A playful meditation on coal and hot yoga.
“Embodiment, or the Loving Intimacies of Carbon.”
In Fueling Culture: 101 Words for Energy and Environment.
“A field-shaping work of scholarship that will be useful to scholars and students in energy studies, the history of technology, literature, American studies and many other disciplines.”
Ross Barrett, Boston University, in Technology and Culture
A study of energy, food, and labor on an early whale ship.
“A Peculiarly Valuable Oil: Energy and the Ecology of Production on an American Whale Ship.”
Journal of Industrial Archaeology.
An essay on technology, race, and climate change.
“Energy Slaves: Carbon Technologies, Climate Change, and the Stratified History of the Fossil Economy.”
American Quarterly.
“In this fascinating, stunningly original book, Johnson astutely combines the personal with the political, the local with the global, the cultural with the material to chart the pleasures and pains of fossil capitalism. As the climate crisis continues to intensify, Mineral Rites offers an engrossing and provocative history of the present.”
―Finis Dunaway, Trent University, author of Seeing Green
Feel free to reach out to me for copies of the following:
COLLECTIVE BOOKS
2022. Solarities: Seeking Energy Justice. Eds. Ayesha Vemuri and Darin Barney. University of Minnesota Press. After Oil Collective comprised of 40 international scholars and artists of the Petrocultures Research Group.
2016. After Oil: Explorations and Experiments in the Future of Energy, Culture and Society. West Virginia University Press. After Oil Collective comprised by 35 international scholars and artists of the Petrocultures Research Group.
ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
2026. (forthcoming). “Making Sure Nobody Walks in LA”: A Lesson on Media Theory and Petroleum Advertisements.” MLA Teaching the Energy Humanities. Eds. Debby Rosenthal and Jason Molesky.
2025. Roundtable Interview. “Energy Humanities and American History with Cara Daggett, Bob Johnson, Imre Szeman, Calub Wellum, and Jennifer Wenzel. Modern American History. November.
2023. “The Landfill.” In Solarities: Elemental Encounters and Refractions. Eds, Cymene Howe, Jeff Diamanti, and Amelia Moore. Punctum Press.
2022. “Carbon Democracy: Unfinished Business.” Energy Humanities Online. Transitions in Energy, Culture, and Society.
2018. “Industry, Technology, Energy.” In Bloomsbury Companion to Marx, Eds. Andrew Pendakis and Imre Szeman. Bloomsbury Press.
2013. “’Typical of Her Race’: Cultural Pluralism and the Editorial Records of Survey Graphic.” American Studies 52.2. Winner of the MAASA Stone-Suderman Prize for Best Article Published (Calendar Year 2013) in American Studies.
2010. “’An Upthrust into Barbarism’: Coal, Trauma, and the Origins of the Modern Self, 1885-1951.” Journal of American Culture 33.4. December.
2007. Reprint. “Globalizing the Harlem Renaissance: Irish, Mexican, and ‘Negro’ Renaissances in Survey Graphic.” In Other Renaissances: A New Approach to World Literature, eds. Brenda Schlidgen, Gang Zhou, and Sander Gilman. Palgrave Macmillan.
2006. “Globalizing the Harlem Renaissance: Irish, Mexican, and ‘Negro’ Renaissances in Survey Graphic.” Journal of Global History 1.2.
2002. “’A Whole Synthesis of His Time’: Political Ideology and Cultural Politics in the Writings of William Carlos Williams, 1929-1939.” American Quarterly 54.2. June.
PUBLIC MEDIA
2024. Interview with Srijani Mitra Das, “Colonialism Allotted the Pleasure and Pain of Fossil Fuels,” Times of India. February.
2023. Petrocultures Panel Podcast. Episode 6: Politics after Academia, “Volatile Trajectories: Climate Crisis + Energy Transitions,” Future Energy Systems and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, www.youtube.com/@volatiletrajectories/featured. February.
2018. Consultative Interview. “Carbon: An Unauthorized Biography.” Directed by Daniella Ortega. GenePool Productions. Documentary Film in Progress. November.
2016. Interview with Greg Wilt. DeSmogCanada. “What’s Missing in Media Coverage of Canada’s Pipeline Debate.” December.
2015. Interview with Steve Horn. Progressive Radio Network. “Political Analysis: How’d We Become a Carbon Nation.” April.
BOOK REVIEWS
2025. “American Energy Cinema.” Eds. Robert Lifset, Rachael Lutz, and Sarah Stanford-McIntyre. American Energy Cinema (West Virginia University Press 2023). Environmental History. January.
2024. “Settler Garrison.” Jodi Kim. Settler Garrison: Debt, Imperialism, Militarism, and Transpacific Imaginaries (Duke 2022). Journal of American Culture. August.
