Welcome to the Urgent Futures podcast, the show that finds {signals} in the noise. Each week, I sit down with leading thinkers whose research, concepts, and questions clarify the chaos, from culture to the cosmos.
👉 Never miss an episode! 👉 Subscribe to Urgent Futures now: Youtube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify.
My guest this week is Brett Christophers.
Brett Christophers is professor of human geography at Uppsala University’s Institute for Housing and Urban Research. He is the author of 10 books, including Our Lives in Their Portfolios, Rentier Capitalism, The New Enclosure, and most recently, The Price is Wrong. Christophers is one of the world’s most influential geographers. Recognized for his work on land privatization, the growth of rentier capitalism, the role of asset managers in owning housing and other essential infrastructures—and the political economy of climate change and the energy transition—he has written for the Financial Times, The Guardian, London Review of Books, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Washington Post, among many others.
It’s simple. It goes like this. We’ll be able to easily switch over from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy once they cost the same or less. Except…that’s not actually how it’s working. So-called renewables like solar and wind continue to fall in cost—in some cases becoming cheaper than fossil fuels—and have seen major wins in terms of adoption. But proportionally, they’re barely making a dent in fossil fuels’ stranglehold on the global energy economy.
What gives?
What if the problem isn’t cost at all—but price? This is the basic argument of The Price is Wrong, which we discuss in today’s episode. Instead of fixating on cost, we need to turn our attention to the profitability of clean energy—and it turns out, for a whole host of complex reasons, they’re just not nearly as profitable as fossil fuels.
Get your copy of The Price is Wrong here!
This distinction helps us understand why the energy transition is not occurring anywhere near the speed and scale it needs to. To be clear, Brett isn’t knocking the remarkable innovations in clean energy. Rather, he’s outlining how the structural incentives of capitalism are at odds with adopting them. This is a problem with markets and a reliance on the private sector to solve climate crisis.
Understanding this problem is the first vital step in beginning to imagine how we might bring about a genuine energy transition. And while Brett is reluctant to make strict prescriptions, he points toward these new ways of thinking that might get us started. So please enjoy this illuminating conversation with Brett Christophers.
Another episode you might like:
Wim Carton & Andreas Malm: Overshoot & Climate Breakdown | Urgent Futures #39
Welcome to the Urgent Futures podcast, the show that finds {signals} in the noise. Each week, I sit down with leading thinkers whose research, concepts, and questions clarify the chaos, from culture to the cosmos.
Support Reality Studies
NOTE: Thank you for supporting my work by purchasing these products through the links provided. I will only ever share products I actually believe in.
Health & Wellness:
ZBiotics: Right now, get 10% off ZBiotics. Just head over to zbiotics.com and use code JESSEDAMIANI. If you have an evening with drinking and a morning you need to feel fresh, these are a great help. Genetically engineered by a team of PhD microbiologists, ZBiotics is a probiotic drink that breaks down the byproduct of alcohol responsible for rough mornings after drinking (acetaldehyde).
MUD\WTR: Right now, get 30% off on starter packs using this link. There’s four different blends to choose from, but my current favorite is :rest. “This is our protest to hustle culture,” they say, and that resonates with me. Not only does it actually help me ramp down to sleep, but since I froth a little milk and make a latte with it, I get the warm cozy feeling of morning coffee at night. (For the evening tea drinkers out there: I’m not saying it’s better, just different!)
Mission Farms CBD: Right now, get 25% off your first order using this link to sign up for emails. Mission Farms CBD crafts full-spectrum CBD products for specific conditions like sleep, stress, and discomfort, using a combination of CBD and terpenes found in essential oils. I swear by this stuff. All of Mission Farms’s CBD comes from a small farm in Bend, Oregon. They farm the hemp organically, tend every plant by hand, and test for purity four times: the soil, the hemp, the hemp-extract, and the final products. This CBD is designed for wellness and it shows.
Digital Hygiene:
NordVPN: For a limited time, get up to 72% off using this link. Some people tell me that “VPN” brings to mind ideas of hackers and the dark web, but honestly VPNs are just an extremely easy way to stay much safer online. I’ve used NordVPN for the past four years, and appreciate what they offer, including Threat Protection against malware, 24/7 customer support, fast speeds, and more. One account can protect up to 6 devices (phone and computer), and they don’t track or share what you do online. Another benefit: you can always access the content/apps you have at home, wherever in the world you are.
1Password: Listen, I know from personal experience that password managers don’t make for the most riveting dinner party conversation, but I need to express 3 things: 1) They make your life so much easier—it’s called “1Password” because once you get set up it’s the only password you’ll ever need to remember again. 2) They make your online life so much safer, ensuring that you use unique passwords for every account, stored with a high degree of encryption. 3) They are not nearly as complicated to set up as you think they are! Head over to 1Password using this link for a free trial, and individual plans for less than $3/mo after that.
CREDITS: This podcast is edited and produced by Adam Labrie and me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also directed, shot, and edited the video version of the podcast, which is available on YouTube. The podcast is presented by Reality Studies. If you appreciate the work I’m doing, please subscribe and share it with someone you think would enjoy it.
Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Past conversations include Taylor Lorenz, Lisa Messeri, Legacy Russell, William E. Rees, Renée DiResta, and more. Here is another recent episode with polymath theorist N. Katherine Hayles:
Share this post