Crazy Town
Post Carbon Institute
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
Mentioned books
Jun 19, 2024 • 1h 6min
Escaping Escapism: What a Bizarre Rodent Ritual Can Teach Us About Navigating a World We Can't Really Escape
After a full season of trying to escape more than a dozen evil -isms (fun things like capitalism, industrialism, extremism, and otherism), Rob, Jason, and Asher come to one conclusion: there is no true escape -- at least not for those of us who want to help their communities collapse and re-emerge gracefully. Join the boys as they explore what the cult classic Groundhog Day has to teach us about navigating the endlessly insane world of modernity and reflect on key lessons and actionable steps we can all take to navigate the Great Unraveling of environmental and social systems.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Trailer for the cult classic Groundhog DayArticle: "Harold Ramis didn't intend 'Groundhog Day' to be Buddhist, but it's a dharma classic" by Perry Garfinkel in Lion's RoarArticle: "Was Modernity Inevitable?" by Tom Murphy in Do the MathArticle: "Hospicing Modernity: Not a new idea" by Eliza Daley in ResilienceArticle: "Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System" by Donella Meadows, published by the Donella Meadows ProjectMultisolving InstituteBook: A Darwinian Survival Guide: Hope for the Twenty-First Century by Daniel R. Brooks and Salvatore J. Agosta, published by MIT PressSupport the show
Jun 12, 2024 • 1h 19min
Escaping Otherism: Why Dr. Seuss Could Never Find a Rhyme for Genocide
The drive to belong to an in-group and the tendency to observe differences in others are core parts of the human condition. But differentiating can (and often does) turn deadly when it morphs into othering. Jason, Rob, and Asher try not to other one another as they explore the roots and consequences of othering, and the ins and outs of belonging as a key organizing principle of society.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Wes Tank rapping Fox in SocksThe Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. SeussDefinition of othering from the Canadian Museum for Human RightsStereotype Content ModelSusceptibility to otheringOthering and Belonging InstituteBook by john a. powell and Stephen Menendian - Belonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the WorldCrazy Town episode 51 on colonization and the mindset of extractionSeeing White podcastRacial Equity InstituteColonial roots and other drivers of genocide in RwandaTrump’s reprehensible remarks about immigrants and about liberalsThe dystopian, othering politics of Balaji Srinivasan (article by Gil Duran in The New Republic)Christian Picciolini’s Ted Talk about how he stopped othering and helps more people do the sameMarnita’s TableNeedham Resilience NetworkSupport the show
Jun 5, 2024 • 1h 7min
Escaping Extremism: Slap Fighting Our Way to a More Civil Society
The forces of media, technology, and even the wiring of our own brains seem aligned to draw people toward extremism. But never fear: Asher, Jason, and Rob unpack why we're so susceptible to wackadoodle viewpoints and offer ways to tamp down extremist thinking and behavior in ourselves, our communities, and across society. Along the way, they tour the worlds of extreme sports, extreme politics, and extreme yogurt. They even question their own decidedly non-mainstream views on the environment and the economy.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Kevin Roose’s article in the New York Times “A QAnon ‘Digital Soldier’ Marches On, Undeterred by Theory’s Unraveling”Definition of extremism from the Anti-Defamation LeagueConcepts of “malignant bonding” and “scarcity mind” in the article “Widening the ‘We’” by Colin Greer and Eric LaursenZeynep Tufecki’s 2018 article in the New York Times “YouTube, the Great Radicalizer”Kari Paul’s 2021 article in the Guardian “‘It let white supremacists organize’: the toxic legacy of Facebook’s Groups”Peter D. Kvam et al., “Rational inference strategies and the genesis of polarization and extremism,” Nature, May 5, 2022.Statistics on rising levels of hate crime in the United StatesStatistics on domestic terrorism in the United StatesStatistics on antisemitism around the worldCrazy Town episode 78, which includes the six questions Megan Phelps-Roper developed to challenge her entrenched beliefs.Rapoport’s Rules for constructive criticismPost Carbon Institute’s Deep Dive on Building Emotional ResilienceDiane Benscoter’s nonprofit, Antidote.ngo, which runs recovery groups for people caught up in disinformation.Thought reform consultationCrazy Town episode 89 on escaping individualism, in which we discussed mutual aid networksLawsuit to allow social media users to control their algorithmsRanked choice votingSupport the show
May 29, 2024 • 1h 10min
Escaping Humanocentrism: Why a Slime Mold Will Be President in 2028
