Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dominic Boyer

@dominicboyer.bsky.social

1.4K followers 2.9K following 130 posts

energy/environment/media/climate; once made a glacier memorial; writer; occasional podcaster; improv philosopher; resisting the petrostate; 2025 Guggenheim Fellow

Videos

Dominic Boyer is an American-born cultural anthropologist, writer, filmmaker and podcaster whose work focuses on relationships between energy and environment, media and politics. He is the son of historian John W. Boyer. .. more

Communication & Media Studies 23%

Political science 22%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 11d

New episode of the Cultures of Energy pod! We welcome Sean Field of @energy-ethics.bsky.social to talk about his new book Carbon Capital on the moral landscape of oil investing. A most provocative read! tinyurl.com/bdf2n82s @cymene.bsky.social @culanth.bsky.social @4sweb.bsky.social

Cultures of Energy: 239 - Carbon Capital (feat. Sean Field)

There be tales of two Sean Fields on this week’s podcast. Happily, we are only welcoming (8:56) the smart and accomplished to the podcast to talk about his pathbreaking new ethnography of oil and fin...

tinyurl.com

4 12

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 2d

dear friends living in Georgia -- you've got a really important election coming up with a chance to take more democratic control over your power system. please listen to this podcast with all the details.. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p... thanks!! D

Pay attention to the most important political race of 2025

Podcast Episode · Volts · 10/08/2025 · 1h 4m

podcasts.apple.com

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 2d

Fireside chat with Mette High and Vinnie Ialenti on nuclear energy in just a few hours time! @energy-ethics.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/posts/mette-...

Governing the Unseen: U.S. Nuclear Waste Futures & the Geocultural License to Operate | Mette High

Don't miss my online 'fireside chat' with Vincent Ialenti, *today* Thursday 9 Oct at 4pm UK time. Note: We won't be recording this event, so make sure you register now and are ready to tune in: http:/...

www.linkedin.com

1 1

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 3d

If it feels like your electricity bill has been going up, it has been. Thank you, AI!

1 1 3

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 5d

That rarest of sightings this year - a tenure track academic job! www.schooljobs.com/careers/rama...

Job Opportunities | Ramapo College of New Jersey Careers

www.schooljobs.com

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

Science, Technology, & Human Values @sthv.bsky.social · 17d

New OnlineFirst (OA) article: "Cascades of Un/Becoming: How Blackouts Impact Transitional Electropolitics" by Declan Kuch and @dominicboyer.bsky.social Dominic Boyer #blackouts #climatechange #electricity #energopolitics #energytransition #storms journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

2 3

Reposted by Jérôme Denis

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · 26d

New episode of the Cultures of Energy podcast! Hannah Knox joins us to talk about the challenges climate change has posed to the concepts and methods of governing a city. Case in point: Manchester! tinyurl.com/3yax7euh @cymene.bsky.social @culanth.bsky.social @4sweb.bsky.social

Cultures of Energy: 238 - Thinking Like a Climate (feat. Hannah Knox)

Cymene and Dominic talk about screamo music and the band Phish and how you can’t fake the feels on this week’s intro to the podcast. Then (13:07) expert in all things Mancunian, the great and wondrous...

tinyurl.com

7 15

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Sep 1

Workers over billionaires!
Mission Dolores Park

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

RS Oventile @rsoventile.bsky.social · Aug 31

On the wonderful podcast Cultures of Energy, I talk with @dominicboyer.bsky.social about Eaton Canyon, the Eaton Fire, and my book The Canyon!

cenhs.libsyn.com/237-the-cany...

Cultures of Energy: 237 - The Canyon (feat. Robert Savino Oventile)

Cymene returns to the pod at long last (yay!) and we discuss recent events and how climate science probably caused wildfires and bears to happen. Then (13:17) Robert Savino Oventile joins the podcast ...

cenhs.libsyn.com

1 2

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 31

New episode of the Cultures of Energy pod! We talk about wildfires ecologies, poetry and symbiosis, and the importance of walking slowly. Plus @cymene.bsky.social is back! cenhs.libsyn.com/237-the-cany...

Cultures of Energy: 237 - The Canyon (feat. Robert Savino Oventile)

cenhs.libsyn.com

3 8

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

Roy Scranton @royscranton.bsky.social · Aug 21

"The world of tomorrow will be unrecognizable to those of us alive today, just as the world we live in today would have been unrecognizable to our ancestors."
lithub.com/embracing-et...

