Crazy Town
- Episódios
- 181
- Publicação
- quinzenal
- Último episódio
- 4 nov 2026
Sobre o podcast
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.
Episódios 181
We Dug Digger, or Why Tom Cruise Is the Most Famous Crazy Townie
What happens when an A-list director and the biggest Hollywood star of the last 50 years team up to create the perfect Crazy Town movie? It bombs. Intentionally going in cold, Rob, Jason, and Asher met up to …
Notas do episódio
What happens when an A-list director and the biggest Hollywood star of the last 50 years team up to create the perfect Crazy Town movie? It bombs. Intentionally going in cold, Rob, Jason, and Asher met up to watch Digger. And now, without revealing too much about the film, they reflect on the themes, legacy, and most especially how the negative reactions to the film mirror society’s inability to look honestly at our climate predicament, let alone offer any reasonable responses. Don’t worry, the hosts did their best not to spoil the film!
Originally recorded on 10/16/26.
Sources & Links- Crazy Town Episode 56, The Stopwatch of Doom
- IMDB trivia for Digger
- Negative review from Grist
- Positive review from Grist
- Negative review from New York Times
- Positive review from New York Times
- Interview with the director, Alejandro Innaritu, in the New York Times
- Positive review in the New Yorker
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Cheerful Pessimist: The Life and Legacy of Richard Heinberg
On July 19, 2026 the world lost a 5’11”, 150 pound giant of intellect and compassion… Richard Heinberg. Richard was a prolific writer, speaker, educator, musician, and a gentle soul – none of which applies to …
Notas do episódio
On July 19, 2026 the world lost a 5’11”, 150 pound giant of intellect and compassion… Richard Heinberg. Richard was a prolific writer, speaker, educator, musician, and a gentle soul – none of which applies to your Crazy Town hosts. Jason, Rob, and Asher gather in the studio for the first time since Richard’s passing to commiserate, reflect on his legacy, and talk about how to keep his work and ethos alive. There’s no way to replace Richard, but we can all aspire to be a little more like him and steer things toward kindness, intelligence, justice, and simple living.
Originally recorded on 10/1/26 with archival episodes.
Sources & Links- RichardHeinberg.com
- Asher’s post announcing the news
- Legacy page, with info on how to add live Celebration of Life to calendar
- EverLoved website, where listeners can read tributes and share their own
- Richard’s widow, Janet’s, GoFundMe
- Richard’s articles on what he learned from chickens, why the blues should be our national anthem; and fountain pen as bellweathers
- 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds
- Richard’s free online course, Think Resilience
- Post-Carbon Music, Richard’s speech and musical performance at the New England Conservatory of Music
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Finding Crazy Town Part 6: Facing the Future
What would it actually mean to live with less? From World War II rationing to the possibility of a contracting economy, the search explores what happens when a civilization built on endless expansion runs up …
Notas do episódio
What would it actually mean to live with less? From World War II rationing to the possibility of a contracting economy, the search explores what happens when a civilization built on endless expansion runs up against ecological limits. And if we're forced to power down, can we preserve the things we value most—health, human rights, cultural diversity, individual freedom—without preserving the system that created them?
In Part 6 of our six-part series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff reaches the final stop in his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. After following clues through global trade, complexity, economic growth, progress, and the adaptive cycle, Alex finally looks in the one place he hasn't searched yet: the future.
Originally recorded on 9/11/26 with archival episodes.
Related Episodes- Episode 19, “I Can’t Drive… 35! The Rationale for Rationing”
- Episode 27, “Poked by a Porcupine: the Politics of Contraction”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Finding Crazy Town Part 5: Adapting to the Adaptive Cycle
What if collapse isn't the end of the story but part of a larger cycle?In Part 5 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious …
Notas do episódio
What if collapse isn't the end of the story but part of a larger cycle?
In Part 5 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following clues from the Crazy Town archives leads to the adaptive cycle: a framework from ecology that describes how complex systems move through growth, maturity, collapse, and reorganization.
From the Titanic and lifeboats to Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, the search turns toward a more difficult question: How do we navigate a period of contraction while building something more just, sustainable, and resilient on the other side?
Originally recorded on 9/10/26 with archival episodes.
Related Episodes- Episode 25, “Koala Butts Ablaze and the Sweet Relief of the Adaptive Cycle”
- Episode 26, “Doors and Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Reimagining Lifeboat Ethics in the Age of Overshoot”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Finding Crazy Town Part 4: The Myth of Progress - Are We There Yet?
