Crazy Town - podcast cover

Crazy Town

Post Carbon Institutewww.resilience.org

With equal parts humor and in-depth analysis, Asher, Rob, and Jason safeguard their sanity while probing crazy-making topics like climate change, overshoot, runaway capitalism, and why we’re all deluding ourselves. Each fortnightly episode helps you understand the “Great Unraveling” of our environmental and social systems and describes how we can make the transition to a sustainable and equitable world. If you’re someone who questions the trajectory of society and struggles to understand why most people would rather eat nachos on the deck of the “SS Denial” than face reality, you’ll find community and plenty of laughs in Crazy Town.


Brought to you by https://www.resilience.org/ and the unconventional minds at Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit think tank that builds awareness of the polycrisis and prescribes community resilience-building as the most appropriate response.


Your hosts:

Asher Miller - Nonprofit executive director by day, apocalypse comedian by night. Feels most at home exploring insanity-inducing topics while trying not to spill coffee on his keyboard as he convulses over the latest ecomodernist fantasy. In danger of losing his mind every time he encounters someone using a gas-powered blower to move leaves from one spot to another.


Rob Dietz - Jack-of-all-trades environmental scientist, conservation biologist, and ecological economist with a penchant for relating planetary overshoot to the catalog of movie scenes that play on a continuous loop in his colonized brain. Known for inserting random ecological facts into casual conversation, often in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. His friends call him “pessimistically hilarious.”


Jason Bradford - Activist farmer and former encyclopedia salesman with a PhD in plant ecology who gets genuinely excited discussing soil microbes and societal collapse in the same breath. Morally opposed to doomsday prepping, but predisposed toward sharing everything he keeps in his bunker, er root cellar, including potatoes, wine, and a 47-month supply of scientific esoterica and embarrassing anecdotes.


These guys are the Three Stooges of sustainability podcasting, although they tend toward scientific analysis, righteous outrage, and self-deprecation rather than beating each other up with hand tools. How can they have this much fun while contemplating collapse and navigating the Great Unraveling?


Heartfelt thanks to the team at Post Carbon Institute, our volunteers, and all our fellow Crazy Townies out there who help bring this podcast to life.

Episodes

Hidden Drivers Wrap-up, or... the Story of the Throbbing Amygdala

Send us a text It's the end of the world as we know it. OK, maybe not just yet, but it is the end of Crazy Town's third season. If you've been able to look past some of the more absurd parts of the podcast, perhaps you've noticed a pattern. In examining hidden drivers behind humanity's sustainability predicament, we grouped the drivers into three categories: human behavior, social constructs, and features of biophysical reality. Given our penchant for covering anxiety-in...

Jun 23, 202157 minEp. 47

Maximum Power and Scarcity, or... the Story of the Birdbrained Backhoe on the Beach

Send us a text The "maximum power principle" 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...

Jun 16, 202155 minEp. 46

Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or... the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath

Send us a text Did you ever think a baseball melee could effectively explain nuanced topics like cybernetics and systems dynamics? This episode examines the fascinating world of positive feedback loops, which play an outsized role in the not-so-positive phenomena of climate change, biodiversity loss, and political polarization. In addition to basebrawls, you’ll hear how these feedback loops produce a variety of outcomes, from the mundane (e.g., restaurant acoustics and family squabbles) to the h...

Jun 09, 20211 hr 3 minEp. 45

Net Energy and Sustainability, or… the Story of the Overstuffed Strongman

Send us a text All of humanity's feats, whether a record-setting deadlift by the world's strongest man or the construction of a gleaming city by a technologically advanced economy, originate from a single hidden source: positive net energy. Having surplus energy in the form of thirteen pounds of food per day enables a very big man, Hafthor Bjornsson, to lift very big objects. Similarly, having surplus energy in the form of fossil fuel enables very big societies to build and trade very ...