Embracing Ethical Pessimism in the Face of Near-Certain Climate Doom

The beginning is easy, nothing more American. A simple white Dutch chapel, founded in 1767, First Reformed—neither a ruin nor a monument but a humble working church. We see a hand writing, hear a v…

lithub.com

6 20

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 20

Just a friendly reminder of how amazing your brain is. The original hyper efficient energy/information infrastructure…

Human Brains Beat AI by 225,000 Times in Energy Efficiency medium.com/write-a-cata...

Human Brains Beat AI by 225,000 Times in Energy Efficiency

The surprising science behind why your thoughts cost less than a lightbulb

medium.com

4 8

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Can ethical pessimism save us from narcissistic optimism? We talk with @royscranton.bsky.social about his provocative new book Impasse from @stanfordpress.bsky.social - plus a live tape of our first time in an automated vehicle. tinyurl.com/mr2j5say

Cultures of Energy: 236 – Ethical Pessimism (feat. Roy Scranton)

Dominic reports from a delayed birthday trip to Los Angeles and we learn about how Mike Brady (of Brady Brunch fame) nearly perished in a helicopter crash. Then (5:55) Roy Scranton returns to the podc...

tinyurl.com

1 7 10

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 15

‘Global Glacier Casualty List’ honors ice giants that are melting away yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/08/glob...

‘Global Glacier Casualty List’ honors ice giants that are melting away » Yale Climate Connections

The website marks the loss of glaciers to global warming.

yaleclimateconnections.org

1 3 4

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 14

had another frustrating AI-bot-"chat" experience this morning thx to T-Mobile. another entity (possibly AI possibly human) followed up by email. at which point i had to comment "AI is good at doing things confidently yet incorrectly. apologies if you are also an AI bot but you need to hear it."

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 14

this 1000%

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · Aug 14

"The bill sets the stage for an entire class of speculative assets that have precisely zero underlying cash flows to be integrated into the financial system. All for the purposes of satisfying an industry whose main contribution to most Americans has been scamming them."

Crytpo: There's just no legit use case for it. But, man, are these bros lobbied up.

Our looonnnggg take on why private digital currencies and the blockchain are an accident going out to happen.

econjared.substack.com

Reposted by Jon Green, Dominic Boyer

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · Aug 14

Crytpo: There's just no legit use case for it. But, man, are these bros lobbied up.

Our looonnnggg take on why private digital currencies and the blockchain are an accident going out to happen.

econjared.substack.com

8 150 400

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

Rheum Cat @rheumcat.bsky.social · Aug 8

$200 million from Columbia
$500 million from Harvard
$1 BILLION from UCLA?!

4 16 61

Reposted by Dominic Boyer, Melissa Gregg

Rachel Frazin @rachelfrazin.bsky.social · Aug 4

Had a great chat with @dominicboyer.bsky.social about forever chemicals for the Cultures of Energy podcast.

Take a listen! #GreenSky #EnergySky

open.spotify.com/episode/6rIH...

235 - Forever Chemicals (feat. Rachel Frazin)

Cultures of Energy · Episode

open.spotify.com

1 2 8

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Aug 3

New episode of the Cultures of Energy pod focused on forever chemicals. Not the cheeriest topic but a really important one in terms of thinking about chemical burdens, environmental racism, justice and much more. Plus you're going to want to change your dental floss. Listen on! tinyurl.com/3uedhb3v

Cultures of Energy: 235 - Forever Chemicals (feat. Rachel Frazin)

Dominic gives a quick update from the frontlines of home repair. Then (3:30) we welcome an energy and environmental reporter from The Hill to the podcast to talk about her new book, together with Sha...

tinyurl.com

1 7

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Jul 31

youtube.com/watch?v=JdzE...

Dominic Boyer derides the fossilized luxury and conveniences that bind us to ecological breakdown

YouTube video by Pretty Heady Stuff

youtube.com

1 3 5

Reposted by Dominic Boyer, Prakash Kashwan

Pascoe Sabido @pascoesabido.bsky.social · Jul 26

Who was it that said switching to LNG would increase energy security? Oh yeah, the LNG lobby.