The myth of human dominion and exceptionalism is as old as the Bible and as unquestioned as gravity, at least in "modern" society. Rob, Asher, and Jason explore the ways that humanocentrism has come to dominate the planet and our minds, while pointing to ancient and newly emerging ways that the more-than-human world is respected and protected, even the dung beetle.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Eileen Crist defines (and critiques) anthropocentrism.Global biomass of wild mammalsGlobal human-made mass exceeds all living biomass.Decline of pollinatorsDecline of flying insect biomassDaniel Quinn’s book IshmaelHuman Nature Odyssey podcast with Alex LeffTom Murphy’s journey of understanding the pitfalls of human exceptionalismTwo-thirds of the world’s longest rivers have been dammed.Declining wild bird populations in North AmericaEd Yong’s book An Immense WorldYellowstone to Yukon conservation initiativeRestorDouglas Tallamy’s book Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your YardStory of mining permit revocation in PanamaTimeline of expansion of the rights of nature that was compiled by the Community Environmental Legal Defense FundCenter for Democratic and Environmental RightsStop Ecocide InternationalCrazy Town episode with Danielle Celermajer on multispecies justiceRobin Wall-Kimmerer’s book Braiding SweetgrassProminence of nature in the Tuvan languageHolding the Fire episode with Anne PoelinaQuote by Kenneth Brink of the Karuk TribeQuote by Sammy Gensaw III of the Yurok TribeSupport the show
May 22, 2024 • 1h 11min
Escaping Individualism: Why Rickey Don't Like It When Rickey Feels Lonely
The epidemic of loneliness isn't just a product of technology or even capitalism -- it has its roots in the same fertile ground as the founding of the United States. And it may just be the most important "ism" of all to escape as we enter the Great Unraveling of social and environmental systems.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Definition of individualism from the American Psychological AssociationArticle in Opumo magazine - "Super singles: 10 coolest one seater cars"U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 report: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and IsolationBBC Loneliness ExperimentRobert Putnam's classic book - Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American CommunityCountry comparison tool for exploring Hofstede's Individualism IndexPart 1 of Post Carbon Institute's webinar on mutual aid; Part 2Donna M. Butts and Shannon E. Jarrott, "The Power of Proximity: Co-Locating Childcare and Eldercare Programs," Stanford Social Innovation Review, April 2021Pets for the ElderlyDean Spade's book - Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)History of the free breakfast movement of the Black Panther PartyTeju Ravilochan, "The Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow's Hierarchy"City of Knoxville program guide: Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness PlanSupport the show
May 15, 2024 • 1h 13min
Escaping Imperialism: Where Does Darth Vader Get His Lithium?
Perhaps no community has undergone more versions of imperialism than the tiny island nation of Nauru, which has morphed from being "Pleasant Island" to the mined-out home of offshore banks, discarded refugees, and deep sea mining interests. Jason, Rob, and Asher take a bad trip to wrap their heads around Nauru, the topic of "psychedelic imperialism," and imperialism's new frontier - the clean energy transition.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:"A Dark History of the World's Smallest Island Nation" tells the tale of Nauru.S.J. Gale, "Lies and misdemeanours: Nauru, phosphate and global geopolitics," The Extractive Industries and Society, vol 6, July 2019.FAQs of the Metals CompanyEric Lipton's New York Times article about imperialistic mining of the Pacific Ocean floor.Mining Watch Canada questions the claims of the Metals Company.Elham Shabahat's article in Hakai Magazine, "Why Nauru Is Pushing the World Toward Deep-Sea Mining" Definition of imperialism from the Cornell Law SchoolJ.A. Hobson's book Imperialism: A StudyJason Hickel et al., "Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990-2015," Global Environmental Change, vol 73, March 2022.Critique of lithium extraction in the Atacama DesertIndigenous people's response to lithium mining in NevadaHow the Sami people are protesting Sweden's "green transformation"Episode 3 of the Holding the Fire podcast, featuring Sami leader Aslak HolmbergCobus van Staden on "Green Energy's Dirty Secret: Its Hunger for African Resources"Jim Robbins in Yale Environment 360 on "How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature""Indigenous Land Return Announcement by Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Movement Generation!" -- article by Ines Ixierda"New Zealands's Maori fought for reparations -- and won"Support the show
May 8, 2024 • 1h 11min
Escaping Capitalism: How to Replace the "Logic" of Psychopaths, Pharma Bros, and Private Prisons
