Energi Talks

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews veteran American journalist Llewellyn King about his column,  “Political Fear Stalks Law, Education, Journalism, Migration." While King says US President Donald Trump hasn't adopted the mantle of fascism, he governs like a fascist. Markham argues that that makes him a fascist whether he describes himself as one or not. A spirited, fascinating look at the descent of the United States into chaos.Dan Gardner's substack post, Is it Fascism?:  https://dgardner.substack.com/p/is-it-fascism

Energy journalist Markham Hislop explains the context for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's upcoming interview Thursday with US MAGA podcaster Ben Shapiro in Florida. Hint: Alberta thinks the energy future will look just like the energy past and it wants Trump and the Canadian government to get out of its way. The problem is that the future will likely be very different than Alberta expects.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Elizabeth May, Green Party co-leader along with Jonathan Pedneault, about her party's proposal to stop exporting raw natural resources. The Greens also propose create a natural resources "Strategic Reserves" to protect Canadian workers.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Professor Christopher Ragan, an associate professor and the founding Director of McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy, as well as the author of a recent op-ed titled, “Western alienation is real and cannot be dismissed.” Markham took the position that many of Alberta's issues with Canadian energy and climate policies are unfounded or overblown.

Markham interviews Professor Bentley Allan, professor at Johns Hopkins University and a Transition Pathway Principal with Calgary-based Transition Accelerator. Bentley is also an expert on industrial strategy and policy.

Journalist Markham Hislop revisits some of his columns from 2018 to 2022 about former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's oil and gas policy approach. After several years out of the public spotlight, Kenney is again active on social media, positioning himself as a political moderate. Will he run for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership if the position opens up? If he does, the Canadians need to review his record as Alberta premier.

Journalist Markham Hislop explains Canada 2050's 3-part strategy for adding value to natural resources, electrifying extraction and processing, and building necessary infrastructure. He excerpts from his interview with one of Canada's leading industrial policy experts, Dr. Bentley Allan of Johns Hopkins University, to explain how Canada 2050's could be implemented.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Janetta McKenzie, director of the oil and gas program for the Pembina Institute, about the report, "Turning Tides: The economic risks of B.C.'s LNG expansion in a changing energy market."

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Ed Hirs, a University of Houston economist and frequent media commentator on the US economy. They talk tariffs and trade, market volatility, and oil prices.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Professor Dimitry Anastakis, LR Wilson/RJ Currie Chair in Canadian Business History, University of Toronto. Don't let the title fool you. Canada is already behind in the transition to the new technologies of the 4th industrial revolution, including the development and adoption of clean energy technologies like solar and EVs.

Journalist Markham Hislop Adam Regier, one of the co-authors of “Stretch and transform for energy justice: Indigenous advocacy for institutional transformative change of electricity in British Columbia, Canada,” published in the July, 2025 issue of the journal, Energy Policy

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Bruce Lourie, president of the Ivey Foundation and chair of the Transition Accelerator, about his March 20 Globe and Mail op-ed, “Letting electrons free as part of a new Canadian economy.”

Journalist Markham Hislop explains what's behind threats from right-wing activist Preston Manning and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to start a "national unity crisis" that will lead to Western Canada separating from Canada. Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne points out that there is no popular support for independence.

Journalist Markham Hislop walks viewers through the Liberal Party of Canada's energy platform, announced April 9 in Calgary, Alberta. The conclusion? Some very good ideas, some that were not as good, and still plenty of questions left to be answered.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews law professor Shaun Fluker, University of Calgary, about Liberal Leader Mark Carney's proposals to speed up big project approvals. Like pipelines or transmission lines.

Journalist Markham Hislop revisits some of his columns from 2018 to 2022 about former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's oil and gas policy approach. After several years out of the public spotlight, Kenney is again active on social media, positioning himself as a political moderate. Will he run for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership if the position opens up? If he does, the Canadians need to review his record as Alberta premier.

Energi Media CEO Markham Hislop appeared the weekend of April 5 and 6, 2025 on the US PBS program, White House Chronicle, hosted by Llewellyn King and Adam Clayton Powell III.Note: the audio is sometimes not synched with the video.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Tim King, president of Nexans North America, a global cable products company, about the electrification of the North American economy and how Canadian and American power grids are responding to growing power demand. Hint: not well in the US, better in Canada.

Journalist Markham Hislop interviews Angella MacEwen, is a senior economist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the author of the very interesting Substack, Social Economics.