The EU now finds itself being blackmailed by Qatar - in addition to the US - over energy supplies if it doesn't weaken environmental protections. Expect more deregulation 😖

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Qatar threatened to cut EU LNG supplies over sustainability law, letter shows

Qatar has threatened to cut gas supplies to the European Union in response to the bloc's due diligence law on forced labour and environmental damage, a letter from Qatar to the Belgian government, seen by Reuters, showed.

www.reuters.com

9 56 100

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Jul 26

Opted out! The long game of AI is to automate intellectual labor and make folks like us even more expendable than we already are. They can steal if they want but I’m not loading the guns of the firing squad

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Jul 26

“Authors have until the end of August to opt out of the licensing agreement. If they do not, their work will be used to help train AI models.”

Johns Hopkins Press will license its books to train AI models

Authors at the Johns Hopkins University Press will be able to opt out of the AI licensing agreement until the end of August; if they do not, their work will be used to train AI models.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

1 8

Reposted by Pamela Samuelson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Martin Paul Eve , and 9 more Pamela Samuelson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Martin Paul Eve, Lesley A. Hall, Éva E. Plagányi, Felicity Callard, Dominic Boyer, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Nicaragua, Stella M. Rouse, Jeroen Van Bouwel, Renaud Morieux

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Jul 26

“Authors have until the end of August to opt out of the licensing agreement. If they do not, their work will be used to help train AI models.”

Johns Hopkins Press will license its books to train AI models

Authors at the Johns Hopkins University Press will be able to opt out of the AI licensing agreement until the end of August; if they do not, their work will be used to train AI models.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

30 560 560

Reposted by David Dunning, Jonathan Parker, Dominic Boyer

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Jun 13

“Tesla’s driverless ‘robotaxis’ could launch in Austin as soon as June 22. But a demo in Austin today showed a $TSLA, manually driven to test its Full Self-Driving system, failed to stop for a child-sized dummy at a school bus—and hit it.”

@cbsaustin @velez_tx

1.9K 7.2K 16K

Reposted by Jérôme Denis, Jeremy J. Schmidt

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Jul 21

New episode of the Cultures of Energy podcast. We talk with old friend Imre Szeman about his new book Futures of the Sun and why energy transition is too often the story of failed states. tinyurl.com/5n6bp8b6 @cymene.bsky.social @imreszeman.bsky.social @uminnpress.bsky.social @4sweb.bsky.social

Cultures of Energy: 234 - Failed States (feat. Imre Szeman)

Dominic reports briefly on how your co-hosts returned home to their own personal Hurricane Harvey. Then (4:20) returns to the podcast to talk about his new book Futures of the Sun: The Struggle Over ...

tinyurl.com

10 22

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

Ellie Leonard @redpencilscript.bsky.social · Jul 13

Here is the entire thread of events from the early '90s to present of Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The flight logs, the black books, the two-person parties, the court documents (there are many). All in order. All with links. All backed up.
ellieleonard.substack.com/p/donny-t-an...

Donny T. and Jeffrey E. - A Series of Unfortunate Events

The following is a detailed timeline of the relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, including court documents, flight logs, little black books, masseuse lists, mugshots, and everything ...

ellieleonard.substack.com

1 14 25

Dominic Boyer @dominicboyer.bsky.social · Jul 5

New episode of the Cultures of Energy podcast! Stacy Alaimo joins us to talk about her new book The Abyss Stares Back. It's a deep and wonderful dive, please listen and share! tinyurl.com/4dzmhffk @cymene.bsky.social @uminnpress.bsky.social @culanth.bsky.social @asle-us.bsky.social

Cultures of Energy: 233 - The Abyss (feat. Stacy Alaimo)

Cymene and Dominic report from Berlin, a land of feisty wasps (which are possibly bees) and haunted lakes. Then (16:38) we are so thrilled to welcome Queen of Ecodelia, Stacy Alaimo back to the podcas...

tinyurl.com

4 7

Reposted by Dominic Boyer

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Jul 2

people come up with all kinds of fanciful math to justify billionaires' wealth but imo present political moment demonstrates conclusively that we need to tax billionaires at whatever rate will keep them focused on their own fucking business rather than our Medicaid and pediatric cancer research

89 1.6K 6.1K