Meri Kirihimete! 

It’s just over six months since I started Three Sixty Six. This newsletter has been, by far, the best mahi I’ve done all year. Thank you for being a part of it.

2025 will be a big year for this newsletter. My summer goal is to figure out how to cover Wellington’s upcoming local elections. So much action on climate change is done locally. Who is elected to the Council table will shape how the city fights climate change. Barely anyone votes in local elections, and I want to help change that. 

If you know anyone who would enjoy this newsletter, please ask them to subscribe! 

As the year ends, I thought it would be fun to give some media recommendations for the summer break. These are works that have influenced my understanding of the world. They’re absolutely worth your time. 

Books

Not The End Of The World by Hannah Ritchie

If you want a hopeful, data driven understanding of environmental issues

Reading this book changed my understanding of climate. Hannah Ritchie is a data scientist at Our World in Data. She outlines how humanity right now is better equipped than any generation before us to build a sustainable world. It also breaks down common misconceptions, like how what you eat is far more important than eating local. You’ll leave the book with a healthy dose of skepticism to simple narratives around climate change, and a good dose of hope for the future. 

Buy at Unity Books | Borrow the ebook | if you’re into audiobooks

Mission Economy by Mariana Mazzucato

If you want an idea on how the government can solve climate change

I’m just about to finish this book, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Mariana Mazzucato has written a succinct argument for government-led missions inspired by the Apollo moon missions. Public money that put a man on the moon by 1969 kickstarted so many technological marvels we now take for granted. Government exists to do more than set the rules: it should put serious money into ambitious goals and partner with willing organisations to achieve them. Just imagine what a mission to make zero-carbon cows or free energy for all could deliver.

Buy at Unity Books | Borrow the ebook | If you’re into audiobooks

The Deluge by Stephen Markley

If you are okay with curling up in a ball and sobbing for the future

The Deluge is my book of the year and not for the faint of heart. Stephen Markley explores the dystopian future of a warming world through seven different people in the United States. Each reacts to climate disaster differently: through charismatic leadership, alarmism, terrorism or malicious marketing. Reading it is a devastating experience, not least because Markley made an inhuman concept deeply emotional. I started Three Sixty Six because of this book. It’s a modern classic. 

Buy on Mightyape | Borrow the ebook

Videos

The New Nuclear Age is Coming – Hank Green

If you want some context about why nuclear energy is so back

Hank Green is a stunning science communicator and all around great human being. He explored in this video how nuclear energy is experiencing a big resurgence. My opinions on nuclear energy are quite controversial but that’s a story for another time. Whether you’re very against or very for nuclear energy, it has a good chance of  being a core part of our zero-carbon energy future. Hank explains how and why with a lot of interesting data.

Running on empty: surviving a hydrogen-powered road trip – The Verge

If you want to learn about hydrogen with a road trip

In the 2000s, California boldly announced a “hydrogen highway” – a network of fuel stations for hydrogen powered cars. Two decades on, hydrogen powered cars have lost to battery powered cars. The Verge explored what remains of the hydrogen highway in a fun road trip video. I want to cover hydrogen next year. It’s a technology that left and right wing governments continue to point to as climate action, but it doesn’t feel likely to succeed.

How highways make traffic worse – Vox

If you want something to listen to while sitting in Christmas traffic

A paradox sits at the heart of highways: the more lanes you add, the worse traffic gets. It’s because of induced demand: the more lanes you build, the more people use them, which means that there will never be an amount of highway you can build that gets rid of congestion. The solution, as always, is good public transport for everyone. 

A fantastic submission on the Government’s revival of oil and gas.

If you want something serious that turns into something fucking hilarious

This video is absurd. Ben tells MPs that they shouldn’t allow oil and gas exploration while standing in the floodwaters of Dunedin after a massive storm. It gets even better when he starts playing Politician and frolicking in the flood. Fuck I love it. 

Podcasts

The 15 Minute City – 99% Invisible

If you want someone with a gorgeous voice to tell you about interesting things

Urban planning only seems dull if you’ve never explored it. 99% Invisible covered a rising concept in planning our major areas: the 15 minute city. It means that someone has access to everything they need within 15 minutes from their house. Somehow, it became fuel for conspiracies about fascist world governments. Take some well needed down time at Christmas and listen to this episode. 

Climate change: Is New Zealand doing enough? – Q+A

If you’re in love with Jack Tame or enjoy hard hitting interviews

I’m being generous by calling this a podcast: Q+A is a TV show but I only listen to it. Q+A host Jack Tame is a family favourite and always does his research. If you want to hear our Climate Change Minister be challenged by a well-prepared reporter, this is the episode for you. 

That’s it for the first year of Three Sixty Six. Whether you’ve been reading from the beginning or subscribed last week, thank you. There won’t be a newsletter next week, but 2025 will start with a bang. 

Meri Kirihimete. Ngā mihi o te tau hou. See you in the new year.