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 traditio…

What happens when a solarpunk world is visited by aliens? Ruthanna Emrys writes stories for monsters - stories that challenge the role of the monster as something “other,” something to be feared. Her latest novel, A Half Built Garden, is a story of high-stakes interspecies negotiations, of hope and progress despite immense challenges, and of bridgi…

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 publishes a vari…

After the 2023 Solarpunk Conference, my fellow panelists and I got together for a follow-up. Our panel, From Capitalist Realism to a Solarpunk Reality, discussed the thought and action necessary to bring solarpunk to life. In this episode, we expand on these ideas and develop connections between our related areas of research. Featuring Joey of The …

AI, as it currently exists, already poses immediate risks. We don’t need to wait on the singularity for AI to become existential – the resistance starts now! In this episode, Dan McQuillan (Goldsmiths Department of Computing) critiques AI from an informed, technical basis. We explore the risks of currently existing models, from shaping our subjecti…

AJ is a fashion designer who focuses on making accessible fashion: clothing for diverse bodies, abilities, and genders. AJ offers his view of the problems with the fashion world, how he’s navigated fashion as a trans man with disabilities, and how his design processes challenges harmful norms. We’ll also hear some great ideas for making fashion par…

In fall 2022, Pasadena’s Measure H established citywide rent control, “just cause” eviction protections, and a rental housing board to implement the law. But the campaign to get there wasn’t easy, and the struggle certainly isn’t over. On the face of it, Measure H might seem like just another electoral campaign. But Aeryn, Ryan, and Bee of the Pasa…

Bee Rooney is both a scientist and a socialist. She got her PhD in environmental engineering and science at Caltech (Pasadena, CA), and now organizes with the Socialists of Caltech and Pasadena Tenants Union. Bee shares her insights on balancing the demands of research and activism. We also discuss her work in relation to climate, public health, an…

This episode is about tenants unions, fighting for the right to secure housing in an increasingly precarious world. Tenants are uniquely situated between socioeconomic inequality and climate change, so a tenants union fights against a wide variety of challenges: harassment and illegal evictions, gentrification, natural disasters, displacement, raci…

This is a collab episode with fellow podcaster Joey Ayoub of The Fire These Times. We talk in detail about the research I was doing before I started my show, as well as how it connects to Joey’s current research. We cover neoliberalism, capitalist realism, hauntology and ghosts, and all sorts of issues with temporality and imagining the future. Sup…

What if we could meet not just our needs, but also our desires, without harming the environment? What if our society and nature actually worked together to strengthen each other? Chaia Heller, author of The Ecology of Everyday Life, explains social ecology and her work developing a philosophy and politics of social desire. Social ecology, starting …

The theories of social ecology and social desire provide a rational basis for solarpunk projects of all kinds. This is the second part of my conversation with Chaia Heller, author of The Ecology of Everyday Life. In this episode we bring her theory of the five aspects of social desire to life, showing how this theory unfolds into practice: direct a…

Mo Islam (@itsmoislam), co-founder of Payload Space, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - There is no doubt that we are in the early stages of the space economy, Mo says. - The cost to go to Mars will be paid many times over by the young engineers who will be inspired by the mission. - There are three main buckets in the…

Ari Schuler, CEO of goTenna, and Andrea Garrity, Chief Growth Officer of goTenna, join Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon join us on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - goTenna was founded after Hurricane Sandy when a brother and sister didn’t know if the other was safe because the cell network weren’t working. It has since grown into the company tha…

Ian Cinnamon (@iancinnamon), co-founder and CEO of Apex Space, and Max Benassi (@mxbenassi), co-founder and CTO, join Lucas Bagno on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - The cost per kilogram to get things into space has gone down dramatically over the last several years. - Satellites have two parts: a payload and a bus. The bus is the actual st…

Ben Van Roo (@DavidNorthStar), co-founder and CEO of Yurts AI, joins Lucas Bagno on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - The Small Business Innovation Research program was originally developed as a grant program to allow small companies do innovative research. The gene for cystic fibrosis was discovered from the program. - If you’re a small comp…

Christian Brose (@cdbrose), Chief Strategy Officer at Anduril and author of The Kill Chain joins Lucas Bagno on this episode. Takeaways: - The US military and its procurement system has been built for equipment that is big, heavy, and hard to replace — things like ships and aircraft carriers and tanks. - Commercial technologies can contribute to a …

Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT), New York Times columnist and author of The Decadent Society, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - Since the moon landing, we have entered a period of stagnation. Confidence and optimism have declined and culture has entered a repetitive spiral where patterns from the 60s/70s have been repeatin…

Raj Shah, Managing Partner at Shield Capital, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - Raj and Shield don’t care whether a founding team has experience selling to government, because the firm can help with that. They evaluate the team, the market and the tech when they’re looking at an investment. - Ash Carter was the first …

Mike Brown, former director of the Defense Innovation Unit, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - It can easily take 10-20 years for tech to make its way into the Department of Defense. The Defense Innovation Unit helped speed that process up dramatically. - Some of the most important technologies being used in the war in…

Alex Moore (@AustinGiraffe), investor at 8VC and board member at Palantir, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - Alex was one of the original team members at Palantir. He says that helping build the company helps him pattern match today to find the best founders. - Defense investing is not like normal VC inve…

Nathan Picarsic, co-founder of Horizon Advisory, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - There are 17 rare earth metals that are of immense strategic importance. They are used in a vast array of everyday products like consumer electronics, medical devices, electric vehicles, and more. - China has a strong influ…

The thoughts continue to pile up as I prepare for a new education endeavour. Let’s Get Dis. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/solarpunkpermaculture/message

Steve Blank (@sgblank), creator of Hacking For Defense and author of 4 Steps To The Epiphany, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - The secret history of Silicon Valley is that it emerged from the government’s desire to develop advanced technology and weapons in universities during World War II. - Stanford be…

AJ Piplica (@AJ_Piplica), founder and CEO of Hermeus, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - Every time there has been an acceleration in the speed of transportation in history, high GDP growth has followed. - A switch to hypersonic transportation would unlock $4T in growth. - In the future the key differentiator in air tr…

Peter Newell (@PeterANewell), CEO of BMNT, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - Peter was “handed the Ferrari of skunkworks” when he came to be in charge of the Rapid Equipping Force. It was a program that handled over a billion dollars to deploy new technologies. - He became more of an entrepreneur after hi…

Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg), co-founder and general partner at Village Global and co-founder and co-CEO of On Deck join Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways: - Startups are the most effective organizations for solving our biggest problems. - Startups disproportionately contribute to economic growth. - Governments…

James “Hondo” Geurts, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways: - What kept Hondo up at night was that there was a good idea out there that wasn’t passed on to him and thus wasn’t used on the battlefield. - A society can’t be secure without prospe…

Imagining the future isn’t easy, but artist collective Solarpunk Surf Club is here to help. Nick and Max, two members of the group, designed Solarpunk Futures, a card-based tabletop RPG, to break down barriers to radical imagination and strengthen our imaginative capabilities. It’s well-researched, beautifully executed, and ultimately a powerful an…

- The narrative that China can do no wrong and why Noah says it is out of date at this point. - The long-term headwinds that China is facing, including demographic changes, resource limitations, and real estate challenges. - Why America should raise tariffs on anything made in China where it would be strategically important for those goods to be ma…

Jacob Helberg (@jacobhelberg), foreign policy expert and author of The Wires of War, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - Why he says peace through trade was the biggest foreign policy miscalculation in US history. - How US companies have approached operating in China and why Jacob would advise them to proactively work to decouple thems…

Geoff Lewis (@GeoffLewisOrg), founder at Bedrock, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - His thoughts on the markets and the advice he has for founders operating in a market like this one. - What is driving financial nihilism and how it has changed society. - Why he’s only investing in founders where their company is their life’s work. - …

Bilal Zuberi (@bznotes), partner at Lux Capital, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - Bilal’s investing thesis of finding companies building solutions to interesting problems that impact a lot of people. - Why he’s investing in space and defense companies. - What keeps him up at night and how his investments are working on those areas. …

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Andre–hacker, gardener, organizer, and all-around solarpunk. In this episode we continue our discussion of historical social movements, then talk about how to build power and organize your community in the 21st century. The secret? A little something called Acid Communism. Follow Andre on Twitter: https://twit…

Andre–aka HydroponicTrash–is a hacker, gardener, organizer, and all-around solarpunk. In this episode we discuss technology: as an industry, as a cultural phenomenon, and as a potential method of liberation. We also cover the history of the 60s counterculture, which is surprisingly relevant to technology and utopianism today. Follow Andre on Twitte…

