Rejecting climate doomerism with solarpunk

About this episode

The episode discusses solarpunk as a hopeful alternative to dystopian narratives in sci-fi, featuring insights from writer Phoebe Wagner.

A lot of sci-fi is dystopian. Solarpunk flips that on its head. The subgenre imagines a brighter future where humans have fostered a better relationship with technology, the environment, and each other, in spite of climate disaster. On today’s show, writer and academic Phoebe Wagner joins Kimberly to make us smart about solarpunk, its connection to the green energy transition, and why you should check it out if you want to shake off climate doom. Here’s everything we talked about today: "Solarpunk: A Container for More Fertile Futures" from Solarpunk Magazine "Tired of Dystopian Sci-Fi? You Might Like Solarpunk." from Mother Jones "Sunshine and Seedlings" from Hydroponic Trash "Underground" from Tractor Beam Chobani ad on YouTube We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org .

People in this episode

Host: Kimberly

Guest: Phoebe Wagner

Topics covered

• climate change
• solarpunk
• green energy
• sci-fi
• dystopia
• future

Keywords

• climate doomerism
• solar energy
• sci-fi subgenre
• environment
• technology
• future

Sponsors

Chobani

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Solarpunk Magazine, Mother Jones, Hydroponic Trash, Tractor Beam

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