Oil built our world and now it’s burning it.
In this episode, I trace how a single resource shaped empires, rewrote borders, and still fuels the wars and illusions of modern civilization.
From the first oil well to the towers of Dubai, from the deserts that turned to gold to the climate that’s collapsing beneath it this is the story of The Empire of Oil.
The fire we chose to feed.
Sources
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp83-01042r000300040005-6
https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2016/12/07/petrodollars-and-the-global-economy
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/publication/global-tracking-framework
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-aramco-2023-profit-2024-03-10/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/exxon-climate-change-cover-up
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/20/how-the-middle-east-became-rich-from-oil
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/23/world/middleeast/gulf-workers.html
From the first coal mines of Britain to the burning forests of the Amazon, this episode traces how the Industrial Revolution ignited a global addiction — to comfort, to growth, to fire itself. I unpack how empires of industry became empires of carbon, how the Paris Agreement became a promise on paper, and why climate change isn’t a tragedy of nature but a design of civilization.
A story of smoke, survival, and the price of progress.
Our World in Data – CO₂ Emissions Since 1750:
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions
International Energy Agency (IEA) – Historical Energy Data:
Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845):
Global Carbon Project (2023):
https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/.
Oxfam & Stockholm Environment Institute Report (2020) — Confronting Carbon Inequality
https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/confronting-carbon-inequality-621052/
UN OCHA – Pakistan Floods Situation Report (2022):
https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change):
https://unfccc.int/climate-finance
OECD 2023 Climate Finance Report:
Friends of the Earth & The Guardian (2021–2023):
Amnesty International – This Is What We Die For (2021 Update):
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/11/drc-cobalt-mining/
The Guardian (2022) – “Lithium extraction in Chile’s Atacama desert drying up water supplies”:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/07/lithium-chile-water-rights
Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) – PRODES Deforestation Data 2023
http://terrabrasilis.dpi.inpe.br
Science (Lovejoy & Nobre, 2018):
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aat2340
WWF Amazon Report (2022):
UNFCCC – Paris Agreement Text (2015):
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
BBC News (2020) – “Which countries have ratified the Paris climate deal?”
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35073297
Global Carbon Budget (2023):
International Energy Agency (IEA, 2023):
World Bank – Groundswell Report II (2021):
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36248
UNHCR – Global Trends: Forced Displacement 2023
https://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends
Naomi Klein – The Shock Doctrine (2007)
The Guardian (2022) – “Oil and gas companies plan expansion despite climate pledges.”
Vanessa Nakate / Fridays for Future Africa:
https://fridaysforfuture.org
Modern comfort promised us freedom, but it’s quietly destroying our bodies, our environment, and our independence.
In this episode, I explore “civilization sickness” : how inactivity, processed food, chemical agriculture, and corporate control have reshaped human health.
It’s not just what we eat. It’s what we’ve become.
Sources
World Health Organization (WHO) — Obesity and Overweight Fact Sheet (2024):
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
WHO – Noncommunicable Diseases (2023):
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases
WHO – Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Food Animals:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance
Nestlé Baby Formula Scandal:
The Guardian — “Nestlé baby milk scandal has grown up but not gone away.” (2018)
Nestlé Water Extraction in Pakistan:
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre — “Audit report finds Nestlé Pakistan extracting and wasting water without any costs.” (2018)
https://www.business-humanrights.org
Coca-Cola in Chiapas, Mexico:
Mexico News Daily — “San Cristóbal de las Casas: where Coca-Cola is easier to find than water.” (2022)
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/san-cristobal-de-las-casas-water-crisis
Bayer / Monsanto Roundup Litigation:
Reuters — “Bayer adds $13.7 billion to Roundup litigation reserves.” (July 2025)
https://www.reuters.com
U.S. EPA – CAFO Overview:
https://www.epa.gov/npdes/animal-feeding-operations-afos
Tyson Foods Pollution:
The Guardian — “Tyson among top U.S. water polluters.” (2019)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/12/tyson-foods-water-pollution-us-factories
Smithfield Hog Farm Lawsuits:
Reuters — “Smithfield reaches settlement in North Carolina hog farm nuisance suits.” (2020)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-smithfield-lawsuit-settlement-idUSKBN22V3AM
EU Farm to Fork Strategy (European Commission, 2020):
https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
Atrazine Ban (EU vs US):
European Commission, 2003 – groundwater contamination; still permitted in U.S.
Chlorpyrifos Ban (EU 2020; U.S. restrictions 2021):
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and U.S. EPA.
Cochabamba Water War:
BBC News — “Bolivians protest water privatization.” (2000)
https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/714244.stm
Mexico Soda Tax Outcomes:
BMJ – “Beverage purchases declined after the implementation of Mexico’s sugary-drink tax.” (2016)
https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h6704
In this episode, I share the story behind my first race: the Graz Marathon. From running sick in a Flash costume to learning what real discipline feels like, this was more than a race. It was me against me.
