Wish we could have been there with them, but 5 Stelliform authors gathered in LA for an evening of hopeful storytelling hosted by Reckoning, Solarpunk Mag, The Fabulist, and ARLA. Dazzling the audience with optimistic visions of the future were Syr Beker, E.G. Condé, Sarena Ulibarri, Cynthia Zhang, & Michael J. DeLuca.
La propuesta cultural neoliberal de occidente es el día de la marmota. Musica remember de los 80, y reboots infinitos hechos de lo que vendió en esas décadas. Con IA y sin IA. El crecimiento infinito, y la repetición constante.
No. El mundo tiene límites.
Viva el #Solarpunk
Local group is selling rain barrels and accesories as a fundraiser. Any of yous have experience with rain collection and wanna give me some advice?
I'd like to set them up at my various downspouts and use mobile pumps and hoses to periodically pump out to a larger cluster of storage totes to water my food garden/orchard. We have heavy spring rains, irregular summer rains, and brutal winters here.
New desalination technology being tested in California could lower costs of tapping seawater
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-03-21/desalination-tech-tested
A Return to Attraction to Light and the End of the Public Intellectual
https://www.scifi.global/a-return-to-attraction-to-light-and-the-end-of-the-public-intellectual/
'Social Inflation'
I want to introduce a concept I'll call "social inflation", defined as 'the gradual thinning of the interpersonal resources of a society'. I imagine that the field of sociology has some language for this, but let's pretend I'm coming up with something new.
Economic inflation is something we are long familiar with, as it is just assumed that everything has to always get more expensive as 'standards of living' (for the wealthy) must perpetually increase (not wages, though). Social inflation, however, is impossible to define quantitatively. Leading up to times of turmoil there is a creeping breakdown of relationships that can snap suddenly, a socio-economic depression, to the point that our civil institutions can no longer function. Globally, we may be entering a socio-economic depression that will drastically reshape our states and institutions.
I believe that social and economic inflation, essentially the drawdown of resources that support our civic institutions, is driven by technological grifting and worker exploitation. #Luddite platforms simultaneously address workers rights and techno-scams. The foundation of #Luddism, to me, is addressing these two intertwining factors, by rejecting the hyper-technological 'growth' used to justify the 'trickle down' approach to economics that exploits workers and destroys the planet. #usPol #SolarPunk #Sociology #PoliticalScience
Last Oct, before the election started unraveling everything, I wrote a podcast about how to "do your part"--it was about the climate crisis, but *hello* that's still here, now with *added fascism*.
But the piece still works really well as a guide for knocking down some of the barrier to action and *get moving*.
Today feels like a good day to bring it back: https://brightgreenfutures.substack.com/p/ep-21-doing-your-part-in-the-climate
Join Kara Stone as she takes us through an overview of her work on Low-Carbon Video Games and their impact on the environment!
https://youtu.be/EtImbw1D81s?si=y6Q_aUzSlVm93AA5
Want to share your work? There's still time to submit a proposal! Follow the link in our bio to see how.
@BruceW @tankdigital - Interestingly enough, "Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" by Neal Stephenson has elements of what I would argue are solarpunk.
It's set in the same world as Snow Crash but way more fleshed out. It's absolutely "post-cyberpunk" as is evidenced by the first chapter starting off HEAVILY cyberpunk and having that story line immediately "killed" off.
It has post-scarcity elements in it. No matter what, there are places to live for free, etc. There are idyllic societies and various different approaches to it - some which absolutely are #solarPunk.
New Zealand Heads for 100% Renewables!
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/19/new-zealand-heads-for-100-renewables/ #solarpunk #cyberpunk #solarpunkart #sciencefiction #future #community #ecopunk
This week I read A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
I know I’m late to this party, but I’ve had this on my to read pile (aka “The Pile of Shame) for a long time, and I finally read it in one sitting last night.
This book wonderful. Utterly wonderful and charming. It gave me the feel of a Ghibli movie, although I can’t quite say why. I’m just sure that if you like My Neighbour Totoro, you’ll like this.
It’s beautiful little novela about a monk and a robot set in an idyllic solar punk world that I so desperately want to go live in.
