Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for the outpouring of excitement for our projects from last month and the condolences on the loss of Jim and Jane.
We’re thrilled by the incredible response from those interested in being part of the editorial and book ambassador team for Are We Going to Be Ok? If you missed last month’s newsletter, this is my book featuring Jane Goodall, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Stephen Hawking, Edith Eger, Nelson Mandela, and Christiana Figueres—a collection of wisdom from our era’s greatest luminaries on how to navigate life in our chaotic world. We will be in touch shortly with more information. (And for anyone else who would like to join, please head over to our Google Form.)
We’re excited that we have three wonderful spring books now available for preorder.
We’ve been working with Dr. Justin Garcia for over a decade on his extraordinary new book The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live and Die for Love (Little Brown, January 27, 2026). Justin is the director of the Kinsey Institute and the chief scientific advisor to The Match Group (Match, Tinder, OK Cupid, etc.)—and in this book, he gives us a fascinating, science-based understanding of the joys and sorrows of romantic relationships, from dating and mating to breaking up and grieving.
One key revelation: we evolved for social monogamy but not for sexual monogamy—so it’s no wonder that, when it comes to love, infidelity is the source material for most literature, film, and human sorrow. Crucially, Justin points out that you can build novelty into your relationship instead of finding a novel mate.
One of my great joys during the process of writing this book was watching Justin fall in love with his wife Michelle, get married, and have his new baby, Nicholas (Nico) Lu Garcia.
Suzanne Simard’s pioneering book Finding the Mother Tree took the world by storm with her account of the intelligence and communication of trees. Her gripping discovery that cooperation is as fundamental to the natural world as competition—that we are truly rooted and connected—is even more powerful for its emergence during a period of tremendous change in her own life.
Suzanne’s new book, When The Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World (Knopf, March 31, 2026), takes us on the next leg of the journey into her vast mother tree study to understand how forests die, regenerate, and adapt to climate change. Her insights about death and rebirth are profound not only for our understanding of the forest but also for our own lives. Stay tuned to learn if Suzanne is coming to a botanical garden near you!
As a sneak peek, Suzanne and I just met with the team to DNA her third book, which I’m thrilled to co-author—it will trace our journey into the wilds of Canada, the Amazon, and my native city of New York to further reveal how we can integrate the wisdom of forests into human civilization.
There are perhaps few ruptures in our world that are more devastating and heartbreaking than the Israel-Palestine conflict. We are deeply honored to have gotten to work with Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon, leading peace activists who have both lost family in the conflict.
In The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land (Crown, April 14, 2026), they take us on an extraordinary seven-day trek, sharing personal, political, and mythic stories of the bloodsoaked and sacred landscape they both call home. Pairing unapologetic candor and inspirational prose, Abu Sarah and Inon are sending an urgent message that the people have the power to make change. Peace is inevitable. For Palestinians, for Israelis, and for the world that awaits their example, it is not just possible—it is the future.
We believe this book will be a major turning point in this conflict and the long quest for peace around the world.
On a non-book-related note, our dear sister Thandi Tutu, who has continued the work of her father, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has had a recurrence of her stage IV breast cancer. We know that Arch Tutu is sending love and healing from above, but as he always said, we are the hands of God, so we will be donating for Thandi’s treatment in South Africa. Anyone who feels moved and inspired to contribute can do so at this link.
With gratitude,
Doug, Alyssa, Elizabeth, Jordan, Kelly, Rebecca, Sarah, Sascha, & Wenonah
Other Happenings:
- Ethan Kross’s Shift was named one of Publishers Weekly’s best books of the year
- Lisa Miller discussed the science of spirituality on the Know Thyself podcast
- James Tabor discussed his new book, The Lost Mary, with Dr. John Dominick Crossan
- Friend of the agency Jane Chen has published a memoir, Like a Wave We Break, brilliantly handled by Lara Love
- Sir David Attenborough has donated to help the Wildlife Trusts purchase the Rothbury Estate, a large area in Northern England with great potential for recovery and rewilding. Learn more, including how to join him
- Evy Poumpouras discussed lessons learned from her career as a secret agent on The School of Greatness
- Amishi Jha spoke to Mel Robbins on the science of attentional resilience from her book Peak Mind, which only becomes more relevant as the world becomes more uncertain