Episodios
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Itâd be easy, with the clusterf**k of crazy-making economic, geopolitical, and democracy-in-decline news dominating the scene, to forget that the unraveling of environmental systems waits for no person. Thatâs why weâve asked Emily Schoerning to return to Crazy Town. Asher and Emily sit down together (uh, virtually) to discuss the oceanic dynamics â from worrisome to downright apocalyptic â that could make the Strait of Hormuz disruption look like a five-minute wait at the Starbucks drive-thru. In this episode they discuss the possibility of a 2026-2027 Super El Niño, the growing risks of an AMOC collapse, and how each of us can approach near- and longer-term resilience.
Originally recorded on 5/20/26.
Sources & LinksAmerican ResiliencyLinks to graphs/resources that Emily mentioned:NOAA ENSO Update (see page 23) Columbia El Nino UpdateClimate Reanalyzer (to visualize average SST changes as a graph)Zach Labe's visualizations (to visualize currently non-apocalyptic Antarctic sea ice)Copernicus (to visualize SST anomalies on world map)Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown modulates atmospheric rivers in a warmer climate by Mimi, M. S., Liu, W., Ma, W., & Chen, G. Nature Communications, 2026 Articles/papers related to AMOC and El Nino:Observational constraints project a ~50% AMOC weakening by the end of this century by Portmann, V., Swingedouw, D., Khattab, O., & Chavent, M. Science Advances, 2026Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought by Carrington, D. The Guardian, April 15, 2026 El Niño/Southern Oscillation (Enso) Diagnostic Discussion, Climate Prediction Center, 14 May 2026A'super El Niño?â The Conversation, May 14, 2026
Related EpisodesEpisode 119, âGetting Real about Resiliency with Emily Schoerningâ
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is âWay Hugeâ and âDonât Give Upâ by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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Join your fellow Crazy Townies by registering at resilience.org/crazytownhall
The Crazy Town Hall is a live, online get-together for our most engaged listeners, affectionately known as Crazy Townies. The Town Hall is your chance to hang out with Jason, Rob, and Asher â and your fellow Crazy Townies â as we continue our arduous journey to the center of a collapsing techno-industrial, politically incompetent civilization. This 75-minute event will feature plenty of lampoonery, fun pop quizzes, and even good ideas for building community resilience.
Like any respectable political circus these days, this event is also a fundraiser. So please consider making a donation to our modest nonprofit organization, and join us for some fun at the Crazy Town Hall.
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¿Faltan episodios?
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Is hypocrisy the one thing that can grow infinitely on our finite planet? When you learn that humanityâs fossil fuel burning, including your own, is contributing to climate chaos, what can you do? When you understand that economic growth and consumption are causing habitat loss and the sixth mass extinction, can you opt out? As long as you are embedded in an unsustainable society, itâs hard not to be a hypocrite. At the same time, dropping out seems isolating and ineffective, if you can even do it. Join Jason, Asher, and Rob as they hit the confessional to examine the challenges and psychology of hypocrisy. Originally recorded on 4/23/26.
Sources & LinksHassan FathyA Short History of Endurance by Charlotte Del SignoreBeing the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter KalmusNatureâs Best Hope by Doug TallamyHomegrown National Park"What Is the Window of Tolerance, and Why Is It So Important?" Psychology Today, May 23, 2022.Asher recommends taking 20 minutes to sit down with this worksheet to better understand triggers/signs for when youâre either in hyperarousal (fight/flight) or hypoarousal (freeze).
Related EpisodesEpisode 16, âThe 10,000-Mile Cod and Insane Global Tradeâ
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is âWay Hugeâ and âDonât Give Upâ by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call them âpharmersâ with a âph,â as in PhD?!?). Chrisâs latest book, Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft explores how we can move from modernityâs unsustainable political economy toward a re-organization of society, driven by communities and local food systems. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Jason cover everything from Viking raids to agrarian populism, from societal collapse to the practicalities of making your way in a failed state. And they canât get away from the shop talk of gardens, livestock, and home economics. Originally recorded on 4/2/26.
