[ Episode #36 // Art Into Action ]
With an educational system that trains artists to develop their talents into commercial skills, our culture is missing out on the ability for art to disrupt normalcy. Why should we hope for systemic reform when the vast majority of water cooler conversations turn to American Idol and the fashion at awards shows? Will concerted efforts from artists allow us to breach difficult topics and address the economic elephant in the room? Can we use art to support behavior change, moving deeper than simply building awareness?
In Extraenvironmentalist #36 we discuss art and activism with Steve Lambert. Steve describes how his work as an artist has allowed him to create temporary utopias that prompt people to question the fundamental assumptions of society. We ask Steve how his varied work experience has helped him understand our education system and barriers to reform. What if the people around us aren’t lazy and are just optimizing where their agency can have an effect?
Give Steve a follow on Twitter to keep track of his thoughts… and jokes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:55:51 — 159.2MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:55:51 — 79.7MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Active Child – Johnny Belinda (White Arrows Remix) via Tell All Your Friends
Django Django – Storm via Music That Isn’t Bad
Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere (Rosebuds Cover) via The Rosebuds Bandcamp
Ra Ra Riot – Oh, La (Submarines Remix) via The Burning Ear
Bonobo – The Keeper (Banks Remix) via The Music Ninja
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[First Break]
Cuts and Chaos – Desperation Drives Greek Clashes
Occupy the Dream – From Wall Street to Congress
US Economic Collapse – Dmitry Orlov + Max Keiser
[Second Break]
The Secret World of Shoplifting
Bill Moyers Interview with David Stockman
[End]
Meeting an awakened person – Thomas Hübl
[ Episode #35 // Ecology + Alcohol ]
You can easily enjoy a beer without knowing about the thousands of years alcohol has modified the senses of our species. We’ll go out to a bar to participate in a ritual to help us deal with the tasks of a work day, yet what if a tree does the same? Should alcohol be recognized for its ability change our consciousness in a sacred way? Are other species using the same substances we do in modifying their ability to perceive signals?
In Extraenvironmentalist #35 we speak with Stephen Harrod Buhner about his thoughts on the role of alcohol on humans and nature based around his book, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. We ask Stephen about the ecological role of humanity in the environment. Are Homo Sapiens like bees that serve a role much bigger than we’ll ever understand? Our conversation covers the ways ancient people experienced the world and alternative approaches to brewing beer. Once your hear Stephen explain the chemistry of plants, you’ll never think about that tree outside your window in the same way again.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:35 — 139.6MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:35 — 69.9MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Labyrinth Ear – Walk on the Moon (Arthur Russel Rework) via The Fader
Mansions on the Moon – Athens via Iceland Music Maffia
Kishi Bashi – Bright Whites viaConsequence of Sound
Polica – Lay Your Cards Out via Life+Times
Parov Stelar – Catgroove via IndieShuffle
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alan Watts – Roots of the Ecological Crisis
Bill Rees – The Dangerous Disconnection Between Economics and Ecology
The History of Alcohol
Terence McKenna: On Alcohol, Caffeine, Culture and Extraenvironmentalism
[ Episode #34 // Why America Failed ]
Twilight is on the horizon for American culture. After spreading an ideology of endless economic growth around the world, the definition of modernity has been defined by the United States. American values are now written into the cultural textbook for nations across the globe. Now that America is failing, what does it feel like to look back and what did we achieve? Was the collapse written in the opening chapters? What if our technological legacy comes with a terrible dark side?
In Extraenvironmentalist #34 we speak with author and historian Morris Berman about his recent look back at the history of American values as chronicled in the book Why America Failed. We ask Morris why American culture has dominated the globe despite so many dark aspects within its technology and values. Our discussion covers the ways in which people can seek meaningful lives as part of a counterculture and why our ideologies of technology and infinite growth were born on the landscape of an endless frontier. Is there a way to avoid the culture of hustling by channeling the alternative values that have arisen from those discontented by capitalism? Is it best just to become an expat?
