Bill McKibben

Harvard Book Store welcomes celebrated author and environmentalist BILL McKIBBEN—founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement—for a discussion of his debut novel, Radio Free Vermont: A Fable of Resistance. This event is co-sponsored by 350 Mass.

About Radio Free Vermont

A book that's also the beginning of a movement, Bill McKibben's debut novel Radio Free Vermont follows a band of Vermont patriots who decide that their state might be better off as its own republic.

As the host of Radio Free Vermont—"underground, underpowered, and underfoot"—seventy-two-year-old Vern Barclay is currently broadcasting from an "undisclosed and double-secret location." With the help of a young computer prodigy named Perry Alterson, Vern uses his radio show to advocate for a simple yet radical idea: an independent Vermont, one where the state secedes from the United States and operates under a free local economy. But for now, he and his radio show must remain untraceable, because in addition to being a lifelong Vermonter and concerned citizen, Vern Barclay is also a fugitive from the law. 
 
In Radio Free Vermont, Bill McKibben entertains and expands upon an idea that's become more popular than ever—seceding from the United States. Along with Vern and Perry, McKibben imagines an eccentric group of activists who carry out their own version of guerilla warfare, which includes dismissing local middle school children early in honor of 'Ethan Allen Day' and hijacking a Coors Light truck and replacing the stock with local brew. Witty, biting, and terrifyingly timely, Radio Free Vermont is Bill McKibben's fictional response to the burgeoning resistance movement.

Praise

“I hope no one secedes, but I also hope that Americans figure out creative ways to resist injustice and create communities where everybody counts.  We've got a long history of resistance in Vermont and this book is testimony to that fact.” —Bernie Sanders

“Only Bill McKibben could set out to write his first novel and produce an addictive caper loaded with craft beer, contract spies, and chase scenes on cross-country skis! This is James Bond meets A Prairie Home Companion and no one but McKibben could pull it off. He does it with such heart, grace, wisdom and fun that I just couldn't put it down. A story as outrageous as our times.” —Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

"What a delicious pleasure to read Radio Free Vermont—a weird and utterly joyous if sometimes hair-raising romp through the dark Wonderland of life under Trump. Bill McKibben is a brilliant storyteller, and I love this book, which is balm for our troubled times." —Jay Parini, author of The Last Station