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Counterpunch managing editor Joshua Frank has a provocative new book out. Bad Energy, which outlines the environmental and human pitfalls of the capitalist-led green energy transition. He compellingly argues that replacing fossil fuel consumption with increased mining for precious metals, massive solar fields and wind farms, and speculative nuclear technology from the U.S. military-industrial complex isn’t going to save us. Related Links * Bad Energy: The AI Hucksters, Rogue Lithium Extractors, and Wind Industrialists Who Are Selling Off Our Future (Haymarket Books, 2026) * Killing the Planet to Save It, Counterpunch * Green Energy Is Coming for the Desert, The Intercept * Degrowth offers a path to a truly just global energy transition, Canada’s National Observer * PM Mark Carney pledged to ‘Buy Canadian.’ Since then, $7.8 billion in contracts went to American corporations, Toronto Star This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Preorder Links * Shop Local (Preferred) * Amazon (25% off preorders) * Indigo (25% off preorders) In addition to purchasing a copy of the book, don’t forget to order it to your local public library! Book Events * Edmonton: Book launch at the Aviary - Oct. 13 * Calgary: Alberta Advantage live recording, followed by book signing and social - Nov. 6 * Toronto: TBD. If you’re involved with a community group that has a budget to sponsor me to come for a talk, please do reach out at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Watch part one here: Thank you Dave Cournoyer, Clearing a New Path, Alessia Rosanna, Janet Pennington, and many others for tuning into my live video with Nora Loreto! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed has a new book out today, Crossing the Red Line, which takes an inside look at the internal machinations behind President Joe Biden’s support for Israel as it destroyed Gaza. Related Links * Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza (W.W. Norton, 2026) * How Former Biden Officials Defend Their Gaza Policy, New Yorker * ‘Unprecedented In Modern History’: U.S. Aid Experts Warn Gaza Likely Already Experiencing Famine, Huffpost * Exclusive: ‘Mutiny Brewing’ Inside State Department Over Israel-Palestine Policy, Huffpost * Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza ‘De-Escalation’ Talk, Huffpost * Preorder Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith from your local bookstore, Amazon or Indigo. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Scholar of right-wing populism Carmen Celestini recently released a book, God’s Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch Society, which details how the John Birch Society’s paranoid conspiracism influenced the trajectory of right-wing politics in the U.S. Reaching the zenith of its political power during Barry Goldwater’s ill-fated 1964 presidential campaign, there’s a clear parallel with how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith navigates the far-right populists in her midst. Related Links * God’s Angry Men (Bloomsbury Press, 2026) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Featured Stories * Retired judge appointed to electoral boundary panel donated to UCP, Michelle Bellefontaine, CBC News * Former Alberta judge tapped to chair panel redrawing electoral boundaries, Lisa Johnson, Canadian Press * Carney government follows CUSMA letter with proposals to revive U.S. trade talks, Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star * Some Palestinian student visas being expedited after long wait, David Baxter, Canadian Press * Shopify paid Kenneth Law $149K for deadly poison sales to at-risk buyers, court records show, Thomas Daigle, CBC News This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Featured Stories * Guilbeault to resign as an MP over Carney government’s climate policies, Vassy Kapelos and Stephanie Ha, CTV News * Steven Guilbeault expected to quit Liberal caucus as early as Wednesday, sources say, Marieke Walsh and Stephanie Levitz, Globe and Mail * Carney says House of Commons won’t weigh in on Alberta’s referendum question, Darren Major, CBC News * Alberta separatist leader planning to challenge Danielle Smith’s leadership or change referendum question, Jason Markusoff, CBC News * CANSEC Arms Fair Bars Multiple Independent Journalists From Attending, Alex Cosh, The Maple This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

You may know Adam H. Johnson as the co-host of the Citations Needed podcast. He has a new book out, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, which provides a rigorous, data-driven critique of how liberal American media outlets helped facilitate the Gaza genocide. Related Links * How to Sell a Genocide (Pluto Press, 2026) * We Analyzed Thousands of News Articles: Here’s Proof of Pro-Israel Bias in Mainstream Media, The Intercept * How the Media Sold a Genocide, Current Affairs * How the corporate media helped fuel Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Mondoweiss This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe