Lost Debate

The Moral Cost of Phones

2026-01-21

Ravi sits down with journalist Nick Niarchos, author of The Elements of Power, to expose the hidden human and geopolitical costs behind the batteries powering our phones and cars. They connect Congo’s brutal mining realities and China’s dominance of the battery supply chain to the myths we tell ourselves about “green” tech. It’s a gripping, unsettling look at whether EVs and other battery-powered solutions are nearly as clean—or as moral—as we think. Nicolas Niarchos’ The Elements of Power ...