NPR's Book of the Day

In 'Eradication,' a grieving man sets off to a remote island to save the world

Feb 19, 2026
Jonathan Miles, novelist and author of Eradication, tells a darkly comic story about a grieving man who travels to a remote island to confront invasive goats. The conversation covers the island’s ecological collapse, the grim mechanics of the eradication mission, and the protagonist’s moral turmoil as he humanizes the animals while trying to save the landscape.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Childhood Slaughter Memory

  • Andrew Limbong recounts being taken to slaughter a pig in Indonesia as a child and describes the emotional complexity of killing an animal.
  • He uses that memory to relate to the protagonist's aversion to killing goats in Jonathan Miles' novel Eradication.
INSIGHT

Grief Drives A Moral Mission

  • Adi, grieving his son's death and a broken marriage, takes a job to 'save the world' by removing feral goats from an island.
  • Jonathan Miles frames eradication as an ethical and emotional struggle rather than a simple conservation task.
INSIGHT

Euphemisms Soften Brutality

  • Jonathan Miles notes the interviewer avoids saying 'kill,' using euphemisms like 'remove the goats.'
  • He points out real-world eradication projects exist and language softens the brutality of such work.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app