Reading Room: Bill McKibben’s top Substack reads

Reading Room is a series with writers sharing their favorite publications to read on Substack. Any Substack writer can now endorse their peers using our recommendations feature.

Great writers are great readers first, as the maxim goes. In this feature, we explore what Substack writers are reading by asking them for a tour of their reading list.

Bill McKibben, illustration by Nhung Lê.

This week, we spoke to environmentalist, activist, and climate-change journalist Bill McKibben of The Crucial Years—sharing what’s important and what’s not in the race against global warming, as well as his serialized novel, The Other Cheek. Bill is also a fervent reader, with a long list of publications he subscribes to. Here, he handpicks some of his current reads on Substack. 

For more recommendations from Bill, you can browse the full list of Substack publications he subscribes to on his profile.

Hi, Bill! Can you start by describing your reading diet? 

I read … a lot. When I was a kid, every class was spent with a book hidden on my knees under the desk; I’d read cereal boxes then, and I still would, except I make my own granola now, being a good clichéd Vermonter. I do worry that my attention span is attenuating under the pull of Twitter. I find it harder than I used to to get completely lost in a book (easier when they’re on tape, actually). Maybe I’m just getting old.

Describe your ideal or actual reading room. What does it look like? 

I like to read on the screened porch, with a breeze blowing and the deer and moose wandering through the meadow. If it rains, that’s good too. The only problem is I also like to nap. 

Do you remember the first writer or book that really captured your attention?

Probably the Narnia books from C.S. Lewis, which were read aloud to me over and over as a child. They’ve kept me from ever becoming a cynic.

Bill’s actual reading room in Vermont

I like to read on the screened porch, with a breeze blowing and the deer and moose wandering through the meadow. If it rains, that’s good too. The only problem is I also like to nap. 

Bill McKibben’s recommended reads:

• First Substack I subscribed to and Substack I’m most excited to open ASAP: The first one I ever read was Emily Atkin’s Heated—until she started writing one, I’d never heard of Substack. She doesn’t do them quite as often now, so I’m even more excited when one lands.

• Substack I recommend to friends most often: I often get deep technical questions about climate and energy. I have some knowledge here, but it’s not my real forte, so I often send them off to Dave Roberts and Volts.

• Substack I subscribed to most recently: Maybe Brad Johnson’s Hill Heat? Maybe Alex Steffen’s The Snap Forward? There are a lot!

• Substack most likely to make me cry: I read The Cottage from Diana Butler Bass … religiously. And given the parlous state of American Christianity, it often makes me sad.

• Writer not on Substack who I’d like to see join Substack: George Orwell? We forget how much of his best writing was done casually and fairly fast—and his journals make it clear that it was always a pain to mail things to London, etc. I suspect he might have enjoyed his own newsletter, and I know I would have. Alternatively, Orwell’s most recent biographer (sort of), Rebecca Solnit. 

Visit Bill McKibben’s profile page to see more from his current Substack reading list. Subscribe to The Crucial Years on Substack, and find Bill on Twitter. 

Want to help spread the word about great writers you love reading? Set up recommendations, and add publications to your profile page. You can decide which of the publications you subscribe to are displayed on your profile and when you receive new subscribers.