Dutch historian and commentator Rutger Bregman joins the Prospect Interview this week to discuss his new book, Humankind: A Hopeful History. It’s a book with an optimistic thesis at its heart: that people are—despite all the doom-mongering, disasters, and political conflicts that rage on in our headlines—at their core, decent and well-intentioned. Arts and Books editor Sameer Rahim talks to Rutger about making a case for hope in the time of Covid, what makes people embrace hate, division and prejudice—and how he went about writing his viral story of the real-life Lord of the Flies.

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