What if the story we tell ourselves about progress is wrong?In Part 4 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason …
Notas do episódio
What if the story we tell ourselves about progress is wrong?
In Part 4 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following clues from the Crazy Town archives, Alex begins questioning one of the most deeply held assumptions of modern society: that history is a story of continual progress.
From rising life expectancy and GDP to expanding material wealth and technological innovation, there are plenty of reasons to believe things are getting better. But where did this idea of progress come from? And what happens when the energy and resources required to keep progressing begin to run up against the limits of the natural world?
Along the way, Alex follows the trail from the Enlightenment and fossil fuels to techno-optimism, Jeff Bezos, cargo cults, and the dangerous belief that technology will always come to the rescue. Maybe the problem isn't that we're failing to make progress. Maybe it's that we're asking the wrong question altogether.
And if Jason, Rob, and Asher aren't looking for a ladder to the future, where exactly could they have gone?
The search continues.
Originally recorded on 8/19/26 with archival episodes.
Related Episodes- Episode 9, “They’ll Think of Somethingisms”
- Episode 39, “The Myth of Progress and Limits to Growth, or… the Story of the World’s Largest Shovel”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Finding Crazy Town Part 3: Unlimited Limits to Growth
Can our economy keep growing forever on a finite planet?In this third installment of Finding Crazy Town, we explore the idea of exponential economic growth, why economists and politicians have become so …
Notas do episódio
Can our economy keep growing forever on a finite planet?
In this third installment of Finding Crazy Town, we explore the idea of exponential economic growth, why economists and politicians have become so committed to it, and what happens when our economic models fail to account for the environmental systems that make the economy possible.
Along the way, Jason, Rob, and Asher revisit the problems they see in conventional economics, Jason recounts the experience that sent him down the rabbit hole of Limits to Growth and ecological economics, and the trio asks whether growth and progress really mean the same thing.
From Robert Wadlow to Ronald Reagan, Donella Meadows to Julian Simon, the IPCC to the three musketeers, we follow the clues—and discover that sometimes limits aren't the enemy of creativity. They’re what make creativity possible.
Originally recorded on 7/21/26 with archival episodes.
Related Episodes- Episode 2, “Punching Ronnie in the Mouth”
- Episode 8, “Mosquito-Flavored Popcorn, or What Climate Scientists Are Getting Wrong”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Finding Crazy Town Part 2: Simplifying Complexity
What if the greatest strength of modern civilization—its incredible complexity—is also its greatest weakness?In Part 2 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues …
Notas do episódio
What if the greatest strength of modern civilization—its incredible complexity—is also its greatest weakness?
In Part 2 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues investigating the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following the trail leads from a simple podcast microphone into the astonishing complexity of modern techno-industrial civilization, where every solution creates new layers of coordination, specialization, and dependence.
We'll revisit one of Crazy Town's core ideas: that complexity creates complexity. As societies become more interconnected, they also become more fragile—raising difficult questions about resilience, simplification, and what it would take to build a civilization that's durable enough to weather the challenges ahead.
Originally recorded on 7/15/26 with archival episodes.
Remembering Richard Heinberg: The Power Podcast
The world has lost a voice of clear, truth-telling wisdom—a man whose work reached millions of people and fundamentally changed the lives of thousands.Richard Heinberg was regarded as one of the world’s …
Notas do episódio
The world has lost a voice of clear, truth-telling wisdom—a man whose work reached millions of people and fundamentally changed the lives of thousands.
Richard Heinberg was regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels. He was Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute for nearly twenty years. Richard was the author of fourteen books, including some of the seminal works on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis.
Crazy Town producers Alex Leff and Melody Traverse discuss Richard's legacy and play episode one of The Power Podcast.
We'll resume our regular programming of the Finding Crazy Town series next week.
Finding Crazy Town Part 1: The Straight of Everything
What happens when the global economy depends on fish traveling 10,000 miles, oil flowing through a single strait, and enough cheap fossil fuel energy to build civilizations that previous generations couldn't …
Notas do episódio
What happens when the global economy depends on fish traveling 10,000 miles, oil flowing through a single strait, and enough cheap fossil fuel energy to build civilizations that previous generations couldn't even imagine?
In Part 1 of our six-part summer series, producer Alex Leff begins investigating the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following the clues leads to international shipping, global trade, and the hidden energy that powers modern civilization. Along the way, we'll revisit some of Crazy Town's foundational ideas—and begin asking how our modern techno-industrial world came to be, why it's so fragile, and what it would take to build something more resilient.