2022. “Social Media Entertainment.” Stuart Cunningham and David Craig. Social Media Entertainment: The New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley (New York University Press, 2019). Journal of American Culture. March.
2021. “Behind the Carbon Curtain.” Jeffrey Lockwood. Behind the Carbon Curtain: The Energy Industry, Political Censorship, and Free Speech (University of New Mexico Press, 2017). The History Teacher.
2020. “The Birth of Energy.” Cara New Daggett. The Birth of Energy: Fossil Fuels, Thermodynamics, and the Politics of Work. (Duke University Press, 2019). Environment and History. November.
2019. “Labor’s Mind.” Tobias Higbie. Labor’s Mind: A History of Working-Class Intellectual Life (University of Illinois Press, 2018). Journal of American Culture. December.
2019. “Hydrocarbon Nation.” Thor Hogan. Hydrocarbon Nation: How Energy Security Made Our Nation Great and Climate Security Will Save Us (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019). Journal of American History. September.
2019. “Cheshire, Ohio.” Cheshire, Ohio: An American Coal Story in 3 Acts. Directed by Eve Morgenstern. Environmental History. April.
2018. “Energy and Civilization.” Vaclav Smil. Energy and Civilization: A History (MIT Press, 2017). Environmental History. July.
2016. “Coal and Empire.” Peter A. Shulman, Coal and Empire: The Birth of Energy Security in the United States (John Hopkins University, 2015). American Historical Review. June.
2016. “Oil Culture.” Edited by Ross Barrett and Daniel Worden. Oil Culture (University of Minnesota Press, 2014). Environmental History. January.
2015. “Crude Reality.” Brian Black. Crude Reality: Petroleum in World History (Rowman and Littlefield, 2012). The History Teacher. February.
2014. “Relativism and the Politics of Climate Change.” Candis Callison, How Climate Change Comes to Matter: The Communal Life of Facts (Duke University Press, 2014). Reviews in Cultural Theory. Winter.
2014. “Pastoral and Monumental.” Kenneth C. Jackson, Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape (University of Pittsburgh Press 2013). Journal of Popular Culture. April.
2013. “Queer Environmentality.” Robert Azarrello, Queer Environmentality: Ecology, Evolution, and Sexuality in American Literature (Ashgate 2012). American Studies 52.3.
2012. “How We Are Changed by War.” D. C. Gill, How We Are Changed by War: A Study of Letters and Diaries from Colonial Conflicts to Operation Iraqi Freedom (Routledge 2010). Journal of Popular Culture 45.6. December.
2007. “The Urban Environment and Urban Environmental History.” Martin Melosi, Effluent America: Cities, Energy, Industry, and the Environment (Pittsburgh 2001). H-Environment. August.
KEYNOTES, CONFERENCES, AND INVITATIONS
2025. Conference Paper. Uneven Atmospheres: The Colonial Climate Reconsidered. American Society for Literature and the Environment. Baltimore, MD. July.
2024. Keynote Speaker. The Colonial Climate. Infrastructures of Extraction, Infrastructures of Representation. British Academy and Southampton University. Southampton, England. June.
2023. Funded Scholar. Third Working Group for After Oil: The Renewable Normal. Two-year invited and funded scholar for international research institute held in Toronto, Canada. Petrocultures Research Group. October.
2023. Funded Participant. The Toronto Workshop: Public-Facing Writing for Academics. Hugh Jackman Humanities Institute. University of Toronto. May.
2023. Funded Scholar. Second Working Group for After Oil: Solarities. Two-year invited and funded scholar for international research institute held in Banff, Canada. Funded by the Petrocultures Research Group. February 2023. Travel cancelled due to illness.
2023. Invited Speaker. “Reflecting Oil: Art-Based Research on Oil Transitionings.” University of Applied Arts. Vienna, Austria. January. At https://www.reflectingoil.info/en/workshop-xxxi/.
2022. Funded Scholar. First Working Group for After Oil. Two-year invited and funded scholar for international research institute held in Banff. Funded by the Petrocultures Research Group. November.
2020. Invited Discussant. “Necroculture.” Pacific Sociological Association. Eugene, Oregon. (Conference cancelled due to pandemic.)
2019. Invited and Funded Scholar. Solarity: After Oil School II. Petrocultures Research Group. Montreal, Canada. June.
2018. Conference Paper. How to Read a Novel in Light of Climate Change. Petrocultures Conference. Glasgow, Scotland. August-September.
2017. Invited Speaker. The Titanic and the Stokehold: Fossil Capitalism, Climate Change, and the Sociology of Collapse. Science Studies Colloquium. UC San Diego. November.
2017. Conference Paper. Coal TV: The Hyperreal Mineral Frontier. American Studies Association. Chicago, IL. November. Winner of Annette Kolodny Prize.
