“We do not exist without nature — unless Silicon Valley figures something out in their bunkers.” — Natalie Kyriacou

Forget the Middle East for a moment. Or rather, don’t — because today’s petroleum war is an environmental catastrophe, perhaps even an ecocide. Militaries are the largest source of emissions on the planet. Trump uses Iran’s oil fields as a bargaining chip while assassinating its leaders, as if the price of petroleum is more important than human life (which it clearly is to him). Natalie Kyriacou, author of Nature’s Last Dance, isn’t surprised. Trump, she says, is the symptom rather than the disease. His rotten system has been ruining the planet for over a century. He’s just less polite about it.
Nature’s Last Dance tells “tales of wonder” in our age of extinction: 90,000 oiled penguins and the largest volunteer workforce ever assembled. Surfers attacked by sharks now fighting to protect them. Birdwatching as quiet rebellion. But what if this is nature’s last dance? More pigeons, more rats, more “bin chickens.” Nature’s revenge. If we all don’t take up birdwatching, Kyriacou warns, we will all end up in The Birds.

Five Takeaways
• Trump Is a Symptom, Not the Disease. The system that prioritises oil over lives has been running for centuries. He’s just more abrasive about it.
• 90,000 Oiled Penguins. The largest volunteer workforce ever assembled — and it worked. Penguin knitwear didn’t stop oil. But the impulse to show up matters.
• AI Puts Destruction on Steroids. The problem isn’t compute power. It’s that AI amplifies every facet of our existing relationship with the planet.
• No Country Is on Track. Not one country is meeting its climate or nature targets. The UN is stretched too thin, too bureaucratic, too afraid of self-criticism.
• The World in Grayscale. More pigeons, more rats, more bin chickens. A sanitised, diminished nature — and our own diminishment with it.

About the Guest
Natalie Kyriacou OAM is an Australian environmentalist, Forbes 30 Under 30, and author of Nature’s Last Dance.

References
Nature’s Last Dance: https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Last-Dance-wonder-extinction/dp/1923293613
Natalie Kyriacou: https://www.nataliekyriacou.com

About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction: it might be nature’s last dance
00:01:18 Ecocide: countries don’t count military emissions
00:03:05 Trump as symptom: oil over lives for centuries
00:04:16 Neither optimist nor pessimist — or both
00:06:54 The oiled penguins of South Africa
00:09:11 Did it change anything structurally?
00:11:26 America’s broken climate leadership
00:13:37 UNESCO and the limits of the United Nations
00:16:46 Making nature impossible to ignore
00:18:46 Solar, nuclear, and the biodiversity blind spot
00:20:58 Wisdom from Australia: nationalism for wildlife
00:24:14 Birdwatching as quiet rebellion
00:26:44 AI puts our destructive relationship on steroids
00:29:48 Systems failure: tech billionaires and ecocide
00:33:48 What if there are no birds left? The world in grayscale