Fascinating interview exploring the interwoven geopolitical, economic, and political history of Western democratic societies since the early 20th century, revealing the way in which the battles for energy and for resources has shaped politics, the fault lines ultimately leading to many recent crises. Helen shares her perspective on the evolving relationship between the US and China—the underlying dynamics, emphasising how the Chinese leadership thinks in strategic terms about green energy –unlike the US. Helen also highlights the scale of the challenge of the energy transition which, she argues, is often underestimated, pointing out how energy transitions in the age of fossil fuels has largely been about more energy sources, not directly replacing one energy source with another.
Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge and a fellow and Director of Studies at Clare College, Cambridge. Her current research concentrates on the political economy of energy and the long history of the democratic, economic, and geopolitical disruptions of the twenty-first century. She is the author of Oil and the Western Economic Crisis (2017), China and the Mortgaging of America (2010), and Might, Right, Prosperity and Consent: Representative Democracy and the International Economy (2008). Helen is a contributing writer to the New Statesman and has written articles for the London Review of Books, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. Her new book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st century was published in February.
Episode 191: Sir Ronald Cohen, "the father of social investment," discusses how to reshape capitalism to drive real change.
Episode 190: Dr. Xander Dunlap discusses how current environmental policies and "green" technologies are perpetuating ecological destruction.
Episode 189: Interview with Irish rewilding pioneer Eoghan Daltun in the Beara peninsula of Co. Cork, Ireland.
Episode 188: Interview with Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche...offering a distinctive Buddhist outlook on current environmental crises.
Episode 187: Interview with indigenous Australian academic and human and earth rights activist, Dr. Anne Poelina.
Episode 186: Interview with Steve Trent, founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation
Episode 185: Interview with leading French anthropologist Professor Philippe Descola on man's relationship with nature.
Episode 184: Interview with Dr. Matthew J. Bell, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader
Episode 183 Interview with Professor Katharina Pistor on How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality. First aired on December 13th, 2021.
Episode 182: Journalist Vincent Bevins discusses his new book If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
Episode 181: Environmental degradation, capitalism, and imperialism with Jason W Moore
Episode 180 Net Zero: Beyond the hype. Professor Angel Hsu on the reality of Net Zero Pledges
Episode 179: Jeremy Lent talks about finding our place in the universe by integrating science and traditional wisdom
Episode 178: Discussion with Paula DiPerna of the pros and cons of a market based approach to our environmental problems.
Episode 177 Author Ned Beauman talks about his satirical extinction novel, Venemous Lumpsucker. First aired in September 2022.
Episode 176: Interview with Mike Davis, CEO of pioneering campaigning NGO, on their work unmasking global corruption, safeguarding the environment, and advocating for human rights
Episode 175: Dr. Samantha Montano: Understanding Emergency Management in the Climate Change Era
Episode 174: Interview with Professor Daniel Aldrich on resilience and the importance of social capital in post-disaster recovery, first aired October 2021
Episode 173: Interview with Scottish author Martin MacInnes on contemporary literature and the climate crisis
Episode 172: Professor Neta Crawford discusses the emissions of the Pentagon -- the world’s largest single greenhouse gas emitter.
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