Blot Out the Sun?
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
09/21/23
•34m
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Supposedly, Herodotus wrote that when the Greeks were told that the Persian archers at the Battle of Thermopylae would blot out the sun with their arrows, they responded: “Good, then we shall have our battle in the shade.”
Fast forward to the early 21st century and the issue is no longer Persian arrows, but the relentless heat from a sun less and less buffered by earth’s atmosphere because of the accumulated greenhouse gasses. The result, according to scientists, is a rapidly warming planet with increasingly extreme weather, droughts and floods, supercyclones and hurricanes, raging forest fires, or other unusually intense natural disasters. All of that has become the new normal with every likelihood that what’s extreme today might be perceived as moderate next year. The need for shade has never been greater!
What can be done?
One possibility is what’s called "solar radiation management.” SRM essentially amounts to reducing the amount of solar radiation hitting, and hence warming, the planet. It's either an obvious approach—think, if not Persian arrows then the eruption of huge volcanoes—or crazy dangerous, depending on where you sit.
Luke Iseman and Andrew Song think it’s obvious, and are pioneers in trying to deflect solar radiation away from the Earth. But, unlike scientists, they have decided to stop talking about it and have begun doing it. Listen as they explain how they think they can cool the planet.
Is it okay for individuals to try to re-engineer the climate? Tell us what you think.
Previous Episode
Diplomatically Speaking
September 7, 2023
•33m
"There is nothing dramatic in the success of a diplomatist. His victories are made up of a series of microscopic advantages: of a judicious suggestion here, of an opportune civility there, of a wise concession at one moment and a far-sighted persistence at another; of sleepless tact, immovable calmness and patience that no folly, no provocation, no blunder can shake.” Lord Salisbury, British statesman of the 19th century
Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri has just completed 12 years, an unusually long period, as Singapore's ambassador to the United States, the capstone to a four decade stellar diplomatic career. He retired from his diplomatic service this summer and is now back in Singapore.
What do ambassadors actually do? Twenty-first century technology removes diplomats from the immediate transmission of messages and developments but imposes a far more difficult task: understanding and explaining the realities and dynamics of his host country to his own country’s leaders. In practice for Ambassador Mirpuri this has meant sorting through the behaviors of Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden and trying to make sense of what America’s complications mean for Singapore. No easy task during such a turbulent period!
New Thinking for a New World caught up with Ambassador Mirpuri (once an ambassador, always an ambassador) for reflections on what he learned about America during his service in Washington. Listen and then tell us whether you think diplomats still have a role to play in contemporary society.> quote here
Next Episode
What’s Wrong with America?
September 28, 2023
•34m
The United States seems to be on the verge of some kind of Judgement Day. Extreme partisanship, a past (and future?) president facing seemingly endless indictments and legal entanglements, a profound loss of trust in institutions and leaders, citizens who tell pollsters that their country is heading in the wrong direction and they fear the future—despite objective economic conditions that are better than almost anywhere else. What’s wrong? Why the deep unhappiness, even depression? Is the American dream becoming a nightmare?
Sometimes the best insights come from the outside. Our guest on New Thinking for a New World is an inside outsider with almost unique insight into how the United States works. Lars Trägårdh is a Swedish historian who has lived in the United States on and off for decades and has spent much of that time observing and thinking about the social contract between Americans and their government. Today he's a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, but continues to spend considerable time traveling across the United States.
Listen as he does a deep dive into the social and political challenges confronting America.
Is the United States headed in the wrong direction?
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