Doomer Optimism

In this episode Jason and Josh talk with Tom Murphy, author of the blog Do The Math, about the inherently unsustainable nature of modernity and the delusion of infinite growth on a finite planet. As part of this they discuss his early retirement from academia as a successful astrophysicist at the University of California, his growing interest in indigenous wisdom and lifeways, the long view of earth history and where we’re going, and his realization that the end of modernity doesn’t mean the end of humanity Tom’s university bio: I am a Professor in the physics department at UCSD, and the Associate Director of CASS, the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences. From 2003–2020, I led the APOLLO project as an ultra-precise test of General Relativity using the technique of lunar laser ranging. My interests are transitioning to quantitative assessment of the challenges associated with long-term human success on a finite planet. In November 2021, I was one of five founders of the Planetary Limits Academic Network, aiming to connect scholars from all disciplines who are concerned about the deep systemic challenges humanity faces this century. Our "launch" paper gives the background, titled Modernity is Incompatible with Planetary Limits: Developing a PLAN for the Future. In 2014, I started a company (Aircraft Avoidance Systems) to provide safety devices for observatories using lasers for scientific research. Tom’s blog, Do the Math: https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/

Nate is joined by Sam Knowlton to explore agroforestry and sustainable agriculture practices. In this episode, Nate and Sam challenge the conventional narrative that advocates for high-tech, high-input agriculture to feed the world. Sam is an agronomist and the founder of SoilSymbiotics, a regenerative agronomy company, as well as the forthcoming venture, Soma Farm Group. He has worked on the ground with over 300 farms in 9 countries, helping large-scale operations transition from chemically intense production to integrated biological farming systems.

DO podcast alumnus Chris Smaje (@csmaje) returns to deflect eco-modernist criticisms of his agrarian vision laid out in “A Small Farm Future” and most recent book “Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future.” Specifically, we examine evidence for the claim that traditional/territorial food webs supply 70-80% of the nutrition people intake globally, and discuss what this means for the potential of small biodiverse farming to “feed the world.” Reasons for dispute of this claim include that much food production in traditional local food webs is “invisibilized” to top-down technocrats using data collected of commodity crops produced for the industrial food chain. This is one of several blind spots we discuss that characterize elites’ and technocrats’ worldviews, and partially explains why their prescriptions fail to deliver on promised sustainability and “equity” goals. In this episode, Chris, Jason and Josh ponder whether it’s worth it trying to persuade technocratic elites of their errors, or instead turn our attention and efforts to different natural constituencies better oriented to implementing diverse approaches to agrarian bioregionalism. We consider what barriers people may face to getting involved and how to overcome those barriers. The whole conversation pivots on the notion of Bioregional Self-Provision as a method for securing resilience for affluent-but-fragile “developed” regions while alleviating ecosystem degradation and impoverishing exploitation on poor peripheral “underdeveloped” regions, facilitating their own self-provision from local resources. Chris’ website, blog, and links to books: https://chrissmaje.com ETC Group report: “Small-scale farmers and peasants still feed the world”

painkillersTending Our Dead Ourselves with Joe Orso and Susan Nesbit Joe Orso talks to death doula Susan Nesbit about the many gifts that come with tending the bodies of our deceased loved ones at home. Their conversation covers home vigils, home burials, home funerals, washing the body after death, and how these practices have historically been done by families and communities, not professionals. They also discuss how death, like birth, has become a highly medicalized experience, in which pain-killers and high costs are the norm. Susan, who doesn't take money for her death doula practice, helped found Threshold Care Circle, an all-volunteer organization in southwest Wisconsin that integrates after-death care into family and community life. She and other volunteers supported Joe's family in doing home-based care after his father's death last winter. Threshold Care Circle: https://www.thresholdcarecircle.org/ National Home Funeral Alliance: https://www.homefuneralalliance.org/ National End-of-Life Doula Alliance: https://www.nedalliance.org/ The Oar and the Umbrella (where you can find Joe's "Home Burial" essay series): https://oarandumbrella.substack.com/t/home-burial-essays-after-my-fathers

East Tennessee farmer Brian Miller discusses his new book “Kayaking with Lambs” with Jason and Josh. The book, published by Front Porch Republic, features a panoply of sensorial and spiritual experiences observed over 25 years of farming and animal husbandry. Our conversation slaloms around Brian’s roots in anarchism and how these led him to an agrarian life, the need for renewed manual competency and appreciation for the practical arts particularly among the youth, gender relationships, and the reasonable choice of firearms for homestead protection, and the difficulties implied by rural gentrification. Brian runs Winged Elm Farm with his wife Cindy, blogs at South Roane Agrarian, and can be reached at bmiller@wingedelmfarm.com.