Originally recorded on 7/1/26 with archival episodes.
Related Episodes- Episode 11, “My Dinner Is Stuck in Traffic”
- Episode 16, “The 10,000-Mile Cod and Insane Global Trade”
- Episode 23, “Mayor McCheese & Modern Medicine: the Good & Bad of High Energy”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Gaslit by the Four Horsemen: Maddening Signs of the Apocalypse
With the churn of daily news growing more apocalyptic by the headline, and with earth scientists competing ferociously for the title of “gloomiest doomer,” it’s time for some fun (or at least making fun) with a …
Notas do episódio
With the churn of daily news growing more apocalyptic by the headline, and with earth scientists competing ferociously for the title of “gloomiest doomer,” it’s time for some fun (or at least making fun) with a new fantasy-football-style draft. This time, Jason, Rob, and Asher are making their way through their top 3 signs of civilizational collapse, in 3 categories: Earth systems, pop culture, and politics. But they refuse to remain mired in the muck. Each draft pick has to be accompanied by a countervailing force, a real-world example of people facing reality and building resilience together. Originally recorded on 5/22/26.
Sources & Links- The 'Doomsday' Glacier's Giant Ice Shelf by Alison George, New Scientist, May 18, 2026
- Thwaites glacier in Antarctica
- Antarctica’s ‘doomsday glacier’ by Hope Nguyen, Yahoo! News, May 20, 2026
- Plastic-Eating Microbe by Hafsa Aslam, UC Davis, Apr 7, 2025
- Gardening google search trend
- Advances in AI will boost productivity, by Mark A. Wynne and Lillian Derr, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, June 24, 205
- Dallas Fed Chart 3 Possible AI Futures by Rudo Chakrabarti, Yahoo! Finance, May 9, 2026
- Local governments oases of compromise by Alexandra Marquez, NBC News, Oct 23, 2024
- North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre collapse by Laurie Laybourn, IPPR.org, Oct 9, 2024
- Global Tipping Points: Atlantic Circulation
- The most pro-business Supreme Court ever by Felix Salmon, Axios, Aug 4, 2022
- Voting Rights Decision, New York Times, May 28, 2026
- Planetary Boundaries framework
- Land System Change
- Willamette Valley Wet Prairie
- Willamette Valley Upland Prairie and Savanna
- Maps of Crazy Town: Mar de Plastico by Rob Dietz, Resilience, Sep 4, 2025
- The Land Trust Alliance
- Community Land Trusts
- How F1 Became the Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S. by Douglas Jase, Complex, May 6, 2026
- Fatalities in F1 racing
- Explainer: What’s happening with gerrymandering in the United States—and who will “win” the redistricting battle? Harvard Kennedy School, May 4, 2026
- Democracy was never designed to work — but something better is emerging by Jeremy Lent, Resilience, May 6, 2026
Related Episodes- Episode 96, “The Frequent Flyer Tree: Losing the Last Bit of Sense in the Climate Emergency”
- Episode 103, “It Was Never Your Democracy Anyway: Thomas Linzey on Rethinking the Constitution”
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
What Lies Beneath: AMOC, El Niño, & Climate Chaos with Emily Schoerning
It’d be easy, with the clusterf**k of crazy-making economic, geopolitical, and democracy-in-decline news dominating the scene, to forget that the unraveling of environmental systems waits for no person. That’s …
Notas do episódio
It’d be easy, with the clusterf**k of crazy-making economic, geopolitical, and democracy-in-decline news dominating the scene, to forget that the unraveling of environmental systems waits for no person. That’s why we’ve asked Emily Schoerning to return to Crazy Town. Asher and Emily sit down together (uh, virtually) to discuss the oceanic dynamics – from worrisome to downright apocalyptic – that could make the Strait of Hormuz disruption look like a five-minute wait at the Starbucks drive-thru. In this episode they discuss the possibility of a 2026-2027 Super El Niño, the growing risks of an AMOC collapse, and how each of us can approach near- and longer-term resilience.
Originally recorded on 5/20/26.
