What a wild year we had at the Cascade Institute in 2024! We welcomed incredible new research and staff members, and planted our flag in Ottawa with a new Geothermal Energy Office. We also kicked off two exciting projects: Scale Up & Acceleration and Anti-Polarization. Meanwhile, our Polycrisis and Ultradeep Geothermal programs really hit their stride – publishing definitive action plan roadmaps and bringing people together to tackle big challenges towards real change.
In the midst of a bustling year, our team carved out precious moments to strengthen our bonds beyond our team-based, action-oriented research. This was especially evident during our November gathering at our Victoria headquarters, where professional collaboration seamlessly blended with personal connection. When Mother Nature intervened with high winds that grounded our planned group hike, we pivoted to an impromptu movie session. The democratic process of selecting our film sparked lively debate, ultimately leading us to Mike Judge’s satirical Idiocracy – a choice that felt particularly poignant in the aftermath of the U.S. election.
In this moment between the weight of 2024 and the uncertainties that 2025 may bring, we wanted to share something lighter: a collection of our team’s favourite cultural touchstones from the past year, from page-turning books to binge-worthy shows and everything in between. Consider this our way of ending the year on a bright note.
Research Director Scott Janzwood’s Picks
Movies
- Dune: Part Two
- Challengers
- Anora
- Sing Sing
- Rebel Ridge
Honourable mentions: Conclave, A Real Pain, Red Rooms
TV Shows
- Industry (Season 3, HBO)
- Shogun (FX/Disney+)
- English Teacher (FX/Disney+)
- The Bear (Season 3, Hulu/Disney+)
- Three Body Problem (Netflix)
Honourable mentions: What We Do In the Shadows, Slow Horses, Bad Monkey
Podcasts
- Heed the Call (Football, Underdog)
- The Big Picture (Movies, The Ringer)
- The Watch (TV Shows, The Ringer)
- Plain English with Derek Thompson (Tech/Culture/Politics, The Ringer)
- Front Burner (News, CBC)
Books
- When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
- The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
- North Woods by Daniel Mason
- Five Decembers by James Kestrel
- The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgard
Honourable mentions: Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford, Biography of X by Catherine Lacey, God of the Woods by Liz Moore, Lazarus Man by Richard Price
Music
- Favourite 2024 Album: Tigers Blood by Waxahatchee
- Best Concert: Dehd
Resident Fellow Julie MacArthur‘s Picks
Wellness & Activities
“2024 was a year for getting into cold plunges and ocean dipping. One of my favourite places for this continues to be Wildwood Saunas in Metchosin. That place is pure magic. I’ve also very happily been cajoled into jumping in the the Salish Sea on a semi regular (year round) basis with one of my fabulous colleagues.”
Books
While reading time was limited, two standouts were:
- Fire Weather by John Vaillant
- Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
“Other that that I’m in a pretty solid rotation of pre-schooler favorites like The Book with No Pictures and Room on the Broom.”
“And Climate Justice and the University by Jennie Stephens is on my reading list.
Movies
Two favourites stood out:
- Wicked: “A delightfully high-energy feminist and antifascist fable based on the excellent stage show of the same name. I’m likely to go see it again, despite the nearly 3 hour run time.”
- Wild Robot: “A stunningly beautiful piece of animation about a robot crash landing on an idyllic remote island and rebelling against its programming.”
TV Shows
Notable highlights:
Graphic Designer Varinder Paul’s picks
Concert
The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift. “I’ve been a swiftie since before the word “swiftie” was even a thing. I’m usually not a concert person, but this was an incredible performance and curation of music and songwriting. Did I actually get my hands on a ticket? No. It was like getting a golden ticket to go see Willy Wonka. I just stood around the Rogers Centre for an hour soaking up the vibes and then caught a livestream on TikTok later. Still worth it.”
TV
Only Murders in the Building. “I haven’t watched a murder mystery series in a while before this first came out. It’s incredibly clever writing and who doesn’t love Steve Martin and Martin Short oddly but brilliantly paired with Selena Gomez? Make more TV, Steve.”
Late Bloomer. “Like a first of its kind, all encompassing diaspora story specific to my hybrid cultural experience as a Punjabi-Canadian.”
Music
Beethoven Blues, Jon Batiste. “This sound is the most unique thing kind of playing with music I’ve heard, I can’t even describe it, you just have to listen.”
Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande. “I think I had this on repeat in the background for the majority of my drawings this year.”
Books
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery. “Of course I know the story, I’ve also seen the movies made in the 80s, but I had never actually read the books. I’ve started them to get better at creative writing myself.”
