Energy Blind - TGS Animated Series Preview

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

16 Dec 202228min

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

14 Dec 20221h 23min

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

7 Dec 20221h 32min

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

2 Dec 202210min

Today, ecologist, political scientist, and author Patrick Ophuls joins Nate to discuss his new book, The Tragedy of Industrial Civilization and The Future of Politics. As he’s been doing for his lifetime of scholarship, Patrick unpacks how energy, ecology and our political arrangements leave us in a predicament with no simple solutions. Before we can even begin to plan for the future, we need to understand the enormity of the biophysical challenges we will have to face - Patrick Ophuls helps us do just that. About Patrick Ophuls: Dr. Patrick Ophuls (who writes under the pen name William Ophuls) is an American political scientist, ecologist, independent scholar, and author. Patrick has a PhD in political science from Yale University and has been a prominent voice in the environmental movement since the 1970s. His award winning book in 1977 is on the bookshelves of most people I know. He has written 10 books including ‘Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity’, ‘Plato's Revenge’, ‘Politics in the Age of Ecology’, and ‘Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail’.   For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/47-patrick-ophuls

30 Nov 20221h 9min

This week, most of the United States celebrates Thanksgiving.  As we think about the things we are grateful for - family, food, football, dogs etc. - we don’t often remember to recognize energy’s role in enabling all this. . In this brief video, Nate reflects on all the things which abundant and cheap energy provide for us, especially in the United States, that we often take for granted. The opposite of energy blindness might be ‘energy gratitude’, so being more aware of all the magic we are surrounded by everyday is perhaps a first step in conserving it and planning for a less energy intensive future. For Show Notes and more visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/18-energy-gratitude To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rUEU-0YlPk

24 Nov 20226min

Today, ecology activist and regenerative agriculture advocate Vandana Shiva joins me to discuss how her lifetime of work has shaped the way she sees the world. From chaining herself to trees to winning against powerful agriculture giants like Monsanto, Vandana shares the many lessons she’s learned in fighting for food systems that are better for the Earth and better for humans. Can we shift away from fossil input intensive agriculture that produces commodities lacking in full nutrients towards one with more labor, more community and more nutritious food? About Vandana Shiva: Vandana Shiva is a well known activist, author of many books, and is a global champion on regenerative local agriculture, biodiversity and nutritious food. She has a PhD in physics and 40 years ago founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, an independent research institute that works on the most significant ecological problems of our times.  For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/46-vandana-shiva

23 Nov 20221h 10min

We were reminded this week of how precarious and dangerous the ongoing NATO/Russia situation is. An errant missile in Poland on Tuesday nearly started World War III (thankfully - cooler heads prevailed). The situation in Ukraine is horribly complex - but are people in the USA even paying attention? Many naively believe getting rid of Putin or ‘winning’ militarily vs Russia are valid and reasonable goals. But from a systems vantage there is more going on here than the mainstream narrative - we are in the liminal space between a unipolar and multipolar world order - a time fraught with various risks.  Our collective understanding/response is vital to livable futures.     For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/17-russia-be-careful-what-we-wish-for To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jY3QpjxiPk

18 Nov 202211min