Sources & Links- American Resiliency
- Links to graphs/resources that Emily mentioned:
- NOAA ENSO Update (see page 23)
- Columbia El Nino Update
- Climate Reanalyzer (to visualize average SST changes as a graph)
- Zach Labe's visualizations (to visualize currently non-apocalyptic Antarctic sea ice)
- Copernicus (to visualize SST anomalies on world map)
- Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown modulates atmospheric rivers in a warmer climate by Mimi, M. S., Liu, W., Ma, W., & Chen, G. Nature Communications, 2026
- Articles/papers related to AMOC and El Nino:
- Observational constraints project a ~50% AMOC weakening by the end of this century by Portmann, V., Swingedouw, D., Khattab, O., & Chavent, M. Science Advances, 2026
- Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought by Carrington, D. The Guardian, April 15, 2026
- El Niño/Southern Oscillation (Enso) Diagnostic Discussion, Climate Prediction Center, 14 May 2026
- A'super El Niño?‘ The Conversation, May 14, 2026
Related Episodes
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Join the 2026 Crazy Town Hall
Join your fellow Crazy Townies by registering at resilience.org/crazytownhallThe Crazy Town Hall is a live, online get-together for our most engaged listeners, affectionately known as Crazy Townies. The Town …
Notas do episódio
Join your fellow Crazy Townies by registering at resilience.org/crazytownhall
The Crazy Town Hall is a live, online get-together for our most engaged listeners, affectionately known as Crazy Townies. The Town Hall is your chance to hang out with Jason, Rob, and Asher – and your fellow Crazy Townies – as we continue our arduous journey to the center of a collapsing techno-industrial, politically incompetent civilization. This 75-minute event will feature plenty of lampoonery, fun pop quizzes, and even good ideas for building community resilience.
Like any respectable political circus these days, this event is also a fundraiser. So please consider making a donation to our modest nonprofit organization, and join us for some fun at the Crazy Town Hall.
The Hypocrite’s Guide to the Galaxy: Muddling Toward a Sustainable Footprint
Is hypocrisy the one thing that can grow infinitely on our finite planet? When you learn that humanity’s fossil fuel burning, including your own, is contributing to climate chaos, what can you do? When you …
Notas do episódio
Is hypocrisy the one thing that can grow infinitely on our finite planet? When you learn that humanity’s fossil fuel burning, including your own, is contributing to climate chaos, what can you do? When you understand that economic growth and consumption are causing habitat loss and the sixth mass extinction, can you opt out? As long as you are embedded in an unsustainable society, it’s hard not to be a hypocrite. At the same time, dropping out seems isolating and ineffective, if you can even do it. Join Jason, Asher, and Rob as they hit the confessional to examine the challenges and psychology of hypocrisy. Originally recorded on 4/23/26.
Sources & Links- Hassan Fathy
- A Short History of Endurance by Charlotte Del Signore
- Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus
- Nature’s Best Hope by Doug Tallamy
- Homegrown National Park
- "What Is the Window of Tolerance, and Why Is It So Important?" Psychology Today, May 23, 2022.
- Asher recommends taking 20 minutes to sit down with this worksheet to better understand triggers/signs for when you’re either in hyperarousal (fight/flight) or hypoarousal (freeze).
Related Episodes
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
The Lighter Side of Dark Ages with Chris Smaje
Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call …
Notas do episódio
Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call them “pharmers” with a “ph,” as in PhD?!?). Chris’s latest book, Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft explores how we can move from modernity’s unsustainable political economy toward a re-organization of society, driven by communities and local food systems. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Jason cover everything from Viking raids to agrarian populism, from societal collapse to the practicalities of making your way in a failed state. And they can’t get away from the shop talk of gardens, livestock, and home economics. Originally recorded on 4/2/26.
Sources & Links- Chris Smaje’s Blog
- Finding Lights in a Dark Age by Chris Smaje
- Excerpt of the book on Resilience
- Second excerpt on Resilience
- Review: Saying NO to Ecomodermism. Smaje Versus Monbiot, It’s No Contest
Related Episodes
CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.
Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.
Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
Take Me to the River: Getting Rid of Deadbeat Dams
People REALLY love their impervious surfaces. Concrete structures practically permeate human-built landscapes. Rather than layering ever more concrete on top of living soils, in waterways, and all over the …
Notas do episódio
People REALLY love their impervious surfaces. Concrete structures practically permeate human-built landscapes. Rather than layering ever more concrete on top of living soils, in waterways, and all over the countryside, what if we re-established our connection with natural ecosystems and put a stop to the concrete madness? One of the most inspiring developments of environmental and cultural restoration involves the cleanup of tons and tons of concrete. We’re talking dam removal today. So grab a sledge hammer, a few sticks of dynamite, and a wrecking ball, and come along as we explore the battle between concrete placement and concrete removal. And don’t miss our interview with Tara Lohan, author of Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life. Originally recorded on 3/17/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- The Reef Line
- “Underwater ‘traffic jam’ off Miami beach, CBS News, November 3, 2025
- Miami Beach’s New Traffic Jam Frolics With the Fishes, New York Times, December 1, 2025
- We Finally Know Why Ancient Roman Concrete Stood The Test of Time, Science Alert by Michelle Starr, October 29, 2025
- L“Concrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Future” by Mary Soderstrom. University of Regina Press, 2020.
