Doomer Optimism

Here’s a link to buy the book (if you use the code ‘CUP20’ you can get 20% off) Here’s a link to the Nature article I mentioned Dana R. Fisher is a dynamic speaker and author who writes about activism, democracy and climate policy. Her most recent book, Saving Ourselves: from Climate Shocks to Climate Action was published in February 2024 by Columbia University Press.  She is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) and a Professor in the School of International Service at American University.  Her current projects include evaluating the ways that federal service corps programs are expanding their climate-related work (funded by AmeriCorps, the Department of Interior, and the US Forest Service).  Fisher is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution and the chair-elect of the Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association.  She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism.  Her media appearances include ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS Newshour, and various programs on NPR, BBC, and CBC. Her words have appeared in the popular media, including in the Washington Post, Slate, TIME Magazine, Politico, the Nation, and the American Prospect.  Dana earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has authored over eighty research papers and book chapters and has written seven books.  For more details, see www.danarfisher.com

Ashley talks with James of Michigan (@michlakeshore ) about his adventure walking along the coast of Lake Michigan from his home all the way up the shore to the top of the state at Mackinac Bridge. They discuss the meaning of pilgrimages, the unexpected lessons, and how the journey reinforced James’ faith.

Cultural Renewal with Donald and Mike In this episode, the roles are reversed, and occasional first-time host Donald is interviewed by friend & DO fan, Mike. They discuss religion & spirituality, education, punk rock, veganism, literature, and Ancient Greek, circling around the question of how to bring about cultural renewal in their own lives. Donald lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and daughters. He writes at the Borges Review of Books. Mike lives in the same town and liked the original tweet where Doomer Optimism was coined.

In this episode, Jason and Roland Gunn (@rolandgunntn ) talk with C. Sandbatch (@csandbatch ) about his project Ecologica Americana. With a focus on the South but more broadly generalizable to America, they weave in ecology, history, and politics to talk about paradigm change, shifting from rigid ideology to cybernetic mythology, breaking through the cultural ennui, and creating a future worth our time C. Sandbatch’s Substack can be found here: ecoamericana.substack.com

In this episode, Jason talks with Dru Zucchino, executive director of the Tractor Food & Farms food hub in Spruce Pine, NC to talk about local food systems, the challenges that farmers face, local distribution, quantifying the value of local food, the cultural dynamics of local food, and much more

Jake Hubbard is a farmer at Brookhaven Farms, nestled in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee. Hex has a life-long passion for animal husbandry and sustainable farming and hopes to win others to his cause. You can find Jake at the following places: Website: https://brookhavenfarms.net/ Twitter: @‌brookhavenfarms Instagram: @‌brookhaven.farms TikTok: @‌Jacobhubbard0 Email: Jake@brookhavenfarms.net

Rich Bartlett joins Ashley to discuss the art of crafting co-created events. Discover the intricacies of collaboration, community engagement, and fostering inclusivity. Rich Bartlett co-founded tech co-op Loomio, community building network Microsolidarity, non-hierarchical management consultancy The Hum, and director of the social impact collective Enspiral. You can check out his newsletter here: https://richdecibels.substack.com/ And you can find Rich on Twitter @RichDecibels

In this episode Ashley and Jason host Farahn Morgan (@farahnmorgan) to talk about her reporting on community pushback against lithium mining in North Carolina many other themes around ‘defending and cultivating land and people’

James Pogue describes his experience in Africa with Chris Mott and Ashley, including his experience getting detained in the Central African Republic, the role of empire and the United States in a deglobalizing world, and what this means for preparing for the future. James Pogue:  I’m a Contributing Editor at Harper’s, and write about national politics for Vanity Fair. I’ve written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and the London Review of Books, among many others. I was a 2022 Alicia Patterson Fellow, and have received support from from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. I live in Los Angeles, where I help run a native plant nursery. My first book is called Chosen Country: A Rebellion in the West. I have appeared on Real Time With Bill Maher, All In With Chris Hayes, NPR’s Today Explained, and many other TV and radio shows or podcasts. Dr. Chris Mott is an international relations scholar focused on historical geopolitics, grand strategy, and the intersection of defensive realism and conceptions of sovereignty in an era of increasing multi-polarity. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of St Andrews, an MA in International Relations from London Metropolitan University, and a BA in History from Rutgers University. He has published a book, “The Formless Empire: A Short History of Diplomacy and Warfare in Central Asia,” on the rise of indigenous forms of geopolitical strategy on the Eurasian steppe, as well as numerous peer-reviewed and general audience articles on foreign policy and historical topics in a variety of places. Dr. Mott is currently a fellow at Defense Priorities in Washington DC and a former researcher and desk officer at the U.S. Department of State. Chris writes at https://geotrickster.com

Simon @‌simoningall, Kara @‌karakara98, and Anarcho-Contrarian 2.0 @‌waysyoucanstay sit down to discuss building a local community. They work through the challenges of returning home again, new ways to build a community for the future, and different scenarios of how to build a community dependent on your neighborhood.