H Is for Hope

Climate Change from A to Z

By: Elizabeth Kolbert

Narrated by: Eunice Wong, Elizabeth Kolbert

In twenty-six essays—one for each letter of the alphabet—the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction takes us on a haunting journey through the history of climate change and the uncertainties of our future.

In H Is for Hope, Elizabeth Kolbert investigates the landscape of climate change—from “A,” for Svante Arrhenius, who created the world’s first climate model in 1894, to “Z,” for the Colorado River Basin, ground zero for climate change in the United States. Along the way she looks at Greta Thunburg’s “blah blah blah” speech (“B”), learns to fly an all-electric plane (“E”), experiments with the effects of extreme temperatures on the human body (“T”), and struggles with the deep uncertainty of the future of climate change (“U”).

Adapted from essays originally published in The New Yorker, H Is for Hope is simultaneously inspiring, alarming, and darkly humorous—a unique examination of our changing world.

Critic reviews

"Wong’s performance is first rate. She narrates crisply, with the right pace and style for science. And Wong gets Kolbert—she captures the award-winning author’s talent for research, commitment to direct reporting, and remarkable ability to decode complex concepts into understandable stories."

Both hopeful and soberingly real

Heard the author speak as a guest on The Climate Pod and decided to listen to the book. It is a great collection of short essays that cover past, present, and future in a very east to follow and non-repetitive manner. It simultaneously provides hope while showing the grim state of affairs. It is impactful!