Rebecca Solnit discusses 'The Beginning Comes After the End' with Anand Giridharadas
Rebecca Solnit and Anand Giridharadas explore 75 years of transformation in civil rights, gender, and environmentalism — and today's backlash.
Why we picked this
Solnit's sequel to Hope in the Dark arrives at exactly the right moment — a 75-year accounting of what's actually changed, paired with one of the best interviewers working today.
Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark became an essential text for anyone trying to find their footing in uncertain times. The Beginning Comes After the End picks up where that book left off, offering a sweeping account of social, political, scientific, and cultural change over the past 75 years — from civil rights to gender understanding to environmentalism to Indigenous perspectives.
This is not nostalgia. Solnit takes the long view precisely to make sense of the present moment, including the backlash against the progress she documents. She’s joined by Anand Giridharadas, whose own work on power and inequality makes him an ideal conversation partner.
Free at BPL’s Dweck Center.