#64 The History of Oil w/ Paul Roberts
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2017
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
Oil is one of the oldest fuel sources known to man. Its impact on the world is not simple; while it has powered the vehicles that have made human mobility possible, it has also propped up some of the most repressive regimes in recent history. In the last installment of our four-part history of energy series, we speak to journalist and author Paul Roberts to discuss the complex role that oil has played in shaping the industrialized world, and the costs/benefits that oil has as an energy source in the 21st century.
Paul Roberts is a journalist and author who covers energy and technology. His work has appeared in many publications including Rolling Stone, Harpers, and the Washington Post. His book The End of Oil (2004), examines the history of petroleum and its impact on the world.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our friend Dolphus Ramser was born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, a town so rich |
| 0:07.4 | with history that it provided the inspiration for its independent record label and management |
| 0:12.6 | company. |
| 0:13.7 | So great was the city's influence on Ramzer that he continues to live and work in Concord |
| 0:19.0 | today with a full-time staff located in both North |
| 0:22.2 | Carolina and California. He and his team always put their clients music first, work as |
| 0:27.7 | hard as they can, and have fun along the way. Visit ramsar.com to learn more. |
| 0:36.9 | Welcome to the Road to Now, where we look to the past and everywhere in between. |
| 0:40.8 | To understand the present, I'm Bob Crawford, and joining me as always is Dr. Ben Sawyer. |
| 0:45.7 | Yep, as always. I'm always here, and I always will be, Bob. |
| 0:50.0 | And today, speaking of something, seems to have always been here and maybe won't be, we're talking |
| 0:56.4 | about the history of oil. |
| 0:58.7 | That was a great segue. |
| 0:59.7 | Thank you. |
| 1:01.7 | So our guest today is Paul Roberts. |
| 1:03.9 | He wrote a book in 2004 called The End of Oil, which I hadn't actually looked at until we |
| 1:08.8 | got ready for this interview, but had always heard about, |
| 1:11.6 | this was a big book when it came out. |
| 1:13.4 | And Paul's a journalist, he's written for Harper's, and he's been on pretty much everything |
| 1:18.2 | TV-wise and news-wise. |
| 1:20.0 | We learned tons about oil, and oil is kind of the one that's conventional. |
| 1:23.8 | We think about that, maybe in coal, is kind of the two standbys. |
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