

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

Oct 19, 2023 • 32min
Bonus Riff: Infinite, Unlimited, Forever - Water in the Desert
Just how much has the extractivist growth mindset come to dominate Phoenix and other cities in the desert Southwest of the United States? Prepare to turn your indignation meter up to 11 as Jason, Rob, and Asher consider desalination, pipelines, and the folly of pursuing infinite growth in a dry climate.Support the show

Oct 16, 2023 • 25min
Bonus: Holding the Fire - Indigenous Voices on the Great Unraveling
We are pleased to share the new podcast from Post Carbon Institute, Holding the Fire. Award-winning journalist and author Dahr Jamail hosts in-depth interviews with leaders from around the world to uncover Indigenous ways of reckoning with environmental and societal breakdown.Support the show

Sep 20, 2023 • 51min
Bonus: Going Wild with Rae Wynn-Grant
Wildlife ecologist and communicator extraordinaire Rae Wynn-Grant visits Crazy Town to talk human-wildlife interactions, the social side of environmentalism, diversity and equity in the sciences, and ideas for young people (don't worry if you're older—the ideas apply to you, too). Rae is the host of the PBS Nature podcast "Going Wild" and will soon be appearing as the cohost of Wild Kingdom, a reboot of the ultra-classic tv nature show. Listen to the end of the episode to catch Rae’s thoughts on the most important stories people need to hear (and tell) to make a transition to sustainable and just society. Notes and Resources:Rae’s websiteThe podcast: Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-GrantRae discussed how Ayana Elizabeth Johnson influenced her.Rae also highlighted the work of Leah Thomas on intersectional environmentalism.Doris Duke Conservation Scholars ProgramNational Geographic HBCU Media ScholarshipArticle about the reboot of the Wild Kingdom television seriesSupport the show

Aug 30, 2023 • 40min
Bonus: Bagdhad Bob Visits Climate Town
What do Saddam Hussein’s information minister and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board have in common? Hint: it starts with a “d,” ends with “enial,” and isn’t just a river in Egypt. A new and virulent strain of climate denial could be called “doomer shaming.” Instead of acknowledging how logical it is to be distressed about the state of the climate (and the pitiful worldwide political response), delusional boosters of the status quo would rather belittle people who worry about rising temperatures, wildfires, super-storms, and ecosystem breakdown. Jason, Rob, Asher, and Melody consider how to manage climate anxiety and use it in service of caring for planet Earth.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.References:Video of Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf, aka Baghdad BobAllysia Finley wrote this Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Climate Change Obsession Is a Real Mental Disorder”Nature article dismissed by FinleyLancet article dismissed by FinleyRebuttal written by PCI Advisor Leslie Davenport and published in the Wall Street JournalRebecca Solnit’s article in The Guardian, “We Can’t Afford to Be Climate Doomers.”Survey on climate distress by the Yale Program on Climate CommunicationGen Dread newsletter on climate distressClimate Psychology AllianceGood Grief NetworkSupport the show

Aug 9, 2023 • 52min
Bonus: Choose Your Own Adventure in the Great Unraveling
After hearing a story of woe on the streets of Portland, Oregon, Jason, Rob, and Asher cover the four critical ways of cultivating personal resilience to navigate the Great Unraveling. The report we reference several times is Welcome to the Great Unraveling: Navigating the Polycrisis of Environmental and Social Breakdown.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Support the show

Jun 21, 2023 • 1h 25min
The Surest Paths to a Hard Collapse: The Delusional Doctrines of the Phalse Prophethood (Season Wrap-up)
Asher, Rob, and Jason explore the lessons and dangers of the brotherhood of Phalse Prophets and consider better ways to achieve a sustainable and equitable society. Along the way, they examine how to start a cult, turn the insufferability index on themselves, respond to listener feedback, and repeatedly mispronounce amygdala. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. Support the show

Jun 14, 2023 • 1h 10min
The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk
Meet Elon Musk, the Muskian mogul who Elon Musks his way to the pinnacle of Muskitude. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. Sources/Links/Notes:Prepare to be wowed by the Musk Foundation website.Luc Olinga, "Errol Musk, Elon's Dad, Prompts a New Controversy," TheStreet (2022).Musk's attack on Jane GoodallCade Metz and Neal E. Boudette, "Inside Tesla as Elon Musk Pushed an Unflinching Vision for Self-Driving Cars," The New York Times (2021).Andrew J. Hawkins and Umar Shakir, "Elon Musk unveils a new Master Plan, a path to sustainable energy future, but no new cars," The Verge (2023).Adam Kovacs and Adam Westbrook, "Elon Musk Has Some bad Ideas for Mass Transit. We Have Solutions," The New York Times (2022).Adam Something, "Elon Musk’s Loop is a Bizarrely Stupid Idea," YouTube (2021).Ted Mann and Julie Bykowicz, "Elon Musk’s Boring Company Ghosts Cities Across America," The Wall Street Journal (2022).Nikki McCann Ramirez, "Paul Pelosi Conspiracy Theory Trends on Twitter After Elon Musk Pushes It," Rolling Stone (2022).Ted McCormick, "The billionaire space race reflects a colonial mindset that fails to imagine a different world," The Conversation (2021).Marina Koren, "The War in Ukraine is Testing the Myth of Elon Musk," The Atlantic (2022).Radhika Viswanathan, "Elon Musk’s plan to bring a mini-submarine to rescue the Thai boys," Vox (2018).A podcast episode from Backpacker that describes the amazing Thai cave rescueZoe Schiffer and Casey Newton, "Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first," Platformer (2023)Emile P. Torres, "How Elon Musk sees the future: His bizarre sci-fi vision should concern us all," Salon, July 17, 2022.Support the show

