Skip to content
Novel Solutions episode artwork

Jun 3, 2026 24 min

Novel Solutions

from How We Survive Hosted by Marketplace

Talk to enough experts about geoengineering and the conversation eventually turns to termination shock. That’s the idea that if we were to start cooling the planet and then suddenly stop, the resulting “shock” of heat could be catastrophic. It’s also the title of a novel by bestselling sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson, who explores the science, politics, and unintended consequences of trying to engineer the earth’s climate. In this episode, we sit down with Stephenson to talk about what sci-fi can teach us about real-world climate solutions. But first: a climate idea so ambitious it sounds like it came straight from the pages of science fiction.

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Novel Solutions

0:00 24:52

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of How We Survive?

This episode is 24 minutes long.

When was this How We Survive episode published?

This episode was published on June 3, 2026.

Can I download this How We Survive episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.