Episodes

  • Climate 201: Climate Doomism (II)
    Mar 9 2022

    In the last episode, we briefly introduced "climate change doomers" and some of their misleading claims. In this episode, I talk about despair, and why we cannot give in to it.

    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • Climate 201: Climate Doomism (I)
    Feb 21 2022

    We're going there. In this episode, I discuss why civilization is not going to imminently collapse due to climate change, explain why doomism is a new form of denialism, and debunk some of its most misleading claims.

    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
  • UNLOCKED: Book Club: Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants
    Feb 8 2022

    A new episode released from behind the Patreon paywall. This episode, we'll review and discuss some of the issues raised by Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants, a book that details the history of the advertising industry.

    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • Climate 201 NETS XI: Direct Air Capture, p2 and NETS conclusion
    Jan 24 2022

    In this episode, we will continue our analysis of Direct Air Capture and conclude the series on negative emissions - crucial component of decarbonisation, or a techno-utopian distraction from the real problems we face? [Don't expect an actual answer]

    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • Climate 201 NETS X: Direct Air Capture, part 1
    Jan 10 2022

    Direct Air Capture - machines that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Could this be the solution to a scaleable negative emissions industry? We'll discuss the pros and cons of the technology in this episode.

    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • BONUS: Black Mirror IRL pilot - Be Right Back
    Dec 28 2021

    Hi all!

    This is a slightly special bonus episode. Some years ago I had plans for another series "Black Mirror IRL", which was going to be a series of episodes looking into the technologies mentioned and featured in the Netflix Series Black Mirror. Is anyone working on these technologies in real life? What would their potential social implications be if they were developed? How scientifically feasible would it actually be to develop something like this?

    The plan would be to explore one technology alongside each episode of the show.

    However, time has passed and I've moved onto other projects, and now I have nowhere near enough time to finish this series alongside everything else, so I only ever got around to recording a single, pilot episode for that putative series, which has been sitting on my hard drive for ages.

    Rather than let it go to waste - as it could be years if ever before I get back around to this project again - I am releasing it as a bonus episode for you to enjoy. But one thing I would say is that I would really appreciate your feedback on this episode. Do you think the series is a good idea? Would you like to see more episodes along these lines? How do you think I could improve it? Any and all suggestions are gratefully received. Maybe someday the series as a whole will return.

    Thank you all as ever for your support for the show.

     
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • Climate 201: NETS VII: Ecosystem Restoration and Mangroves
    Dec 19 2021

    What are "nature-based solutions" to climate change? Can we restore the ecosystems that we've destroyed? And how can restoring mangroves help us to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere?

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • Climate 201, NETS IX: Ocean Iron Fertilization
    Nov 29 2021

    "Give me a tanker full of iron, and I'll give you a new Ice Age." It might sound like something Hank Scorpio would say, but this episode will deal with the very real idea of stimulating plankton blooms to remove CO2 from the atmosphere - ocean iron fertilization.

    Show More Show Less
    30 mins