2017. Conference Paper. The Titanic and the Stokehold: Nightmare Spaces in the World of Fossil Capital. Environment, Space, Place Conference. San Diego, CA. April.
2016. Conference Paper. Energy Slaves: Carbon Technologies, Climate Change, and the Stratified History of the Fossil Economy. Petrocultures Conference. St. John’s, Canada. August.
2015. Conference Paper. Embodiment, or the Loving Intimacies of Petroleum. American Studies Association. Toronto, Canada. October.
2015. Invited and Funded Scholar. International Work Group. After Oil School. University of Alberta. Edmonton, Canada. August.
2015. Conference Paper. The Eroticism of Fossil Fuels. California American Studies Association. Fullerton, California. April.
2014. Conference Paper. Modernity’s Ecology: Fossil Fuels, World History, and America’s Great Divergence. World History Association. San Jose, Costa Rica. July.
2014. Conference Paper. Embodying Carbon: Fossil Fuels, Materialism, and Consciousness. Marxist Literary Group Institute for Society and Culture. Banff, Canada. June.
2014. Conference Paper. Rocks and Bodies: Prehistoric Carbon, Embodiment, and History. Energies; Through the Theoretical, Material, and Social. University of Southern California. April.
2013. Conference Paper. The American Embodiment of Fossil Fuels. California American Studies Association. San Diego, California. April.
2013. Conference Paper. Embodying Coal: History, Bodies, and the Dialectics of Fuel. American Society of Environmental Historians. Toronto, Canada. April.
2012. Conference Paper. ‘Ashamed of Oil’: Oil, Trauma, and History. Petrocultures: Oil, Energy, and Culture. Alberta, Canada. September.
2012. Conference Paper. Oil, Trauma, and the National Imaginary. California American Studies Association. Claremont, California. April.
2012. Conference Paper. ‘A Faint Whiff of Gasoline’: Oil’s First Culture War, 1890-1969. Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations. Albuquerque, NM. February.
2011. Conference Paper. ‘To Manufacture Culture Wholesale’: Oil, Trauma, and the National Imaginary. American Studies Association. Baltimore, MD. October.
2011. Conference Paper. ‘An Upthrust into Barbarism’: Coal, Trauma, and the National Imaginary. American Society of Environmental Historians. Phoenix, Arizona. April.
2010. Conference Paper. ‘Like a Drunken Heir on a Spree’: Coal, Culture, and Trauma. Florida Conference of Historians. Tallahassee, Florida. February.
2009. Invited Speaker. Patriotism and the Problem of Whiteness in American Politics. 45th Anniversary New College of Florida Charter Class. Sarasota, Florida. October.
2009. Conference Paper. The Metabolism of a Whale Ship: Energy, Labor, and Culture in the American Whale Oil Industry. American Society of Environmental Historians. Tallahassee, FL. February.
2008. Conference Paper. ‘A Peculiarly Valuable Oil’: Energy, Narrative, and the Whale Oil Industry. American Studies Association. Albuquerque, NM. October.
2008. Conference Paper. The Story of Coal: Energy, Narrative, and Progressive Politics. American Society of Environmental Historians. Boise, Idaho. March.
2006. Conference Paper. Globalizing the Harlem Renaissance. The Self in North American Culture: Comparative Perspectives. Bilkent University. Ankara, Turkey. November-December.
2006. Conference Paper. King Coal, Giant Power: The Politics and Culture of Progressive Energy Policy in the 1920s. Rocky Mountain American Studies Association. Albuquerque, New Mexico. March.
2005. Invited Panelist. Vietnam: The Things They Carried. Van Wezel Performing Arts Center. Sarasota, Florida. November.
2004. Conference Paper. Progressive Indians, ‘Orientals,’ and Mexicans: Representing the West’s Racial Diversity in Survey Graphic. Western History Association. Las Vegas, Nevada. October.
2003. Presentation. Globalizing Cultural Pluralism: The American Progressives’ Encounter with Alternative Nationalisms in the 1920s. UC World History Research Group. Santa Cruz, California. April.
2002. Invited Talk. Cultural Politics and Political Ideology in the Writings of William Carlos Williams, 1929-1939. Literature and History Symposium. UC Irvine. March.
2000. Chair and Coordinator. History, Literature, and the Archives and Ethnography across the Disciplines. Conceived, organized, and chaired two school-wide, interdisciplinary graduate workshops. UC Irvine School of Humanities. February/April.
1995. Conference Paper. Poets, Puppeteers, and Private Eyes: Cultural Poetics and the Founding Fathers. Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference. Montana State University. April.
1993. Conference Paper. Reconstructing the Male Hero: Reading Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus as a Feminist Subversion of the Symbolic Order. Approaches to Marginalized Literatures. Washington State University. March.