Abadi’s close-up study of German climate politics reveals an obsession with performance over policy.
A study of how extremism in the German political landscape has proven to be ineffective in addressing climate change.
Abadi, a Berlin-based deputy editor of Foreign Policy and host of the magazine’s Ones and Tooze podcast, is interested in the way that climate radicalism has collided with Germany’s longstanding pattern of compromise and incremental change. He notes that in Germany, there is near universal acceptance of the dangers of climate change, although not as much agreement on the best way to respond. Some of the most vocal activist groups, such as Ende Gelände (“Stop Coal”) and Letzte Generation (“Last Generation”), take the view that the crisis is so urgent that traditional democratic procedures are not only inadequate, but part of the problem. The latter organization, writes the author, “enjoys the greatest momentum, in part because it has always recognized the fewest limits in its strategy of change. For the same reason, it has inspired the greatest public backlash.” Their tactics extend from marches and protests to disrupting traffic and gluing themselves to things. Abadi conducted careful interviews to assess their beliefs, but he finds no real policy agenda, just complaints and nihilism. The groups disdain any initiative by the government to address climate change, and they see the Green Party as having betrayed its principles by accepting the compromises of the parliamentary system. Their recent drift into property damage and sabotage has been counterproductive, turning a significant section of Germany's quiet middle class against them. Abadi sometimes seems overly polite, concluding that the radicals are well intentioned but essentially naïve, even when many of their actions suggest otherwise. Throughout this brief book, the author makes many interesting points about politics in the era of climate change.
Abadi’s close-up study of German climate politics reveals an obsession with performance over policy.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9798987053645
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Columbia Global Reports
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
NATURE | WORLD | PUBLIC POLICY
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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