Markham interviews Josh Dorfman, climate entrepreneur, author, and media personality. As CEO and host of Supercool, Josh hosts the company's weekly podcast spotlighting real-world climate solutions that cut carbon, boost the bottom line, and improve modern life.

Energy journalist Markham Hislop interviews economist Dave Sawyer of Enviro Economics about the Parliamentary Budget Officer's math mistakes in its economic impact study of the Government of Canada's proposed oil and gas emissions cap. The cap is extremely contentious, especially in Alberta, the epicentre of Canada's oil and gas industry.

Markham interviews Kristina Pearson about her paper, co-authored with Sara Hastings-Simon of the University of Calgary, titled “The mid-transition in the electricity sector: impacts of growing wind and solar electricity on generation costs and natural gas generation in Alberta.”

Markham interviews Eddie Soleymani and Shidan Gouran, founders of Bluesphere Ventures, a venture capital firm that funds and nurtures startups addressing America's escalating energy demands. It brings together industry-leading entrepreneurs and experts to develop solutions across energy storage, clean energy marketplaces, carbon capture, and renewable energy credit systems.

Markham interviews Dr. Kevin Timoney, who has spent most of his career studying the ecological impact of the oil sands, about his recently published paper, “Regulatory failure to monitor and manage the impacts of tailings spills, Alberta, Canada," in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

Markham interviews Rob Gramlich of Washington-based Grid Strategies LLC.

Markham interviews Bill Russo, formerly Chrysler's top executive in China and now an EV consultant with his firm Automobility. 

Markham interviews Prasanna Krishnan of Surya Energy Consulting and Andy Hira, professor of political science at Simon Fraser University about their new paper, “The macro view of solar policy: The case for supporting utility-scale power.”

Markham interviews Chingis Idrissov, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, author of the new  report, "Sustainable Biofuels & E-Fuels Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Players, Forecasts."

Markham interviews Jarand Rystad, founder and CEO of highly respected consulting firm Rystad Energy, which recently released a new report, Long-term Oil Macro Scenarios.

Markham interviews Fernando Melo, federal director for the Canadian Renewable Energy Association.

Markham interviews former ENMAX CEO Gary Holden about Lodestone Energy.

Markham interviews Nick Eyre, professor Energy and Climate Policy at the Environmental Change Institute in the UK.

Markham interviews Colin McKerracher, BloombergNEF's head of clean transport.

Markham interviews Dr. Werner Antweiler, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, about his recent CD Howe Institute policy brief titled, Scaling Up: The Promise and Perils of Canada's Biofuels Strategy.

Markham interviews energy economist Dave Gray.

Markham interviews Samir Adams, Managing Director of Technology for Carbon Capture and Commercialization.

Markham interviews Rick Wrenn, author of, "A Pragmatist's Guide to Energizing the USA." You can buy it here and here.

Markham interviews Marija Vujacic, Global Product Manager for Energy Storage at Hitachi, “The Solar Power System: Building a sustainable grid for a brighter energy future.” 

Markham interviews Pete Santosham, executive director of UCeed.

Markham interviews Joe Calnan about his co-authored paper, with Rory Johnston, “The Co-Evolution of the Canada-U.S. Oil Industry and Possible Implications of Donald Trump's Re-election." Calnan is an Energy Security Analyst and Energy Security Forum Manager at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Markham interviews economist Kevin Birn, Canadian Oil Markets Chief Analyst and Head of Center for Emissions Excellence, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Markham interviews Soomin Han, Climate Finance Policy Analyst for the Climate Action Network, about GAIA, a new finance platform that mobilizes climate-focused investments in vulnerable regions launched by Canada at COP29.

Markham interviews Shazan Siddiqi, Senior Technology Analyst at UK-based IDTechEx and author of a new report, “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles and Fleets 2025-2035: Markets, Technologies, and Forecasts”.

Markham interviews Exus CEO Jim Spencer.

Markham interviews Darren Chu, managing director of Alberta-based UTILITYNet.

Markham interviews Andries Wantenaar, Solar Analyst at Rethink Technology Research.

Markham interviews Ed Hirs, energy economist with the University of Houston.

Markham interviews Darren Chu, managing director of UTILITYNet, about his recent op-ed defending Alberta's deregulated system, “Power in the Public Interest: Re-regulation and increased public ownership in Alberta's electricity sector.”

Markham interviews Andries Wantenaar, Solar Analyst at Rethink Technology Research.

Markham interviews Alysha Webb, long-time freelance automotive journalist who pens the ChinaEV blog. 

Markham interviews Rachel Doran, VP of policy and strategy for Clean Energy Canada.