- “Concrete: From the Ground Up” by Larissa Theule. Candlewick Press, 2022.
- “This is the total weight of everything humans have created since 1990” World Economic Forum, December 6, 2021
- “Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass” Nature.com, December 9, 2020
- “Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life” by Tara Lohan. Princeton University Press, 2025
- Map of U.S. Dams Removed Since 1912
- “Ten years after Oregon’s largest dam removal” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2017
- “‘Salmon Everywhere’ One Year After Klamath Dam Removal” California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2025
- Undammed: The Klamath River Story podcast
- “First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath River after the largest dam removal in U.S. history” Oregon Public Broadcasting
- Car Free Alliance
- Auto Mat
- Transportation Action Network
- “Stop this destructive, car-centric development” Hindustan Times, December 22, 2025
- Ridges to Riffles
- Rivernetwork Member Directory
- Depave.org
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 48, “The Taming of the Slough: Humanity’s History of Trying to Control Water”
- Episode 123, “Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!”
Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!
It’s really refreshing to hear from you, our listeners and fellow strugglers living in high-energy modernity (affectionately known as Crazy Townies). This mailbag episode offers the element of surprise, as it …
Notas do episódio
It’s really refreshing to hear from you, our listeners and fellow strugglers living in high-energy modernity (affectionately known as Crazy Townies). This mailbag episode offers the element of surprise, as it gives Jason, Rob, and Asher a chance to respond with delight and spontaneity to your questions and comments. Join the guys as they apply their dubious intellectual powers, subpar comedic talents, and underwhelming insights to your Crazy Townie queries. Originally recorded on 3/6/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 19, “I Can’t Drive… 35! The Rationale for Rationing”
- Episode 45, “Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or… the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath”
Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide
What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the …
Notas do episódio
What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Holding the Fire
- Owen Reiser, Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, 2025
- David Frankel, The Big Year, 2011 film
- Nature photographer Hannah Seilhan
Being Team Human in Crazy Town
Have you ever had that feeling in your gut, when you suddenly realize that the person you’re talking with might have a screw or two loose? What about when you’re the one others are trying to slowly back away …
Notas do episódio
Have you ever had that feeling in your gut, when you suddenly realize that the person you’re talking with might have a screw or two loose? What about when you’re the one others are trying to slowly back away from at the punch bowl? The question of who’s the real nut often arises for us collapse-aware folks living here in Crazy Town. Since Mr. Peanut is no longer returning their phone calls, Rob, Jason, and Asher invite Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist, professor, and host of the Team Human Podcast to answer the question. In this far ranging conversation, they discuss why “leveling down” might be the best strategy for navigating late stage capitalism and bringing ourselves back into right relationship with each other and the planet. Originally recorded on 2/24/26.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Team Human
- Douglas Rushkoff YouTube Channel
- Douglas Rushkoff, “You Are Not Crazy,” Substack, January 7, 2026
- Douglas Rushkoff, “Survival of the Richest,” Medium, July 5, 2018
- Jesse Armstrong, Mountainhead, 2025 film
- Dan Fogelman, Paradise, Hulu, 2025 series
- Prospera
- Neom
- California Forever
- Jack Manno, Privileged Goods, 1999 book
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Tech Bros on Acid with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)
- It’s All Paradox with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)
You Ain’t Gonna Live Forever: The Dos and Don’ts of Legacy Building
Immortality projects represent an often irrational, and sometimes even unconscious, way to tamp down anxiety about death. There are some shocking examples of people, especially those with lots and lots of …
Notas do episódio
Immortality projects represent an often irrational, and sometimes even unconscious, way to tamp down anxiety about death. There are some shocking examples of people, especially those with lots and lots of money, who try to leave some sort of mark in a futile attempt to keep from facing death. In this episode, we run a special fantasy-football style draft to take a look at immortality projects, some horrendous, but some with positive effects. Originally recorded on February 6, 2026.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Adam McCay, The Big Short, 2015 film
- Henry VIII
- Gabriella Angeleti, “Two men sentenced to prison time for vandalising Nevada petroglyphs,” The Art Newspaper, November 10, 2022
- Owen Clarke, “A Utah Woman Must Pay $15,000 in Fines for Vandalizing Ancient Petroglyphs,” Outside Magazine, November 20, 2025
- Lehman’s Catalog
- John Prine, “Paradise” 1971 song
- X post on Brian Johnson’s erections, February 11, 2024
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- Tompkins Conservancy and Patagonia National Park
- Instituto Terra
- Eric Grundhauser, “Visit a Beard That Killed Its Owner,” Atlas Obscura, January 26, 2018
- Raoul Wallenberg
