In an episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience', a Harvard visiting professor and modern slavery activist named Siddharth Kara details the 'appalling' cobalt mining industry in Congo.
- Dec 29, 2022
AceShowbiz - The latest episode of Joe Rogan's podcast exposes a heart-wrenching truth about cobalt mining industry in the Congo. In the said episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience”, a Harvard visiting professor and modern slavery activist detailed the "appalling" cobalt mining industry in the country.
In a video that went viral, Siddharth Kara told podcast host Joe Rogan that there's no such thing as "clean cobalt.” The author of "Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives” added, “That's all marketing.”
Kara then shared that the level of "suffering" of the Congolese people working in cobalt mines was astounding. He also said that all cobalt mine in Congo rely on "child labor" or "slavery," stating, "I've never seen one and I've been to almost all the major industrial cobalt mines.”
As for why the demand for cobalt is exceptionally high, the professor noted, “Cobalt is in every single lithium, rechargeable battery manufactured in the world today.” He continued that “every smartphone, every tablet, every laptop and crucially, every electric vehicle” needs the mineral.
"We can't function on a day-to-day basis without cobalt, and three-fourths of the supply is coming out of the Congo," Kara added. "And it's being mined in appalling, heart-wrenching, dangerous conditions." When Kara said that the world isn't aware of what's happening in Congo, Rogan agreed, "I don't think people are aware of how horrible it is.”
According to Kara, Cobalt initially "took off because it was used in lithium-ion batteries to maximize their charge and stability. And it just so happened that the Congo is sitting on more cobalt than the rest of the planet combined.”
"Before anyone knew what was happening, [the] Chinese government [and] Chinese mining companies took control of almost all the big mines and the local population has been displaced," Kara added. Of Colongese, he said, "They dig in absolutely subhuman, gut-wrenching conditions for a dollar a day, feeding cobalt up the supply chain into all the phones, all the tablets, and especially electric cars."