Jun 02, 20211 hr 23 minEp. 44

Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things

Send us a text Imagine a factory assembly line running at full steam, but instead of spitting out car parts or plastic trinkets, the conveyor belt is loaded down with Jeff Bezos wannabes. That's a disconcerting image, but an accurate picture of what's happening: society is producing too many elite people, and their decisions are causing extreme inequality, which is one of the key components of today's sustainability crisis. Join Asher, Rob, and Jason as they struggle with elite wo...

May 26, 20211 hr 2 minEp. 43

Runaway Money and Overconsumption, or... the Story of Monetary Mischief in Madagascar

Send us a text Way back when money consisted of iron pieces, if you wanted to buy a horse or some spices to season your horse meat, you practically had to carry an olympic weightlifting set with you. Early bankers figured out how to clear that obstacle (and prevent a lot of hernias and back injuries) when they invented paper money. Over time all-too-clever financiers cleared more and more obstacles that kept people from accessing and spending money. Today’s world of online purchases, easy credit...

May 19, 20211 hr 20 minEp. 42

The Attention Economy and Nature Depletion, or… the Story of Einstein Watching Cat Videos

Send us a text There's an insidious feature of modern life: as the economy and technology continue to grow, attention becomes ever more scarce. Nowadays footage from Russian dash cams and the latest "wisdom" issued on social media by people who are good at kicking balls compete to grab our attention and suck up our time. This state of affairs could be laughed off except that it keeps most people from focusing on climate change and other existential crises of the 21st century. If a...

May 12, 20211 hr 15 minEp. 41

Nature Detachment and Ecocide, or... the Story of the Marauding Mountain Lion

Send us a text Velcro pants and legs. Booster rockets and spacecraft. Humans and nature. What do these three pairs have in common? They're all things that are detached from one another. That's right, we modern humans seem hellbent on detaching ourselves from nature, despite the obvious fact that we evolved to spend our days and nights in natural habitats. The more we wall ourselves off from nature, the more likely we are to continue on the path of climate chaos and extinction. Join Ash...

May 05, 20211 hr 26 minEp. 40

The Myth of Progress and Limits to Growth, or... the Story of the World's Largest Shovel

Send us a text Who in their right mind is against the idea of progress? You'd be hard-pressed to find a candidate for public office with a platform of maintaining the status quo or regressing to days of yore (as bad as the Democratic and Republican Parties are, there's no support for a Yesteryear Party). But what, exactly, is progress, and is humanity preordained to achieve it? What if the modern concept of progress costs more than it's worth and turns out to be a harmful myth? Jo...

Apr 28, 20211 hr 20 minEp. 39

Complexity and Armageddon, or… the Story of the Hemp Microphone

Send us a text Society has become so complex that all the complexity begets more complexity. And if that’s not complex enough for you, jobs have become so specialized that hardly anyone knows how anything is made or works. Join Jason, Rob, and Asher as they contemplate how to make a microphone from scratch, break down the tertiary jobs in a pirate economy (parrot tenders and eyepatch makers), and explain the Lloyd Dobler hypothesis. They also explore a conundrum: even though the industrialized e...

Apr 21, 20211 hr 14 minEp. 38

Discounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or... the Story of the Duelling Economists

Send us a text An argument between economists is usually as exciting as reading the phone book (what's that?), especially about something as boring-sounding as the discount rate. But it's an argument that underlies how governments and businesses solve (or don't solve) climate change. So, literally life and death stuff. Jason, Rob, and Asher explore why the discount rate, and discounting the future more broadly, is so deadly important, and why the number 0 is what our kids and gran...

Apr 14, 20211 hr 5 minEp. 37

Conspiracy Theories and Collapse, or… the Story of UFOs and Free Energy

Send us a text First things first, we try not to confuse ourselves or our listeners as we distinguish between conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies. Then we unpack a bunch of questions about why people (even some of the smart ones) are so easily suckered by conspiracy theories. Are we experiencing a spike in conspiracy theories akin to the days of the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials? What's the role of science and technology in spreading such theories? Have lizard people infiltra...

