NPR’s Book of the Day

Episode: Ian McEwan’s latest novel ‘What We Can Know’ is science fiction without the science
Host: Chloe Veltman (filling in for Andrew Limbong)
Guest: Ian McEwan (novelist), Scott Simon (interviewer), Martin Patience (editor), Arpin Munir
Date: September 29, 2025

Overview

This episode features a conversation between Scott Simon and celebrated author Ian McEwan about his 19th novel, What We Can Know. Set in a climate-ravaged, post-crisis Britain of the 22nd century, the novel explores nostalgia for the present era, the persistence of art and culture, and the complexity of understanding the past. The discussion also touches on McEwan’s career, the power of literature to alter lives, and why his speculative future centers on human concerns more than scientific ones.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting and Premise of What We Can Know

• Dystopian Future:
  The novel is set in Britain a century from now—a once-united island, now a fragmented archipelago, having survived multiple global cataclysms (climate change, nuclear wars, mass migrations, AI run amok).
  • “What’s happened is that the 21st century has been a long, tough journey. We've limped from crisis to crisis, two or three nuclear wars, colossal migration, and population has roughly halved.” (Ian McEwan, 02:17)
• Day-to-Day Life:
  Despite civilization’s decline, life’s routines endure, though they are now marked by “acorn coffee and protein cakes.”
  • Universities persist as rare outposts of continuity.

2. Pursuit of the Lost Poem

• Plot Engine:
  The protagonist, Tom Metcalfe, is a future academic searching for a vanished poem—A Corona for Vivian—by the poet Francis Blundy, read once at a family dinner in 2014 and never found again.
  • “He’s destroyed every other single draft, every single note about it. He’s written out a fair copy on vellum... and we don’t know what she did with it. Well, we have to wait for more or less the last sentence of the novel to find out.” (Ian McEwan, 03:52)
• Nostalgia and Envy:
  Metcalfe envies our present for its “variety of cultural expression”—listing music festivals, opera, Pride marches, and even whimsical things like “cheese rolling competitions” and “golf on the moon.”
  • “He keeps thinking back on all the things that could have been saved and weren’t, like biodiversity, getting our minds properly around climate change.” (Ian McEwan, 03:12)

3. Memory, Knowledge, and the Limits of Historical Truth

• Abundance vs. Clarity:
  Metcalfe has access to a glut of digital records about Blandy, but true understanding remains elusive amidst the data.
  • “To what extent does that actually bury the truth?” (Ian McEwan, 04:27)
• Contrast with the Past:
  McEwan draws a parallel between modern record-keeping (“I’m on my way” texts) and the depth of old letter-writing.
• Dual Narration:
  The book’s second half shifts to a narrator contemporary to our own era, revealing “a completely different side of everything we’ve learned.”

4. Speculative Fiction, Humanity, and Art’s Survival

• Why “Science Fiction without the Science”:
  McEwan is less interested in technological futures and more in the survival of culture, history, thinking, and love.
  • “I'm more interested to know what is the future of history, what is the future of universities, what is the future of thinking and loving and daily life? …This is science fiction without the science.” (Ian McEwan, 06:21)
• Ongoing Role of the Novel:
  McEwan discusses fiction’s unique power to reveal private minds—something “no other instrument... as fine-tuned as the novel” can do.
  • “Fictional realism, which can enter other minds, is an extraordinary artifice. …And when we do, I guess the novel will be dead, but we haven’t found it yet.” (Ian McEwan, 07:52)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cultural loss and nostalgia:
  “He [Tom Metcalfe] keeps thinking back on all the things that could have been saved and weren’t, like biodiversity, getting our minds properly around climate change.” (Ian McEwan, 03:12)

• On the impact of too much information:
  "To what extent does that actually bury the truth?” (Ian McEwan, 04:27)

• On fictional access to inner lives:
  “Now, that's the kind of access we do not have in real life. …And we haven't yet found another instrument quite as fine-tuned as the novel to measure fates through time, the rise and fall and pulse of thought and feeling…” (Ian McEwan, 07:39)

Literary Influence & Personal Stories (08:32–10:10)

• Editor Martin Patience shares a personal anecdote:
  Reading McEwan’s ‘On Chesil Beach’ after a difficult breakup inspired him to reconnect with a former partner, leading to marriage and a child.
  • “I read one of your books... and the end of that book floored me... I got in contact with a woman I hadn't seen for three years and... we got married a couple of years [later].” (Martin Patience, 08:43–09:40)
• McEwan responds warmly:
  “Rekindled love is, I think there's the term for it. Rekindlers are people who loved once, part from each other, meet again, and fall in love again and stay together. So you are rekindlers if you didn’t know what you were.” (Ian McEwan, 09:49)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:02] – Introduction and context for McEwan’s latest novel
• [01:21] – Scott Simon introduces McEwan and sets up the world of the novel
• [02:08] – McEwan describes his vision of 22nd-century Britain
• [03:12] – Why the protagonist envies our current era
• [03:52] – The mystery of the missing poem
• [04:27] – On the limits of knowledge and history
• [06:21] – Is there a future for art and stories? McEwan's reflections
• [07:39] – The novel’s unique power to reveal consciousness
• [08:41] – Martin Patience shares how McEwan’s writing changed his life
• [09:49] – McEwan reflects on “rekindlers” and the impact of literature

Tone and Style

The conversation is thoughtful, reflective, sometimes wistful. McEwan’s responses are rich with philosophical musing on history, art, and human resilience. The podcast balances literary insight with personal, heartfelt moments, encouraging listeners to reflect both on the future and on literature’s enduring effect on the present.

This summary covers all substantive topics in the conversation. Advertisements, sponsor messages, and closing credits have been omitted.