Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers give 18-21 minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along.
This month, in anticipation of the climate protest scheduled for April 21st, Nerd Nite London is hosting a climate special. We’ll learn about carbon budgets and carbon footprints, the emotional nuance of living in a warming planet, and what previous social movements can teach us about the tactics of protesting for the climate.
Address: The Backyard Comedy Club, 231 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 0EL / also online
Details: Wednesday, 19 April, 2023. Doors open at 7PM, event starts at 7.30PM.
The online stream will go live at 7:15PM, with the speakers starting at 7.30PM and will be available for around 24 hours. Tickets on sale here
Carbon budgets and how not to spend them
Remaining carbon budgets are a tool for separating out the physics of climate change from the politics of climate action – but how are they calculated and what do they actually tell us? Robin will explore how long we have to tackle climate change, how confident we can be in these limits and why net zero is such a big deal. The talk will also compare carbon budgets to carbon footprints, and explain why all the articles on the environmental impacts of plant milks should make you scream.
Dr Robin Lamboll is a climate science and policy researcher at the Center for Environmental Policy at Imperial college, where they apply data science techniques to climate problems. They were the UK poetry slam champion in 2019 and previously spoke at nerd nite about poetry and information theory.
https://scienceisshiny.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RobinLambollPoet/
https://twitter.com/RobinLamboll
http://instagram.com/robinLamboll
The Emotionalization of the Ecological Crisis
The climate crisis will impact us in many ways, from how we eat, to how we build our homes, to how we power our lives. But one often overlooked element is how climate change will have a profound impact on our emotions. In fact, it already is having an impact. Drawing on current research and historical parallels, Professor Richard Firth-Godbehere will take us on an emotional trip into the climate crisis, looking at the forces that make so many complacent in the face of disaster.
He will also examine how a new collection of feelings, known as solastalgia: a mixture of guilt, anger, and fear combined with a sense of loss for our homes and identities; is likely to become a backdrop to our lives, setting the tone for everything we do and every action we take in the coming century, much as a climate of fear did from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries in Europe. Finally, he’ll ask what we can do about the complacency around the climate crisis, and how we might learn more by listening to those who already experience solastalgia every day.
Professor Richard Firth-Godbehere is one of the world’s leading experts on emotions. He is a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Humanities at Woxsen University, India, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for the History of the Emotions, Queen Mary University of London. He received a first-class degree from the University of London. During that time, he won two awards for academic excellence, alongside a Masters Degree MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD From Queen Mary, University of London, where he was a Wellcome Trust Scholar. His award-winning interdisciplinary research walks the line between history, psychology, linguistics, philosophy and futurism. He examines how understandings of emotions change over time and space, and how these changes can influence the wider world. Already translated into over twenty languages, Richard’s latest bestseller, A Human History of Emotion: How the Way We Feel Built the World We Know, also known as Homo Emoticus is available from all good bookstores.
Fighting for the climate: What the hell are we doing?
Extinction Rebellion are planning to show up to Parliament with 100,000 people to demand a stop to new fossil fuel licenses. Have they got a hope in hell? Eh. Probably not, but Laura’s going anyway. Historic social movements got women the vote and trade unions labour laws. They also have lessons for climate activists today. Laura is going to talk about how current climate movements need to radicalise their tactics, starting with who they fight.
Laura Thomas-Walters is a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University soon to move to Yale. She’s trying to put the scummy tactics of the advertising world to good use, getting people to behave in ways that are better for the planet. Sometimes she even practices what she preaches and marches for justice. She promises to avoid any and all guilt trips at the talk.
Twitter handle: @LauraThoWal
All proceeds from Nerd Nite London go to charity. this year we are partnering with The Shine Trust to help foster a new generation of nerds.
More information about Nerd Nite London can be found by following us on Twitter @NerdNiteLondon