Apr 07, 20211 hr 9 minEp. 36

Self Domestication and Overshoot, or… the Story of Foxes and Russian Melodrama

Send us a text Self domestication, the process by which humans became a more cooperative and less aggressive species, paradoxically contributes to humanity's overshoot predicament. While trying to wrap their heads around that nugget, Asher, Jason, and Rob geek out on evolutionary biology, 80s professional wrestling characters, and a certain comedic song about foxes. Don't miss Jason's entertaining pronunciations of the names of Russian scientists and politicians as he tells the st...

Mar 31, 202136 minEp. 35

Fear of Death and Climate Denial, or… the Story of Wolverine and the Screaming Mole of Doom

Send us a text 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...

Mar 24, 202157 minEp. 34

Crazy Town Trailer

Send us a text With equal parts humor and in-depth analysis, Asher, Rob, and Jason safeguard their sanity while probing crazy-making topics like climate change, overshoot, runaway capitalism, and why we’re all deluding ourselves. Support the show

Mar 17, 202157 sec

Relative Status and Environmental Breakdown, or... the Story of Bartenders and Bird Feathers

Send us a text How can the climate disaster and humanity’s overall sustainability crisis be explained by 80s sitcom characters, birdbrained hats from the late 1800s, and a dubious new use for scratch-and-sniff technology? Go for a ride to discover the hidden driver of status-seeking behavior. You can always expect a topsy-turvy, twisty-turny journey when Jason, Rob, and Asher dissect the downsides of human nature. Along the way, they tour status-signaling show-offs, the historic meeting between ...

Mar 17, 202147 minEp. 33

Cognitive Bias and Global Warming, or... the Story of Cattle Prods and Ice Cream Shops

Send us a text If only we were as rational as we think we are! It turns out that we’re all subject to cognitive biases, those errors in thinking that influence how we process the complex information we encounter in daily life. Jason, Rob, and Asher take a tour of ice cream shops, Scandanavian DMVs, and the chess team to explain such cognitive biases as the Dunning-Kruger effect, confirmation bias, default effect, and sunk cost bias. Listen as your hosts try to overcome their own biases and uncov...

Mar 10, 202157 minEp. 32

Season 3 Announcement

Send us a text Climate change, collapse, sarcasm, and silliness are still on the menu, but we've got a special theme for the third season of Crazy Town: hidden drivers that have pushed humanity into overshoot. Catch up with Jason, Rob, and Asher as they explain the architecture of the upcoming season, and look for new episodes to drop in March. Support the show...

Jan 14, 202112 min

Bonus: Green Dreamer with Jason Bradford

Send us a text Kamea Chayne is the host of Green Dreamer , an excellent podcast that features interviews with thought leaders about ecology, sustainability, and wellbeing. In this episode, Kamea's thought leader is our very own Jason Bradford, cohost of Crazy Town and author of the report The Future Is Rural . Jason explains his systemic perspective on energy, food systems, resilience, and the future of human society. Support the show...

Sep 15, 202038 min

Bonus: The Practical Stoic with Richard Heinberg

Send us a text Simon Drew is the host of The Practical Stoic , an outstanding podcast that explores philosophy and the human predicament. In this episode, Simon invites Richard Heinberg, senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, for a lively and wide-ranging conversation about consumerism, sustainability, and the coming corrections across society. Support the show...

Aug 11, 20201 hr 4 min

Bonus: Decolonizing the Mind with Sherri Mitchell

Send us a text PCI Executive Director Asher Miller speaks with Sherri Mitchell (Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset) on the long history of colonization and conquest -- upon which our legal, religious, and educational structures continue to be based -- and how the coronavirus pandemic and the growing recognition of white privilege present a unique opportunity to decolonize our society, minds, and hearts. Sherri Mitchell is a lawyer, educator, writer, speaker, and organizer who has been actively invol...

Jul 14, 20201 hr 33 min

Tis but a Scratch: the Insanity of Getting the Economy "Back to Normal"

Send us a text You know you're in for a bumpy ride when societal institutions start behaving like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail . In one of the most famous comedic movie scenes of all time, the delusional knight believes he can keep fighting ("It's just a flesh wound.") as geysers of blood spurt from his severed limbs. Similarly communities, corporations, and entire nations are clamoring for a return to normal after months of corona-induced quarantines...