Sources & LinksChris Smajeâs BlogFinding Lights in a Dark Age by Chris SmajeExcerpt of the book on ResilienceSecond excerpt on ResilienceReview: Saying NO to Ecomodermism. Smaje Versus Monbiot, Itâs No Contest
Related EpisodesEpisode 98, âBargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Ballsâ
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is âWay Hugeâ and âDonât Give Upâ by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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People REALLY love their impervious surfaces. Concrete structures practically permeate human-built landscapes. Rather than layering ever more concrete on top of living soils, in waterways, and all over the countryside, what if we re-established our connection with natural ecosystems and put a stop to the concrete madness? One of the most inspiring developments of environmental and cultural restoration involves the cleanup of tons and tons of concrete. Weâre talking dam removal today. So grab a sledge hammer, a few sticks of dynamite, and a wrecking ball, and come along as we explore the battle between concrete placement and concrete removal. And donât miss our interview with Tara Lohan, author of Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life. Originally recorded on 3/17/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
The Reef LineâUnderwater âtraffic jamâ off Miami beach, CBS News, November 3, 2025Miami Beachâs New Traffic Jam Frolics With the Fishes, New York Times, December 1, 2025We Finally Know Why Ancient Roman Concrete Stood The Test of Time, Science Alert by Michelle Starr, October 29, 2025LâConcrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Futureâ by Mary Soderstrom. University of Regina Press, 2020.âConcrete: From the Ground Upâ by Larissa Theule. Candlewick Press, 2022.âThis is the total weight of everything humans have created since 1990â World Economic Forum, December 6, 2021âGlobal human-made mass exceeds all living biomassâ Nature.com, December 9, 2020âUndammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Lifeâ by Tara Lohan. Princeton University Press, 2025Map of U.S. Dams Removed Since 1912âTen years after Oregonâs largest dam removalâ Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2017ââSalmon Everywhereâ One Year After Klamath Dam Removalâ California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2025Undammed: The Klamath River Story podcastâFirst Descent: Kayaking the Klamath River after the largest dam removal in U.S. historyâ Oregon Public BroadcastingCar Free AllianceAuto MatTransportation Action NetworkâStop this destructive, car-centric developmentâ Hindustan Times, December 22, 2025Ridges to RifflesRivernetwork Member DirectoryDepave.orgRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 48, âThe Taming of the Slough: Humanityâs History of Trying to Control WaterâEpisode 123, âMailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!â
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Itâs really refreshing to hear from you, our listeners and fellow strugglers living in high-energy modernity (affectionately known as Crazy Townies). This mailbag episode offers the element of surprise, as it gives Jason, Rob, and Asher a chance to respond with delight and spontaneity to your questions and comments. Join the guys as they apply their dubious intellectual powers, subpar comedic talents, and underwhelming insights to your Crazy Townie queries. Originally recorded on 3/6/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Tradable Energy QuotasCarfree City AllianceBraver AngelsMaclean Art BlogRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 19, âI Canât Drive⊠35! The Rationale for RationingâEpisode 45, âFeedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or⊠the Story of the Baseball Bloodbathâ
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What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if youâre so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Holding the FireOwen Reiser, Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, 2025David Frankel, The Big Year, 2011 filmNature photographer Hannah Seilhan
