The Tower

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 [https://www.adapalmer.com/] * Apocalypses by Eugen Weber [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17614014] * Against Purity by Alexis Shotwell [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30227589-against-purity] * Purity and Futures of Hard Work by Ada Palmer [https://beforewegoblog.com/purity-and-futures-of-hard-work-by-ada-palmer/] * Daybreak Game [https://daybreakgame.org/] * Earth Rising Game [https://www.sdrgames.studio/products/earth-rising] * alxd’s Homepage [https://alxd.org/] * A History Of Saving The World - another interview with Ada Palmer [https://podscripts.co/podcasts/hope-is-a-verb/ada-palmer-a-history-of-saving-the-world] * Bazyliszek Homepage [PL] [https://bazyliszek.ava.waw.pl/] Episode cover CC-BY 4.0 Henry Söderlund

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 [https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Tailors] Links mentioned: * Report by the European Environment Agency [https://resource-sip.se/en/news/we-underestimate-the-number-of-garments-in-our-wardrobe/?en] * The Looop machine [https://www.fastcompany.com/90616764/bring-your-old-clothes-and-this-in-store-recycling-machine-will-turn-them-into-something-new] * Heart-monitoring sweaters and armbands [https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijta/2020/6329360/] Music in this episode is: At The End Of All Things by Scott Buckley [www.scottbuckley.com.au] (CC-BY 4.0) and Lo-Fi Ambient [https://janevo.bandcamp.com/track/lo-fi-ambient] by Nver Avetyan (CC-BY 3.0) Illustration CC-BY-SA 4.0 The Lemonaut - https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut [https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut]

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 [https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Tower] Links mentioned: * https://unece.org/climate-change/news/future-sustainable-building-wood [https://unece.org/climate-change/news/future-sustainable-building-wood] * Palaces For The People [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37707827] by Eric Klinenberg * https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/in-defence-of-density-benefits-of-highly-populated-city [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.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.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.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.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 [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 [www.scottbuckley.com.au] (CC-BY 4.0) Illustration CC-BY-SA 4.0 The Lemonaut & Scan101 - https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut [https://www.tumblr.com/the-lemonaut]

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 [https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Epidemiologists] Links mentioned: * https://www.bbc.com/news/health-485129230 [https://www.bbc.com/news/health-485129230] * https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6768751 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6768751] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study] * https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702151/ [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/ [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 [https://kjartan-abel.com/library] (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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 [https://wiki.tomasino.org/writing/Solarpunk-Prompts---The-Miners] Links mentioned: * https://www.escatec.com/blog/rare-earth-elements-electronics-manufacturing [https://www.escatec.com/blog/rare-earth-elements-electronics-manufacturing] * https://getrepowered.org/rare-earth-metals-recycle-technology/ [https://getrepowered.org/rare-earth-metals-recycle-technology/] * https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2019/3/234917-electronics-need-rare-earths/abstract [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.sciencenews.org/article/rare-earth-mining-renewable-energy-future] * https://www.snexplores.org/article/recycling-rare-earth-elements-hard-reuse-greener-technology [https://www.snexplores.org/article/recycling-rare-earth-elements-hard-reuse-greener-technology] * https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213297X1730054X [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213297X1730054X] * https://www.ica.coop/en/cooperatives/cooperative-identity [https://www.ica.coop/en/cooperatives/cooperative-identity] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bookchin [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bookchin] Music in this episode is: “Golden” and “Kelp Grooves” by Little Glass Men (CC BY)