An Evening with Jonathan Safran Foer

We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast

A Free Live Virtual Event, Open to the Public

Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 5:00 pm



2020 GEORGE D. AIKEN LECTURE

Join us for a special conversation with New York Times bestselling and award-winning author JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER to discuss is newest book, We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, the unifying—and achievable—call to action we need in these polarizing times. We Are the Weather explores the central global dilemma of our time—climate change—in a surprising, deeply personal, and urgent new way. Foer reveals how the task of saving the planet will involve a great reckoning with ourselves, and that only through collective action will we save our home and way of life.

Drawing from history, science, religion, personal stories, and more, Foer shines light on the human condition and society at large, revealing how to broach difficult conversations with people whose opinions differ from our own; how small, quotidian decisions really can make a difference; and how to actually take action, do something, and change the world. A message sorely needed in today’s divisive and often overwhelming times, Foer’s words unite and provide some much-needed direction on what we can all do to make a difference.

About the Aiken Lectures

The University of Vermont’s George D. Aiken Lectures are a permanent tribute to the former Dean of the United States Senate and Governor of Vermont for his many years of service to the people of the state and nation. Supported by an endowment created by George and Lola Aiken and held annually at the University of Vermont, the lectures, which began in 1975, provide a platform for distinctive views on critical American issues and is the University’s major annual public-policy forum. The tradition of keeping the Aiken Lectures free and open to the public endures.

The lecture series will stress four areas of public service for which Senator Aiken is best known, namely, foreign and public affairs, energy and the environment, food systems and health, and economic development for the purpose of making Vermont, the nation and the world a better place to live and work. There will be an annual rotation of these topic areas by the corresponding College at the University: Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Engineering and Mathematical Science, Education and Social Services, Environment and Natural Resources, Nursing and Health Sciences, Medicine, and the Grossman School of Business Administration.