Paul Ehrlich: "Was the Population Bomb Defused?"
On this episode, we meet with Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University and author of The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich. Ehrlich discusses what has happened with the human population situation in the decades since he published The Population Bomb. Why has humanity not responded to our long-term sustainability challenges? How would Ehrlich frame contemporary discussions about population? In a wide-ranging conversation spanning stories about his appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to how the environmental movement merged with corporate greenwashing, Ehrlich provides colorful and interesting commentary on the human predicament. About Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich is the Bing Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University and author of many books, including The Population Bomb. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/09-paul-ehrlich
2 Mar 20221h 16min
Peter Ward: "Oceans - What's the Worst that Can Happen?"
On this episode, we meet with author and paleobiologist Peter Ward. Ward helps us catalogue the various risks facing Earth's oceans, how the Atlantic Ocean's currents are slowing due to warming, what happened in Earths history when ocean currents stopped, and why a reduction in elephant poaching is contributing to the destruction of coral reefs. About Peter Ward: Peter Ward is a Professor of Biology and Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. He is author of over a dozen books on Earth's natural history including On Methuselah's Trail: Living Fossils and the Great Extinctions; Under a Green Sky; and The Medea Hypothesis, 2009, (listed by the New York Times as one of the "100 most important ideas of 2009"). Ward gave a TED talk in 2008 about mass extinctions. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/08-peter-ward
23 Feb 20221h 15min
Josh Farley: "The Past, Present, and Future of Human Cooperation"
On this episode we meet with ecological economist and Professor in Community Development & Applied Economics and Public Administration, Josh Farley. Farley explores the importance of human cooperation in a modern superstructure that incentivizes competition. What role will cooperation play in helping us solve our largest existential problems? Farley explains the critical social dilemma humans face: How can we grapple with the paradox that individuals are better served to act selfishly, but cooperation among individuals makes everyone better off? Additionally, Professor Farley helps us distinguish the difference between how a system works, and how we can understand and participate in changing a system. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/07-josh-farley
16 Feb 20221h 16min
Energy Blind - TGS Animated Series Preview
The first part of The Great Simplification's animated series is now available! Visit thegreatsimplification.com to view now.
9 Feb 20221min
Herman Daly: "Toward an Ecological Economics"
On this episode, we meet with ecological economist and professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, Herman Daly. Daly discusses the biophysical underpinnings of human economies, and how a social system that is more tethered to our ecological reality might come into being. Daly explains how the transformation from classical economics to neoclassical economics created an understanding of the world that prioritized utility and money above all else. How did neoclassical economics contribute to our current predicament? Further, Daly explores what he believes to be the best-case scenario humans face in the next decade. About Herman Daly Herman Daly is Professor Emeritus of economics at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, former senior economist at the World Bank, and a founder of the field of ecological economics. He is the author of For The Common Good, Valuing the Earth, the textbook Ecological Economics, and many other books, essays, and academic papers For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/06-herman-daly
2 Feb 20221h 6min
Daniel Schmachtenberger: "Bend Not Break Part 1: Energy Blindness"
On this episode we meet with founding member of The Consilience Project, Daniel Schmachtenberger. In the first of a five-part series, Nate and Daniel outline the macro risks and pathways for civilization to 'bend' and avoid 'breaking' in coming decades. In the Part 1 of 5 conversation, Schmachtenberger flips the script to interview Nate about the urgent problems his research and work on energy, money, and growth confront. Nate explains how we can come to understand energy blindness and the overlooked role of oil in consumption, production, and progress since the Industrial Revolution. The dominant narrative of human progress prioritizes capital and labor — but the omission of energy and materials leaves out a key component to understanding how the modern human ecosystem functions. Further, Nate discusses how a growth economy will inevitably lead to increased energy production and consumption, and how new energy technologies like renewables end up creating more energy output, not less. Putting everything together, in outsourcing our decisions and planning to a market dependent on growth, we have not so metaphorically become an energy hungry superorganism. Finally, Daniel and Nate look forward to answering: What are ways for us to prepare for a post-growth economy? How can we stay balanced in the face of existential crises? What type of policy can help shape a future that is yet to arrive, and how can we get ahead? About Daniel Schmachtenberger Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue. The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal. Towards these ends, he's had particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse as well as progress, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/05-daniel-schmactenberger
26 Jan 20221h 33min
Chuck Watson: "From MAD to NUTS: Risk, Nukes, & Climate Change"
On this episode we meet with risk expert and consultant, Chuck Watson. Watson analyzes the types of risk we face in the modern world - from climate change to nuclear arms - and how the decisions of experts help us from plunging into the abyss. How do humans manage our instincts to over-react to risks we recently experienced with high-consequence, low-probability situations? Further, Watson explores the role of human agency in risk analysis. How are humans smart enough to build dangerous systems, but unable to manage the same systems? He looks at how building stronger governance systems will allow humans to overcome our current predicament. About Chuck Watson:Chuck Watson is the founder and Director of Research and Development of Enki Holdings, LLC. Enki's models and their outputs are used by governments around the world such as the US Government (NASA, Defense Department, State Department, EPA), the States of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Hawaii, as well as the insurance industry and UN Agencies. Chuck has been a frequent guest on NPR, CNBC, and Bloomberg News providing expert perspectives on the economic impacts of natural and anthropogenic hazards. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/04-chuckwatson
19 Jan 20221h 26min
Arthur Berman: "Oil: It Was The Best of Fuels, It Was The Worst of Fuels"
On this episode we meet with petroleum geologist and expert in U.S. shale, Arthur Berman. In the discussion, Berman explains oil from the ground-up. What is oil? How is oil formed? How did we become dependent on fossil fuels? How much human labor is equal to the amount of energy in one barrel of oil? Where do the majority of carbon emissions come from, and what role can we humans play in helping us reduce emissions? How much oil is left and what are future prospects for oil production and the economy? Further, Berman looks at the human desire to continue to grow and how it contributes to our collective energy blind spots. If oil is the economy, and oil is depleting, Berman explains why human cultures will one day soon need to learn to be satisfied with enough, rather than more. About Arthur Berman Arthur E. Berman is a petroleum geologist with 36 years of oil and gas industry experience. He is an expert on U.S. shale plays and is currently consulting for several E&P companies and capital groups in the energy sector. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/03-arthurberman
12 Jan 202254min
