
Doomer Optimism
Doomer Optimism is a podcast dedicated to discovering regenerative paths forward, highlighting the people working for a better world, and connecting seekers to doers. Beyond that, it's pretty much a $hitshow. Enjoy!
Latest episodes

May 14, 2024 • 46min
DO 219 - Reverent Servitude: Healing the Land, Body, and Soul Through Regenerative Agriculture with Jake Hubbard with GG
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

May 7, 2024 • 1h 29min
DO 218 - How to make a co-created event w/ Rich Bartlett and Ashley
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

Apr 30, 2024 • 1h 24min
DO 217 - Defending and Cultivating Land and People with Farahn Morgan, Ashley, and Jason
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’

Apr 26, 2024 • 1h 56min
DO 216 - Doomer Optimist Guide to Geopolitics w/ James Pogue, Chris Mott and Ashley
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

Apr 23, 2024 • 1h 6min
DO 215 - Building Local Community
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.

Apr 16, 2024 • 1h 11min
DO 214 - Metamodern Permaculture with Brendan Graham Dempsey and Jason
In this episode, Brendan (@brendangrahamd1)and Jason talk about the meaning of metamodernism and how it relates to permaculture, the interplay of various forms of meaning-making, and how it translates into a theory of change and pragmatic action. Brendan also talks about his work at the Sky Meadow Institute, a retreat center and permaculture homestead in Vermont
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer, poet, farmer, and the director of Sky Meadow Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting systems-based thinking about the things that matter most.
He holds a BA in religious studies from the University of Vermont and a master's in religion and art from Yale University. He is the author of the 7-volume Metamodern Spirituality Series and, most recently, Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics.
His primary interests include theorizing developments in culture after postmodernism, productively bridging the divide between science and spirituality, and developing sustainable systems for life to flourish. All of these lead through the paradigms of emergence and complexity, which inform all of his work
He hosts the podcast Metamodern Spirituality which can be found here: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/metamodern-spirituality

Apr 9, 2024 • 1h 30min
DO 213 - Limicon Panel
Ashley, Jason, Nate, and Josh host a panel and audience discussion as part of Limicon, a month long event bringing together different strands of the ‘Liminal Web’. Main themes include the sensibility and meaning of doomer optimism and the recent trend towards traditional religion as a response to the meaning and civilizational crisis

Apr 2, 2024 • 1h 25min
DO 212 - Should I stay or should I go? w/ Andy, Keturah, Ashley and Patrick
Andy and Keturah are exploring the possibilities of where to raise their future family. Ashley and Patrick, on the far side of 7 years in Uruguay, discuss the pros and cons, where to live, and why.

Mar 26, 2024 • 1h 17min
DO 211 - The digital politics of spiritual war with James Poulos and Donald
James Poulos joins Donald to talk about Tocqueville, McLuhan, Orthodoxy, and "the digital politics of spiritual war."
James Poulos helps advance enterprises impacting American life in technological, spiritual, and political ways. He is the co-founder and editor of The American Mind at the Claremont Institute, the founder and editorial director of RETURN, acquired by Blaze Media, and the host of Zero Hour at BlazeTV. He is the author of The Art of Being Free, Human Forever, and the forthcoming Pink Police State. Over nearly twenty years as a prolific writer, his columns and essays have been featured in publications spanning the spectrum of mainstream and independent media. He has appeared on numerous audio and video programs and regularly addresses domestic and international audiences. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Political Theory from Georgetown University, both with distinction. He lives in Los Angeles.
Links:
The American Mind: americanmind.org
RETURN: blazemedia.com/return
Zero Hour: https://www.theblaze.com/podcasts/zero-hour-with-james-poulos
Human Forever: https://canonic.xyz/p/1YV9yExbmJ9mgBXNM81TouJuDtqxH2PpL
@jamepoulos on Twitter

Mar 19, 2024 • 1h 25min
DO 210 - Catalyzing Urban Food Forests in Chattanooga with Jonathan Parks Allen and Jason
In this episode Jonathan and Jason talk about Jonathan’s relationship to the South, his Orthodox faith and Interest in Islamic history, anarcho-agrarianism, the commons, and his current efforts helping to catalyze urban community food forests in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Food Forest Organization: chattanoogafoodforests.org
Substack: https://jonathanparkesallen.substack.com
Twitter: @Mar_Musa