Eiren Caffell discusses her novel All the Water in the World

In today’s episode, host Lee Schneider sits down with Eiren Caffall, musician and author of the powerful climate fiction novel All the Water in the World.

Set in a flooded future New York City, Caffall’s debut novel tells an intimate family survival story that cuts through the overwhelming scope of climate catastrophe by focusing on how we protect each other when everything falls apart. Rather than relying on apocalyptic set pieces, she crafts what she calls a “bedtime story”—a hopeful narrative about resilience, community, and the human capacity to rebuild.

Caffall brings a unique perspective to climate fiction, drawing from her background as both a musician and the daughter of an EPA hydrogeologist. She discusses how her dual creative practices inform each other, why she chose the Museum of Natural History in New York as a sanctuary in her novel’s drowned world, and how communities of care can emerge from disaster.

This conversation explores the evolving landscape of climate fiction, the power of personal narrative in processing global crisis, and why stories about “what comes after” might be exactly what we need right now.