Exploring radical ideas & projects for a kinder, healthier, and more beautiful world. Let’s demand a brighter future together! Episodes release when they're ready. Join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops: https://www.patreon.com/SolarpunkNow
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February 23, 2026Episode 2216 min
What Does Solarpunk Mean in 2026?
Solarpunk might seem impossible in 2026, but I argue we need it now more than ever.Fill out the survey here to participate in my interview-based solarpunk research project! Join the free Patreon to get email updates when new episodes release.Sources:Andrew Dana Hudson - The Political Dimensions of Solarpunk 10 Years LaterS.D. Chrostowska - Utopia in the Age of SurvivalMy research on Solarpunk and Climate MessagingSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
April 16, 2025Episode 211 hr 23 min
After the LA Fires: Scholars and Activists on Altadena's Black History, Present, and Future
Dr. Wesley Cox, Dr. Dani Haogue, and Zaria Smith all grew up in Altadena, CA. In the wake of the Eaton Fire which destroyed more than half of the city in January 2025, they share their personal stories and how they connect to the wider picture of Black history in Los Angeles, environmental racism, and the struggle for a brighter future.DONATE to Dena Rebuild: https://denarebuild.co/ Mentions/Sources:Better Watts Initiative (Dani serves as research director): https://wlcac.org/community-service/better-watts-initiative-bwi/Mapping LA History (Wesley’s project at UCLA): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3defcb2c438343d58b035428e3b95fbbEaton Fire burn map: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fireNASA/JPL Pollution in Altadena: https://www.toxicsites.us/site.php?epa_id=CA9800013030https://www.latimes.com/socal/la-canada-valley-sun/news/tn-vsl-me-monkhill-20130620-story.htmlSolid Waste Sites and the Black Houston Community (first environmental justice study): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1983.tb00037.xAssociation of Black Estate Planners: abepp.orgSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
November 10, 2024Episode 2055 min
We Have to Consider Collapse
As solarpunks, we have to consider the possibility of collapse. Matthew Azuley–aka EpicTomorrows–introduces us to collapse awareness, a view of the climate crisis which accepts the inevitability of societal collapse on some level. We’ll hear a bit about his forthcoming book, an anthology of global perspectives on collapse, as well as how this view might fit within a solarpunk perspective.Buy the book on ArkboundMentions/Sources:EpicTomorrows on YouTubeA Radical GuideDiamond, J M. (2011). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. London: Penguin. Note from Matthew: I need to be very clear, some of Diamond’s scholarship has now been discredited, but this does not change his essential definition of collapse which I still think is the most useful one. Diamond defines collapse as, ‘A drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time’ (Diamond 2011: 3). He developed a single general formula outlining how many of the world’s great civilizations fell, a process he explains as ‘ecocide’. Ecocide, as the name suggests, describes a society that destroys the very environment upon which they depend, thus ensuring its own demise (Diamond 2011: 6).Total Societal Collapse by 2040? (MIT report summarised by ‘Down To Earth’ on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE50z-C-gGAThe Green Transition will not work as planned, what might we do instead? – Professor Simon Michaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbnXMv19Hck&t=1sRecommended Reading:An open access literature review of societal collapseAll planetary boundaries mapped out for the first time, six of nine crossed, by Stockholm Resilience CentreBreaking Together free e-book, by Jem Bendell (assessment that collapse is already happening, with suggestion of ‘ecolibertarian’ response, with a nod to Murray Bookchin)What Is Social Ecology? by Murray BookchinSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
August 15, 2024Episode 191 hr 0 min
No Healing Without Decolonizing: Community Mental Health in Gaza w/ Dr. Jess Ghannam
In 1995, Dr. Jess Ghannam was one of two psychiatrists for the entire population of the Gaza strip (nearly two million people). The typical Western model of mental health care isn’t equipped to address needs at that scale, especially in a population suffering from multiple generations of ongoing trauma.Jess’s work centers around community mental health, a model that aims to deliver care at scale by integrating and working within the community. This includes developing a historical understanding and political awareness–the doctor’s office isn’t isolated from the rest of the world. When it comes to addressing global mental health needs, the challenges are great, but the insight Jess brings to this conversation points a way forward.Note: Since October 7th, much of this work in Gaza has been destroyed. And the needs right now are much more immediate–food, water, shelter, and a ceasefire. If you have the resources to provide assistance, Jess recommends a donation to KinderUSA (http://www.kinderusa.org/), currently providing food support to the region.Learn more about Dr. Jess Ghannam at https://profiles.ucsf.edu/jess.ghannamRecommended Reading:Frantz Fanon – Black Skin, White MasksFrantz Fanon – The Wretched of the EarthSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
April 12, 2024Episode 181 hr 2 min
Ecology is Radical: A People’s History of Environmentalism
This Earth Month, we’re looking back on the history of environmental radicalism. Brian Tokar is a teacher, activist, and writer who’s been involved in the movements he writes and teaches about since the 70s. We discuss how leftism and environmentalism came together, why ecology matters for the left, and what lessons we can learn from these traditions and put into practice today.References:Brian Tokar – The Green AlternativeMurray Bookchin – “Listen, Marxist!”Murray Bookchin – “Ecology and Revolutionary Thought”Pluriverse: A Post-Development DictionaryFurther Reading:Robert Gottlieb – Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental MovementChad Montrie – A People’s History of Environmentalism in the United StatesPeter Kropotkin – Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionA. Kauffman – Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American RadicalismDouglas Bevington – The Rebirth of EnvironmentalismRobert Bullard, ed. – The Quest for Environmental Justice, Confronting Environmental Racism, Unequal Protection, Dumping in DixieSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
March 10, 2024Episode 1759 min
When the Aliens Land, Invite Them to Dinner: Ruthanna Emrys on Monsters, First Contact, and Hope
