Parable of the Talents is the sequel to Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and continues the story of Lauren Olamina, the founder of the Earthseed movement. The novel is set in a dystopian America where Lauren has established a community called Acorn, centered around her Earthseed beliefs. However, Acorn is attacked and taken over by the Christian American 'Crusaders,' leading to the enslavement and brutal treatment of its members. The story is told through journal entries by Lauren, her husband Taylor Franklin Bankole, and her daughter Larkin Olamina (also known as Asha Vere). It explores themes of survival, faith, and the struggle against oppression, as well as the complexities of religious power and the human quest for purpose. The novel ultimately sees the rise of Earthseed as a powerful religious movement and Lauren's vision of humanity's destiny to colonize other planets[2][3][5].
Published in 1993, 'Parable of the Sower' is a dark and vivid portrayal of a future where global climate change and economic crises have led to social chaos. The story is told through the diary entries of Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old Black girl living in a gated community near Los Angeles. Lauren suffers from hyperempathy, a condition that makes her feel the pain and pleasure of others. As her community is destroyed by external threats, Lauren embarks on a perilous journey north, developing a new faith called Earthseed along the way. Earthseed's central doctrine is that 'God is Change' and cannot be resisted, but can be influenced. The novel explores themes of survival, faith, family, hope, and community in a world torn apart by environmental devastation, economic collapse, and violence.
Annihilation is the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy. The story follows the twelfth expedition into Area X, a coastal region that has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. The team consists of four women: a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Their mission is to map the terrain, record observations, and avoid contamination by Area X. As they delve deeper, they encounter strange and unexplainable phenomena, including hybrid vegetation and creatures, and uncover secrets about the previous expeditions and the true nature of Area X. The novel explores themes of control, mystery, and the transformative power of the unknown environment[2][3][5].
Welcome to the first episode of our climate cluster. This isn’t a series about whether “the science is real” on climate change. This is a series about what the science says — and what it means for our lives, our politics, and our future.
I suspect I’m like a lot of people in that I accept that climate change is bad. What I struggle with is how bad. Is it an existential threat that eclipses all else? One of many serious problems politics must somehow address?
I wanted to kick off the series with someone who knows the science cold. Kate Marvel is a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a professor at Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics. But Marvel isn’t just a leading climate scientist. She’s also unique in her focus on the stories we tell each other, and ourselves, about climate change, and how they end up structuring our decisions. We discuss:
- How a climate model actually works
- Why this is the good place
- Why there is so much variation in climate scientists’ predictions about global temperature increases
- Why global warming is only one piece of the much larger problem of climate change
- Why a hotter planet is more conducive to natural disasters
- The frightening differences between a world that experiences a 2°C temperature increase as opposed to a 5°C temperature increase
- Whether the threat of climate change requires solutions that break the boundaries of conventional politics
- The underlying stories that animate much of the climate debate
- Whether the planet can sustain continued economic growth
- What it means to “live morally” amid climate change
And much more...
Book recommendations:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
Annihilation by Jeff Vendermeer
My book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com
You can subscribe to Ezra's new podcast Impeachment, explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite podcast app.
Credits:
Producer and Editor - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma
Engineer - Ernie Erdat
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The Gray Area with Sean Illing 
