Shockwave: Strikes on Iran and the future of energy
Katrina Gaffney looks at how we can get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster
23 September 2026
A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world?
The Strait of Hormuz. Sitting between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the Strait is one of the world’s busiest shipping channels. One fifth of all fossil fuels pass through the Strait, which means that when Iran threatened to attack tankers navigating it, they choked off the world’s supply. The opening of the Strait is still deeply uncertain.
As we find ourselves looking down the barrel of another energy crisis, this time caused by the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran, we’re asking: How will this latest conflict spill over into the global economy? What should Andy Burnham’s new government do about it? And can we ever get off this rollercoaster of energy shocks?
Katrina Gaffney was joined by New Economics Foundation economists Dr Alex Chapman and Jaya Sood, alongside writer and academic Gareth Fearn.
Music by Maarten Schellekens, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-…ike-clockwork/ used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by— nc/4.0/.
