Solarpunk Prompts

Solarpunk Prompts

By James TomasinoSociety & CultureTechnologyArtsBooks
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Solarpunk Prompts episodes

  • Special - Interview with Ada Palmer: History of ideas and our climate imaginations

    This is a special episode - instead of a regular writing prompt, it’s a recording of an interview with professor Ada Palmer from Bazyliszek convention in Warsaw, Poland in July 2025.

    Professor Ada Palmer, a well-acclaimed historian of ideas, set the action of her science fiction series “Terra Ignota” several hundred years from now. The world she imagined presents vast societal and cultural changes, but the topic of climate change is treated much more implicitly. Within the context of professor’s books - and the now growing genre of climate fiction - let’s discuss why it’s so hard for us to imagine and describe the climate change of the XXI century.

    Links and resources:

    • Ada Palmer’s Homepage
    • Apocalypses by Eugen Weber
    • Against Purity by Alexis Shotwell
    • Purity and Futures of Hard Work by Ada Palmer
    • Daybreak Game
    • Earth Rising Game
    • alxd’s Homepage
    • A History Of Saving The World - another interview with Ada Palmer
    • Bazyliszek Homepage [PL]

      Episode cover CC-BY 4.0 Henry Söderlund

      42 min
    • The Tailors

      The Tailors

      A new tailor joins a community with different ideas from the previous one. How will the community react? What sort of role will they fill in a future of sustainability and harmony with the local environment?

      Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Tailors

      Links mentioned:

      • Report by the European Environment Agency
      • The Looop machine
      • Heart-monitoring sweaters and armbands

        Music in this episode is:

        At The End Of All Things by Scott Buckley (CC-BY 4.0) and
        Lo-Fi Ambient by Nver Avetyan (CC-BY 3.0)

        Illustration CC-BY-SA 4.0 The Lemonaut - https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut

        16 min
      • The Tower

        The Tower

        Displaced people are moved into a new sustainable climate-controlled tower designed to help them find community. For some it’s a dream come true, for others a culture shock. How will this setting come to life as a vision for a Solarpunk future? How can we envision a better way of living by focusing on their humanity?

        Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Tower

        Links mentioned:

        • https://unece.org/climate-change/news/future-sustainable-building-wood
        • Palaces For The People by Eric Klinenberg
        • https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/in-defence-of-density-benefits-of-highly-populated-city
        • https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/urban-density-and-sustainability/241696/
        • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-10/why-denser-cities-are-smarter-and-more-productive
        • https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2014/jul/29/cities-density-building
        • https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2023/04/17/when-density-good-and-when-it-harmful-cities
        • https://www.npr.org/2023/10/08/1203950823/15-minute-cities-climate-solution

          Music in this episode is:

          ‘Moonlight’ and ‘A Kind of Hope’ by Scott Buckley
          (CC-BY 4.0)

          Illustration CC-BY-SA 4.0 The Lemonaut & Scan101 - https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut

          17 min
        • The Epidemiologists

          The Epidemiologists

          How will a Solarpunk future address community distrust in public health? How will we restore faith in vaccines or heal the long history of abuse of minority and indiginous peoples? Is it hopeless? Today’s episode of Solarpunk Prompts takes a look at difficult themes and finding a better future.

          Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Epidemiologists

          Links mentioned:

          • https://www.bbc.com/news/health-485129230
          • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6768751
          • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study
          • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702151/
          • https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2023/07/13/nation-world-news/canadas-indigenous-women-forcibly-sterilized-decades-after-other-rich-countries-stopped/

            Music in this episode is:

            Suspension and Homage by Kjartan Abel
            (CC BY-SA 4.0)

            11 min
          • The Miners

            The Miners

            Rare earth metals are essential for our modern life, whether in EV motors, cell phones, or in electronics in general. Mining these metals is notoriously difficult and dirty. How might a Solarpunk future address this issue? How might we get there from where we are today? Through this prompt we explore the realities of rare earth mining today and a few ways it might evolve into a sustainable future.

            Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Miners

            Links mentioned:

            • https://www.escatec.com/blog/rare-earth-elements-electronics-manufacturing
            • https://getrepowered.org/rare-earth-metals-recycle-technology/
            • https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2019/3/234917-electronics-need-rare-earths/abstract
            • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rare-earth-mining-renewable-energy-future
            • https://www.snexplores.org/article/recycling-rare-earth-elements-hard-reuse-greener-technology
            • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213297X1730054X
            • https://www.ica.coop/en/cooperatives/cooperative-identity
            • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bookchin

              Music in this episode is:

              “Golden” and “Kelp Grooves” by Little Glass Men
              (CC BY)

              12 min
            • The Pharmacists

              The Pharmacists

              How will access to pharmaceuticals impact the Solarpunk future? In this prompt we explore data miners seeking to liberate the data buried by intellectual property to find new cures and hopes for their communities. We also discuss the state of the pharma industry in the global south and how the reality of today shapes the futures of tomorrow.

              Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Pharmacists

              Links mentioned:

              • …because they are too cheap - https://www.economist.com/international/2019/09/14/a-dire-scarcity-of-drugs-is-worsening-in-part-because-they-are-so-cheap
              • Malaria could be eradicated by 2050 - https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/9/10/20857132/malaria-eradication-2050-gene-drive-lancet-study

                • Music in this episode is:

                “$50 to Breathe”, “It Will Make You Feel Better If You Put It In the Right Place”, and “I Refuse to Accept That There’s Nothing I Can Do About It”
                from Angie’s Sunday Service by Chris Zabriskie
                (CC BY 3.0 Deed)

                10 min
              • The Disabled Community

                The Disabled Community

                How will our Solarpunk future be shaped by the tenacity and activism of the disabled community? What role does inclusivity and accessibility play in creating that future vision? What new challenges await us all?

                Special thanks to Martyna Lysiakiewicz for a sensitivity read.

                Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Disabled-Community

                Links mentioned:

                • Defying Doomsday - http://defyingdoomsday.twelfthplanetpress.com/
                • 2022 report - https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/resource/what-are-pharma-companies-doing-to-expand-access-to-insulin-and-how-can-efforts-be-scaled-up
                • Access to Medicine Foundation - https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org
                • 99% Invisible - https://99percentinvisible.org
                • Curb Cuts - https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/curb-cuts/
                • Carol J. Gill - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11435/

                  • Music from:

                  ‘Adrift Among Infinite Stars’ and ‘Bring Me The Sky’ by Scott Buckley, released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

                  Illustration CC-BY-SA 4.0 The Lemonaut - https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut

                  13 min
                • The Moonshot
                  The Moonshot

                  How can Solarpunk address the problems of a massive project, like travel to the moon? Will the genre crumble under the need for macro-level power and industry? Come explore the latest story prompt and dream of a future together.

                  Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Moonshot

                  Links mentioned:
                  • Our world energy production - https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix
                  • Frying potatos in space - https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/Flying_frying_in_microgravity
                  • Our Shared Storm - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58690965-our-shared-storm
                  • “Terra Ignota” tetralogy by Ada Palmer - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114545-too-like-the-lightning
                    • Music from:

                    ‘Last And First Light’ and ‘Artemis’ by Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au

                    (CC-BY 4.0)

                    12 min
                  • Season 2 Introduction

                    Season 2 Introduction

                    Welcome back to season two of Solarpunk Prompts. In this brief introduction to the season we talk about the “punk” in Solarpunk, and the need for continuity between our world today and the good place to come.

                    Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---Season-2-Introduction

                    Links mentioned:

                    • Solarpunk - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarpunk
                    • In our first season - https://podcast.tomasino.org/@SolarpunkPrompts/episodes?season=1
                    • National Novel Writing Month - https://nanowrimo.org/

                      • Music from:

                      The Roche Limit by State Azure - https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/track/the-roche-limit
                      (CC-BY-SA)

                      10 min
                    • The Dirigible

                      The Dirigible

                      In this episode we take the skies and travel between distant settlements with an anarchist crew on our beautiful balloon.

                      Transcript: https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Dirigible

                      Links mentioned:

                      • vacuum airship
                      • Online relationships are real

                        Music from:

                        Jean Toba - really beautiful my mambo

                        12 min

                      About Solarpunk Prompts

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                      What is Solarpunk? Why does it matter?