Episode 91

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Published on:

14th Nov 2025

Plan C for Civilization - Director Ben Kalina

PLAN C for CIVILIZATION tackles one of the most controversial approaches to mitigating and possibly reversing the dire impacts of climate change.  As emissions pour into the atmosphere and world leaders struggle for solutions to a climate emergency, the controversial climate-cooling technology called solar geo-engineering is entering the world’s stage. It’s an idea so powerful and full of uncertainty that even the proposal of research itself is seen as a dire risk by leading environmental activists and scientists. But for physicist David Keith, what matters is not what’s popular but what could help reduce the harms of a heating planet. And to learn more, he plans to launch the world’s first experiment into the stratosphere. Plan C for Civilization tackles the promise and peril of solar geo-engineering with exclusive verite access to its protagonist David Keith and the SCoPEx project as well as the rogue geo-engineers of Make Sunsets. From Bangladesh to Nevada, solar geo-engineering is emerging after more than 60 years in the shadows, and with it, a new chapter of the climate change saga. Our guest is Ben Kalina, (Can We Cool the Planet, Shored Up) an award-winning director and producer whose work centers on the collision between human nature and the force of nature.

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About the Podcast

Cinemafile
Cinemafile showcases the very best in independent, documentary and foreign films through our conversations with the more than 2,000 filmmakers who made them. Through Cinemafile we will do our best to bring the most interesting and accomplished filmmakers from around the world to your attention.

About your host

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Michael Kaspar

Mike Kaspar is a life-long film fan who has worked as a projectionist at an art house theatre, college radio station general manager as well as a radio show host and producer for over 18 years.