Celebrated essayist and activist Rebecca Solnit explores how society has changed for the better and why it still makes sense to be optimistic in the 21st century.

Everywhere we look, something violent, scary, or unbelievable is happening – climate change, wars, destruction, the resurgence of extreme politics, the list goes on and on.

It may feel like the end of the world, but to make things better, we need to keep moving forward without losing faith in humanity.

Rebecca Solnit is an author, historian, and activist known for her essay collections Hope in the Dark and Men Explain Things to Me.

In her 2026 book, The Beginning Comes After the End, Solnit examines some of the major changes our society has experienced since she was born in 1961 and how they can offer us hope in the present.