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Crazy Town Classics “Terror Management Theory”
- Episode 51, “A Load of Papal Bull: Greenlighting Colonization and the Mindset of Extraction”
- Episode 54, “Colonizing the Sky: The Untold Environmental Toll of Skyscrapers”
- Episode 92, “Escaping Otherism: Why Dr. Seuss Could Never Find a Rhyme for Genocide”
Crazy Town Classics - Terror Management Theory
What can we learn about death from the X-Men, small screaming rodents, and unwitting college students in psychology experiments? It turns out that the fear of death (or death anxiety) affects human behavior in …
Notas do episódio
What can we learn about death from the X-Men, small screaming rodents, and unwitting college students in psychology experiments? It turns out that the fear of death (or death anxiety) affects human behavior in all sorts of surprising and deeply troubling ways. Especially disconcerting is the way such fear entices people to cling to cultural beliefs so tightly that they will attack anything or anyone they perceive as a threat to their beliefs. And extra-super-duper disconcerting is how unaware most of us are that we are susceptible to such bad behavior when we’re reminded that one day we’ll die. Follow Jason, Rob, and Asher as they try not to deny climate change, vilify any out-groups, or assault one another while diving into the topic of death. In the Do-the-Opposite segment, Michael Hebb (author of Let’s Talk about Death over Dinner) shares wisdom for developing a healthier relationship with death. For episode notes and more information, please visit our website. Originally recorded on December 22, 2020.
Getting Real about Resiliency with Emily Schoerning
What if there were a news outlet that actually covered the most important environmental stories of our time? Dr. Emily Schoerning and her nonprofit, American Resiliency, translate the latest and most urgent …
Notas do episódio
What if there were a news outlet that actually covered the most important environmental stories of our time? Dr. Emily Schoerning and her nonprofit, American Resiliency, translate the latest and most urgent climate science into useful information for communities across the United States. Jason and Emily discuss the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the merits of mitigation versus adaptation, and how to take meaningful action in your own community. Originally recorded on 12/22/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- American Resiliency
- Mark Rober YouTube Channel
- Sixth National Climate Assessment, International Panel on Climate Change
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 8, “Mosquito-Flavored Popcorn, or What Climate Scientists Are Getting Wrong”
- Episode 34, “Fear of Death and Climate Denial, or… the Story of Wolverine and the Screaming Mole of Doom”
- Episode 37, “Discounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or… the Story of the Dueling Economists”
- Episode 45, “Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or… the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath”
- Episode 77, “The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk”
- Episode 97, “The House Is Quite Literally on Fire: Peter Kalmus on the Climate Emergency Hitting Home”
Choose Your AI Adventure: Immiseration or Extinction
Jason and Asher replace Rob with a much more humane and humble co-host, Elon Musk, to explore the feasibility of harnessing the entire sun to power AI superintelligence. We come away perplexed that not much of …
Notas do episódio
Jason and Asher replace Rob with a much more humane and humble co-host, Elon Musk, to explore the feasibility of harnessing the entire sun to power AI superintelligence. We come away perplexed that not much of the excellent reporting on the environmental, energy, and financial risks of the AI boom address the googleplex-sized elephant in the room – that both AI success and failure lead to immiseration. Originally recorded on 12/3/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- “Colossus 1” Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025
- “Colossus 2” Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025
- Episode 77, "The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk", Crazy Town podcast, June 14, 2023
- “Elon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Imploding” All In podcast, September 9, 2025
- “Is there an A.I. Bubble? And What if It Pops?” The Daily, November 20, 2025
- Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, “What If AI Is a Bubble?” The Atlantic, November 13, 2025
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 77, “The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk”
- Episode 84, “Escaping Technologyism: Dreams of AI Sheep and the Deadliest Word in Film History”
- Episode 101 “Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant”
EVs on Speed: The Jevons Paradox Strikes Again
Mainstream economists and environmentalists share something in common. Both tend to tout efficiency -- think better light bulbs -- as the solution to climate change and all our other environmental problems. But …
Notas do episódio
Mainstream economists and environmentalists share something in common. Both tend to tout efficiency -- think better light bulbs -- as the solution to climate change and all our other environmental problems. But the little-understood Jevons Paradox intervenes to overwhelm any progress that comes from improved efficiency. We skewer the efficiency gains of electric vehicles, lighting, and plenty of other sectors, and we cover ideas for avoiding the efficiency trap, including unveiling our new political platform, which is sure to take the country by storm.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Jason Barlow, "EVs Have Gotten Too Powerful," Wired, September 19, 2025.