Jun 7, 2023 • 55min
How to Fast-Track Collapse: Manipulating the Masses While Massaging Megalomaniacs
Meet Steve Bannon, the Molotov mixologist who wants to light the world on fire. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. Sources/Links/Notes:Video: Mutual Aid in the Great Unraveling, Part 1 with Daniel P Aldrich, Amira Odeh, and Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute, November 2022.Video: Mutual Aid in the Great Unraveling, Part 2 with Dean Spade, Joanna Swan, and Aliza Tuttle, Post Carbon Institute, November 2022.Dean Spade, "Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)," Verso Books, October 2020."Democracy Rising" essay series on deliberative democracyGlobal Tapestry of AlternativesEliana Johnson and Eli Stokols, "What Steve Bannon Wants You to Read," Politico, February 7, 2017.Lisa Marshall, "Inside Steve Bannon's 'War for Eternity'," CU Boulder Today, April 22, 2020.Joshua Green, "Inside the Secret, Strange Origins of Steve Bannon’s Nationalist Fantasia," Vanity Fair, July 17, 2017.David Breitenbeck, "A Brief Summary of Traditionalism," The Imaginative Conservative, March 21, 2019.Generation Zero, Bannon's poorly reviewed documentaryGuo Wengui's video for his song, "Take Down the CCP," -- the third best comedy yacht video of all time.Douglas Rushkoff, "How to Avoid Becoming a Fascist: Why I turned down an appearance on Steve Bannon's podcast," Medium, October 21, 2021.Olivia Goldhill, "The neo-fascist philosophy that underpins both the alt-right and Silicon Valley technophiles," Quartz, June 18, 2017.Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, "Bannon vows a daily fight for ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’," The Washington Post, February 23, 2017.Support the show

May 31, 2023 • 54min
How to Lose Friends and Demoralize People: The Science (sic!) of Near-Term Extinction
Meet Guy McPherson, the extinction enthusiast who undermines legitimate climate concerns by predicting we’re all going to die yesterday. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. Sources/Links/Notes:Guy McPherson, "Near-Term Extinction blog post," Nature Bats Last (last updated 2016).Scott Johnson, "How Guy McPherson gets it wrong," Fractal Planet, 2014.Michael Tobis, "McPherson’s Evidence That Doom Doom Doom," Planet 3.0, 2014.Nathan Curry, "Humanity Is Getting Verrrrrrry Close to Extinction," Vice, 2013.BizNewsTV, "'Humans will be extinct by 2026' - 'doom and gloom prophet' Prof McPherson on abrupt climate change," January 19, 2023.Shannon Osaka, "Why climate 'doomers' are replacing climate 'deniers',” Washington Post, March 24, 2023.Jerome Roos, "We Don’t Know What Will Happen Next," New York Times, April 18, 2023.List of McPherson predictionsSupport the show

May 24, 2023 • 1h 1min
Prepping for the Apocalypse: Elites' Foolish Fantasies for Surviving a Collapse of Their Own Creation
Meet Barrett Moore, the bunker-building bullshit artist who helps capitalists survive the apocalypse with beans, bullets, and bravado. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. Sources/Links/Notes:History of the Kelly Butte Civil Defense CenterArticle on Kelly Butte in the Atlas ObscuraA Day Called X -- video of a dramatized atomic evacuation of Portland, OregonDonald Fagen's "New Frontier"Sam Biddle, "The Rise and Fall of the Ultimate Doomsday Prepper," The Intercept, July 5, 2021."Three Robots: Exit Strategies" -- episode 1 of season 3 of the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots.National Geographic produced the popular video series Doomsday Preppers.Molly Redden, "The American Elite Are Planning Their Escape — And It Starts With Paying For Passports," Huffington Post, March 19, 2023.John Ramey, "New statistics on modern prepper demographics from FEMA and Cornell," theprepared.com August 4, 2021.Bradley Garrett, "Living with bunker builders: doomsday prepping in the age of coronavirus,"The Conversation, May 14, 2020.Interview about Bradley Garrett's study of preppingJ. Oliver Conroy, "We mocked preppers and survivalists – until the pandemic hit," The Guardian, April 30, 2020.Walter Karp, "When Bunkers Last in the Backyard Bloom-d," American Heritage, February/March 1980.Red Cross’s Preparedness ChecklistFEMA’s 12 Ways to PrepareTom Prugh, "Democracy Rising 1 Introduction: Idiots R Us," Resilience, October 27, 2021.Jana Reiss, "For today’s Latter-day Saints, it’s food storage light," The Salt Lake Tribune, January 27, 2023.Support the show