
Discounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or… the Story of the Dueling Economists (Episode 37 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
April 15, 2021 An argument between economists is usually as exciting as reading the phone book (what’s that?), especially about something as boring-sounding as the discount rate. But it’s an argument that underlies how governments and businesses solve (or...

Conspiracy Theories and Collapse, or… the Story of UFOs and Free Energy (Episode 36 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
First things first, we try not to confuse ourselves or our listeners as we distinguish between conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies. Then we unpack a bunch of questions about why people (even some of the smart ones) are so...

Self Domestication and Overshoot, or… the Story of Foxes and Russian Melodrama (Episode 35 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
Self domestication, the process by which humans became a more cooperative and less aggressive species, paradoxically contributes to humanity’s overshoot predicament. While trying to wrap their heads around that nugget, Asher, Jason, and Rob geek out on evolutionary biology,...

Fear of Death and Climate Denial, or… the Story of Wolverine and the Screaming Mole of Doom (Episode 34 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
Thursday March 25, 2021 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...

Taking on a Billionaire Landlord in the Twin Cities
The doorknobs were busted again. But this time Arianna Anderson’s son was trapped in the bathroom. Out of desperation, she called the fire department, which came and busted down the door, freeing her son. “Nine out of 10 times...

Understanding Power
This article, the first in a series of five, is based on the author’s forthcoming book, POWER: LIMITS AND PROSPECTS FOR HUMAN SURVIVAL. For information about the book and how to join exclusive pre-release webinars, please go to postcarbon.org/power....

Relative Status and Environmental Breakdown, or… the Story of Bartenders and Bird Feathers (Episode 33 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
Thursday March 18, 2021 How can the climate disaster and humanity’s overall sustainability crisis be explained by 80s sitcom characters, birdbrained hats from the late 1800s, and a dubious new use for scratch-and-sniff technology? Go for a ride to...

Cognitive Bias and Global Warming, or… the Story of Cattle Prods and Ice Cream Shops (Episode 32 of Crazy Town)
Asher Miller Jason Bradford Rob Dietz
Thursday March 11, 2021 Season 3 of the Crazy Town podcast launches with episode 32, which explores cognitive bias and the wide world of irrationality. If only we were as rational as we think we are! It turns out that...

Fountain Pen as Bellwether
As a writer on environmental topics, I try to limit my purchase of consumer products whenever possible. I do, however, permit myself a couple of extravagances. One is books: my job requires me to be conversant with the latest...

Can Big Tech Save the World? A Review of Gates and Kolbert
Originally published at Literary Review How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need By Bill Gates (Knopf / Allen Lane 272pp) Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future By Elizabeth...