Sally Thomas joins Donald for another installment of the Doomer Optimism Literary Hour. They discuss her novel Works of Mercy, American poetry past and present, homeschooling, and family life. Sally Thomas is a poet and fiction writer, and author of two poetry collections, Motherland and the forthcoming Among the Living, both from Able Muse Press. Her novel, Works of Mercy, was published in 2022 by Wiseblood Books, and a short-story collection, The Blackbird and Other Stories is coming from the same publisher in the summer of 2024. With Micah Mattix, she co-edited an anthology, Christian Poetry in America Since 1940, which received Christianity Today’s 2023 Book Award in Culture and the Arts. As associate poetry editor for the New York Sun, she contributes regularly to the weekday Poem of the Day feature. The mother of four grown children, she lives quietly in North Carolina with her husband and a dog. Her novel is available from Wise Blood Books: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p123/Works-of-Mery-by-Sally-Thomas.html

Jason speaks with Evan Welkin (@ewelkin ) about the general theme of displacement and dispossession, and what permaculture (permanent culture) means in contexts of people increasingly being uprooted from their homes for political, climate, financial, ideological, or other reasons and having to move. They discuss his growing up in a rural Oregon town where the forests were being clearcut and toxic chemicals applied, his experience in Palestinian rights activism and the general Israeli / Palestinian conflict involving two peoples who have experienced dispossession throughout their history, their experience in developing a folk school, ecovillage, and regenerative farm at his wife’s families place in Italy and the waves of shocks (covid, climate, financial) that might force them to leave, his work with an organization teaching permaculture to refugees all around the world, and much more

Jason and Roxanne (@happyholistichs ) speak with Andrew Millison (@andrewmillison ), who runs the permaculture design course for Oregon State, and who produces a serious of remarkable educational videos on permaculture concepts and on projects all over the world. They talk about the importance of water in landscapes, his journey towards permaculture and education, how he sees the permaculture movement growing, applying permaculture in different cultural contexts, the lost opportunity of designing U.S. political borders around watersheds and bioregions, the economics of permaculture, motivating people to grow food, creative arrangements to enable broad scale land access, cutting edge ideas and projects for Andrew, how to address with the ecological problems in the California food system and the rising prevalence of wildfires, and his recent video documenting the work of Planting Justice Andrew currently teaches the for-credit courses Permaculture Design Course (Hort 285) and the Advanced Permaculture Design Tools for Climate Resilience (Hort 485) at OSU, on campus and online. Andrew teaches non-credit courses for the general public as well, including the: Free Introduction to Permaculture Massive Open Online Course Free Permaculture Water Design: Drought Proofing Farms open source module Permaculture Design Certificate Course Advanced Permaculture Design Tools for Climate Resilience Andrew also has produced two open source textbooks for his courses that are freely available: Introduction to Permaculture Permaculture Design Tools for Climate Resilience Finally, Andrews excellent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@amillison

In this episode Jason speaks with Scott Miller (@thrivingtthefut) about his podcast and newsletter Thriving the Future, building up his homestead, growing community, holding skills workshops, starting a tree nursery side hustle, and more Scott lives on 10 acres in NE Kansas with gardens, (relatively) new food forests, and a tree nursery. Thriving The Future Podcast focuses on positive solutions to help you Thrive. Including Designing your Intentional life, Homesteading, Gardening, Building Community, and Skills (#SkillsOverStuff). Check it out at http://ThrivingtheFuture.com and the newsletter/blog at Thriver.News.

Nathaniel Marshall sits down to chat with Going Godward on vocation, the good purpose of work, and rejecting ease as a means of becoming a more integrated person. Explore meaning, work ethic, and optimism in this warm and enlightening episode Nathaniel Marshall: Twitter handle: @‌oblatenate Editor: thebluescholar.substack.com, @‌bluescholarwork Going Godward: Twitter handle: @‌goinggodward