In this installment of The Climate Pod's Climate Book Club (a new thing, maybe?), we revisit Upton Sinclair's 1927 classic Oil! with Professor Michael Tondre, who wrote the introduction to the recently released new edition of Sinclair's novel. 

Michael Tondre is an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University and an expert in Victorian studies. In this conversation, we look back at the corruption in the fossil fuel industry that Sinclair explored in the early 20th century and how it remains relevant today. We also discuss the novel through our current understanding of the climate crisis and what Sinclair's work can teach us about the our fight for a better future. 

Read the new edition of Upton Sinclair's Oil!

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The latest publication from the IPCC, AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023, outlines a grim future if we don't decarbonize faster and prevent more unnecessary warming. In recent years, there have been major steps taken to accelerate decarbonization, including last year's Inflation Reduction Act passed in the United States to incentivize green energy investments. But even while carbon-free energy infrastructure continues to get a boost, new fossil fuel infrastructure isn't exactly slowing down either. And with the controversy over the Biden Administration's approval of ConocoPhillips’ "massive" Willow oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, the question remains: why are fossil fuel projects still getting the green light?

To talk about the policy and politics behind fossil fuel expansion in the United States and across the globe, we've got two experts on today's show. Tim Donaghy, a Senior Research Manager for Greenpeace USA, and Danielle Deiseroth, Interim Executive Director at Data for Progress. We discuss the biggest takeaways from the IPCC report, the controversy behind the Willow Project, what voters want to see with energy expansion, and much more. 

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

There are an estimated 1.4 billion cars in use around the world. Despite the fact that cars and trucks are a major contributor to global warming, pollute the air, kill over 1.3 million people a year, and cost thousands to own, maintain, and drive each year, most modern societies are built in a way that makes it necessary to own a car. And while traffic seems to be an ever present problem in most cities, adding lanes and more roads has only exacerbated the problem.

Daniel Knowles, Midwest correspondent for The Economist, joined our show to talk about his new book “Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It” and explains that life doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris have shown that it’s possible to reverse the reliance on cars while making it easier and more enjoyable to walk, bike, and take public transportation to just about anywhere you want to go.  Solving the climate crisis requires solving the car crisis, and this book and conversation go a long way in helping you understand where it came from and how to fix it.

Buy "Carmageddon"

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

In his latest book, The Midnight Kingdom: A History Of Power, Paranoia, and The Coming Crisis, Jared Yates Sexton traces back a long history of conspiracies that have fueled authoritarianism, right-wing extremism, and led to several crises. It's in examining this history, Sexton argues, that we can best understand the current moment we're living in and how to avoid greater damages from the major issues we face to today - from the climate crisis to gun violence to wealth inequality and more. 

Jared Yates Sexton is the co-host of The Muckrake Podcast, author of several books including The Midnight Kingdom.

Read The Midnight Kingdom

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

On the new show, Extrapolations, dramatizing the climate crisis isn't just about showing the science unfold. As co-showrunner Dorothy Fortenberry explains on the show this week, making Extrapolations meant telling a wide-ranging, intergenerational story that touches on the politics, economics, technology, culture, and social issues that arise when the world warms. Fortenberry explains the approach the behind the show, how they made it, and what themes were most important to explore. Dorothy Fortenberry is a screenwriter and playwright. She has served as a producer and writer for The Handmaid's Tale. 

Then, Brock goes to SXSW, where he talks to Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, about climate tech innovation and what to watch for in 2023. 

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

Julian Cribb's new book "How to Fix a Broken Planet: Advice for Surviving the 21st Century", explores the ten megathreats facing humanity today such as the climate crisis, the nuclear arms race, and unquenchable economic growth. Cribb joined the podcast to explain how all of these ten megathreats are connected to each other and how by allowing each to get worse, we're exponentially increasing the risk of wiping out human existence. Cribb then discusses his solutions for addressing all of these megathreats at the same time.

Buy "How to Fix a Broken Planet"

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

How did Americans come to believe that markets were the answer to everything? Why don't people trust the government to efficiently allocate resources in a way that creates the greatest good? Who orchestrated this century-long con of the American people?

Dr. Naomi Oreskes and Dr. Erik Conway, co-authors of the eye-opening book "Merchants of Doubt", join the show to discuss their new book "The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market." Our conversation only scratches the surface of everything they uncovered while trying to get to the origin of the market fundamentalism myth that has dominated American popular culture for the last 100 years, and how that myth has led to the climate crisis we're facing today.

Buy "The Big Myth"

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

As an award-winning director, producer, showrunner, television and film writer, and author of six novels, "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley isn't afraid to tackle some of the biggest issues we face. His most recent work, the novel Anthem, is no different. Billed as "an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners" and a "leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart," Anthem takes an unflinching look at our most challenging problems and the obstacles we encounter as a society as we  attempt to address these crises. 

In this wide-ranging conversation, Hawley talks about why he wanted to write Anthem, why climate change plays such a crucial role in his characters thoughts and the novel's environment, how we address conspiracy in our culture, the influence of Kurt Vonnegut, the battle of good and evil in Fargo, and much, much more. 

 Read Anthem here

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

As US Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Dave Turk told us, "2023 is the year of implementation!" That's why we had him on our show to discuss the Biden Administration's historic investments in clean energy technologies and the infrastructure required to ensure they're resilient, available to everyone, and deployed as rapidly as possible. We also discuss the latest nuclear fusion breakthrough and how the global energy crisis resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine will evolve in 2023. This is a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation with someone who has dedicated his career to deploying clean energy around the globe.

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As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

After years of obstruction from their Republican colleagues, Minnesota Democrats used their state trifecta to pass one of the most aggressive clean energy bills in America. Last week, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed the 100% Clean Energy by 2040 bill which makes The North Star State one of just 5 American states with a goal of decarbonizing its electricity sector by 2040. We spoke with Minnesota House Majority Leader and chief author of the bill, Rep. Jamie Long, about how the bill came to pass, what Minnesota voters think of clean energy policy, and how other states can fill the void created by a federal government that's currently being held back from passing more climate legislation by Republicans unwilling to address the climate crisis.

Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly"

As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.