What happens when a solarpunk world is suddenly visited by aliens?Ruthanna Emrys has long been known to the weird fiction community for her reimaginings of H.P. Lovecraft. She writes stories for monsters – stories that challenge the role of the monster as something “other,” something to be feared, something we can’t build social relations with.Her latest novel, A Half Built Garden, begins with a classic scenario: an alien spaceship landing. But we learn pretty quickly that, strange and incomprehensible as these aliens are, fear is not the only response we can have to the unknown. A Half Built Garden is a story of high-stakes interspecies negotiations, of hope and progress despite immense challenges, and of bridging the divide between the familiar and the alien.Ruthanna Emrys (website, and links to buy the book): http://ruthannaemrys.com/Support the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
February 10, 2024Episode 161 hr 32 min
Bringing Theory Beyond the Academy: Strange Matters Magazine
The editors of Strange Matters Magazine want your reading experience to feel like meeting a grad student friend for coffee. Meaning: they explain the most exciting parts of their research, give you all the hot gossip in their field, skip the jargon and elitism, and still deliver the information in a rigorous manner. Strange Matters is thoughtful yet playful, broad in scope yet deep in its analysis. They publish articles in a variety of genres and from a variety of viewpoints, all committed to their mission of “a new culture of open-minded inquiry on the Left.”I first came across Strange Matters back in 2022, when they launched their successful crowdfunding campaign for Issue 1. Their editorial, “Words for our Present Reality,” spoke to the disillusionment I felt as a leftist in the face of the pandemic, climate change, reactionary politics, economic crisis, etc. The piece also pointed the way forward in what I think is a really promising direction. Strange Matters is an exciting project, and a great example of a successful Left media project. In this episode I chat with two Strange Matters editors, Kyle and Frances, to discuss the magazine, the process of developing it, and what makes the project so exciting.Links:Strange Matters MagazineStrange Matters on TwitterStrange Matters on InstagramArticles Mentioned in Episode:Words for our Present RealityBloodless Board GamesDo Interest Rate Hikes Worsen Inflation?Barry Jenkins’s Cinematic TechniqueChastening the Past (critique of Dawn of Everything)Consider the DinosaurSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
January 7, 2024Episode 151 hr 28 min
From Capitalist Realism to a Solarpunk Reality
To kick off the New Year and a new season of Solarpunk Now, I’m bringing you a conversation with some other creators in the solarpunk space.In June last year, I presented a panel at the Solarpunk Conference alongside Andre of HydroponicTrash, Ariel of the Solarpunk Presents Podcast, and Elia of The Fire These Times podcast. Our panel, From Capitalist Realism to a Solarpunk Reality, discussed the thought and action necessary to bring solarpunk to life. We got together after the conference to expand on these ideas and find connections between our related, but distinct areas of research.This conversation originally aired on The Fire These Times in December, but it gets to live on my feed too, because Elia is awesome like that. Andre, Ariel, and Elia all have their own projects, so if you’d like to hear more from them, check out the links below!Links:The Fire These Times podcast (Elia)Solarpunk Presents podcast (Ariel)HydroponicTrash (Andre)The Solarpunk ConferenceSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
July 13, 2023Episode 141 hr 33 min
AI is Already Existential: The Case for an Anti-fascist Resistance
AI already poses an immediate danger to our freedom, livelihood, and even our very survival. We don’t need to wait on the singularity for AI to become existential – the resistance starts now. A conversation with Dan McQuillan (Goldsmiths Department of Computing).Find Dan on Twitter, Mastodon, or visit his websiteSources:Dan’s book – Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial IntelligenceDan McQuillan – Mental health and artificial intelligence: losing your voiceMiranda Fricker – Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of KnowingAchille Mbembe – NecropoliticsSilvio Funtowicz and Jerome Ravetz – Science for the post-normal ageCybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende’s ChileThe Cybernetic Brain – Sketches of Another Future Radical Technology (illustrated by Clifford Harper) Further Reading:María Puig de la Bellacasa – Matters of CareIsabelle Stengers – Cosmopolitics IDonna Haraway – Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial PerspectiveUsing ChatGPT in mental health care (Koko) Startup Uses AI Chatbot to Provide Mental Health Counseling and Then Realizes It ‘Feels Weird’Controversy erupts over non-consensual AI mental health experimentThe Lucas PlanArticles on GKN factory occupation in Italy: Italy’s Longest-Ever Factory Occupation Shows How Workers Can Transform ProductionAn Eco-Revolution of the Working Class? What We Can Learn from the Former GKN Factory in ItalySupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
June 10, 2023Episode 1358 min
Fashioning the Future: Why Accessible Fashion Matters
AJ is a fashion designer who focuses on making accessible fashion: clothing for diverse bodies, abilities, and genders. His online store–Pocketbean Crafts–sells magical and accessible fashion. He also has a nonprofit, Queering the Spotlight, which provides accessible fashion opportunities for artists and models.There are a lot of issues with the fashion industry: from labor rights, to a huge carbon footprint, to the lack of options for diverse bodies and abilities. In this episode, AJ offers his view of the problems with the fashion world, and how he’s navigated fashion as a trans man with disabilities. We’ll also learn how AJ challenges harmful norms beginning with the design process, and hear some great ideas for making fashion part of a brighter future!Links:Queering the SpotlightPocketbean Crafts WebsiteInsta: https://www.instagram.com/pocketbean/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pocketbeanPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/pocketbeancraftsSupport the showSolarpunk Now! is hosted & produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener, with additional music by Gabriel Rivas. You can follow the show on Instagram or Mastodon, and support my work at Buy Me a Coffee. Please join the email list to get notified when a new episode drops. Keep dreaming big, and keep up the good work!
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