Check out the new Extraenvironmentalist blog edited by Louisa, the newest member of our team.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:07 — 173.3MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:07 — 86.7MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Marvin Gaye – Sunny (Mercury II Edit) via Pigeons and Planes
FM Belfast – American via Iceland Music Maffia
Electric Guest – This Head I Hold via Blahblahblahblahscience
Cheerleader – Do What You Want via Turntable Kitchen
Buddy Holly – Slippin’ and Slidin’ (Jacques Renault Remix) via RCRDLBL
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Chris Hedges – Brace Yourself for America’s Collapse
Detroit Savaged by Economic Problems
America’s New Poor
Judge Napolitano
Frank Zappa on Schools
Ray Kurzweil on Technology
Kevin Kelly on Technology
Terence McKenna on Western Civilization
Jiddhu Krishnamurti – Why Do We Live With Stress
[ Episode #33 // Year of Jubilee ]
Expectations for the year 2012 A.D. have grown from tales of Mayan calendrical cycles and timewaves. Were there truly ancient prophecies describing catastrophes in the coming year? Is a change in human consciousness imminent as human novelty reaches its concresence? What if the global consciousness shift we’ve all been asking for is barreling towards us as a complete transformation in the way we think about our economy?
In Extraenvironmentalist #33 we move through all the themes for the next 365 days: from Mayans to timewaves to economic collapse and debt retribution. Our journey begins with Patricia McAnany to learn the truth about the connection between the Mayan Calendar and 2012. Next, we speak with Dennis McKenna about his brother’s legacy as we enter the year Terence popularized as a potential date for the eschaton and the cultural singularity. Then, Mike Ruppert articulates the trends converging as an economic collapse, threatening to disrupt the commercial goods we rely on. Lastly, Charles Eisenstein describes the necessity for a debt jubilee to relieve the burden crushing our national economies.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:05:13 — 172.1MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:05:13 — 86.1MB)
// Interviews
7’35″ | Patricia McAnany on Mayan 2012 Prophecy
34’30″ | Dennis McKenna on Terence McKenna and the Timewave
55’08″ | Mike Ruppert on Collapse
88’25″ | Charles Eisenstein on Debt Jubilee
// Music (in order of appearance)
Birdy – Young Blood (Naked and the Famous Cover) via Blahblahblahblahscience
Adam and the Amethysts – Prophecy via The Music Ninja
Counting Crows – Colorblind (Oliver Schories Edit) via The Music Ninja
Sophie Trilby – Guardian (2012)
Memoryhouse – This Will Be Our Year (The Zombies Cover) via Pretty Much Amazing
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alan Watts on the Great Depression
Zizek on The Silent Voice of a New Beginning
[ Episode #32 // Apocalypse Never ]
Even though we live in an age of economic decline and collapse, do our expectations for the future act similarly to the thought patterns of religious faiths expecting the end of the world? For the last 3,000 years, our species has used the meme of apocalypse to create the expectation for a utopia that never arose. Beginning with the Zoroastrian religion, the monotheistic faiths have contained the notion of an end to the world. Our historical record contains many events where a date was set and nothing happened. How did it feel to be one of those that had sacrificed everything to be swept away by a deity that never arrived?
In Extraenvironmentalist #32 we speak with John Michael Greer about his latest book, Apocalypse Not: Everything You Know About 2012, Nostradamus and the Rapture are Wrong. We ask John about the historical context of monotheistic religions, where the apocalypse meme began and its implications in our expectations for the future. We ask if the world is going to end in 2012 and JMG explains how David Icke’s evil space lizards are involved. Did Seth really see George W.Bush metamorph into a lizard? If he didn’t, what happens when we reach the end of the current Mayan calendar long count?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:19 — 140.6MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:19 — 70.4MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Feist – How Come You Never Go There via Pretty Much Amazing
Jagwar Ma – Come and Save Me via Pigeons and Planes
Gruff Rhys – Post Apocalypse Christmas via Some Kind of Awesome
Nadastrom vs. Echo – Church via Chorus+Echo
Coldplay – The Scientist (Demitri Vangelis and Wyman need Howie’s thin mint cookies remix) via Mufasas Revenge
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alex Jones: David Icke is the turd in a punchbowl
Austerity hits the Dead and Santa Alike
A Recession Christmas
Is China’s Economy Collapsing?