When the Body Says No, Dr. Gabor Mate. “I recommend this to anyone who wants to better understand trauma holistically. Gabor is the man, respectfully.”
Hobbies
“I’m an Artist, if I’m not making art, I’m making more art somewhere else.
Also, my parents have a generous vegetable garden in their backyard, I enjoyed growing and then cooking my own food, but that’s every year #subtleflex”
Holidays
“Diwaloween. Diwali fell on October 31st this year so that was interesting. Luckily my divas made room for my pumpkin on the porch.”
People
“My Bibi (grandma). She wins every year though.”
Resident Fellow Jaigris Hodson‘s Picks
Podcast:
Decoding the Gurus: “A great podcast that debunks many misinformation-spewing influencers.”
Guilty pleasure movie:
Activity:
“I started learning to play the piano!”
Operations Manager Gabriela Vieyra-Balboa’s Picks
Creative Hobbies
“I found joy in two relaxing creative pursuits: Crocheting a temperature blanket (each line’s colour represents the day’s average temperature) and building “book nooks” – miniature dioramas that fit between books.”
Entertainment
- Favourite Podcast: A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar (“mindblowing and inspiring!”
- Favourite Album: Esto es cumbia by Los Angeles Azules, “an awesome compilation of pop hits from all Latin America, turned into cumbias by their original artists in collaboration with a legendary Mexican band born in the shambles of Iztapalapa in Mexico City.”
- Favourite Series: The Handmaid’s Tale. “It’s not new, but I started watching it after the Trump election… it’s dark and scary, but can’t stop watching).”
- Favourite Movie: Wild Robot. “I didn’t cry, it was just the air conditioning in at the movie theater.”
Administrative Assistant Jordan Bendall’s Picks
Music
“2024 has shaped up to be an explosive year for music, with albums from Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan tapping into the cultural zeitgeist to absolutely dominate the airwaves. But which one reigns supreme? I wouldn’t know, because my favourite album from 2024 was Canadian rock-band Marianas Trench’s ‘Haven’. ‘Haven’ is an album built around the concept of the hero’s journey, and the tracks mirror this, building up to a symphonic finale that blends elements from the songs preceding it. It’s a great album that carries forward the sound Marianas Trench has cultivated in previous albums and expands upon it.
Movies
“I think I went to a movie theatre exactly once this year and it was in February for the second installment of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Dune: Part 2 builds off the momentum of the first installment and surpasses it, largely by virtue of it being the faster-paced, climactic half of story. The cast is pretty much stellar across the board (minus the mystifying inclusion of Christopher Walken in the role of the Emperor) and there’s far less ‘whisper-talking’ going on (an annoying directorial choice that ran rampant in Chapter 1 and plagues many a ‘serious’ movie). Dune: Part 2 was more than good enough to take top spot on its own merit, even if it’s my number one pick by default (and because I haven’t had the chance to see Gladiator 2, which I’m sure is a cinematic masterpiece worthy of one, maybe even two, thumbs up).”
Fellow and Geothermal Energy Policy Lead Emily Smejkal‘s Picks
Media
- Favourite Podcast: Energy vs. Climate
- Favourite Book: Code Name Verity
- Most Emotional Movie: The Wild Robot
- Binged TV Shows:
Communications Manager Nicole Pointon’s Picks
Books
Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner
Rebel Girl, by Kathleen Hanna
Roman Stories, by Jhumpa Lapiri
We Loved it All, by Lydia Millet
Albums and songs
“I started off the year listening to a lot of Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert and am finishing it off by listening to every possible rendition of La Mer by Charles Trenet (I’m trying to memorize the French lyrics).
And The Bear, Season 3 (TV show) kept wowing me with its incredible soundtrack–Eddie Vedder’s new version of Save it for Later almost topped Season 2’s closing with Vedder and Neil Finn’s Throw Your Arms Around Me.”
TV Shows
Sunny (Apple TV), the conclusion of My Brilliant Friend (HBO).
Movies
Evil Does Not Exist, Perfect Days, and A Real Pain. “I’m also looking forward to watching A Complete Unknown in the theatre over the holidays (and preparing by watching No Direction Home and Don’t Look Back to prove – maybe to myself? – that I’m not just into Timothée Chalamet).”
Concerts
“Vampire Weekend with my teenager in Vancouver – their new songs ‘Mary Boone’ and ‘Capricorn’ from the album Only God Was Above Us were on heavy rotation. Also, Chastity Belt in Berlin with my amazing friend Leah who also is in a band (that’s way too cool for me.)”
Destinations
Guéthary, France and Toruń, Poland.
Polycrisis Fellow Megan Shipman’s Picks
Books
“I have been reading the original Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and loving that! I also loved reading The Weight of Nature by Clayton Page Aldern as a highly-related-to-work non-fiction.”
