Without us here, though, can you imagine how much worse it would be?

It’s 2024. After years circling the globe delivering aid, Jo has built a career supporting those most in need – a good person doing good things.

But 75 years after her grandfather got the idea of “international development” into President Truman’s inaugural speech, global inequality is worse than ever. Eight billionaires now hold the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity.

And when Jo meets an activist who is fighting with her life for her nation’s future, she can’t shake the feeling that the system she passionately believes in might be part of the problem.

Spanning continents and decades, A Fine Idea travels from post-war idealism to today’s overlapping crises, unpicking the history of aid, power and good intentions.

And confronting the question at the heart of it all:

Do we really want to change things – or do we just like the idea of helping?

A Fine Idea is a response to the bestselling book The Divide by Jason Hickel.