Episodes

In our long delayed recap episode for our Solarpunk season, Caroline and Carly reflect on what they have learned about how to organize society. Our Solar punk books were: Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach Book Club A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers Book Club The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk Book Club Suncatcher by Alia Gee Book Club The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin Book Club Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin Book Club Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Book Club Earth Abides by George R. S...

What happens to a post scarcity society when the fear of death is removed? In our final discussion for our Solar Punk season, Caroline and Carly ponder how curing death can help create a better society. They talk about some of the tradeoffs of living a completely free life with no possessions versus a wealthy life where your possessions can be taken away. Get your copy of the book using our affiliate link here: Walkaway by Cory Doctorow Subscribe to our email newsletter on Substack: https://w...

Special guest Margaret joins us to talk about rebuilding civilization after collapse and what we lose when civilization ends. We ask if people are capable of radical change. In this book, our main character, Ish, builds a family that grows into a new community in the years after a pandemic wipes out most of humanity. Get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart Walkaway by Cory Doctorow Complete our feedback form and suggest books to read for f...

Special guest Christy joins us to talk about Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, about the human response when the moon is destroyed in an unpredictable cataclysm. The main characters must build habitats in space to preserve the human race until Earth is restored. We discuss the traits of humanity that we want to preserve for future survival and the love of Earth strong enough to guide 5,000 years of human history. Get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: Seveneves by Neal Stephenso...

We are wrapping up our season on Solar Punk with three heavy hitting books. The final three books of the season are Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, Earth Abides by George R. Stewart and Walkaway by Cory Doctorow.. Seveneves begins with the destruction of the moon, wiping out all life on Earth. Survivors build a civilization in space for 5,000 years, until the Earth is habitable again. In Earth Abides, a pandemic wipes out most of humanity and the main character travels the country, observing ho...

This short story inspired a wide-ranging conversation about how Carly and Caroline respond to climate change in their personal lives. They talk about how they can build a better society right now but they choose not to because they are unwilling to make certain trade-offs. Solar punk stories explore the potential for human society to respond to climate catastrophe to build a better society. In this story we have a picture of potential for a terrible society. Get your copy of the books using ou...

What happens in utopia 200 years later? Caroline and Carly discuss how utopian ideals survive entropy and scarcity and what it takes for a person to be able to objectively evaluate another society. Get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: The Dispossessed “Emergency Skin” Complete our feedback form and suggest books to read for future seasons: https://forms.gle/d1czC4kmE9gmzCes8 Subscribe to our email newsletter on Substack: https://bookclubpod.substack.com/

This plot-filled story made Carly and Caroline ask questions about personhood. Personhood is defined by law in this book, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We also talk about what you have to leave behind to create something new. Get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: Suncatcher, Seven Days in the Sky: https://amzn.to/44bjgiF The Dispossessed: https://amzn.to/3D3QWTG Complete our feedback form and suggest books to read for future seasons: https://forms.gle/d1czC4kmE9gm...

Season 2 of the Book Club Podcast continues with our indy, classic, and short story selections in the Solar Punk genre. Read with us! You can subscribe to our email newsletter at bookclubpod.substack.com. Subscribe now and you can join the conversation with other listeners about each episode by leaving comments. The next three books of the season are Suncatcher: Seven Days in the Sky by Alia Gee, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, and “Emergency Skin” by N.K. Jemisin. Suncatcher is an act...

This book makes us ask the hard questions like, what must be given up to achieve the dream of a better future? To heal 5,000 years of violence and destruction, what if it takes 5,000 more years to bend the arc of history? What is the true cost of nonviolence? Carly and Caroline delve into these questions and develop a fuller picture of the solar punk genre. Get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: The Fifth Sacred Thing: https://amzn.to/43SGxpj Suncather, Seven Days in the Sk...

This novella seamlessly weaves philosophical questions about humanity’s place in the greater ecosystem within a delightful story about a monk and a robot. Caroline and Carly talk about shame as a prosocial instinct and whether or not the effect of shame changes when a society is healthy or unhealthy. You can get your copy of the books using our affiliate links here: A Psalm for the Wild-Built The Fifth Sacred Thing Complete our feedback form and suggest books to read for future seasons.

Our first solarpunk book is an environmental utopia with detailed explanations for how things work and why they were organized that way. The main character is a journalist traveling to Ecotopia for the first time in 20 years to report back on how they’re doing. Hosts Caroline and Carly talk about how shifting priorities on a societal level may change interpersonal relationships, how intelligence is valued in a non-hierarchical society and the role of violence in society. You can get your copy o...

Season 2 of the Book Club Podcast starts now! This season, we are reading Solarpunk. Solarpunk is a literary and artistic movement that envisions building a sustainable, technological future interconnected with nature and community. The "solar" represents solar energy as a renewable energy source and an optimistic vision of the future that rejects climate doomerism, while the "punk" refers to the countercultural, post-capitalist, and decolonial enthusiasm for creating such a future. We now have...