Tao Leigh Goffe joins us to discuss her new book, Dark Laboratory:On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis (Penguin, 2025).
Using the Caribbean as a case study, Tao Leigh Goffe traces the vibrant and complex history of the islands back to 1492 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus when the Caribbean became the subject of Western exploitation. Dark Laboratory takes hopeful and galvanising teachings from the islands communities to offer illuminating solutions to the ecological crisis. From guano to sugarcane, coral bleaching to invasive mongoose populations, Dark Laboratory is a lyrical, vibrant and urgent investigation into the greatest threat facing humanity.
Meet our speaker and chair
Tao Leigh Goffe is Associate Professor at Hunter College, CUNY where she teaches classes on literary theory and cultural history.
Sara Salem is Associate Professor at LSE. Her main research interests include political sociology, postcolonial studies, Marxist theory, feminist theory, and global histories of empire and imperialism.
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