On this episode, Nate is joined by systems ecologist William E. Rees. Professor Rees outlines why most of the challenges facing humanity and the biosphere have a common origin - ecological overshoot. Bill also unpacks “the ecological footprint” - a concept that he co-created, that measures the actual resources used by a given population. Bill also describes his experience as a leading thinker in public policy and planning based on ecological conditions for sustainable socioeconomic development, and the challenges he’s faced working in a system which (so far) rejects such premises. Is it possible for a different way of measuring the system to set different goals of what it means to be successful as a society? About Bill Rees: William Rees is a population ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver, Canada. He researches the implications of global ecological trends for the longevity of civilization, with special foci on urban (un)sustainability and cultural/cognitive barriers to rational public policy. Prof Rees is best known as the originator and co-developer with Dr Mathis Wackernagel of ‘ecological footprint analysis’ (EFA), a quantitative tool that estimates human demands on ecosystems and the extent to which humanity is in ‘ecological overshoot.’ Dr Rees is a founding member and former President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics; a founding Director of the OneEarth Living Initiative; a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute and an Associate Fellow of the Great Transition Initiative. For Show Notes and More visit https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/53-william-rees To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/LQTuDttP2Yg

This week, Nate invites colleague Tom Murphy, professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego and writer of ‘Do the Math’, to unpack his recent essay The Simple Story of Civilization. Tom condenses the vast timescale of human life on Earth to an average human lifespan to give us a sense of the anomalous period we’re living through. What is civilization and how quickly did it come about?  Can technology redirect civilization from its current perilous course? Is optimism näive or is it necessary in order to make the hard decisions within us? A 30 minute overview with Nate and Professor Tom Murphy. For Show Notes and More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/22-the-simple-story-of-civilization To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6yFrh1X6DI

On this episode, Nate is joined by ecological economist and degrowth scholar Giorgos Kallis. He and Nate discuss the science and philosophy behind the degrowth movement and some of the challenges behind implementing such an enormous task. As a system precariously based on growth becomes more unstable, it is important to turn to those who specialize in ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. This doesn’t necessarily mean we, as a society, are going to advocate or plan for degrowth - but postgrowth societies are on the horizon, and in many places are already here. Perhaps, the larger purpose of degrowth scholarship (and conversations like these) is to act as Overton Windows - to help people imagine and actualize behaviors and networks that will help us adjust in a post-growth world.  About Giorgos Kallis: Giorgos Kallis is an ecological economist and political ecologist working on environmental justice and limits to growth. He has a Bachelor's degree in chemistry and a Masters in environmental engineering from Imperial College, a PhD in environmental policy from the University of the Aegean, and a second Masters in economics from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He has been an ICREA professor since 2010. Before coming to Barcelona, Giorgos was a Marie Curie International Fellow at the Energy and Resources group at the University of California-Berkeley. He has also written numerous books, including his latest, Limits: Why Malthus was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care.  For Show Notes and More visit https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/52-giorgos-kallis To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/4VlVqw_BKdU 

As The Great Simplification podcast celebrates its first anniversary, Nate reflects on an incredibly busy year and what he learned from the wide array of guests over 51 podcasts and 21 Franklys.  Nate looks ahead into 2023 and the challenges we face geo-politically, socially, technically, and behaviorally.  Join Nate as he shares insights, personal intentions and kicks off year two of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens.   To Watch on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-6LTeqOHyg For Episodes, Show Notes and More go to https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/21-reflections-predictions-intentions 

