Millennial Reflections

We celebrate more than 1000 subscribers by sharing updates on past posts and more

Super Substackers,

Sending you a big solarpunk salute as we’ve crossed the 1000 subscribers mark! Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or just stumbled in during a late-night scroll, we’re thrilled you’re here.

To mark this millennial milestone we’re bringing you updates on some of best past posts and sharing a great looking event happening this Friday.

Reloading a Solarpunk Pioneer

In spite of its lunar title, Moonhaven was the first solarpunk TV series, and brilliant it was too, as we covered in this post. It was sadly cancelled after its first season. This wasn’t because of a lack of popularity.

It was the number one most-watched AMC+ exclusive series and most-watched new series in the streamer’s history behind Dark Winds. The reason why AMC reversed the renewal was due to their financial implosion at the time.

Back then we launched a Save Moonhaven petition, which gained over a hundred signatures. Sadly the show was removed by AMC from its platform. It’s not been available to legally watch elsewhere, until recently.

It’s now streaming on Hoopla. We definitely recommend checking out this outstanding show because it’s a solarpunk pioneer and for all the other reasons we listed in our original post.

The City of Light Gets Greener

[The Paris of tomorrow? IMAGE: Katie Patrick]

In one of our first substacks just over two years ago we asked “Is Paris Becoming a Solarpunk City?”. This was due to all of the brilliant initiatives to improve sustainability, social inclusion and more in France’s capital which you can read about here.

Their excellent mayor Anne Hidalgo has used the leverage of the 2024 Olympic games to do even more. Things such as cleaning the Seine so people can swim in it from now on, greening and pedestrianising public spaces and creating Paris’s ‘first zero carbon district’ in Îlot Fertile.

This area is car-free, covered in solar panels and green roofs as well as using innovative resource re-use methods. You can read more about Paris’s recent achievements and future plans in this piece by Rowan Moore from the Guardian.

Get Your Card Out

Our first story is now available to buy using credit and debit cards. You could only purchase it using PayPal before, which we understand may have put some off. We’re working on something pretty exciting for the release of the second episode which you can read a teaser of here.

Star Trek Meets Octavio Butler Zoom Event: This Friday - 30^th August 6pm (BST)

Our friends at Afroflux are hosting an online conversation and creative workshop exploring two pieces of visionary sci-fi. Both of them were released in the 1990s, both are set this year and both depict aspects of challenges and opportunities we face today. They are The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and a classic double episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

You can learn more and sign up for this free event here.

Onwards and Upwards

It’s because of people like you sharing this substack with others that we’ve been able to grow to this point. Help bring a deliciously sustainable future a little closer by passing this on to anyone you think might enjoy a dose of solarpunk inspiration.

Could You Write for Us?

We’ve had some excellent guest writers for this substack in the past and would love for more people to contribute.

Do you have an idea for something solarpunky that our readers might find interesting? Or would you like to potentially do a joint post with your substack? Please do get in touch via solarpunkstories@gmail.com if you have any ideas.

Until Next Time

That's all for this update. If you like what we’re trying to do here and know someone else who might do too then please like, comment and share. 

See you in the sunshine,

Alex Holland

Founder, SolarPunk Stories