It can be difficult to feel optimistic when faced with the existential threat of climate change. But a new book from marine biologist and writer Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks us to imagine a different version of our climate future: one in which things work out. What If We Get It Right? is a collection of essays and interviews with environmental experts, farmers, advocates, architects, investors and others on what it would look like to "get it right" on climate change. In today's episode, Johnson speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about tailoring climate conversations for different audiences, moving from an extractive to a regenerative economy in this decade and the effort it will take to create a new future.

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The actress Gillian Anderson plays a sex therapist on Netflix's Sex Education. Now, in her off-screen life, Anderson has taken on a similar role: gathering the sexual fantasies of women from around the world. The result, Want, is an edited collection of anonymous submissions exploring women's intimate desires and the spectrum of female sexuality. In today's episode, Anderson speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the 1970s book that inspired the project, how the changing media landscape has influenced how women think about sex and the difficulty of asking for what we really want.

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Novelist Don Winslow says City in Ruins is his last book. The third novel in the author's Danny Ryan trilogy completes the series, a contemporary crime epic that draws inspiration from Greek and Roman classics like The Aeneid. In today's episode, Winslow talks with NPR's Scott Simon about working on this trilogy over the course of 30 years and his kinship with the novels' protagonist. They also discuss Winslow's decision to retire, which he says is partially motivated by a desire to invest more energy into political activism.

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With songs like "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," "Satisfaction" and "Tambourine," Eve's music was a staple of early 2000s hip-hop. In her new memoir, Who's That Girl? Eve and co-author Kathy Iandoli detail the rocky path to the rapper's success. In today's episode, Eve speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about coming up in a male-dominated hip-hop industry. They discuss an early-career setback, female representation in hip-hop today and why Eve disagrees with being called a "kept woman."

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James McBride, the literary giant and author of books like The Color of Water and Deacon King Kong, was awarded this year's Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. In a conversation with NPR's Michel Martin at the National Book Festival, he said that leaving a career in journalism allowed him to find creative fulfillment in fiction. In today's episode, McBride discusses growing up in a community that relied on laughter, keeping a notebook on him at all times, and the inspiration behind his most recent novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.

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Election denialism and myths of voter fraud have long been part of the history of the United States. In their new book, Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote, Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau trace the contentious battle for democratic representation from the American Revolution to the present day–up to the 2024 election. In today's episode, Dyson and Favreau speak with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about lesser-known heroes in the struggle for voting rights, the political impact of non-voters and the legacy of recent events like the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

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In Rumaan Alam's new novel, Entitlement, Brooke, a former teacher, is given a rare opportunity. She takes a job with an 83-year-old billionaire and is tasked with helping him decide what to do with his fortune. But, as Brooke spends more time in proximity to such great wealth, the experience begins to distort her sense of priorities, ambitions and personal ethics. In today's episode, Alam speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the stratification of wealth, whether we're living through a new Gilded Age and the effect money has on us.

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Tennis legend Venus Williams has a lot on her plate. There's her tennis career, of course, but also business pursuits in fashion, interior design, nail art and more. As a result, Williams says it can be difficult for her to find balance. In her new book Strive, she details eight steps she follows in pursuit of this balance between her mental, physical and emotional health. In today's episode, Williams speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about learning from an early-career loss at the U.S. Open, resting more and living with an autoimmune disease.

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Rachel Kushner's new novel, Creation Lake, has all the makings of a great spy thriller: a cool and unknowable secret agent, a mysterious figure who communicates only by email and a radical commune of French eco-activists. Kushner has said that some of these elements were, in fact, inspired by real-world stories of espionage and her own access to the social and political worlds of activist communes. In today's episode, Kushner speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the murky boundaries of being an undercover agent–and a writer.

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New memoirs by former National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster and recovery advocate William Cope Moyers document conflicts of different kinds. In At War with Ourselves, McMaster contends with his years in the Trump administration and the political infighting he experienced at the White House. Moyers' Broken Open documents a more personal struggle with maintaining his sobriety 35 years into his recovery journey. In today's episode, McMaster talks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the three types of people he encountered at the White House–and what U.S. foreign policy would look like under a second Trump presidency. Later, Moyers speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about what happens when sobriety is jeopardized.

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