- Russ Heaps, "Heaviest Electric Vehicles of 2025," Kelley Blue Book, April 7, 2025.
- Wikipedia article on energy efficiency in transport that includes a table that compares many modes of transport
- William Stanley Jevons, The Coal Question: An Inquiry concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal-mines (London: Macmillan and Co., 1866). 2nd edition, revised.
- Tomas Kloucek, "Darkness as an Endangered Species: Why Light Pollution Matters," Earth Bridge, June 11, 2025.
- Scenic America, "Billboards in the Sky: The Hidden Culprit Behind Light Pollution," July 30, 2025.
- Prepared Mind, "Welcome to the Great Unraveling (Tapestry Cloud Style Reweaving Polycrisis into Polyopportunity," June 20, 2025.
- 2,000 Watt Society
- Calculate your ecological footprint.
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 3, "One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts"
- Episode 19, "I Can’t Drive... 35! The Rationale for Rationing"
- Episode 101, "Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant"
Sane Town: A Realistic Vision of Life 100 Years from Now
Picture the future 100 years from now. What do you imagine? Flying cars? Space colonies? AI talking toasters?But if we can’t sustain an endlessly growing economy - even with a transition to green energy - what …
Notas do episódio
Picture the future 100 years from now. What do you imagine? Flying cars? Space colonies? AI talking toasters?
But if we can’t sustain an endlessly growing economy - even with a transition to green energy - what does a realistic and positive future look like?
Alex Leff of the Human Nature Odyssey podcast joins Jason, Rob, and Asher to imagine life in the 22nd century: walking from our family farms into communal villages, living off the land in a low-energy lifestyle, taming our pet donkeys, and resisting our local warlords.
It’s not the future the movies told us to expect. But it might be a future we enjoy living in.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Human Nature Odyssey podcast
Toasting Bread Is WAY Harder Than You Think: The Challenges of a Renewable Energy Future
What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energy utopia sometimes just as delusional as …
Notas do episódio
What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energy utopia sometimes just as delusional as the old fossil-fueled, drill-baby-drill mentality?
Alex Leff of the Human Nature Odyssey podcast hosts this special Crazy Town highlights compilation. Alex revisits some of the most thought-provoking moments from Crazy Town, weaving in new commentary and context. Together, we explore energy literacy, the promises and pitfalls of a renewable-energy transition, and why toasting a simple slice of bread is much harder than you might think.
Along the way, we meet an Olympic athlete trying to toast bread with nothing but a bicycle. We also step inside a billionaire’s latest invention—a time-travel device designed to fling us one hundred years into the future.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we take the full leap into the time machine and imagine what life a century from now could really look like in a post high-energy future.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- The Toaster Challenge, Olympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?, 2015
- Tom Murphy, Galactic-Scale Energy, Do the Math, 2011.
- Tom Murphy, Limits to Economic Growth, Nature Physics, August, 2022.
- Solar Freakin' Roadways, Indiegogo, 2014
- Human Nature Odyssey podcast
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 3 "1.21 Jigawatts: Energy Literacy and the Real Scoop on Fossil Fuels"
Episode 5 "Solar Freakin' Roadways: How Technological Optimism Undermines Sustainability"
Episode 106 "Blinded by the Light - Facing Reality with Renewable Energy"
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
Modified version of "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" by Strauss, from classicals.de — licensed under CC BY 4.0
Worried about the Future? Join the Club
There’s the book club, the Rotary Club, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the club sandwich. Whatever your preference, you might want to think about joining a club. Social clubs, fraternal orders, and the like have …
Notas do episódio
There’s the book club, the Rotary Club, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the club sandwich. Whatever your preference, you might want to think about joining a club. Social clubs, fraternal orders, and the like have had a storied and critical role in public life. That is, until government programs and technology gave us an out from having to deal with each other. But with modernity failing, will clubs and community organizations make a huge comeback? In this episode we explore club life – past, present, and future, if there is one. Originally recorded on 11/6/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, 2000.
