Crazy Town

• A Temporary Techno Stunt: Tom Murphy on Falling out of Love with Modernity

  Send us a textRecovering technology booster Tom Murphy visits Crazy Town to discuss his journey from shooting lasers at the moon, to trying to "solve" the energy predicament, to falling out of love with modernity itself. Asher, Jason, Rob, and Tom discuss the roots and short-lived nature of modernity, which has not only shaped the world we inhabit but conquered our very imaginations. They reminisce about aspects of hi-tech society that have already fallen away in its hubristic march towards mastering (or should we say undermining?) nature. They close by contemplating what it means to detach from humanocentric delusions of grandeur and make peace with living with one foot in and one foot out of the modern world. Originally recorded on 3/4/25.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:"Acceptance and Agency at the End of Modernity," a live online Resilience event on April 1, 2025 featuring Vanessa Andreotti and Dougald HineTom Murphy's Do the MathSupport the show

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  54:21
• Eating the Future: The NY Times Goes Full Ecomodernist on Food and Farming

  Send us a textHow will we feed people living in the megacities of the 21st century, especially while confronting climate chaos and the depletion of fossil fuels and fossil water? According to the mainstream media: ecomodernism! Massive deployment of technology on factory farms and an extreme ramp-up of industrialization will save the day – right? RIGHT?!? If you read the New York Times, you might think that supermarket shelves will forever overflow with 3D-printed fish sticks, mylar bags full of genetically modified cheesy poofs, and faux corn dogs that ooze out of laboratory vats. Jason, Rob, and Asher question the wisdom of doubling down on industrialization in food and farming. It’s no surprise they recommend paying attention to nature and ecological limits. Stick around for ideas you can use in your community to support a healthy, regenerative food system (and keep on eating). Originally recorded on 1/21/25.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Jason Bradford, The Future Is Rural, 2/19/19.Eliza Barclay, "What to Eat on a Burning Planet," The New York Times, 7/29/24.David Wallace-Wells, "Food as You Know It Is About to Change," The New York Times, 7/28/24.Andrew Nikiforuk, "A Reality Check on Our 'Energy Transition'," Resilience, 1/6/25.Michael Grunwald, "Sorry, but This Is the Future of Food," The New York Times, 12/13/24."Changing How We Grow Our Food: Readers disagree with an essay about factory farms," The New York Times, 1/4/25.Jay Famiglietti, "Will We Have to Pump the Great Lakes to California to Feed the Nation?" The New York Times, 8/5/24.Clip of the Hydrologist in Chief "explaining" the oh-so-simple solution to water shortages.Support the show

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  47:00
• Bargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Balls

  Send us a textDo you contemplate topics like climate change, biodiversity loss, and the risk of civilizational collapse? If so, then you probably understand something about bargaining – a psychological defense mechanism that’s one of the five stages of grief. With just a wee bit of embarrassment, Asher, Jason, and Rob reveal damning episodes of bargaining from their personal histories (involving green consumerism and cult-like devotion to technology). Having admitted their sins, they discuss the allure of false solutions to our environmental predicaments and how even veteran environmental journalists can be susceptible to it. Stay to the end for thoughts on how to avoid getting hoodwinked by the horde of ecomodernist tech bros who continuously shove unworkable "solutions" down our throats. Originally recorded on January 16, 2025.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Julia Musto, "The end of the world as we know it? Theorist warns humanity is teetering between collapse and advancement," Independent, January 13, 2025 (about Nahfeez Ahmed's take on superabundance versus collapse).Rob Dietz, "Chris Smaje Vs. George Monbiot and the Debate on the Future of Farming," Resilience, October 27, 2023.Crazy Town episode 32 on cognitive biasMegan Phelps-Roper's six questionsCrazy Town episode 45 on feedback loops, featuring an interview with Beth SawinPost Carbon Institute's Deep Dive on building emotional resilienceSupport the show

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• The House Is Quite Literally on Fire: Peter Kalmus on the Climate Emergency Hitting Home

  Send us a textPeter Kalmus, climate scientist and returning friend of Crazy Town, used to live in Altadena, California, where one of the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires struck on January 7th. Having learned that his former house had burned, Peter penned an emotional article for the New York Times about his family's decision to leave LA two years prior, out of safety concerns about frequent heat waves, drought, and just the sort of tragic conflagration that has reduced parts of LA to ashes. Get Peter's take on this historic wildfire, what nature is trying to teach us, and how to think about unnatural disasters now and in the future. Note: this interview was recorded on January 24, 2025.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Peter Kalmus’s article in the New York Times from January 10, 2025: “As a Climate Scientist, I Knew It Was Time to Leave Los Angeles”Peter’s book, Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate RevolutionNews story about the huge Bobcat Fire that struck Los Angeles County in 2020Article in Science about the damage from Hurricanes Helene and MiltonPeter mentioned the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, which relates vapor pressure to temperature.FeedSpot ranked Crazy Town as the #1 environmental economics podcast.Support the show

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  53:48
• The Frequent Flyer Tree: Losing the Last Bit of Sense in the Climate Emergency

  Send us a textIn the world of college sports, money talks and the volleyball team walks, er, flies 33,000 miles to play games. The NCAA, like almost everyone else, is playing games with Mother Nature. What do we expect student-athletes to gain from ignoring the climate emergency (not to mention putting their health at risk)? Who cares, as long as we can wring a few more dollars out of the TV deals -- am I right?!? Jason, Rob, and Asher propose a new plan for college sports and for taking the climate emergency seriously.On a happy note: FeedSpot ranked Crazy Town as the #1 environmental economics podcast.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Jeff Eisenberg, "Conference realignment has redefined 'travel ball'," yahoo!sports, September 11, 2024.Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment and Doerr School of SustainabilityStanford has the most winning NCAA program, counting all sports. (2nd and 3rd are UCLA and USC, by far!)Support the show

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