[ Episode #31 // Simplifying Complexity ]
Is our species capable of looking ahead to prepare for the potentially disastrous results of larger trends? While daily existence has always presented challenges, modern civilization uses advanced technologies to address problems. Yet, is our ability to problem solve the very problem itself? What if the technology we’re developing is increasing our reliance on a strategy yielding rapidly diminishing returns? Though a general understanding of complexity eludes us, are there ways of feeling it in our day-to-day life?
In Extraenvironmentalist #31 we speak with Dr. Joseph Tainter about collapse, complexity and energy. Dr. Tainter recently co-authored Drilling Down which explains why the BP Gulf Oil spill occurred in terms of the complexity that supports supports our society. We discuss concepts of complexity, energy and a meaningful definition of sustainability. In our conversation, Dr. Tainter covers the dynamics of the Roman Empire as it moved further down the road of collapse; debasing its currency and unraveling due the expenses of foreign wars. Seth and I ask if energy alternatives exist that can support civilization, such as solar photovoltaics or wind power. If they can’t, are we trapped in a complexity spiral with no way out?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:52:06 — 154.1MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:52:06 — 77.1MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Sinnitus Tempo – C’est La Vie via Elbo.ws
Penguin Prison – Multimillionaire (Shook Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Miike Snow – Devil’s Work via Pretty Much Amazing
DJ Shadow – Scale It Back ft. Little Dragon (Robotaki Remix) via The Music Ninja
Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek (ENiGMA Remix) via The Music Ninja
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Shopping Seizes Minds, Leaves No Room for News
Bill Rees – How to Convince People to Face Reality
Richard Heinberg on Transition
Thomas Homer-Dixon on Civilization Far From Equalibrium
// Additional Links
Jamie of Steppin’ Off the Edge interviews KMO and Justin about collapse
[ Episode #30 // Austerity + Hope ]
Through the transfer of private debt to balance sheets of governments around the world, we’ve entered an age of austerity where citizens are experiencing drastic cuts to basic necessities. Civil unrest has resulted from people demanding that corporate greed should be punished instead of individuals. As the Occupy movement reaches a transition point, have we witnessed the spark of global anti-captialist movement or has it just been a brief glimpse of the anger developed from decades of economic injustice? Are there true reasons for hope with an increasing number of youth facing diminished opportunities for participating in the promises that capitalist markets once offered? Is this truly a turning point in history? If so, what does it mean to live in the midst of a global revolution?
In Extraenvironmentalist #30 we speak with David McNally about themes from his book Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance, that draw on examples of successful populist uprisings around the world to demonstrate that in the Western world we too have options for resisting the tyranny of an age of austerity. We discuss the natural evolution of the Occupy movement and the potential to ensure that the movement grows while keeping food on the table and meaningful work available for the unemployed. Have elites secretly been preparing for unrest as they use taxpayers to bail out an unsustainable industry built on the pipe dream of perpetual growth? Are youth willing to accept their role as movement builders instead of iPhone owners?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:51 — 138.4MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:57 — 83.1MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Pretty Lights – Finally Moving via Et Musique Pour Tous
Hezekiah Jenkins – The Panic is On via Ghostcapital
Makana – We Are The Many
Connor Youngblood – Will You Be There (Michael Jackson Cover) via Pigeons and Planes
Aarab Muzik – Let it Go via SkeetBeatz
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
America’s New Poor Fending for Food Stamps
Doug Stanhope – Fear in the US News Media
Steve Keen on BBC Hardtalk
WBEZ on Oligarchy: How the Super Rich Defend Their Wealth
Public Sector Workers Strike in the UK
[ Episode #29 // Creating Wealth ]
Occupy Wall Street has directed our attention to the extreme concentration of wealth resulting from decades of policy designed to trickle down prosperity. Through using a single type of bank debt currency, we allocate our labor and resources to benefit a global elite instead of our communities. Can we engage our local leaders and municipal governments to break this currency monoculture? Can global examples of currency ecology provide a map for improving educational experiences, enhancing the arts and building resilience to the fragility of central bank finance mechanisms?
