Originally published in German in 2017 by Verlag C.H. Beck, Germany.

Includes bibliographical references.

"Richard Kraft, a German professor of rhetoric, an aging Reaganite, and a Knight Rider fan, is unhappily married and badly in debt. He sees no way out of his rut until he is invited to participate in a competition in California sponsored by a Silicon Valley tycoon and techno-optimist. The contestants will convene to answer a literal million-dollar question, committing to deliver an eighteen-minute lecture on why our planet is still, all evidence to the contrary, the best of all possible worlds--and to suggect how technology will make it even better."--jacket.