Show Summary:   On this episode, Nate is joined by Eco-interventionist and long time friend DJ White. DJ is not necessarily a household name, but has been instrumental in successful environmental interventions - primarily for the oceans - for the last four decades. The list of his behind-the-scenes accomplishments is long, but today he joins Nate to describe how to be effective in change-making and outline ways that current activist efforts could be improved. He also shares his own profound experiences with some of Earth’s most intelligent creatures and how these cetacean friends shaped his life’s work.   About DJ White:   DJ White is a co-founder of Greenpeace International and founder of EarthTrust. He has played a leading role in protecting dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and countless other marine animals, including being the driving force behind the transition to more dolphin-friendly tuna, stopping widespread use of ocean drift nets in the 1980s, successfully stopping a national dolphin drive kill, and breaking the deadlock in capping the Kuwait oil fires. To Listen on Youtube For Show Notes and Links to Learn more 

Show Summary: On this 5th and final installment of the Bend Not Break series with Daniel Schmachtenberger, we unpack the framework and mindset needed to begin thinking about responses. This conversation touches on what it means to work on personal development in the light of a polycrisis, and how it is truly a never ending but necessary challenge. Finally, Daniel and Nate break down a 3x3 grid on time frame and category of responses.  Whilst this is the end of this series, there is, of course, much left to be unpacked. If there are any specific topics you want covered in a follow up Daniel/Nate conversation, we encourage you to leave your questions in the comments of the Youtube video, which can be found here -> https://youtu.be/Kep8Fi_rUUI    About Daniel Schmachtenberger: Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue.  The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal. Towards these ends, he’s had particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse as well as progress, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science. For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/50-daniel-schmachtenberger To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/Kep8Fi_rUUI 

Winter has come - and for some people it’s colder and more expensive than the recent past. This week Nate reconnects with Nora Bateson to discuss how she and others living in Sweden are responding to the phenomenal spike in their electricity costs, which are currently 35-40x higher than this time last year. What steps are people taking in their own homes to stay warm and reduce energy use, and what tools and support is the government providing its citizens? Is there any single event or person to blame for the drastic increase in energy costs or is the root cause broad and deep within the systems we have created? What can we learn from this dress rehearsal as we anticipate and prepare for The Great Simplification? For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/20-keeping-warm-data  To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WK-WYZ9bOg

On this episode, mining and geology expert Simon Michaux returns to give a preliminary framework for responses to the coming energy and material constraints described in the previous episode. This includes both practical thoughts for how to organize communities around resources and also a shift in mindset from short term to long-term and from competition to cooperation. How do we simultaneously lay out all of the biophysical constraints on the table so that we can begin preparing for and adapting to a changing future?  About Simon Michaux Dr. Simon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland. He has a PhD in mining engineering. Dr. Michaux’s long-term work is on societal transformation toward a circular economy.  Show Notes & Links to Learn More

On this episode, author and social entrepreneur Tomas Björkman joins Nate to discuss his recent projects promoting inner development based on his books The Nordic Secret and The World We Create. Tomas unpacks the philosophical framework of ‘metamodernism’ and ultimately why having more mindful, engaged, global citizens is so critical to our coming challenges. How can we as individuals contribute to a more positive transition by becoming more thoughtful and resilient? About Tomas Björkman: After many years in business as an entrepreneur and investment banker, Tomas Björkman is now a social entrepreneur and the founder of Ekskäret Foundation in Stockholm. He is also the co-founder of the research institute Perspectiva in London, the Co-creation Loft, the media platform Emerge in Berlin, the 29k.org personal development platform, and the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) framework. He is a member of the Club of Rome and a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science. He is the author of three books: The Market Myth (2016), The Nordic Secret (together with Lene Rachel Andersen, 2017) and The World We Create (2019). He divides his time between London, Stockholm and Berlin. For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/48-tomas-bjorkman

There are some pretty amazing things that can be tracked via analytics on Youtube and other podcast servers - including from where the people tuning into a podcast are watching. For whatever reason, there is a large number of people listening to The Great Simplification from the island countries of Australia and New Zealand - much larger than the population alone would predict. In this Frankly, Nate reflects on why this might be, and what it means to be on an island (geographic or other) during a massive cultural transition. For Show Notes and More visit:https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/19-islands Video version can be found here: https://youtu.be/oDjxnmZVcNM