May 11Un jeune désespoirVersion anglaise ici. Aujourd’hui, j‘ai donné une conférence sur le climat dans mon ancienne école secondaire à Genève — et j’ai reçu un cours magistral sur nos défaillances. Ceci est l’histoire d’une journée qui m’a bouleversée. Ce n’était pas ma première conférence sur le climat dans un lycée. En 2019…Climate8 min read
May 10The kids are not okTraduction française ici. Today I went to give a climate talk at my old high school in Geneva — and was given a masterclass in our failings. This is the story of a day that shook me up. I have given climate talks at high schools before. In 2019, I…Climate Change7 min read
Jan 23Individuals and social pressure: how to change the worldI recently had an extraordinary and rare experience, as an academic, activist and citizen: I participated in a victorious movement. Doing this upended most of what I thought I knew about how change happens in the world, and it seems very important to share these insights with you, despite my…Climate Change14 min read
Dec 23, 2021Lettre à un politicien suisseContexte: j’ai écrit cette lettre suite au dénouement victorieux de la grève de la faim de Guillermo Fernandez, à un politicien qui a exprimé de l’intérêt et de la consternation pour l’action de Guillermo, mais (comme beaucoup d’autres) a préféré présenter les efforts et institutions suisses comme infaillibles, plutôt que…Climate Change4 min read
Mar 13, 2021The bear, the tiger, and the trade unionistWarning: medley ahead. This is a blog post about anarchist-anthropologist David Graeber, documentary-maker Adam Curtis, children’s TV creator Mister Rogers, comic-strip writer Seth Tobocman, trade union newspapers, Switzerland and alternative economics. It all made sense to me when I sat down to write. It will contain some “square words” (=swear…Economics12 min read
Jul 24, 2020Flawed greater good vs. deliberate evilIf I were into clickbait, I’d call this a story about cancel culture vs. a culture of cancellation, but I’m not. Also, to be honest, I am writing this while insomniac, stressed and exhausted. I am going to make sweeping oversimplifications (“left” and “right” being the most egregious, perhaps). …Politics9 min read
Published in Climate Conscious·Jul 10, 2020Cogs in the climate machineA short course in planetary time, for planetary survival — This is less of a blog post, and more of a howl. The planetary climate clock, in human time Let’s start by some human and planetary timescales. I don’t know why we don’t learn them in grade school (I never learned them at all). But they matter. And let’s represent them visually, in a stark, plain way.Climate Change10 min read
Jun 17, 2020Memories of Kirk SmithYou should always at least try to meet your heroes, especially when they are as immense as Kirk Smith, so when I attended a conference in Berkeley in 2011 (one of my last long-haul work flights), I wrote to him to see if we could meet. Characteristically generously, he said…Environment3 min read
Mar 19, 2020Post-capitalist reading in a time of pandemicThis is less of a blog post and more of a collection of essential readings at this time. I’ll be adding to it (especially if you send me links, hint hint). There are books in here: please consider ordering them from your local bricks & mortar bookstore. [Update March 21st…Economics7 min read
Jan 8, 2020On SacrificeYou who build these altars now, To sacrifice these children, You must not do it anymore. -Leonard Cohen The word sacrifice is bandied about by both sides of the debate on climate action. Shall we unpack this loaded shuttlecock? Raising the spectre of sacrifice is the all the vogue in…Climate Change6 min read