In Extraenvironmentalist #29 we speak with Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer about Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies, their recent book on how to implement complimentary currency systems while creating intentional cities with money ecosystems. We cover examples of complimentary currencies in Brazil (saber), the United States (time banking), Switzerland (WIR), Belgium, Lithuania and Uruguay (C3) to demonstrate how alternative forms of money can help to enhance our education, business and sense of community. Could the WIR be the reason for Switzerland’s stability? Are there ways to retool education funding that could help us realize our dreams?
Note: Justin’s poor understanding of French led to him mis-speaking Bernard’s last name, it should be said Liet-ya instead of Liet-air
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:36:02 — 110.0MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:36:07 — 66.0MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
John Lee Hooker – (Money) That’s What I Want
The J’s – The Sound of Money via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog
Sharon Jones – Money via This is Real Music
The Drums – Money (Chad Valley Remix) via Niteversions
Mr. Little Jeans – The Suburbs (Cry Wolf Remix) via The Music Ninja
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Debt Diets and Riots: Euro Lose Lose via RT
Greeks Abandon Cash Resort to Bartering via RT
Annie Lennox – Story of Broke
Enslaved to banks US students drawn to join Occupy
Chris Hedges Speaking at OWS
[ Episode #28 // At Growth's End ]
European economies are teetering on the brink of collapse as low rates of GDP growth are no longer able to justify continued investments in piles of debt. On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States is struggling to acknowledge its ever larger ranks of underemployed and unemployed while managing the world’s largest national debt. Now that the American debt to GDP ratio has surpassed 100% can the nation ever return to a state of stability? Is this just a prolonged recession or has our system of economic growth suddenly and radically changed forever?
In Extraenvironmentalist #28 we speak with Richard Heinberg about his most recent book The End of Growth which uses data on global economies and international energy supplies to argue that the paradigm of economic growth has ended forever. Richard says that while our economies will still grow in the future, they’ll be constrained to lower and lower rates of growth that won’t be able to support money systems and financial obligations. If the global economy follows a prolonged period of contraction driven by depleted energy availability, what will this do to our notions of technology and society? We discuss how global contraction will impact trends of specialization, urbanization and wealth accumulation. Seth and I ask if the end of economic growth has to be fraught with strife or if life after growth can lead to a richer existence.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:00 — 101.9MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:04 — 61.2MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Navet – Leave and Let Go (Niva Remix) via Niva Bandcamp
Bill Cagle and the Spirit of ’68 – The Other Ninety Nine via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog
Washed Out – Call it Off via Pretty Much Amazing
Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys (Yeasaer Remix) via Stereogum
Camo & Crooked – James Bond Theme (Official Rework) via The Music Ninja
// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Oakland Revolt: Occupy Cop Crackdown via RT
Oakland-DC-NYC: Occupy dot-to-dot to make big picture via RT
Robert Newman’s History of Oil
David Suzuki speaking at the University of British Columbia Chan Centre on November 3rd, 2011
[ Episode #27 // Fringeology ]
Can challenging your belief system trigger a fight or flight response? Our species is often terrified by thoughts we can’t wrap our heads around because of a basic biological response. This has separated a discussion of paranormal topics into camps of believers and skeptics that are every bit as entrenched as our political reality. Does this stratification stifle the ability to generate creative solutions? Is the scariest thing this Halloween our inability to consider new ideas?
In this special Halloween edition of Extraenvironmentalist #27 we speak with Steve Volk about his recent book Fringeology: How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable And Couldn’t which explores the edge phenomena that has always been confounding our species yet making life more interesting. Steve tells us about flash mobs in Philadelphia and talks about what it is like to have our belief systems challenged. We discuss the overview effect of space travel and its ability to give us an expanded view of our existence. Seth and I ask if lucid dreaming could be used as a potential technology or by our politicians. Is questioning someone’s belief in UFOs similar to challenging the mainstream economic narrative?
