Vince Beiser | Copper Is The Wire Of Empire & We Don't Have Enough

Full Episode On Curious Worldview“In the next 25 years, the world will need more copper than in all of human history.”Amendment - I said 3.2 billion kg of copper in opening question, I should have said 320 million kg. In this episode, journalist and author Vince Beiser returns to the podcast to discuss his book Power Metal, a sobering look at the metals that make modern civilization possible — and the extraordinary cost of extracting them.We cover the story of copper — the wire of empire. Beiser reveals why humanity will need more copper in the next 25 years than we’ve used in all of history, and how that quest is reshaping geopolitics, the environment, and our very ideas of progress. From Chile’s drought-stricken Atacama mines to the e-waste yards of Lagos, Nigeria, we follow the real people and places behind our “clean-energy” future — and the dirty truths that power it.We also unpack the rise of deep-sea mining, the billionaires behind it, and the tensions between state power, corporate ambition, and the planet’s limits. Along the way we meet Robert Friedland, Gerard Barron, Dan Gertler, and a cast of characters who prove that the world still runs on digging — and that the future will too.If you liked The World in a Grain or stories about how our material world shapes our moral one, this conversation will hit home.Topics: Resource wars, clean-tech paradox, deep-sea mining, copper shortage, China’s industrial strategy, EV economics, and how to reduce demand without going backwards.Guest: Vince Beiser - author of Power Metal and The World in a GrainSubscribe to his newsletter Power Metal SubstackThe World In A Grain (Vince's First Appearance on The Curious Worldview in 2021) - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rf8QskOPtzvp2g8tm3lMk?si=zxA1ycpKRViBFt5S3XTCLgTimestamps.00:00 – Intro: Vince Beiser & Power Metal02:00 – Chile’s Copper Boom & the Atacama Water Crisis07:00 – Congo’s Cobalt, U.S. Retreat, and Copper Geography10:00 – The No-Free-Lunch of the Green Transition12:30 – Lagos E-Waste Recyclers & the Hidden Cost of Recycling19:10 – Deep-Sea Mining and the Billionaires Behind It23:00 – The UN vs Trump: Who Owns the Ocean Floor?33:00 – Robert Friedland, Steve Jobs & Congo’s Mining Empire41:00 – Corruption, Crony Capitalism & Dan Gertler47:00 – Commodity Volatility and State Intervention52:00 – China’s Industrial Patience vs Western Myopia55:00 – Rethinking Cars, Cities & Demand Reduction58:00 – The Future of Resources — and Civilization Itself