Jun 18, 202048 minEp. 31

A Time to Speak up, but Also a Time to Shut up: White Privilege and Systemic Racism

Send us a text We had planned to record and release our season finale this week, but felt compelled to address the unfolding battle over police violence and systemic racism in our country which has come to a boil with the murder of George Floyd. Is there anything crazier than the people in our towns, who are sworn to protect and serve, instead coldly taking the lives of our neighbors? Given this moment in American history marked by outrage, sadness, and massive protest, we discuss the need to ad...

Jun 11, 202022 minEp. 30

Mailbag: Dark Humor and Sustainability from Listeners around the World

Send us a text Heathens, kooks, and fertilizer for corn and bean fields: these are a few of the names applied to your humble hosts here in Crazy Town. We set ourselves up for abuse in this special mailbag episode, and our listeners didn't disappoint. Despite the occasional (and well deserved) insult, we love our listeners and find them to be some of the most intelligent, caring, and committed people in the world. Learn how they're working toward sustainable transportation, healthy farm...

May 28, 202046 minEp. 29

Breaking the Brady Vase: Coronavirus and Fault Lines in American Politics

Send us a text Besides lessons in ethics (and in Asher's case, lessons in the English language), the Brady Bunch offers up a metaphor about the fault lines in American politics -- fault lines that include the undermining of government, extreme individualism, race and class divides, and capitalist and corporate excesses. Blood pressures soar, especially when Jason contemplates the Dunning-Kruger effect, but your intrepid hosts release the tension by suggesting some pathways out of political ...

May 21, 202054 minEp. 28

Poked by a Porcupine: the Politics of Contraction as We Encounter the Limits to Growth

Send us a text Before you heap praise on someone's cooking, even for something as delicious as porcupine pot pie, you might want to consider the effects of ego inflation and the downsides of a hyper-individualistic culture. In this episode Asher, Rob, and Jason wonder if individualism (not to mention all those other "-isms"... capitalism, socialism, communism) is simply the product of a relatively short period of expansionism, and what of our values must be kept or discarded as we...

May 14, 202039 minEp. 27

Doors and Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Reimagining Lifeboat Ethics in the Age of Overshoot

Send us a text As we continue heading toward planetary disaster, like the Titanic steaming toward its rendezvous with a big freakin' iceberg, we might want to figure out how to prepare and manage our lifeboats. In environmentalism’s seedy past, a famous ecologist used the metaphor of lifeboats getting swamped to argue for a "screw the poor and non-whites" strategy to deal with the limits to growth. In search of better ideas and better leadership, Asher, Rob, and Jason discuss how ...

May 11, 202044 minEp. 26

Koala Butts Ablaze: Growth, Conservation, and Collapse in the Adaptive Cycle

Send us a text In the disorienting days of corona quarantine, wouldn't it be dope to have a model that can help you make sense of the world? Enter the adaptive cycle from the field of systems ecology -- arguably the most important framework you never heard of. Join Asher, Rob, and Jason as they give a guided tour of the growth, conservation, collapse, and reorganization phases of the cycle, and hash out how it can be applied to the modern world. By the end of the tour, besides having a usef...

May 07, 202046 minEp. 25

Announcement: Luciferian Mailbag Call

Send us a text We want to hear your Crazy Town stories and questions. Please send email to [email protected], and if your message strikes the right chord (kinda like the voicemail we dissect in this announcement), we'll discuss it in our upcoming mailbag episode. Support the show

May 04, 20205 min

Banana Town: Where Michael Moore Stokes Controversy over Renewable Energy

Send us a text Paying attention to the buzz around Planet of the Humans , the new film by Michael Moore, is like standing in the middle of a three-ring circus. In ring #1 are the filmmakers, who raise critical questions about how renewable sources can power industrial society, but do so with questionable facts and mean-spirited attacks. In ring #2 are the left-wing enviros, who are barfing out lazy accusations of ecofascism and doing all they can to avoid addressing the film’s legitimate questio...

Apr 30, 202038 minEp. 24
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