I’ve read a few reviews complaining nothing happens, and whilst I can see why people might say that, I think they’ve spectacularly missed the point. The point being:
"You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live."
hey #solarpunk peeps
interesting bachelor's thesis in International Environment and Development Studies on Solarpunk Discourse, by Ive Ekeberg
looks at solarpunk manifestos
@tankdigital loved Anathema and few years back I read Seveneves. The only Stephenson book I’ve re-read is Cryptonomicon. Two regular re-reads are Dune and Neuromancer. I promised myself I would dive into #solarpunk novels this year. Any strong recommendations as starting points?
@BruceW I read Anathem every year, and am about to pick up Fall - Or Dodge In Hell again (after watching Pantheon on Netflix).
He's no #solarpunk (yeah, your hashtag worked) but the perspective he writes from has changed the way I look at the world around me and led me towards Solarpunk, so I give him a decent amount of credit.
Termination Shock
I just finished reading Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock - another of his 700-page epics. I've fairly recently tapped into the whole #SolarPunk thing (I wonder if this will show as a legit hashtag in Bluesky and Mastodon). I was fully immersed in the Cyberpunk movement back in the day. Stephenson's Snow Crash was one of my favorites. I seriously enjoyed this novel and the associated hard-ish science. Created in WordLand
If y'all are looking for work, there are green jobs out there!
From a friend: Yall I am thrilled to share that ReImagine Jobs has officially launched an interactive job board on our website! Currently we are listing positions in PA, OH, and WV. I encourage folks to share additional job postings outside of that region too.
The news is the stuff of literal nightmares (I had one last night) but action is the antidote.
If you're having a rough time, I wrote up some thoughts that might help.
#solarpunk #climatechange #fascism
https://susankayequinn.com/2025/03/anger-is-not-the-opposite-of-hope.html
Dear friends! I'm hosting this season's foraging gathering: "Forage Frolic - Forest Chive Edition" ...we'll be learning how to forage and make pesto with this fragrant chive that grows only in early spring 
...pls rsvp on Eventbrite!
Date: Sun, May 4, 14:00
Meeting point: Kiehnwerderallee 2, Berlin
Making point: LichtenGarten Studio & Gallery. Türrschmidtstraße 12 Berlin
https://www.eventbrite.de/e/forage-frolic-forest-chive-edition-tickets-1301040540279
Hello fediverse solarpunks! We’re Solarpunk Presents Podcast, a podcast run on a shoestring budget by two lady solarpunks, one in Canada (@arielkroon) and one in Germany (@xtinadr@wandering.shop). We’re not great with technology, but we happen to both be PhDs from the opposite sides of the spectrum between STEM and Humanities/the Arts, and we’re united in our working towards solarpunk futures.
Our podcast is an interview-style podcast where we talk to guests and each other about various aspects of solarpunk, renewable energies, political action, and more. Often, our guests are people who wouldn’t label themselves as solarpunks, but are (and have been, often for years) quietly involved in working towards making the world a better place to live in. We strongly believe that once you get past the aesthetic and hype about renewables, solarpunk at its core promotes compassion, kinship with non-humans and humans alike, and grace for our fellow human beings as we all work together to survive on our shared planet.
You can support the podcast on Patreon, with tiers starting at just $1 USD! We host a monthly solarpunk hangout that all of our patrons are invited to, and all Patrons at the $3 tier and up receive early access to our episodes. There are more tiers with more extras, so head to https://patreon.com/solarpunkpresents to see them all. We also take one-time or recurring donations over at our PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4QYBB8LGBC6FS
Even if you’re not in the financial position to donate, we really value other forms of support, such as positive reviews on your podcatcher of choice (it helps us be more visible and reach more solarpunks!), or subscriptions to our YouTube channel and comments there. As writers, we thrive on feedback, and we are continually trying to make the podcast better and want to know what you think.
As I’ve said before, it's rough out there for anyone valuing the environment, social justice, compassion, and more, and we want to keep doing our part to keep hope alive. We want to broaden the imagination of what it's possible to do to contribute to a better world, no matter who you are, where you live, or what life stage you're at.
#Patreon #solarpunk #SolarpunkPresents #SolarpunkPresentsPodcast #support #hope #hopepunk #environmentalism #ClimateCatastrophe #ClimateGrief #reviews #ReviewsPlz #SharingIsCaring# compassion #imagination #Future#PositiveFuture #Futurism #PositiveFuturism #SolarpunkPodcast #SolarpunkPodcasting #ClimateHope #MutualAidRequest #MutualAid