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Have you ever had that feeling in your gut, when you suddenly realize that the person youâre talking with might have a screw or two loose? What about when youâre the one others are trying to slowly back away from at the punch bowl? The question of whoâs the real nut often arises for us collapse-aware folks living here in Crazy Town. Since Mr. Peanut is no longer returning their phone calls, Rob, Jason, and Asher invite Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist, professor, and host of the Team Human Podcast to answer the question. In this far ranging conversation, they discuss why âleveling downâ might be the best strategy for navigating late stage capitalism and bringing ourselves back into right relationship with each other and the planet. Originally recorded on 2/24/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Team HumanDouglas Rushkoff YouTube ChannelDouglas Rushkoff, âYou Are Not Crazy,â Substack, January 7, 2026Douglas Rushkoff, âSurvival of the Richest,â Medium, July 5, 2018Jesse Armstrong, Mountainhead, 2025 filmDan Fogelman, Paradise, Hulu, 2025 seriesProsperaNeomCalifornia ForeverJack Manno, Privileged Goods, 1999 bookRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Tech Bros on Acid with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)Itâs All Paradox with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)
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Immortality projects represent an often irrational, and sometimes even unconscious, way to tamp down anxiety about death. There are some shocking examples of people, especially those with lots and lots of money, who try to leave some sort of mark in a futile attempt to keep from facing death. In this episode, we run a special fantasy-football style draft to take a look at immortality projects, some horrendous, but some with positive effects. Originally recorded on February 6, 2026.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Adam McCay, The Big Short, 2015 filmHenry VIIIGabriella Angeleti, âTwo men sentenced to prison time for vandalising Nevada petroglyphs,â The Art Newspaper, November 10, 2022Owen Clarke, âA Utah Woman Must Pay $15,000 in Fines for Vandalizing Ancient Petroglyphs,â Outside Magazine, November 20, 2025Lehmanâs CatalogJohn Prine, âParadiseâ 1971 songX post on Brian Johnsonâs erections, February 11, 2024Epic of GilgameshTompkins Conservancy and Patagonia National ParkInstituto TerraEric Grundhauser, âVisit a Beard That Killed Its Owner,â Atlas Obscura, January 26, 2018Raoul WallenbergRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Crazy Town Classics âTerror Management TheoryâEpisode 51, âA Load of Papal Bull: Greenlighting Colonization and the Mindset of ExtractionâEpisode 54, âColonizing the Sky: The Untold Environmental Toll of SkyscrapersâEpisode 92, âEscaping Otherism: Why Dr. Seuss Could Never Find a Rhyme for Genocideâ
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What can we learn about death from the X-Men, small screaming rodents, and unwitting college students in psychology experiments? It turns out that the fear of death (or death anxiety) affects human behavior in all sorts of surprising and deeply troubling ways. Especially disconcerting is the way such fear entices people to cling to cultural beliefs so tightly that they will attack anything or anyone they perceive as a threat to their beliefs. And extra-super-duper disconcerting is how unaware most of us are that we are susceptible to such bad behavior when weâre reminded that one day weâll die. Follow Jason, Rob, and Asher as they try not to deny climate change, vilify any out-groups, or assault one another while diving into the topic of death. In the Do-the-Opposite segment, Michael Hebb (author of Letâs Talk about Death over Dinner) shares wisdom for developing a healthier relationship with death. For episode notes and more information, please visit our website. Originally recorded on December 22, 2020.
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What if there were a news outlet that actually covered the most important environmental stories of our time? Dr. Emily Schoerning and her nonprofit, American Resiliency, translate the latest and most urgent climate science into useful information for communities across the United States. Jason and Emily discuss the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the merits of mitigation versus adaptation, and how to take meaningful action in your own community. Originally recorded on 12/22/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
American ResiliencyMark Rober YouTube ChannelSixth National Climate Assessment, International Panel on Climate ChangeRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 8, âMosquito-Flavored Popcorn, or What Climate Scientists Are Getting WrongâEpisode 34, âFear of Death and Climate Denial, or⊠the Story of Wolverine and the Screaming Mole of DoomâEpisode 37, âDiscounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or⊠the Story of the Dueling EconomistsâEpisode 45, âFeedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or⊠the Story of the Baseball BloodbathâEpisode 77, âThe Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon MuskâEpisode 97, âThe House Is Quite Literally on Fire: Peter Kalmus on the Climate Emergency Hitting Homeâ