Laura Crabtree (@llcrabbie), founder and CEO of Epsilon3, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode to discuss: - What she accomplished during her time at SpaceX and her journey to starting Epsilon3. - Whether the biggest contribution of SpaceX to the industry will be all the amazing people leaving to start their own space companies. - How…

Joshua Steinman (@JoshuaSteinman), founder and CEO of Galvanick, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - The history of cybersecurity at big industrial companies and how he is building “Splunk for industrial systems” to solve that problem. - His time at the National Security Council, what motivated him to work in government, and his work c…

Martin Gurri (@mgurri), author of The Revolt of the Public, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - The genesis of the thesis about the revolt of the public while Martin was working at the CIA analyzing communications as social media and blogging began to take off. - The challenges to authority that the free flow of information has present…

Chris Power (@2112Power), founder and CEO of Hadrian, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss: - Why manufacturing is key to a strong position in the world order. - The changes in the landscape that have enabled a company like Hadrian to be possible now, where it wasn’t five years ago. - What Chris would do if he was running the United States…

Sarah is an addiction counselor at a nonprofit agency in California. Her agency offers a wide range of services, both inpatient and outpatient, and they primarily serve low-income clients with publicly funded health insurance. In this episode we discuss: the structural barriers her clients face, encouraging developments in addiction treatment, and …

Mike Maples (@m2jr), founding partner at Floodgate, joins Lucas Bagno (@lucasbagnocv) and Ian Cinnamon (@iancinnamon) to discuss: - Why there has been an “epidemic of fakery” in society over the last 50 years or so. Mike says that institutions are pretending to be working rather than doing actual work. - Why the right “angle of attack” for societal…

Delian Asparouhov (@zebulgar), co-founder of Varda Space Industries and principal at Founders Fund, joins Lucas Bagno (@lucasbagnocv) and Ian Cinnamon (@iancinnammon) on this episode to discuss: - Why he says that VCs have a moral obligation to fund companies that help keep America a step ahead of its adversaries. - Why space matters for him person…

- What needs to change inside the federal government for more contracts to go to startups. - How startups should think about working with state and local governments. - How trust has declined in public institutions over the last several decades and how companies can credibly step into that void by building in public and telling their own story. - H…

Trae Stephens (@traestephens), co-founder at Anduril and partner at Founders Fund joins Lucas Bagno (@lucasbagnocv) and Ian Cinnamon (@iancinnamon) to discuss: - What keeps him up at night when he looks at the US today. - What he would change about the US government if he could wave a magic wand. - Common mistakes made by people selling to governme…

Solarpunk is a new podcast series about space and defense from Village Global: https://www.spreaker.com/show/village-globals-solarpunk Josh Wolfe (@wolfejosh), co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital, joins Lucas Bagno (@lucasbagnocv) and Ian Cinnamon (@IanCinnamon), investors at Village Global, to discuss: - The problems that some of the le…

Matthew Gray is a computer science researcher and history buff passionate about sortition, a method of allocating public offices by lot rather than by election. In this episode we explore the potential benefits of sortition, and Matthew explains the computer science that could make it work securely and efficiently at the national level. For more in…

Why do certain futurist aesthetics appeal over others? What does art have to say about our political goals, or about the psychological landscape of our world today? Art can be speculative: posing questions and potential answers about how things could be, or should be, in the future. In this inaugural episode of Solarpunk Now, I show how art and pol…

CommunityI’m writing this text for Community. I’m writing this text for the Earth System.I’m writing this text for the gardeners, market growers, forest fillers, regen rangers, loggers, land clearers, guerillas and grand scale permaculturalist of our planet.Without community, we have nothing in common.In this tale of forest thoughts, we have relish…

Preservation“All that yield. ALL OF THAT FOOOD!So much produce and beauty to preserve.” - I think to myself.There are no preservatives in the aisle of your syntropic agroforest. Not the store-bought shelf types anyway. This is good! We like it this way. A system in syntropy is a system of self-sorting.More or less preserving its own beauty over tim…

Edible Carbon GardensEver since your run-in with the forest mage, you've been racking your brain tryna remember seeing any limes in the forest.After a few days, the thought gradually catches up with you - *There aren't usually that many edible species in a natural growth forest system. Not many you know of with limes anyway.In our day and age, frui…