Doomer Optimism

Evan and Jason talk about Narrative Exchange, a program of bringing people from very different backgrounds and sharing stories to foster greater empathy and compassion. They also talk about many related topics including the internet and polarization, the loss of community life, Dunbar’s number, building new communities across differences, public schooling vs. homeschooling, how to be a responsible...

Ashley and Evan discuss global supply chains and suggest a synthesis between globalism and localism.

Chris, Shaun, and Jason record a follow up conversation to an earlier one between Shaun and Jason (found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yni0F-3VVxo&t=1174s ) talking about the intersections of Chris’s vision of a Small Farm Future and Shaun’s of Lean Logic, and particularly the cultural and spiritual dimensions of collapse and regeneration, as well as the more near term conflicting urba...

Braxton sits down with Ashley and Roland to discuss localism, agriculture, community, and that controversial new country music singer Oliver Anthony!

James, Keturah, Andy, and Donald talk about America and literature and American literature, its limits and possibilities.

Chuck and Saundra Lewis operate Sheraton Park Farms – a 70-acre regenerative farming operation nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain of Wilkes County, NC. Starting from a single chicken tractor with 25 broiler chickens in 2018, Chuck and Saundra have grown their operation to raising meat birds, egg layers, turkeys, pigs, and cows – and earning a respectable income. In this fast-paced...

David Caley and Medical Nemesis join Donald to talk about Ivan Illich. Medical Nemesis wonders why Ivan Illich’s book Medical Nemesis has not taken hold in any part of our culture and how to make practical use of this knowledge. @‌Medical_Nemesis / https://medicalnemesis.substack.com David Cayley is a Toronto-based Canadian writer and broadcaster, who is known for documenting the philosophy of pro...

In this episode, Jason and Patrick Heizer speak to Kristina Bostick about the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve. Directly northwest of Washington DC, Montgomery County is Maryland's most populated county, with well over one million residents. In 1980, the Montgomery County Council made one of the most significant land-use decisions in US history by creating the Agricultural Reserve. Heral...

In this episode Jason talks with Farahn Morgan about growing up in Appalachia, moving to DC and going to college, moving back home near her family and community, and her work in news, journalism, and how she frames it: storytelling. They dig into the nature of ‘expertise’, culture, folk traditions and how they are exploited, making a living in the modern political economy and the difficulties of d...

Shaun and Jason have a conversation about some of the major themes and projects that Shaun has been developing in collaboration with others, including Dark Optimism, Lean Logic, and Surviving the Future. They discuss biophysical collapse, the prefiguration of what comes after, what the trajectories of George Monbiot and Paul Kingsnorth indicate about the larger society, how Doomer Optimism follows...

In this episode Jason speaks with Alex Corren (@arcorren ) about his organization ReCommon (@ReCommon_Land) which aims to address the logistics and financing around land access and tenure for regenerative stewardship, in particular catalyzing the creation of a network of bioregionally embedded regenerative land trusts. They also touch on the shared vision of ‘networked bioregionalism’ as the most...

John Klar is an attorney, regenerative farmer, and author living in Vermont. He has just published the book “ Small Farm Republic ” (Chelsea Green). This book gallops through major themes describing the economic, environmental, political, and social unsustainability of industrial ag, and issues a passion-inflected call for a return to the land and small-to-mid-scale regenerative farming practices....

In this episode, Jason speaks with D. Mason (@dkpmason) about his life growing up in ghettos, trailer parks, and the woods in Alabama and Appalachia, learning to live off the land and becoming the Dirt Mage, getting a felony for growing and trading weed and mushrooms which many venture capitalists are now getting rich on, anarcho-communism, community empowering technology, the pitfalls of both the...

Matthew Loftus and Medical Nemesis join occasional first-time host Donald to talk about medicine and Ivan Illich. Medical Nemesis wonders why Ivan Illich’s book Medical Nemesis has not taken hold in any part of our culture and how to make practical use of this knowledge. @‌Medical_Nemesis / https://medicalnemesis.substack.com Matthew Loftus @‌matthew_loftus lives in Kenya with his family, where he...

Ashley and Jason interview Jim Rutt, co-founder of Game B, a complexity-informed social movement aimed at creating systems change towards an intelligent and cooperative society. They discuss the evolution of Game B, the theory of change, current efforts to develop viable ‘proto-B’ communities, overlaps with Doomer Optimism, and much more Jim Rutt is the former CEO of Network Solutions. The New Yor...

A rollicking conversation with Chris Mott of "Woke Imperium" fame. We checked in on geopolitics and ideology and how these have influenced current events and crazy trends in journalism, academia, gov't, NGOs, and the PMC in general. One fulcrum of the conversation was how the DC pride celebration has evolved over recent years to be dominated by the military-industrial-complex (Raythe...

Break-It-Down Austin – Food waste hauling, composting & creative resource recovery Jeff Paine and Josh Kearns Jeff Paine is co-founder and co-owner with his wife Mel MacFarlane of the Austin, TX based Break-It-Down. http://breakitdownaustin.com Formed in 2009 out of the couples’ rented duplex to provide a yoga studio, a coffee shop, and a juice bar with a way to steer their compostable waste a...

Jason speaks with Seneca Scott (@SenecaSpeaks21 ) about his life and work leading up to and including the founding of Neighbors Together Oakland, which focuses on community safety, localized agricultural systems, thriving local businesses, and accessible housing. They also discuss building ‘parallel systems that will remain resilient as our current one’s collapse’, and how this relates to local po...

Ashley and Nate discuss the concept of Left Conservatism in a wide ranging conversation about what is sacred, the market, the state, and the process of developing politics and relationships.

Donald and Keturah discuss Orthodoxy and noise with Alana Nickels. Alana "Nickels" Solomon is a former train kid and future Matushka, writer of "Hobo Nickels", painter of icons, and wife of Deacon Mark Solomon, who currently attends St. Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Buy and subscribe to her zine: http://alananickels.bigcartel.com Learn more: http:...

Ashley speaks with Bill Rees, the inventor of the ecological footprint, and John Mulrow about the false promises of the green energy "transition," degrowth, and whether or not social change happens by design or by disaster. Quick Bio: John Mulrow is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. His research focuses on how environmental i...

A discussion of Chris' forthcoming book Saying No to a Farm-Free Future “Everyone in the food business needs to read this book. . . . [A] lively and superbly written polemic.”—Joel Salatin, co-founder of Polyface Farm A defense of agroecological, small-scale farming and a robust critique of an industrialized future. One of the few voices to challenge The Guardian‘s George Monbiot on the future...

Ashley speaks with Kate Parsons and Adam Mayfield about their wilderness survival skills school, the role of art in society, and mindfulness in practice. A wild ride! ‌ PRIMAL U designs and implements one-of-a-kind courses with experts in wilderness first aid, leadership, survival techniques, sustainability and mindfulness training. Primal U’s mission is to train individuals holistically, providin...

Ashley speaks with Christopher Lasch’s biographer, Eric Miller, about all things Lasch, localism, and his forthcoming book on Wendell Berry. ‌ Eric Miller is professor of history and the humanities at Geneva College, in Beaver Falls, PA, where he directs the college’s honors program. He is the author of  Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch  (2010) and  Glimpses of Another Land:...

Don and Ashley chat with Steve Mouzon about all things New Urbanism, Wrath of Gnon, and the right approach to the 15 minute city. Steve Mouzon is an architect, urbanist, author, blogger, and photographer based in Tuscaloosa. He co-founded the Urban Guild , which was instrumental in the creation of the Katrina Cottages initiative . The Guild is the nexus of Project:SmartDwelling, which works to red...