- John Michael Greer, "Secret Handshakes," The Archdruid Report, January 21, 2010.
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
Episode 65, "Why the Polycrisis Is a Statistical Anomaly: The Willful Delusions of the World’s Leading Pseudointellectual"
Searching for the Golden Toad with Kyle and Trevor Ritland
Frog and Toad Are Friends, at least according to a venerable children’s book. And so are Jason (Crazy Town’s resident biology nerd) and conservationist brothers, Kyle and Trevor Ritland, authors of The Golden …
Notas do episódio
Frog and Toad Are Friends, at least according to a venerable children’s book. And so are Jason (Crazy Town’s resident biology nerd) and conservationist brothers, Kyle and Trevor Ritland, authors of The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species. The three eco-explorers connect over wondrous habitats and critters in Costa Rica's cloud forest and swap stories that cover Lazarus species, global pandemics, self-taught naturalists, birding, and even pregnancy tests. Spliced into the nostalgia and stories are reflections on how to cope in a world where biodiversity is declining and how to regain the connections that modernity has severed between humanity and wild nature. Originally recorded on 10/9/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Kyle and Trevor Ritland, The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species, Diversion Books, 2025.
- Adventure Term, Kyle and Trevor's nonprofit experiential learning initiative
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:
- Episode 40, "Nature Detachment and Ecocide, or… the Story of the Marauding Mountain Lion"
- Episode 49, "A Day at the Zoo Is No Walk in the Park: Humanity’s Overexploitation of Animals and Nature"
Unsung Heroes: Sustainability Gurus Who Influenced the Crazy Town Worldview
Some key understandings in Crazy Town: the Earth is finite; the economy cannot grow forever; people can harm ecosystems and cause global warming; physics, chemistry, and biology are real; inequality hurts …
Notas do episódio
Some key understandings in Crazy Town: the Earth is finite; the economy cannot grow forever; people can harm ecosystems and cause global warming; physics, chemistry, and biology are real; inequality hurts everyone; healthy humans need community, and it’s more fun to laugh than to cry. But where did principles like these originate? In this episode, Jason, Asher, and Rob use the format of a fantasy football draft to pick the pundits who most influenced their thinking on sustainability, resilience, community, science, economics, and politics. Like starry-eyed fanboys (but hopefully a bit more articulate) they gush over their heroes and tell behind-the-scenes stories about how they came to be influenced. And they ask listeners to share their top picks for influencers (in the best sense of the term).
Originally recorded on 9/29/25. Visit Crazy Town on the web.
Burned by Billionaires, with Chuck Collins
Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, they’re doing things to …
Notas do episódio
Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, they’re doing things to extract even more wealth, harm your health, diminish democracy, and rig the whole system in their favor. How did this happen? Why do we tolerate it? How can we stop the billionaires? And can we get a hold of our own super-yacht for Crazy Town pleasure cruises? Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Originally recorded on 10/3/25.
Sources/Links/Notes:- Chuck Collins, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet, The New Press, October 2025.
- Chuck Collins, Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing, September 2016.
- Chuck Collins, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Polity, January 2022.
Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:- Episode 10, "Tackling Inequality, One Pair of Lederhosen at a Time"
- Episode 43, "Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things"
Crazy Town Classics - 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 …
Notas do episódio
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. Originally recorded on May 6, 2021.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Richard Heinberg’s book is Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival.
- John DeLong’s definition of the maximum power principle is that biological systems organize to increase power whenever the system constraints allow.
- DeLong also wrote: “The maximum power principle predicts the outcomes of two-species competition experiments“.
- Statistics on the Bagger 293 bucket-wheel excavator
- Dams powered airplane and ship building in the Pacific Northwest (Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams).
- The cross-Atlantic sailing voyage of Greta Thunberg
- Short comic with the story of reindeer on St. Matthew Island
- Episode of the Radiolab podcast with a wild story about mTOR
Aqui estão os 40 episódios mais recentes de 181. Os mais antigos estão no feed do podcast.
Podcasts parecidos
Mais podcasts de Ciência
Este podcast é seu?
Confirme com uma entrada no seu feed: você recebe um código aqui, adiciona como podcast:txt no canal do seu feed e nós verificamos. Depois disso, seu podcast aparece como “verificado” no SoundNode.