Stanley Robinson uh I've I've just wrote a book by him I think it's called Aurora”
Mike Flanigan Have you read The Ministry for Future Affairs? That is the the book by the guy who did Red Mars. I did. It'… 1
Discussed
“Have you read The Ministry for Future Affairs? That is the the book by the guy who did Red Mars. I did. It's about like future crediting, future societies.”
Tommy Vietor termination shock which which which was there were two books about climate change around the same time mini… 1
Critiqued
“termination shock which which which was there were two books about climate change around the same time ministry of the future and uh termination shock termination shock was the the action version and the other one was boring”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker3
Discussed
“and the idea that kept coming to my head about this was from Kim Stanley Robinson's book the ministry for the future which takes place sort of in the near future as societies come to grips with climate change”
Discussed
“I guess um so it does seem like there are going to be some good interesting experiments there's one that's also in Ministry for the future that's like pumping water from under the glaciers up to the top so it can re-freeze”
Discussed
“I think the book the book um Ministry for the Future really lays out all of the all kind of like the best case scenario for all these types of things and how they can work together”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Ministry of the future to be you know that's all”
Plugged
“so in in some ways I will say this I am more encouraged now than I was when I wrote Ministry for the future in 2019”
Plugged
“you might have brought this up because in my book Ministry for the future I have a long chapter about the U.S Navy where the wage ratio so-called is one to eight”