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Jason and Asher replace Rob with a much more humane and humble co-host, Elon Musk, to explore the feasibility of harnessing the entire sun to power AI superintelligence. We come away perplexed that not much of the excellent reporting on the environmental, energy, and financial risks of the AI boom address the googleplex-sized elephant in the room â that both AI success and failure lead to immiseration. Originally recorded on 12/3/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
âColossus 1â Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025âColossus 2â Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025Episode 77, "The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk", Crazy Town podcast, June 14, 2023âElon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Implodingâ All In podcast, September 9, 2025âIs there an A.I. Bubble? And What if It Pops?â The Daily, November 20, 2025Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, âWhat If AI Is a Bubble?â The Atlantic, November 13, 2025Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 77, âThe Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon MuskâEpisode 84, âEscaping Technologyism: Dreams of AI Sheep and the Deadliest Word in Film HistoryâEpisode 101 âEven AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchantâ
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Mainstream economists and environmentalists share something in common. Both tend to tout efficiency -- think better light bulbs -- as the solution to climate change and all our other environmental problems. But the little-understood Jevons Paradox intervenes to overwhelm any progress that comes from improved efficiency. We skewer the efficiency gains of electric vehicles, lighting, and plenty of other sectors, and we cover ideas for avoiding the efficiency trap, including unveiling our new political platform, which is sure to take the country by storm.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Jason Barlow, "EVs Have Gotten Too Powerful," Wired, September 19, 2025.Russ Heaps, "Heaviest Electric Vehicles of 2025," Kelley Blue Book, April 7, 2025.Wikipedia article on energy efficiency in transport that includes a table that compares many modes of transportWilliam Stanley Jevons, The Coal Question: An Inquiry concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal-mines (London: Macmillan and Co., 1866). 2nd edition, revised.Tomas Kloucek, "Darkness as an Endangered Species: Why Light Pollution Matters," Earth Bridge, June 11, 2025.Scenic America, "Billboards in the Sky: The Hidden Culprit Behind Light Pollution," July 30, 2025.Prepared Mind, "Welcome to the Great Unraveling (Tapestry Cloud Style Reweaving Polycrisis into Polyopportunity," June 20, 2025.2,000 Watt SocietyCalculate your ecological footprint.Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 3, "One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts"Episode 19, "I Canât Drive... 35! The Rationale for Rationing"Episode 101, "Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant"
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Picture the future 100 years from now. What do you imagine? Flying cars? Space colonies? AI talking toasters?
But if we canât sustain an endlessly growing economy - even with a transition to green energy - what does a realistic and positive future look like?
Alex Leff of the Human Nature Odyssey podcast joins Jason, Rob, and Asher to imagine life in the 22nd century: walking from our family farms into communal villages, living off the land in a low-energy lifestyle, taming our pet donkeys, and resisting our local warlords.
Itâs not the future the movies told us to expect. But it might be a future we enjoy living in.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Human Nature Odyssey podcast
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What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energy utopia sometimes just as delusional as the old fossil-fueled, drill-baby-drill mentality?
Alex Leff of the Human Nature Odyssey podcast hosts this special Crazy Town highlights compilation. Alex revisits some of the most thought-provoking moments from Crazy Town, weaving in new commentary and context. Together, we explore energy literacy, the promises and pitfalls of a renewable-energy transition, and why toasting a simple slice of bread is much harder than you might think.
Along the way, we meet an Olympic athlete trying to toast bread with nothing but a bicycle. We also step inside a billionaireâs latest inventionâa time-travel device designed to fling us one hundred years into the future.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we take the full leap into the time machine and imagine what life a century from now could really look like in a post high-energy future.
Sources/Links/Notes:
The Toaster Challenge, Olympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?, 2015Tom Murphy, Galactic-Scale Energy, Do the Math, 2011.Tom Murphy, Limits to Economic Growth, Nature Physics, August, 2022.Solar Freakin' Roadways, Indiegogo, 2014Human Nature Odyssey podcastRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 3 "1.21 Jigawatts: Energy Literacy and the Real Scoop on Fossil Fuels"
Episode 5 "Solar Freakin' Roadways: How Technological Optimism Undermines Sustainability"
Episode 106 "Blinded by the Light - Facing Reality with Renewable Energy"
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
Modified version of "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" by Strauss, from classicals.de â licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Thereâs the book club, the Rotary Club, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the club sandwich. Whatever your preference, you might want to think about joining a club. Social clubs, fraternal orders, and the like have had a storied and critical role in public life. That is, until government programs and technology gave us an out from having to deal with each other. But with modernity failing, will clubs and community organizations make a huge comeback? In this episode we explore club life â past, present, and future, if there is one. Originally recorded on 11/6/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, 2000.John Michael Greer, "Secret Handshakes," The Archdruid Report, January 21, 2010.Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 65, "Why the Polycrisis Is a Statistical Anomaly: The Willful Delusions of the Worldâs Leading Pseudointellectual"
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Frog and Toad Are Friends, at least according to a venerable childrenâs book. And so are Jason (Crazy Townâs resident biology nerd) and conservationist brothers, Kyle and Trevor Ritland, authors of The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species. The three eco-explorers connect over wondrous habitats and critters in Costa Rica's cloud forest and swap stories that cover Lazarus species, global pandemics, self-taught naturalists, birding, and even pregnancy tests. Spliced into the nostalgia and stories are reflections on how to cope in a world where biodiversity is declining and how to regain the connections that modernity has severed between humanity and wild nature. Originally recorded on 10/9/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Kyle and Trevor Ritland, The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species, Diversion Books, 2025.Adventure Term, Kyle and Trevor's nonprofit experiential learning initiativeRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 40, "Nature Detachment and Ecocide, or⊠the Story of the Marauding Mountain Lion"Episode 49, "A Day at the Zoo Is No Walk in the Park: Humanityâs Overexploitation of Animals and Nature"
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Some key understandings in Crazy Town: the Earth is finite; the economy cannot grow forever; people can harm ecosystems and cause global warming; physics, chemistry, and biology are real; inequality hurts everyone; healthy humans need community, and itâs more fun to laugh than to cry. But where did principles like these originate? In this episode, Jason, Asher, and Rob use the format of a fantasy football draft to pick the pundits who most influenced their thinking on sustainability, resilience, community, science, economics, and politics. Like starry-eyed fanboys (but hopefully a bit more articulate) they gush over their heroes and tell behind-the-scenes stories about how they came to be influenced. And they ask listeners to share their top picks for influencers (in the best sense of the term).
Originally recorded on 9/29/25. Visit Crazy Town on the web.
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Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, theyâre doing things to extract even more wealth, harm your health, diminish democracy, and rig the whole system in their favor. How did this happen? Why do we tolerate it? How can we stop the billionaires? And can we get a hold of our own super-yacht for Crazy Town pleasure cruises? Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Originally recorded on 10/3/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:Chuck Collins, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet, The New Press, October 2025.Chuck Collins, Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing, September 2016.Chuck Collins, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Polity, January 2022.
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:Episode 10, "Tackling Inequality, One Pair of Lederhosen at a Time"Episode 43, "Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things"
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The âmaximum power principleâ may sound like the doctrine of an evil supervillain, but it actually applies to all living creatures. The principle states that biological systems organize to increase power whenever constraints allow. Given the way humans adhere to this principle, especially by overexploiting fossil fuels, we often do behave like supervillains, wielding power in wildly irresponsible ways and triggering climate change, biodiversity loss, and other aspects of our sustainability predicament. Sometimes it seems like weâre using a backhoe to dig our own grave. Fortunately, once you understand efficiency and its different flavors, you can see opportunities to optimize power rather than maximize it. While considering the outlook for humanity, the Crazy Townies ponder a weird question: are we smarter than reindeer? Richard Heinberg, author of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival, joins the team to share his research on how people can optimize power. Originally recorded on May 6, 2021.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Richard Heinbergâs book is Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival.John DeLongâs definition of the maximum power principle is that biological systems organize to increase power whenever the system constraints allow.DeLong also wrote: âThe maximum power principle predicts the outcomes of two-species competition experimentsâ.Statistics on the Bagger 293 bucket-wheel excavatorDams powered airplane and ship building in the Pacific Northwest (Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams).The cross-Atlantic sailing voyage of Greta ThunbergShort comic with the story of reindeer on St. Matthew IslandEpisode of the Radiolab podcast with a wild story about mTORSupport the show
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