Thanks to Richard Heinberg, Gwendollyn Hallsmith, Bernard Leitaer, Conrad Schmidt and John Michael Greer for making guest appearances to tell us about our scary economic and ecological reality.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:29 — 102.5MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:34 — 61.5MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Figure – Beetlejuice via Digi10ve
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put a Spell on You (Splatinum Remix)
Figure – This is Halloween via The Music Ninja
[ Episode #26 // The Four Horsemen ]
Is capitalism failing or is it producing an intended outcome? There are a group of people privy to the internal mechanisms of our global economic rationale who are willing to share a vision of how the system really works. Though their original intent was to serve what appeared to be a beautiful machinery of supply and demand, they soon realized how greatly the assumptions of our economy are disconnected from reality. Is economics labeled as the dismal science only because of the way we currently practice it?
In Extraenvironmentalist #26 we speak with Ross Ashcroft about his upcoming film The Four Horsemen which explains how the world really works through interviews with 23 of our planet’s leading alternative economists, Wall Street insiders and economic thinkers. Ross describes how his desire to become a farmer led him to understand the problems of international finance and how a career in the film industry provided the catalyst to create a documentary about the global economic system. Ross talks about what he learned from interviewing such a well accomplished group of economic experts and what it was like to be in the same room, talking one-on-one with Noam Chomsky. Will our economy collapse because it is being orchestrated to do so or will finance fall apart because it is based on junk science?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:26 — 117.3MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:32 — 70.4MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
TV Girl – Benny and the Jets via Break on a Cloud
Penguin Prison – Don’t Fuck With My Money via Hard Candy
Charles Bradley – The World (Is Going Up in Flames) via Quit Mumbling
Shotgun Radio – A Bad Place ft. Mimi Page (Minnesota Remix) via Big Green Beats
Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans (PatrickReza Dubstep Remix) via Movements and Nonsense
// Extended Clips
Tarek El Diwany on Financial Fallout via Renegade Economist
US Jobless Epidemic Masked by Statistical Shenanigans via RT
USA Might Face a Potentially Violent Revolution via RT
Elizabeth Warren on Fair Taxation via American Spectator
[ Episode #25 // Saving Money ]
Is it more practical to learn permaculture than to earn a business degree? As financial markets sell off around the globe and world leaders scramble to prevent national defaults from collapsing the global economy, today’s youth are certain to live through a massive shift in the monetary paradigm. An education system that prepared us to receive jobs in a consumer economy injured our ability to truly learn and now we face the insult of entering a bleak job market. Is money real or is it based on societal myths? Can a monetary system built on collaboration rather than competition create a society that amplifies the positive aspects of human nature? As Mike Ruppert says: until we change the way money works, we change nothing.
In Extraenvironmentalist #25 we speak with Charles Eisenstein about his new book Sacred Economics which explains how to save the concept of money from being subject to our outdated understanding of human nature and simplistic mechanistic models of the physical world around us. While the social unrest sweeping from Cairo to Athens to Barcelona to New York is disrupting monetary dynamics can it also create an applicable positive vision? Charles explains how a negative interest currency and an economic model that integrates equity and ecology can end what we perceive to be the human nature emphasized by our current currency. Can we accept that the failure of money isn’t the end of the world but that it is an opportunity to reorganize?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:18:26 — 89.9MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:18:30 — 53.9MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Zeds Dead – Coffee Break via The Music Ninja
MGMT – All We Ever Wanted (Bauhaus Cover) via Stereogum
Michita – November via Earmilk
HEALTH – Goth Star (Pictureplane Cover) via Gorilla vs. Bear
Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (Butch Clancy Remix) via Dubtunes
// Extended Clips
Fiat Money via Renegade Economist
Trader Interview on BBC
Occupy Boston
[ Episode #24 // Redesigning Business ]
Are we truly free or has our search for freedom led to entrapment by dysfunctional organizations? As the global monetary paradigm fails, it takes the internationl business structure along with it. This dynamic allows for the application of design principles to the foundations of the new organizations replacing corporations in meeting our human needs. How much power truly rests at the top of the megalithic corporations around us and how much is dictated by the demands of fiat currency and compounding interest? In this new age of austerity, can even the lowest on the societal hierarchy spark the change needed for a new society?