Capitalism ruins SO many things, from key sectors like college sports all the way down to novelties like people's health and the environment. Jason, Rob, and Asher rely on their keen insight and otherworldly investigative talents to somehow unearth a few flaws of capitalism. But rather than wallow in the world of profiteering and privatization, they explore the solidarity economy and other alternatives to the "greed is good" way of running things.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Wikipedia page “Nike and the University of Oregon”Joshua Hunt book: University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education.Erik Olin Wright, How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century, Verso 2019.Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty First Century, Harvard University Press 2014.Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers.Jeffrey Sachs, “Twentieth-Century Political Economy: A Brief History of Global Capitalism,” Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 15, No. 4.Summary of End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes ActDavid Bollier, The Commoner’s Catalog for ChangemakingLobbying to defeat bills that prohibit private prisonsMore lobbying in support of private prisonsIncredible drug price increase after hedge fund manager acquires itAnnual report of Weaver Street MarketDonnie Maclurcan's explanation of not-for-profit enterprisesRanking of the world's happiest countriesBoston Ujima ProjectAlfie Kohn, No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Houghton Mifflin, 1992.B Corps and B LabDefinition of the solidarity economy from the New Economy CoalitionSupport the show
May 1, 2024 • 1h 3min
Escaping Growthism: Wendigo Economics, Mystery Houses, and Becoming the Bear
Grow or die. It's the governing principle of companies, investment portfolios, national economies, and even philanthropic foundations. Oh, and cancer. Asher, Jason, and Rob lay bare the stats on everything from human population, energy consumption, global GDP, greenhouse gas emissions, and the size of cars and cruise ships, before concluding that the global economy should be named after the Wendigo from Algonquian folklore. They turn to the natural world for examples of self-regulation, along with promising new economic frameworks and on-the-ground models, for how to end Wendigo economics before it ends us.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Timeline of Sarah Winchester's storyTimeline of the largest passenger boatsParks and Rec clip on soda sizesKaitlin Smith, "More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories"Winona LaDuke discusses Wendigo economics in a Yes! Magazine online conversation.Hannah and Kevin Salwen, The Power of Half: One Family's Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving BackCBS news story about a family giving away half their incomeSparkToro, an unusual tech company that doesn't believe bigger is betterReport: Resilient Biocultural Heritage Landscapes for Sustainable Mountain Development, which contains information about Peru's Potato ParkKrystyna Swiderska, "Here's why Indigenous economics is the key to saving nature"Al Bartlett lecturing on exponential growthSupport the show
Apr 24, 2024 • 1h 8min
Escaping Globalism: Rebuilding the Local Economy One Pig Thyroid at a Time
From the top of a skyscraper in Dubai, Jason, Rob, and Asher chug margaritas made from the purest Greenland glacier ice as they cover the "merits" of globalism. International trade brings so many things, like murder hornets, piles of plastic tchotchkes, and deadly supply chain disruptions. The opposite of globalism is localism -- learn how to build a secure local economy that can keep Asher alive, hopefully at least through the end of the season.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Guardian article about shipping Greenland glacier ice to DubaiWired article that tells the story of the Ever Given and all the supply chain problems that ensuedThe Observatory of Economic Complexity compiles statistics on global economic activity with interesting graphics, including this profile of China's trade.Michael Carolan's book Cheaponomics: The High Cost of Low Prices, and his follow-up book The Real Cost of Cheap FoodVasilis Kostakis's article on cosmolocalismVicki Robin's book Blessing the Hands that Feed UsWebsite for FibershedMolly Scott Cato's book The Bioregional Economy: Land, Liberty, and the Pursuit of HappinessSupport the show
Apr 17, 2024 • 1h 7min
Escaping Technologyism: Dreams of AI Sheep and the Deadliest Word in Film History
Modern humans have a Stockholm Syndrome relationship to technology, which has kidnapped us while convincing us it has our best interests in mind. But when one looks back at the history of plastics or the current frenzy around AI, it isn't hard to see the insanity of doubling down on new technology to save us from previous technology. Find out what a person or society can actually do to develop a healthy, non-abusive relationship with technology, aside from joining an Amish community or going "full Kaczynski."Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:Moriah McDonald reports on the big underestimates of Greenland ice loss in Inside Climate News.Typical article about how AI can solve climate changeAnother such article about the "magic" of AIAnd another -- sheesh (no wonder Jason was so upset)!Report on the future of petrochemicals from the International Energy AgencyKelly Oakes of the BBC asks, "What would happen if we stopped using plastic?"Website of The Ocean CleanupLow Tech MagazineLow Technology Institute's 10-Mile Building ChallengeSulan Chen writes for UNDP, "A global treaty to end plastic pollution is in sight."BBC reporting on the EU's efforts to regulate AISupport the show
