In the first episode of the Carbon Critique podcast series, we talked to Cara New Daggett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech, about her book “The Birth of Energy: Fossil Fuels, Thermodynamics, and the Politics of Work.” In this book, Cara traces back the genealogy of energy, and offers an innovative, feminist and critical look at energy, demonstrating how the term has been socio-historically constructed in ways that connect energy and labor. Her book helped us to think about climate politics and to imagine other conceptions of energy. In what follows is the transcription of the interview with Professor Daggett by Cecília Oliveira and Alexandra Tost.