How Will The Shift To Green Energy Reshape Global Politics? (Your Radical Questions with Professor Helen Thompson)
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Professor Helen Thompson, an expert on oil and global politics, answers your questions about Europe’s energy security, whether America would intercept Russian-flagged tankers carrying oil to Cuba and what uncomfortable truth she would inject into political debate.
She also explains how the shift away from burning gas and oil and towards electricity and renewable energies will affect geopolitics?
GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Jonny Hall. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hello and welcome to your radical questions. |
| 0:08.8 | This is where I put your questions to one of our radical guests. |
| 0:12.6 | It's your chance to really engage directly with the super smart, super interesting people that we have on this podcast and ask them about their ideas for the future. |
| 0:21.0 | You've all engaged so, so thoughtfully with our recent episode with Louisa Munch about |
| 0:25.6 | the role that education plays in the functioning of a healthy democracy while she thinks |
| 0:30.5 | university should be free. |
| 0:32.1 | Thank you so much to everyone who has sent us a message. |
| 0:34.7 | We read every single one. |
| 0:35.8 | And by the way, if you haven't heard that episode, |
| 0:38.0 | why not go back and have a listen after you finish it listening to this episode? Because I'm joined, |
| 0:42.8 | as you all know by now, by Professor Helen Thompson. She's Professor of Political Economy at the University |
| 0:47.7 | of Cambridge, based mostly at Clare College. Is that right? Which department? Which Swanky |
| 0:52.2 | Department? Politics and International Studies. Politics and International Studies, I should know that. The author of Disorder, Hard Times in the 21st Century and Oil and the Western Economic Crisis. I think one of the reasons that we've had many questions for you, Helen, is because you're quite prolific on other podcasts, some other very good podcasts, which are found on other podcast providers. but obviously we we got the best of you in our main episode, which went out last Thursday. |
| 1:13.9 | We have been having a really riveting chat about the US, China, Europe, the role that oil plays in what is happening in the world right now. |
| 1:21.0 | The idea of the Western Hemisphere, the danger of debt, and also how to play great power politics in 2026. Helen is going to answer some of your questions. Are you feeling ready for these radical? I am. I am. Some of these questions are going to be pretty radical. Okay, you ready for them? Okay, here we go. This question, this is our first one. And it is from Thomas. Good morning, radical team from Snowy Berlin. This is my question for Helen Thompson. |
| 1:46.0 | I've often heard her talk on other podcasts about the problem of divergence in energy interests |
| 1:52.3 | between the US and Europe after 1973, whereby the US became energy independent, while the EU and Europe was increasingly reliant on |
| 2:03.6 | countries like Russia for oil and gas. And my question is this, if there was a surplus of oil |
| 2:09.6 | and gas in the US during the 90s and 90s, why did they not export this to Europe, thereby binding Europe closer to the US? And similarly, |
| 2:21.9 | why did Europe not buy American oil and gas rather than relying on unstable supplies in places |
| 2:30.4 | like Russia? Okay, Thomas's question, in a way, has got it the wrong way round. |
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