2023 seemed to be the year of wild fires, and it is increasingly clear that we are moving away from a planet whose geology is shaped by ice ages to one shaped by burning.  

"Firepower" also has military connotations, and my guest today, Professor SImon Dalby, argues that this is not co-incidental.  I will be talking to Simon about the new geopolitics of the fire age.

Simon's most recent book is: Pyromania: fire and geopolitics in a climate disrupted world  (Agenda Publishing, 2023).

Episode 1: The Geopolitics of the Fire Age 

What are the political consequences of the Fire Age?  What does dust tell us about the modern world?  Who should be driving international development?  Is green consumerism really leading to a cleaner world?  Why is it OK to tell women to stay off the streets at night to increase safety, but not men? 

These are some of the questions we will be exploring in the first few episodes of Beyond the Map – a podcast that looks beyond the obvious to understand the hidden geographies that make our world.

Your host is Jo Sharp, a professor of geography and Scotland’s Geographer Royal. 

Beyond the Map

I am Jo Sharp, a Professor of Geography and Scotland's Geographer Royal.