In Extraenvironmentalist #24 we speak with reformed lawyer, business thinker and blogger Patrick Andrews about how the failure of business to understand our ecological reality presents an opportunity to introduce new business structures that can prevent groupthink and allow responsible stewardship. We discuss how businesses that seek only profit are failing to actualize the power that business transactions have to transform our world. Can the failure of our economy allow us to reimagine business?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:58 — 60.9MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Active Child – Hanging On via Gorilla vs. Bear
Phaeleh – Afterglow feat. Soundmouse viaIndieShuffle
Young the Giant – Islands (Polaris at Noon Remix) via SoundCloud
Figure – Wonderwall (Finger Drumstep Edit) via Club Tunes
// Extended Clips
David McNally – Global Slump and the Age of Austerity on WORT
The Coming Collapse: We Can Buy Time, We Can’t Change the Outcome via Yahoo Finance
Godfrey Bloom: Euro Christmas Fail via RT
[ Episode #23 // Fermenting Culture ]
Sustainability is not a spectator sport. Unless every single one of us radically alters our participation in the rapidly failing industrial food system, within the next few years we’ll find our food prices spiking and chaotic weather decimating the food distribution networks we have relied on. In the age of cheap and abundant refrigeration, we’re losing our species’ long relationship with live culture foods produced by fermentation. The health and nutrition of humanity is suffering from this relatively sudden break from ingesting bacteria responsible for regulating the energy metabolism of our bipedal bodies.
In Extraenvironmentalist #23 we speak with food activist and author Sandor Katz about how to ferment the counterculture. We discuss the philosophical underpinnings of live culture foods, the historical role these foods have played through human history and share some recipes to get your hands dirty and your cabbage sauering. Sandor describes how a local economy built of food preserved with bacteria from your own backyard can help you become part of your environment on a deeper level. Can our trend toward ever greater rates of obesity and poorer health be partly due to our obsession with hygiene and the sterilization of everything that we eat? All of this along with the first appearance of Cooking with the Extraenvironmentalist as our airwaves pick up a slightly different version of public radio.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:10 — 65.3MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:10 — 61.2MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Stewart Phillips – Thanks, Smokey! via Zoochosis Youtube Channel
Zack Hemsey – Mind Heist
Anomie Bell – Ain’t No Sunshine via The Music Ninja
DJ Topcat – Folsom Prison Gangstaz via Soundcloud
A Smooth Jazz Tribute to Gorillaz
California Dreamin – Minnesota via This Song Slaps
// Extended Clips
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Symphony of Science – Children of Africa
Bruce Lee – Be Water My Friend
[ Episode #22 // Picking Battles ]
Formerly abundant raw materials which enabled the creation of capitalist economies are falling short of allowing the system to grow any further. With this historic moment, the opportunity to re-imagine the nature of work and the structure of society arises. Maintaining a balance between the steps necessary for self preservation in a depleting culture while decoupling from the system and pursuing more meaningful work is a key challenge to thriving in the near future. If the status quo is being blatantly exposed as a fiction, what role can we play in writing the new society? Out of the 168 hours in any give week, what can be done outside of the 40 given to our employers to create the new world we envision?
In Extraenvironmentalist #22 we speak with writer, thinker and podcaster Doug Lain about his outlook on life in the time of Late Capitalism which is the primary topic of his recent non-fiction book Pick Your Battle. We discuss the need to manage expectations around work at what feels like the end of history and how to avoid cynicism about social change while being surround by so many catastrophes. As we produce our lives, how much of living is a fiction? What role do dystopian and utopian writers have in forming a vision of the world ahead? Can we use creative acts to derail the capitalist system before it derails us while creating abundant cities for all?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:20:43 — 62.2MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:20:43 — 55.5MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Juj – My Room via SoundCloud
The Drums – Money (Craft Spells Remix) via Neighborhood Brains
Kermit the Frog – It’s Not Easy Being Green (Andrew Bird Cover) via You Ain’t No Picasso
Moloko – Sing It Back (Can 7 1390′s Remix) via IndieShuffle
Frenic – New World via The Chuckness
Minnesota – Breathe via The Breakbeat Depot
// Extended Clips
Unwelcome Guests #565 – The World Crisis and the Wholeness of Life
The Delusion of Green Capitalism
All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace
Nature Does Not Exist
[ Episode #21 // When Technology Fails ]
The complex supply chain delivering our goods and the electrical grid powering our lifestyle meets the daily needs of modern humanity with astounding efficiency. With a relative low cost and remarkable ease of use, we’ve trimmed the fat and placed an ever more complex behemoth on top of increasingly brittle and spare supports. Our ability to eat and communicate relies on a startlingly fragile few core systems that face threats from natural and nefarious factors. In the event of a disruption to normalcy, do we have the knowledge, psychological and spiritual strength to thrive?
