Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Sam Pizzigati @sgp.bsky.social · Jun 13

“Tax the rich out of existence, and suddenly there are no more psychopathic oligarchs trying to kill us, no more brutally unfair distribution of resources, no more mafia boss-style politicians rigging the system.” @smillermcdonald.bsky.social www.currentaffairs.org/news/dirty-l...

Dirty Lies About Clean Energy

Building “alternative” energy infrastructure isn’t enough. To avert climate disaster, fossil fuels need to be restricted, and energy consumption overall needs to fall.

www.currentaffairs.org

2 3

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

yukongertie.bsky.social @yukongertie.bsky.social · Jul 11

The human population is currently so massive, so out of balance with the rest of life on Earth, so pathologically “abundant” that it would take decades or centuries of decline to put a noticeable dent in it—unless, that is, there is some external force which leads to mass death.

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Apr 18

Wrote about why panic over human birth rates falling is not just delusional but evil www.currentaffairs.org/news/there-a...

There Are Many Threats to Humanity. A Low Birth Rate Isn’t One of Them.

Commentators across the political spectrum claim that humanity faces imminent collapse due to a “fertility crisis.” Is this mass delusion or cynical propaganda?

www.currentaffairs.org

1 4

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Laura Carroll @lauracarroll88.bsky.social · Jul 11

THIS. Read and share. Need more straight talk like this about the truths behind pushing panic over birth rates.

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Apr 18

Wrote about why panic over human birth rates falling is not just delusional but evil www.currentaffairs.org/news/there-a...

There Are Many Threats to Humanity. A Low Birth Rate Isn’t One of Them.

Commentators across the political spectrum claim that humanity faces imminent collapse due to a “fertility crisis.” Is this mass delusion or cynical propaganda?

www.currentaffairs.org

1 1 3

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · 2d

What role has the idea of progress played in building civilization and its gifts, as well as dispossessing, enslaving, or even eradicating billions of people and animals over the last 5,000 years?

This interview with @popnbalance.bsky.social gives a good overview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2X...

Progress: Humanity’s Worst Idea

YouTube video by OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance

www.youtube.com

3

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Jussi Pasanen @jopas.bsky.social · Aug 14

'If you have a sense that things aren't getting better, or you're interested in how progress myths have shaped societies for the last 5,000 years, grab this book!'

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 14

Today is publication day for my book! @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social You can get your hands on it at most bookstores in the UK, or online at any of the vendors listed here: harpercollins.co.uk/products/pro...

1 3

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 14

If you have a sense that things aren't getting better, or you're interested in how progress myths have shaped societies for the last 5,000 years, grab this book!

1 1

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 14

Today is publication day for my book! @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social You can get your hands on it at most bookstores in the UK, or online at any of the vendors listed here: harpercollins.co.uk/products/pro...

1 2 3

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 9

Had a great launch the other day in Oxford. Very grateful to @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social for organizing it, and to my sweet friends and kind colleagues who came to celebrate! Five days until (UK) publication. Let's get out and explode the powerful myths imperiling our futures

1 1

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 8

Thanks for attending Michael, it was a delight to meet and speak with you

1

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · Aug 8

I’ve been intrigued by the prospect of a history of the idea of progress ever since I heard @smillermcdonald.bsky.social was writing it, and I was very pleased to be invited to the launch in Oxford last night.

3 3 13

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · Aug 4

“The world is inside us, now. What are we going to do about it?” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/o...

Opinion | You Are Contaminated

www.nytimes.com

4 19 74

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 22

Now even prouder to be a longtime loyal Little Caesars partisan #pizzapizza

Chris… but like… spooky? I guess? 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @brutumfulmen.bsky.social · Jul 22

I AM SHRIEKING 💀🤣

Forget the statue at City Hall, this guy is the *real* Spirit of Detroit. 🫡

A review for a Little Caesar’s somewhere by Kevin S:

Stopped into this Little Caesars just trying to get a $6 pizza and ended up in a full on action movie. Just as I grabbed my order, this furious dude barges in yelling about how I cut him off in traffic earlier.
Before I can even respond, he throws a punch but then out of nowhere the guy behind the counter jumps over it like he's been waiting for this moment his whole life and just beats the living hell out of the guy. The guy ran off and the cashier just dusted himself off. I said "are you ok man" and he looked me dead in the eye and said "B*tch, this is Little Caesars. We always hot and ready."
Five stars. Will absolutely return.

