Minerals, Greed and Extractive Capitalism

Philip Marsden and Laleh Khalili make a timely delve into the deep histories and present-day realities of extraction: of minerals, power, and capital in the age of Ukraine and Trump.

In Under a Metal Sky: A Journey Through Minerals, Greed, and Wonder, Marsden blends travel writing, geology and philosophy to explore how metals have shaped creativity and exploitation across human history. Khalili’s Extractive Capitalism exposes the profit-driven exploitative systems fuelling today’s global economy.

Together they offer urgent perspectives on the world’s resources and the human and environmental cost of progress. Chaired by Hugh Odling-Smee, this promises to be a thought-provoking evening.