In Extraenvironmentalist #21 we present our most important podcast to date as, without exaggerating, it just might provide you with tools to save your life.
We speak with engineer, author and speaker Mat Stein about his books, When Technology Fails and the upcoming, When Disaster Strikes. Mat explains how our illusion of abundance and order can be easily shattered through solar flares, EMP strikes and peak oil. We discuss techniques and approaches by which a concerned individual can prepare for such possibilities in an ever greater time of uncertainty and how to make life-or-death decisions by using the Pit of the Stomach technique. While physical preparedness is a key to survival, perhaps more importantly we cover the need for spiritual strength in facing the difficult challenges of the 21st century. Seth reveals a life threatening situation of recent occurrence and also experiences a slight overwhelming panic attack in the light of information overload, Justin appears to remain calm in the face of terrifying music but harbors deep concerns of his own.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:45 — 83.0MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:45 — 63.7MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Son Lux – All The Right Things via Zen Tapes
Etta James – Something’s Got a Hold On Me via Funky16Corners
Medicine Hat – Forbidden via BandCamp
Sleep ∞ Over – Romantic Streams via Gorilla vs. Bear
The Barber of Seville – Largo Al Factotum (Mustard Pimp Remix) via The Music Ninja
// Extended Clips
‘US empire designed to self-destruct, more unrest to follow’
London Riots. (The BBC will never replay this. Send it out)
Mainstream Media Commercial
Preppers Stock Up
Obama’s Kickstarter
[ Episode #20 // Debt Unmasked ]
Rapidly rising and falling global markets are throwing the world into turmoil. The instability our societies were supposed to control has risen to the forefront. Will the incredible debt piles sitting underneath the flags of Western economies rip social fabrics into fits of unrest like the current riots in London? Before the first major financial shock of the Great Contraction in 2007, the US Government ran an annual budget deficit of only $200 billion per year. During the economic stagnation of years since that deficit is now at $1.4 trillion and quickly rising with more economic decline on the way. What happens when interest payments on this debt overtake federal income in the next few years? Are we all satisfied with sacrificing for an economic system that merely reinforces the status quo of power and greed?
In Extraenvironmentalist #20 we speak with economist Manfred Max-Neef about his career in economics during which he created development models based on fundamental human needs as opposed to power and greed. Manfred recently published Economics Unmasked: From Power and Greed to Compassion and the Common Good which leads us to discuss how universities are failing in their ability distribute a model of the world that can provide for human needs during and after the failure of capitalism. We discuss Manfred’s concern that the US is sitting on a ticking time bomb of civil unrest as economic circumstances become rapidly more dire for its inhabitants. How can the American public recognize the possibilities of a debt collapse the rest of the world is actively discussing if our media is steering the collective conversation towards trivia? After we decide to put off a bank run for now, machines end up declaring their intention for the American Presidency in 2012, though with a terrible record of job creation.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:21:54 — 112.6MB)
Podcast (96kbps): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:02 — 56.4MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Gauntlet Hair – Top Bunk via The Music Ninja
Yin Yang Twins – Shake (Celebration Mash Up) via Youtube
M83 – Midnight City (Christian Strobe Remix) via Too Many Sebastians
Vacationer – Trip via Everybody Taste
Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar (Cee-Roo Mix) via SoundCloud
Star Wars – Imperial March (TA Dubstep Mix) via Youtube
// Extended Clips
Who Killed Economic Growth? via @postcarbon
[ Episode #19 // Crash Course ]
The debt crisis engulfing American political discourse is just the realization of a financial and economic reality that has been playing out for several years resulting from decades of economic policy. Now that the unsustainable nature of our national economy can no longer be ignored how will ordinary people in the United States handle such an awakening? Does this divergence from consumption, saving for retirement and planning to buy a house present a unique chance for our generation to have a new definition of what constitutes a meaningful life? Even if the US avoids default in the next few months, are we just postponing a larger crisis down the road?
