I’ve been audiobooking my way through Dune (spoilers by the way) and I’m struck by the importance of ecology to its plot. I already knew about Frank Herbert’s history before starting the book, that his research into restoration attempts of the Oregon Dunes inspired the novel. But Dune goes far beyond the ecological roots I… Continue reading Ecological Sci-Fi
Tag: environment
Domestic Energy
I was at a social science history conference last week in Gothenburg, where one of the talks was about women as mediators of energy transitions. For example: from gas heat to electric refrigeration or from telephone switchboard operators to rotary dials. The importance of this history, as explained by panelist Ruth Sandwell, is that stories… Continue reading Domestic Energy
The Florida Project
Disney’s business isn’t looking very good these days. They’ve laid off 7000 staff; announced the closure of their expensive and ambitious Star Wars LARPing hotel after it being open for only a year; their recently announced projects are all live-action remakes no one asked for; and a planned expansion to their Orlando campus has been… Continue reading The Florida Project
Utopian Scholastic
Aesthetic PlanetOne of the things that I’ve appreciated about living in Ireland for the past 3 years is being able to escape the political bubble of the United States. Not in the sense that Ireland’s government sometimes actually functions like a democracy, though that is refreshing, but that US perspectives on politics and culture are… Continue reading Utopian Scholastic
Island Life
Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter: “Long time long time,” sings a fish in a striped shirt and tie in the opening of Niki Lindroth Von Bahr’s short film Min Börda (2017), “This is where you come if you want to stay a long time.” The stop-motion film follows four groups of anthropomorphic… Continue reading Island Life
Thanos
Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter: I’ve been diving into the Marvel Cinematic Universe the past couple of weeks, out of lack of stimulation and procrastination. My friend Richard describes the films as a “concentrated sugar high:” attractive people in body-hugging outfits and an emotional whiplash of tragedy and comedy all strung together… Continue reading Thanos
The Nitrogen Cycle
This is a collection of three pieces on nitrogen, legumes, and soy originally written for the Digestable newsletter: Nitrogen Last Tuesday, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in a waterfront warehouse in Beirut exploded, killing over 160 people, injuring thousands more, and leaving 300,000 people without homes. There’s been some great reporting tying this explosion to previous… Continue reading The Nitrogen Cycle
Free Lunch
Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter. Oh— my twitchy witchy girlI think you are so nice,I give you bowls of porridgeAnd I give you bowls of iceCream.I Give you lots of kisses,And I give you lots of hugs,But I never give youSandwichesWith bugsIn. This poem appears in Neil Gaimen’s book Coraline and its… Continue reading Free Lunch
Suggestions for Stolen Squash
Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter I want to start by saying that it was so unreal to have watched videos of friends back home literally popping champagne in the streets this weekend and then to wake up this morning to the Irish news obsessing over Biden’s Irish heritage. Did you know that Obama has… Continue reading Suggestions for Stolen Squash
An Afterlife for the Anthropocene
Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter I want to talk about the Netflix series The Good Place. It’s a brightly colored entertaining series about quirky dead people navigating an even quirkier afterlife. It’s easy to dismiss this show as another piece of streamable fluff, but the way ideas of environment and environmentalism are woven into The Good… Continue reading An Afterlife for the Anthropocene