2

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

H R Milligan @hrmilligan.bsky.social · Jul 12

Excited to have a short provocations piece, 'Against Entanglement', in the first issue of American Gothic Studies.

In a time of pandemics, militant land grabs, and extinctions, the Gothic uses tales of zombie infections and nuked landscapes to show us the dark side of being entangled with others.

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock @cypheractive.bsky.social · Jul 11

The debut issue of American Gothic Studies has now been published! To access, join The Society for the Study of the American Gothic at www.americangothicsociety.com. Free article from this issue at scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/ags/art....

4 9

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 10

Here's another place to listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9la...

The Elite’s Fixation with Low Birth Rates | Samuel Miller McDonald

YouTube video by OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance

www.youtube.com

1 3

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Population Balance @popnbalance.bsky.social · Jul 8

The fertility panic is an elite fixation that is rooted in a human supremacist worldview and a deep fear of slowing growth. In this episode of OVERSHOOT, Samuel Miller exposes how our parasitic relationship with Earth lies at the core of ecological overshoot www.populationbalance.org/podcast/samu...

3 4

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 8

@popnbalance.bsky.social

1 2

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 8

I had a great conversation with Nandita Bajaj and Alan Weisman on the OVERSHOOT podcast about why fixation on growth and increasing birthrates is fundamentally authoritarian and anti-life (and also about conviviality, solidarity, and more). Have a listen! www.populationbalance.org/podcast/samu...

The Elite’s Fixation with Low Birth Rates — Population Balance

From center-left Ezra Klein to right-wing Matt Walsh, the fertility panic is an elite fixation that is rooted in a human supremacist worldview and a deep fear of slowing growth. Samuel Miller McDonald...

www.populationbalance.org

1 4 6

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 8

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/progress-s...

1

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

H R Milligan @hrmilligan.bsky.social · Jul 2

Sam has a fantastic movie-trailer voice.
So excited for PROGRESS to come out next month!

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 2

The idea of progress helped build the world's first civilizations ~5,000 years ago. It is now driving global civilizational collapse.

My book tells the history of this process. You can now preorder it at:

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/prog... for August 14 (in the UK)

2 2

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 2

Infinite thanks to early readers

'A new understanding of our past'
Danny Dorling

'Shatters the ideological foundation of liberalism and capitalism'
Thea Riofrancos

'Dares to imagine something better'
David Farrier

'This is a wise book'
Bill McKibben

'A must-read'
Alpa Shah

1 3

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 2

The idea of progress helped build the world's first civilizations ~5,000 years ago. It is now driving global civilizational collapse.

My book tells the history of this process. You can now preorder it at:

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/prog... for August 14 (in the UK)

1 2 5

Samuel Miller McDonald @smillermcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 30

Weird duet last night

1

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Daniel Aldana Cohen @aldasky.bsky.social · Jun 22

To bomb Iran the US deployed 7 B2 bombers, each of which cost $2.1B to build. They used 14 huge “bunker busters,” a model that cost $500 million to develop.

The US invested ~ $15 billion in this attack—almost 50% more than it invested in affordable housing construction this year.

44 310 800

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · Jun 21

Why have I tabled a motion against the continued funding of Drax to burn US trees, to be heard on Monday in #HouseofLords?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ancient trees are shipped to the UK, then burned – using billions in ‘green’ subsidies. Stop this madness now | Dale Vince

The evidence against the Drax power station is damning, yet the government wants to continue its massive public funding, says campaigner Dale Vince

www.theguardian.com

22 150 350

Reposted by Samuel Miller McDonald

Current Affairs @currentaffairs.bsky.social · Jun 12

We have every reason to believe that new sources of “clean energy” will go toward powering AI, crypto, and other superfluous sources of consumption, rather than to making energy widely available or reducing fossil energy use for more necessary consumption. www.currentaffairs.org/news/dirty-l...

Dirty Lies About Clean Energy

Building “alternative” energy infrastructure isn’t enough. To avert climate disaster, fossil fuels need to be restricted, and energy consumption overall needs to fall.

www.currentaffairs.org

2 7