Planet: Critical Folgen

What’s Plato got to do with the environmental crisis? Everything, according to Carl Safina, ecologist, author, fellow, and winner of the MacArthur genius grant. Carl joins me this week to discuss his new book which examines culture’s across the world, and their relationship to the planet. He argues that Plato’s concept of profanity engendered the Judeo-Christian monotheistic religions which view the world, and man, as sinful, in turn creating a Western culture which has no respect nor care for the natural world. Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.He explains how this culture exported its ideology across the world and argues solutions will be found by examining and learning from Indigenous cultures which celebrate their role as within a wider ecosystem. Carl’s fierce intellect and deep love for the natural world shine through this incredible interview. Listen here on catch it on on Apple or Spotify.Discover Carl’s books and work here.You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon where I upload a bonus video every Saturday.© 2022 Rachel Donald This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

A post-carbon world could be our opportunity to do better—and make the difficult transition much easier to swallow. That’s the message of Alice Friedemann on this week’s episode, author of When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation. The transition is coming, perhaps collapse is coming, and if the world as we know it is going to change we might as well make the most of it. She worries we won’t be given the opportunity due to all the misinformation flying around, and gives a cutting analysis of how the climate change conversation is distracting from many other dangerous, concurrent such as biodiversity loss and water scarcity.Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.For Alice, the big problem is the energy crisis. She explains how oil prices can precipitate nation state collapse, with high oil prices driving 11 of the past 12 recessions.This is a phenomenally interesting interview, which also manages to be a lot of fun, despite the topics! Listen here on catch it on on Apple or Spotify.Visit Alice’s website Energy Skeptic and get your hands on a copy of When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation.You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon where I upload a bonus video every Saturday.© 2022 Rachel Donald This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

According to the laws of physics, the economy can only sustain itself by growing. So how bound are we by the laws of thermodynamics?Professor Tim Garrett, atmosphere scientist at the University of Utah, argues we’re completely bound by those laws. He has modelled how the behaviour of snowflakes and clouds can be used to predict energy consumption and GDP, bridging the gap between economic theory and the natural world. Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.Tim’s research is nothing short of fascinating; this is a mind-bending hour you won’t regret. Listen to the episode here or catch it on Apple or Spotify.Read more of Tim’s work here.You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon where I upload a bonus video every Saturday.© 2022 Rachel Donald This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com