In episode 245 of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons is joined by legendary climate journalist Jeff Goodell, author of The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet for a conversation about what’s happened since the book came out—and what hasn’t. Extreme heat is no longer a future risk or a background climate issue; it’s a present-day killer that exposes deep failures in public health, labor protections, urban design, and climate communication. We also talk about how recent political shifts have pushed the U.S. further backward on heat response, weakening protections and leaving communities more exposed just as the risks accelerate. This isn’t a book recap—it’s a reckoning with the legacy of the warning, and why heat will still kill first if we keep refusing to take it seriously.