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In the third installment of our Elements series, we’ve got two very different stories about the earth. Olivia tells the fascinating but devastating story of the exploitation of the Ogoni land and people for oil, including the execution of activists known as the Ogoni Nine. Elise goes a different route, recounting a series of butterfly-effect events that explain how a 19th-century volcano in Indonesia and the “year without a summer” led to some of the pioneering horror writing we still know today. We also discuss joining the dang Zoom, being tired, and Olivia seeing her name deep in the credits of the #1 movie on Netflix.
We start off by talking a bit more about the situation in Texas. If you want to help, check out the resources we have listed from last episode. Similar situations are happening all across the Southeast, but are getting less media coverage. For example, Jackson, Mississippi still doesn’t have water! If you’d like to help remedy the situation and are financially able to support communities in Mississippi, you can donate here.
Olivia also told us about her attempts to get involved in more climate organizations, even virtually during the pandemic. You can find a local 350.org chapter here, or Extinction Rebellion chapter here. More information about Awakening For Earth, the mindfulness and meditation climate group, here.
Story #1: The Ogoni People vs Shell (Olivia)
Sources:
Ogoni Nine Remembered 25 Years On by DW with contribution from Muhammad Bello
Remembering Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 by Dayo Moyo’s This Is The Future podcast
Nigerian farmers win hollow legal victory against Shell for oil spillages World Socialist Web Site, February 7 2021
Nigeria’s Military Leaders Hang Playwright and 8 Other Activists by Associated Press, November 11 1995 via DeseretNews
The Case Against Shell: The Hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa by visionontv June 2009
From ‘Silence Would Be Treason’ – the last writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa via Open Democracy, November 21 2013
All for Shell: A brief history of the struggle for justice in the Niger Delta via Price of Oil
How big oil corporations are destroying life in Nigeria’s Ogoniland by Shola Lawal for TRT World, November 26 2018
SHELL: #MAKETHEFUTURE – CLEAN UP THE NIGER DELTA on Amnesty International including this parody of a Shell ad
Nigeria: Shell must match government’s commitment to clean oil spills on Amnesty International, August 6 2015
Niger Delta: Shell’s manifestly false claims about oil pollution exposed, again on Amnesty International, November 3 2015
Nigeria: A new generation fights for a pollution-free future on Amnesty International November 10 2015
Corporate Responsibility by Paul A Argenti, 2015
The very short Wikipedia page for the Ogoni Nine
Story #2: Frankenstein’s Volcano – “Eighteen and Froze to Death” (Elise)
Elise’s Sources:
We’ve Heated Up the Planet. Can We Cool It Back Down?, Slate, Aug 2016
Why We Should Research Solar Geoengineering Now, Slate, Jan 2016
Volcanic eruptions can cool the planet, DW, Nov 2017
How do volcanoes affect world climate?, Scientific American, Oct 2005
Eighteen Hundred And Froze To Death, The Social Historian
Could a Changing Climate Set Off Volcanoes and Quakes?, Yale Environment 360, May 2012
Volcanoes and Climate Change, Earth Data
The haunted summer of 1816, Prospect Magazine, May 2016
If you’re interested in how global warming could cause a future filled with more volcanos, read this article!
Could an international ecocide law have helped the Ogoni Nine? We’re still years off from this sort of development, but it’s something to follow and something that could be a huge step in holding major corporations accountable for their crimes. Learn more about it here.
The Dump
Watch:
Snowpiercer (Also there’s a show adaptation of Snowpiercer that we haven’t checked out yet! There’s so much to break down and explore in the story, and I’m excited to see how they go into more detail in a tv show.)
I Care A Lot
Sorry To Bother You
Behind Her Eyes
This early-quarantine memes Tiktok video
Hope everyone is taking cares of themselves in this month of anniversaries.
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