In Extraenvironmentalist #19 we speak with Chris Martenson about The Crash Course, his video series that introduces the economic, energy and environmental challenges of the near future. Chris has also just released The Crash Course as a book that comprehensively details the core issues facing our planet and modern industrial economies. We talk with Chris about his transition from medical researcher and corporate executive into sustainability advocate and economic journalist. Our discussion covers his predictions for the currently unfolding debt crisis in Washington, DC that threatens to bring America to default and the ability for our generation to take advantage of the numerous opportunities we’ll be presented with in the tumultuous times ahead. All while Seth enjoys a delicious garden fresh tomato.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:21 — 56.9MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Gramatik – Moar Jive via The Music Ninja
John Denver – Country Roads (Pretty Lights Remix) via Sunset in the Rear View
Note: we think it’s so nice we used it twice; as it’s also in #18
Widowspeak – Wicked Game (Chris Isaak Cover) via IndieShuffle
[ Episode #18 // The Wealth of Nature ]
Our economic systems are beginning to expose the first intimations of how drastically they’ve been failing us. Is this breakdown happening because our economics are reflecting the state of our ecosystems? Generations of economists have adhered with religious fervor to tenets of growth and free market dynamics that have detached from reality so drastically these beliefs have become superstitions that now drive our currencies to the brink of collapse. How can a naturally centered mindset re-focus our economic ideals?
In Extraenvironmentalist #18 we speak with John Michael Greer about his latest book, The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered. John blogs prolifically at The Archdruid Report and has written several additional spectacular books on the precarious predicaments of industrial society like, The Long Descent and The Ecotechnic Future. As Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America John’s naturally focused mind shines an illuminating viewpoint on the fallacies of modern economics and how our physical reality can create a sustainable economic system. We discuss why people typically embrace denial when first encountering his ideas, the role his druid practice has had in revealing many fallacies of commonly held viewpoints about industrial society, the role of politics in the collapse of industrial civilization and what a day in the life of a druid looks like.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:55 — 109.8MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Balam Acab – Oh Why via The Music Ninja
Channel Cairo – Elephant Room via Earplugs Not Included
Graffiti 6 – Free via Youtube
John Denver – Country Roads (Pretty Lights Remix) via Sunset in the Rear View
[ Episode #17 // Economics of Sustainability ]
The interplay between energy and money will be the underlying factor behind the biggest stories of the next decade. While easily accessible energy has created a massive financial bubble on the way up Hubbert’s curve, the primary agent on the way down will be unraveling financial complexities built up over the last 60 years. Surviving in this new world will require a radically different idea about how money can operate in localized units of economic exchange. Can ideas like liquidity networks help us survive in this new age of emergency?
In Extraenvironmentalist #17 we speak with Richard Douthwaite about the collection of essays he co-edited on the coming financial storm, Fleeing Vesuvius. Richard is an author of many books on the fallacies of economic growth, co-founder of the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. Richard explains how his educational background in economics stifled his worldview for a many years and the effect The Limits to Growth had on changing his mind about the ways in which modern economics are practiced. We discuss why entrepreneurs are worshiped by economic leaders, the promise of liquidity networks for reforming currency dynamics, the ability for energy bonds to revolutionize community energy projects and the effect of introducing new technologies into an economic system.
Also in XE #17 we respond to listener feedback, play a fantastic voicemail from a dedicated listener on ethanol subsidies and throw our endorsement behind an upcoming film about youth fighting for climate justice: you can support Just Do It via their IndieGoGo project.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:53 — 65.9MB)
// Music (in order of appearance)
Mr. Little Jeans – The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover) via The Music Ninja
ceo – Halo (Beyonce Cover) via Pretty Much Amazing
Daytona Beach – Loud Valley via Zen Tapes
Toro y Moi – New Beat (Fare Soldi “Canatu” Remix) via Harder Blogger Faster
inc – Swear via Gorilla vs. Bear
Corrections //
Justin incorrectly refers to Richard Blume, he means David Blume’s alcohol economy
Original post on July 1st had the wrong audio file
