Show Notes
Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters Welcome back to the After Order podcast - a series from Macrodose in collaboration with the Alameda Institute. In our opening episode, host James Meadway spoke with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff about their book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, using Elon Musk as a lens to examine the intellectual contours of our emerging post-liberal moment. Together, they traced how new ideological formations may be taking shape in the aftermath of neoliberalism. In today’s episode, we shift from those ideological roots to something more tangible, the material foundations of contemporary capitalism, and in particular, the accelerating green energy transition. To explore this, James is joined by Thea Riofrancos, author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. As governments and corporations race to decarbonise the global economy, demand for critical minerals such as lithium has surged dramatically. Yet as Thea’s work shows, this transition is not simply a story of technological progress or environmental necessity. It is also opening up new frontiers of extraction - reshaping landscapes, transforming communities, and reconfiguring geopolitical relations in the process. At the centre of this conversation lies a pressing question: can the shift to renewable energy avoid reproducing the same extractive dynamics that defined the fossil-fuel era? And are we witnessing the emergence of a new form of “green capitalism” that carries forward many of the old logics under a different guise? In a world After Order, where crises no longer appear as temporary disruptions but as enduring conditions, the stakes of these questions are difficult to overstate.
More from Macrodose
This week on MACRODOSE we’re publishing a special bonus episode with former leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, and environmental philosopher and activist, Professor Rupert Read.
On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at what treasury sources have begun trailing of next week’s budget (0:38), Microsoft pulling out of a data centre project in Essex (5:47), and how falling tech stocks have shown the AI bubble is reaching its limits (8:26). Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support. Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at [email protected]. To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk. Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at whether the UK really should commit to an arbitrary 3.5% target for defence spending (0:39), the IMF’s world economic outlook report and what’s missing from it (7:08), and the ongoing unrest and protests against conditions in the french education system (9:08). Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support. Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at [email protected]. To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk. Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the year ahead might be a moment of massive divergence in the world economy (8:03), much needed economic policy introduced by the Greens at party conference (3:26), and an update on the road ahead for food prices as El Nino builds (0:39). Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support. Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at [email protected]. To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk. Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media: https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at Andy Burnham’s first speech to Labour party conference as prime minister, his proposals to modify the triple lock on pensions, and how he sets out his stall to solve the crisis in social care. Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support. Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at [email protected]. To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk. Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station