KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century

James Howard Kunstler muses on the increasing irrelevance of the two political parties in America. Neither party seems to be truly facing our energy predicament and the coming obsolescence of suburbia. Yet this is with the complete connivance of the voting public, which is too heavily invested in the status quo. Music featured in this episode courtesy of iodaPromonet.

This is the audio only version of KunstlerCast #35. There is a video podcast version of this episode as well. In this special edition of the KunstlerCast, James Howard Kunstler and Duncan Crary recorded a commentary track for a soon-to-be-released DVD called The Story of Sprawl. The DVD is being produced by Planetizen.com. Kunstler and Crary comment on The City, a 1939 film with a narrative written by the great 20th century generalist Lewis Mumford. In part 1 of the film, Mumford provides a nostalgic view of rural small-town American life in contrast to life in the harsh industrial cities and among the towering skyscrapers of New York. Mumford urges viewers that we can build better environments to live in, especially for our children. But we know where that line of thinking led us to: suburbia. To watch the video podcast or to watch the original film without commentary, visit www.KunstlerCast.com

James Howard Kunstler is not a hope dispenser to passive consumers of hope. But ultimately he believes that life is moving into a more favorable phase, even if it will be difficult to get there. In this show Kunstler responds to a listener call about our moral responsibility to do the right thing and fix our country. He talks about the importance of cultivating joy in one's life and doing meaningful work. He also shares his thoughts on Sen. Barack Obama's hopeful message and discusses how his own mood has changed since he first wrote The Geography of Nowhere. Music featured in this episode courtesy of iodaPromonet.

James Howard Kunstler comments on the Great Bailout of 2008 and how we got into the current financial crisis. As the U.S. manufacturing economy withered away, Americans sought to gain wealth by getting something from nothing through Ponzi scheme investment algorithms. By assuming liability of bad mortgages, Congress may be in position of attempting to prop up the value suburban houses. But Kunstler believes the housing values will continue to go down, no matter what happens. And the truth is that we shouldn't want that devaluation to stop because we need to reach a point where the median price of a house is equal to the median income of the average America. The true damage may yet to be seen. Kunstler also explains his meme that the GOP is the party that wrecked America. ( 11 MB | 24:00 mins.)

James Howard Kunstler addresses the proliferation of tattoos on the American main street. He thinks the fierce looking tattoos on young Americas are actually a sign of how deeply insecure we are as a nation. They're also a form of "non-conformist-just-like-you" consumerism. Jim also takes on the hip hop costuming that has invaded the mainstream and has made young men look like oversized babies and violent clowns. Direct Download: KunstlerCast_29.mp3 ( 14 MB | 17 mins.) Discuss this episode

This July, oilman T. Boone Pickens told Congress that James Howard Kunstler is worth listening to and that he's right on about the mistakes we've made in America regarding our use of cheap oil. In this program, Kunstler discusses the "Pickens Plan" to use wind energy and natural gas to reduce America's reliance on foreign oil. Other topics include Shai Agassi's Better Place plan to make electric cars viable. Kunstler also answers a listener's question about purchasing a new car. Direct Download: KunstlerCast_28.mp3 ( 23 MB | 32:00 mins.) Links: http://pickensplan.com http://energyenvironment.tv Discuss this episode

This installment attempts to explore America's anti-urban bias. Topics include: environmentalists and the human habitat, suburban style housing projects in the ghetto, white flight, and Ralph Kramden's apartment in The Honeymooners tv show. James Howard Kunstler also gives advice to those of us who are required to visit the burbs to see our families. [Note: one curse word.] Direct Download: KunstlerCast_27.mp3 ( 18 MB | 26:00 mins.) Discuss this episode

How did the granola crunching nature-loving hippies of the 1960s become the gas guzzling, McMansion dwelling, suburban yuppies of today? James Howard Kunstler reflects on his own generation. Kunstler also shares some of his own groovy stories from the Age of Aquarius. [Note: This episode mentions sex, recreational drug use, and includes some curse words.] Learn about our theme music, join our mailing list and discuss this show at www.kunstlercast.com Direct Download: KunstlerCast_26.mp3 ( 18 MB | 25:30 mins.)

Frederick Law Olmsted is most noted for designing Central Park in Manhattan. His method of landscape design now serves as the main model for how we design parks in America. But James Howard Kunstler believes that our ongoing attempts to replicate the Olmsted park have created many urban parks with serious shortcomings. Kunstler also warns listeners not to ask for "green space" in their towns because "green space" is an abstraction. Instead he urges people to learn the vocabulary of landscape architecture to be able to ask for specific park features.Learn about our theme music, join our mailing list and discuss this show at www.kunstlercast.comDirect Download: KunstlerCast_25.mp3 ( 19 MB | 27 mins.)

James Howard Kunstler continues his walking tour of one city block in downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a classic Main-street American town. We resume the tour on the corner of Division Street and Railroad Place, where a major urban infill project has produced a brand new urban street that is well defined on both sides by five-story high buildings, with dignified frontages, ground-level retail space and apartments above. Kunstler points out some architectural problems and weird transitions but he's mostly pleased by the new buildings in this neighborhood. As we leave the new urban street, things completely fall apart when we encounter the results of the urban renewal schemes of the 1960s. Most of the 20 acres in front of us is surface parking, occupied on the fringe by inappropriate suburban buildings. [Note: Use Google Street View to follow along with this program. Visit: http://maps.google.com and enter this address: 402 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Cross Broadway, head up Division Street and turn left at Railroad Place.] www.kunstlercast.comDirect Download: KunstlerCast_24.mp3 ( 14 MB | 20 mins.)