Data is the new empire, and we are its subjects. In this episode, I explore how power has shifted from nations to algorithms, how free platforms turn users into products, and how governments and corporations are fighting to control what we see, think, and believe. The battlefield isn’t land anymore, it’s your mind.Instagram: @thelambsaucepod
Africa wasn’t freed, it was rebranded.
In this episode, I explore how colonialism never truly ended but evolved into new forms of control. From the CFA franc and foreign “aid” to corporate exploitation and cultural dependency, this episode exposes how power still flows out of Africa decades after independence. Through stories of leaders like Lumumba, Sankara, and Nkrumah, and reflections on Cameroon’s colonial legacy. I reveal how the empire never left, it just changed its name.Instagram: @thelambsaucepod
In the final part of my UK journey I visit Nottingham, London, and experience my first ever Premier League match. From exploring the historic caves, castle, and stadium of Nottingham to the overwhelming scale and grandeur of London, this episode ends with a dream come true at Villa Park. A story of travel, family, football, and gratitude: the perfect way to close this UK trilogy.
In this episode I head up north to Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds before returning south for my first half marathon in Birmingham. From signing the Diogo Jota mural at Anfield to walking Albert Dock and the Beatles statue, from family time and Elland Road in Leeds to the grind of a hot 21K run to Aston Villa’s stadium, this is a journey about music, football, family, discipline, and losing myself on the road to find something deeper.
In this first chapter of my UK trip I explore Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Leicester. From family reunions in Solihull to runs through Small Heath, from Wolverhampton’s humble charm to Coventry’s Fargo Village and Leicester’s football miracle, this episode is about travel, culture, and finding rhythm in new places.
In this episode I reflect on the art of discipline and what it really means in everyday life. From marathon training and late night meditation to balancing studies and side hustles, I explore how discipline carries us further than motivation and why it is ultimately an act of self respect.
This one’s about presence, people, and energy.
I take you through a trip to Dublin with my uni friends — from chaotic Airbnb planning to mosh pits at the Tyler, the Creator concert.
We talk night culture, Greek food at 2AM, jogging through traffic lights, and why Irish people just get it.
It’s not a tourist review. It’s a memory.
This episode is about the small things that build big bonds — and why certain places feel like home, even when they’re nothing like it.
No overthinking.
Just motion, laughter, and farming aura on the run.
Real voice. Real rhythm.
New episodes every Wednesday.
In this episode, I talk about self-confidence: not the loud kind, but the quiet kind.
The kind you build in silence. The kind you protect when the world tries to question who you are.
I reflect on childhood, racism, ego, rejection, overthinking and what helps me stay grounded.
Meditation, movement, music, faith.
And just being a young Black man who wakes up every day knowing exactly who he is.
This one’s honest. No sugarcoating.
Real voice. Real rhythm. New episodes every Wednesday.
Not all beginnings are loud.
Some feel like a dream — quiet, unreal, and urgent all at once.
In this episode, I talk about a moment I didn’t expect.
A feeling I couldn’t ignore.
And the small decision that led to everything else.
I didn’t know I was becoming someone new.
I just knew… I had to move.
This one’s about following the rhythm — even when you don’t know where it’s going.
Real voice. Real rhythm. Every Wednesday.
This episode is a journey through the cities that raised me not by blood, but by energy.
From Hamburg’s quiet origin,
to Dubai’s discipline and performance,
to Graz’s silence and self-awareness — each place gave me a layer. A version. A rhythm.
This isn’t about where I’m from.
It’s about how every space I entered asked me to become someone new.
And how I’m learning to carry them all — without losing myself in the process.
Real voice. Real rhythm. Every Wednesday.
What does it mean to be a man — when you grow up between cultures, between languages, between expectations?
In this episode, I talk about masculinity not as something I chose — but something I inherited.
From Cameroon to Austria, from silence to softness, this is about unlearning the performance and learning to be present.
This is for the ones becoming men in their own rhythm.
Real voice. Real rhythm. Every Wednesday.
This episode is about how voice becomes identity.
About the moments we switch without realizing.
About how some words can hold us — and others can’t.
Real voice. Real rhythm.
New episodes every Wednesday.
In this first episode, I talk about two quiet moments that ended up changing everything.
When a friend got sick, I ended up at a random meet-and-greet — and met the people who’d become my closest friends in uni.
And later, a dream. Out of nowhere. One that didn’t fully make sense, but started a domino effect inside me.
Welcome to Where is the LAMB sauce.
Real voice. Real rhythm. New episodes every Wednesday.
This podcast is a space for the moments that change everything quietly.
The questions we carry. The emotions we dodge. The truth underneath the noise.
I’m Kaleb — 20, between cultures, between thoughts, between worlds.
And Where is the LAMB sauce? is where I speak from the in-between.
Real voice. Real rhythm.
Every Wednesday.
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