Public History: Infrastructure, Climate Change, and Radical Action

This essay reviews the 2022 American film How to Blow Up a Pipeline, examining its significance for historians of technology. The film highlights do-it-yourself technologies, the experiences of marginalized technology users, and the environmental consequences of infrastructures. Central to the discussion is the film's dystopian portrayal of infrastructure, which drives the characters to take extreme measures, such as the bombing of an oil pipeline, to raise awareness about climate change. While the film might seem to advocate for radical action, this review suggests that it offers historians an opportunity to engage with broader social issues and reflect on the methodological challenges within the history of technology.