Challenging Monopoly Power: Why Local Business is Better for People, the Planet, and Your Wallet with Stacy Mitchell

This week's Frankly is a reflection in response to (and support of) Gerardo Ceballos' new project Creatures United, launching this week at Stanford University.. The Earth is in the middle of a massive biodiversity and population loss - on the verge of a 6th Mass Extinction. Though most conversations and actions will revolve around the economy, poverty, finance, and geopolitics, the other creatures we share the planet with do not have a voice. This short video reflection is a reminder that the natural world is a passenger on the human roller coaster ride. It is my hope that (some, many?) humans can unite on behalf of our fellow creatures to preserve and support the amazing variety of life inhabiting the planet. From the great Blue Whale to the humble bumble bee, each animal is a part of our family - and what makes this planet home. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-09-creatures-united To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgoD9q3A5RU

24 Sep 202214min

On this episode, Professor of environmental chemistry Martin Sheringer joins Nate. Together, they discuss Sheringer's most recent paper on PFAS - the 'forever chemicals, their ubiquity in waterways all over the globe, and their numerous critical health effects. More broadly, they outline the risks and scenarios of plastic pollution to planetary futures - and what we might do about it. Is it possible to live in a (mostly) plastic free world, and do we really have any other option? About Martin Sheringer Martin Scheringer is a professor of environmental chemistry at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, and works in the research program on Environmental Chemistry and Modeling at RECETOX. He holds a diploma in chemistry from the Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, and a doctoral degree and a habilitation from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/37-martin-scheringer

21 Sep 20221h 17min

On this segment of Frankly, Nate responds to the predicament of increased use of forests, especially in Europe, for heating fuel in the face of declining availability of Natural Gas and other fossil fuels. Will this be a 'Terminal Deforestation Event'? What does this mean for the future of climate and accuracy of models? The importance of trees cannot be underestimated as we approach the end of cheap energy. Recorded September 14, 2022 For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-08-the-6th-pool To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N-BbsXpyTM

17 Sep 202213min

On this episode, Author and Professor Douglas Rushkoff joins Nate to discuss how human behavior interacts with technology and how we have arrived at a place with enormous wealth and income inequality just as society is rapidly approaching biophysical limits. Rushkoff unpacks parts of his new book, Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, on the need to collectively break away from a top-down mindset to embrace circularity and resiliency. About Douglas Rushkoff: Named one of the "world's ten most influential intellectuals" by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the upcoming Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/36-douglas-rushkoff

14 Sep 20221h 23min

Earlier this week there was a livestream debate highlighting the key points of the Green Growth and DeGrowth perspectives - this week's Frankly adds a 3rd 'growth critical' perspective  - that modern society has a metabolism and momentum and will grow - in non-green ways -  until we can't. This is a critical third category that should be included in these discussions, despite its 'tougher sell'. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-07-growth-until-not To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vuCJkI8B2M

9 Sep 202222min

On this episode, Climate Scientist Steve Vavrus joins Nate to discuss the Arctic and its critical impact on climate science. Why are the effects of warming so extreme in the Arctic, and what are the implications for weather events and average temperatures on the rest of the planet? Do runaway arctic feedback loops mean disaster 'Blue Ocean' scenarios? Steve explains why the answers to these questions aren't as simple as they may seem and talks about the challenges and hopes he sees for the future of humans and global climate. About Steve Vavrus: Steve Vavrus is a Senior Scientist in the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He uses computer climate models and observational data to understand how our climate is changing across the world, including in Wisconsin. Extreme weather events are an important theme of his research, particularly how they might be affected by climate change. Steve is co-director of the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) and has been a long-time member of its Climate Working Group. Steve received Ph.D. and Master's degrees in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin and a Bachelor's degree in meteorology at Purdue University. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/35-steve-vavrus

7 Sep 202259min

On this episode, we meet with legendary financial icon Kiril Sokoloff to take a bird's eye view of the global energy/financial situation. Why is the financial community so complacent about peak oil and the relationship between increasing energy scale and growth? Can we make predictions about the future by looking back at history? Kiril shares his professional experiences with scenario planning, disruption, and investing as well as his passion for history and the practice of Buddhism to influence and inform decision making and life. About Kiril Sokoloff: Kiril is an investor, a researcher, and long-time editor of the highly respected weekly publication "13D – What I Learned this Week". For 50 years he has predicted major inflection points in energy and commodity prices correctly including 1980, 2002, and 2008 and recently stated sanctions on Russia will result in economic suicide for Europe. Kiril is active in philanthropy in areas of healthcare, education, and the scaling of human consciousness. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/34-kiril-sokoloff

31 Aug 20221h 18min

On this segment of Frankly, Nate opines on the significance of French President Macron's statement we are nearing the "end of an era of abundance'. Nate shares what this watershed moment in the global political narrative means for Europe, the U.S. and the world - as we rapidly become less "energy-blind". For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-06-the-end-of-abundance To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5NuN0rqV6s

30 Aug 20229min