Climate supremacy and the spiritual battle over AI 🤖 with Naomi Klein

First, a question: Are you helping ensure that pro-Earth candidates win these midterm elections? If not, scroll down to the “Calls to Action” section for some ideas and links.

Denizens of Earth, let’s win this thing! _____ This episode’s guest is icon Naomi Klein , one of the most important authors and activists of our time. She helps us all better connect the dots between democracy, fascism, environment, and justice.

Her new book, End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World , co-authored with Astra Taylor, needs to be bumped to the very top of your to-read list, the top of your nightstand stack. Our conversation covered everything from data center resistance and “climate supremacy”, to our right to an uncluttered night sky, and disaster capitalism.

We also talked about what we can learn from activist movements, like Standing Rock and Memphis’s fights against pipelines and for clean water. And we really got into it on AI and data centers. _____ There is so much pontificating on AI and data centers.

To supplement this episode, a few resources I’ve found quite helpful: * Kate Gage's new newsletter decoding the jargon: Political AI Field Guide: Factions and Beliefs , and AI Political Field Guide: Terminology Decoder (September 2026 Edition) * A year in, the data center/AI battle starts to clarify , by Bill McKibben * AI’s climate problem is worse than we thought , by Emily Atkin * A warning about ‘model welfare’ by Mustafa Suleyman (who is also interviewed in my book, What If We Get It Right? ) * AI and the Enshittification Era with Cory Doctorow , on The Weekly Show with John Stewart podcast _____ CALLS TO ACTION: Get out the vote! ✅ 1 week until Election Day . What can you do this week so that you don’t have any regrets on November 4th?

Some options: * VOTE! 🗳️ (Obviously.) Early voting is underway. See voting dates for your state here .

Get a preview of your ballot at . * Check out candidate endorsements from Lead Locally , League of Conservation Voters and Working Families Party . Make sure to vote all the way down your ballot. * Pick a candidate you like, go to their website and click the volunteer button.

They will put you to work! Knocking doors and talking to voters about close races is super important. * Encourage your friends and family to make a plan to vote.

Here’s a great tool from Patagonia to help. * Volunteer with Third Act , the amazing organization Bill founded and leads. * Join me and so many amazing volunteers to phone bank with Environmental Voter Project and help make sure all Earth lovers show up to vote. * Note: In some states it’s not too late to register to vote — and some places let you register to vote on Election Day. _____ Mentioned in this episode: * More than 1,600 institutions have divested more than $41 trillion from fossil fuel stocks. * Memphis Community Against Pollution , led by KeShaun Pearson * Polling on Americans’ attitudes about climate from Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University. * Bill’s piece on Nepal’s flooding disaster: The growing rumble * Naomi’s publications: * Newsletter: Patterns by Naomi Klein * Book: End Times Fascism - And the Fight for the Living World * Book: The Shock Doctrine * Naomi’s suggested resources on a working-class climate agenda: * Center for Climate Justice at UBC * Climate and Community Institute _____ Credits: This episode was produced by Remoy Philip and me (Ayana), with support from Jenisha Shrestha. Special thanks to Sharon Nadeem , Naomi’s producer for the making our first(/only?) Substack Live happen.

Original music by Emma Munger . Graphic design by Holly Griffin of Design Hungry , and social media support from Feeling Seen Studio .

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