Hobbies
“In 2024, I updated some of my bread baking equipment and have gotten really into making crusty sourdough bread boules, which have turned out delicious!”
Inspiration
I also came across my favourite quote while reading this year. It’s from Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: “My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”
Fellow and Ultradeep Geothermal Science Lead Rebecca Pearce’s picks
TV
- The Alienist: “A dark and gory horror series based on the books of the same name. A psychologist, or alienist, solves the serial murders in late-19th century New York.”
- American Horror Story: Hotel: “The unconquerable AHS series once again spins a comical and terrifying tale of a hotel run by the ghosts of its victims. The woman in charge is the Baroness, played by Lady Gaga.”
Reading
Fall on Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald. “A haunting and superbly told Canadian novel set in Cape Breton that follows a family for three generations, their name mired in scandal after a series of inexplicable deaths befall the family.”
Activity
“I love the new cycle commute from Esquimalt to RRU! One of the many great changes that came from my move to Victory in Spring this year.
Scale Up and Acceleration Fellow Simone Philpot’s picks
Books
“They weren’t published in 2024, but I’ve revisited two books remain my favourites year-humaniover-year: Humanist Geography: An individual’s Search for Meaning by Yi-Fu Tuan who is considered to be the father of humanist geography. The second, Farsighted: How we make the decisions that matter the most, by Steven Johnson is, to me, a love letter to the decision sciences.
“In new (to me) reads, two that I enjoyed this year are connected to important moments in maritime history. The first, Dead in the Water: A true story of hijacking, murder, and a global maritime conspiracy by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chelllel, has excellent story telling and investigative journalism around the hijacking and subsequent investigations of the Brillante Virtuoso. The second, Longitude by Dava Sobel and William J.H. Andrews tells the story of the many attempts to solve the ‘longitude problem’ (being unable to measure longitude and its consequences to navigation at sea).”
Polycrisis Fellow Michael Lawrence’s Picks
Books
Top non-fiction of 2024: Michael Albert’s book Navigating the Polycrisis
Top fiction of 2024: Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Children” sci-fi trilogy (Children of Time, Children of Ruin, and Children of Memory). “Thanks, Megan Shipman, for the recommendation!”
Top places newly discovered in 2024:
Zurich, PIK, Potsdam Palace, Isle of Skye (Scotland), Talisker distillery, battlefields of Bannockburn and Culloden, and Quarry Rock at Deep Cove (Vancouver).
Scale Up and Acceleration Program Lead Dave Lovekin’s picks
Books
Windswept: “Tales and stories of living with the land in Northwest Scotland’s islands.”
Movies
Twice Born: “An intergenerational story set in Sareijevo during the start of the Bosnian Wars.”
Roadtrips:
“Heading along the Washington and Oregon coast exploring the beaches and forests!”
Research Associate Katherine Matos’s Picks
Books
“Desde la Hondonada” by Alfredo Bryce Echenique is a nostalgic but powerful book. It compiles the letters Alfredo Bryce Echenique sent over thirty-five years—between 1965 and 1999—to his childhood friend François Mujica Serelle. The letters provide an intimate glimpse into the author’s life, thoughts, and creative process in his quest to become a writer.
Activities:
- NHL hockey game (Canucks vs Blackhawks), this was the first hockey game I saw in a real hockey ring. It was exciting from the beginning till the end and the Canucks won 4-1!.
- My family’s trip to Victoria in 2024 was the highlight of my year. Spending quality time with family while exploring Victoria was a perfect mix!
- The “Tour de Victoria 2024” was my favourite volunteering event of the year. Nearly 2,500 riders participated this year. This event has a lot of good energy, and it’s just vibrant to see so many riders of all ages and the community cheering them all the way. (Also, seeing the amazing bikes!)
Research Fellow Leighton Gall’s Picks
Books
Favourite reads include Underland by Robert Macfarlane, which delves into the mysteries beneath our feet, and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, blending Indigenous wisdom with ecological science.
Movies
The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki stood out for its themes of resilience and connection to the natural world, resonating deeply with the intricate systems of geothermal energy.
Experiences
As a geothermal researcher and academic who recently visited Kona, Hawaii, 2024 has been a year rich with inspiration from both science and storytelling. Kona itself inspired a renewed appreciation for Polynesian navigation techniques, leading me to get my compass out of storage and refresh my orienteering skills with a map at home. After visiting the Big Island, I spent a lot of time thinking about the movie Moana with a geoscientist’s ear for the song “Lava.” It underscored the interweaving of story, culture, and fun that defined much of my work in 2024.