

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

Jan 26, 2022 • 53min
Bonus: Stop Saving the Planet with Jenny Price
Jenny Price has written an environmental manifesto that's angry, funny, and short. In it she asks, "Why should I give a frick about Exxon's LEED-certified building?" And goes on to explain that we need to care about what they're doing inside that building. Jenny and Rob rant about green consumerism, the lack of systems thinking, and "regulatory capture" in the environmental movement, and they conclude that no one over 40 should be allowed to make climate policy.Support the show

Dec 15, 2021 • 14min
Bonus: Holiday Guide for the Perplexed
No need to stress during the holidays! The "sponsors" of Crazy Town have all of your consumerist needs covered. This season you could be walking in a warming wonderland, singing the 12 Days of Overshoot, and hanging out with Frosty the Melted Snowman. Act fast, supplies are limited!Support the show

Nov 24, 2021 • 1h 7min
Bonus: It's All Paradox with Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is a prolific author, documentarian, and podcaster with a delightful sense of humor. He joins the gang in Crazy Town to ponder paradoxical questions such as: Why would homes on Miami Beach be selling for millions of dollars if that property were really going to be underwater in a decade? Why would so much of the world be business-as-usual if climate change were real? Why is the stock market going up during a global plague? Coping in a world that no longer makes sense requires finding community in the real world and getting comfortable with uncertainty and cognitive dissonance. Find more from Douglas on his podcast Team Human.Support the show

Oct 27, 2021 • 41min
Bonus: Oceans of Knowledge with Sylvia Earle
Sylvia Earle is a legend in ocean exploration and conservation. She comes ashore in Crazy Town to discuss some of her experiences in the depths, the state of the world's oceans and marine biodiversity, the limits to growth, the wonders and disappointments of technology, and her belief in the accumulation of knowledge as a pathway for change. Sylvia's new book is called Ocean: A Global Odyssey.Support the show

Sep 29, 2021 • 55min
Bonus: What Could Possibly Go Right with Vicki Robin
What happens when two equal and opposite forces collide? It's a tag-team match of empathy and optimism versus existential crisis and poop jokes! In this mashup of Crazy Town and our sister podcast, What Could Possibly Go Right?, we collaborate with Vicki Robin to cover some heavy stuff, including climate change, the stages of grief, and collapse. You'll get your daily dose of doom and gloom (or as we like to call it, your reality check), but there's also plenty of inspiring ideas about how to navigate today's challenges and prepare for the future.Support the show

Aug 25, 2021 • 1h 2min
Bonus: Galactic-Scale Energy with Tom Murphy
Take it from astrophysicist Tom Murphy. Sure, lightsabers, dilithium crystal warp drives, and Mars colonies are a lot of fun to consider. But a physics-based perspective on energy tells us that we need to accept the limits to growth, stop chasing sci-fi fantasies, and get to work building a steady-state economy that works for people and the planet. Instead of focusing on growth, maybe we should focus on growing up.Support the show

Jul 28, 2021 • 50min
Bonus: Climate Craziness with Peter Kalmus
Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist, activist, and author. He has some gnarly things to say about climate change, extreme weather, and the myth of progress. But Peter gets past the doom and gloom to make positive recommendations for changing behavior and policy. Please check out his book Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution.Support the show

Jun 23, 2021 • 57min
Hidden Drivers Wrap-up, or... the Story of the Throbbing Amygdala
It's the end of the world as we know it. OK, maybe not just yet, but it is the end of Crazy Town's third season. If you've been able to look past some of the more absurd parts of the podcast, perhaps you've noticed a pattern. In examining hidden drivers behind humanity's sustainability predicament, we grouped the drivers into three categories: human behavior, social constructs, and features of biophysical reality. Given our penchant for covering anxiety-inducing topics, we take you on a sobering tour through these categories. But we also offer a sweet suite of pro-social, environmentally sound ideas to help keep your amygdala happy. For best results, start thinking in systems, and listen to this episode in the shade of a leafy tree. When you finish, feel free to give that tree a hug -- it could probably use one right about now.Support the show

Jun 16, 2021 • 55min
Maximum Power and Scarcity, or... the Story of the Birdbrained Backhoe on the Beach
The "maximum power principle" may sound like the doctrine of an evil supervillain, but it actually applies to all living creatures. The principle states that biological systems organize to increase power whenever constraints allow. Given the way humans adhere to this principle, especially by overexploiting fossil fuels, we often do behave like supervillains, wielding power in wildly irresponsible ways and triggering climate change, biodiversity loss, and other aspects of our sustainability predicament. Sometimes it seems like we're using a backhoe to dig our own grave. Fortunately, once you understand efficiency and its different flavors, you can see opportunities to optimize power rather than maximize it. While considering the outlook for humanity, the Crazy Townies ponder a weird question: are we smarter than reindeer? Richard Heinberg, author of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival, joins the team to share his research on how people can optimize power.Support the show

Jun 9, 2021 • 1h 3min
Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or... the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath
Did you ever think a baseball melee could effectively explain nuanced topics like cybernetics and systems dynamics? This episode examines the fascinating world of positive feedback loops, which play an outsized role in the not-so-positive phenomena of climate change, biodiversity loss, and political polarization. In addition to basebrawls, you’ll hear how these feedback loops produce a variety of outcomes, from the mundane (e.g., restaurant acoustics and family squabbles) to the horrendous (e.g., ecosystem annihilation and nuclear meltdowns). To ensure safety, none of the podcast hosts were allowed to bring baseball bats into the recording studio. Beth Sawin, co-founder and co-director of Climate Interactive, joins the program to explain how reinforcing feedback loops can catalyze social and environmental transformations.Support the show