KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century

JHK shoots the breeze with David Collum, the Betty R. Miller Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University, who has become a regular and valued presence on the internet commenting on the financial system and the predicaments of our time. Dave is a live wire and lots of fun and he often disagrees with my point of view or corrects me… which is okay, 'cuz I don't pretend to know everything.  The new K...

JHK talks with geologist and independent oil-and-gas analyst Arthur Berman of Houston Texas -- emphasis on independent . Art brings clarity to the muddle created by industry propaganda planted in the credulous and gullible mainstream media.

JHK chats with blogger Steve Ludlum of Economic Undertow dot com -- a favorite recent discovery. We touch on issues of energy, economy, and culture. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the new recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali Vass.     

#226 -- JHK chats with strategic quantitative analyst Hayes Martin about what's doing in financial markets and money matters… in what is proving to be a turbulent month. We come from two very different points-of-view in the attempt to make sense of what's going on 'out there.' The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the new recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali Vass.

JHK talks with Erik Andrus of the Vermont Sail Freight Project. They are building a boat dedicated to shipping Vermont farm products to New York City and other markets via Lake Champlain, the Champlain Canal, and the Hudson River. Erik operates the 110 acre Boundbrook Farm as well as Good Companion Bakery in Vergennes Vermont. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the n...

# 224 -- JHK chats with independent energy analyst Bill Powers, author of the forthcoming book "Cold, Hungry, and in the Dark" about the American shale gas situation and its implications for how we live, published by New Society Press. I spoke to Bill by phone from his HQ in Chicago. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the new recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali...

#223 -- JHK raps with Dmitry Orlov, author of "Reinventing Collapse" and the forthcoming new book, "The Five Stages of Collapse." We delve into some heretofore unpublicized details of Mr. Orlov's personal history as a young emigre from the old Soviet Union in the 1970s, and his journeys back to Russia (both Soviet and post-Soviet) since then. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s W...

April 1 Special: The story of the Stones, by Samuel Beckett, featuring JHK. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the new recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali Vass.

JHK chats with Ben Hewitt writer / farmer of Cabot, Vermont, Author of The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food and the forthcoming new book, Saved: How I quit worrying about money and became the richest guy in the world. The new KunstlerCast  music is called “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the new recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali Vass.

JHK speaks with Rob Williams, co-author "Most Likely to Secede: What the Vermont Independence Movement Can Teach Us about Reclaiming Community and Creating a Human Scale Vision for the 21st Century." 

#219 In his never-ending quest to make sense of the financial scene, JHK chats with his old buddy David Aronson, a predictive analytics and data mining specialist, otherwise known in the financial sector as a "quant." Dave did not verify my own prejudices or validate my hypothesis about the exact nature of the mischief in the dark realm of money, but we had a lively conversation about it.

Some notes on the local farming scene. JHK chats with Washington County farmer Seth Jacobs and caterer Susie Quillio about the developing local ag scene. I met Seth at the Cambridge bluegrass jam, where he was playing mandolin. I've known Susie for twenty years. 

JHK hunkers down with John Michael Greer of the Archdruid Report  -- http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com -- to chat about politics, economy, the condition of American culture, and the state of the nation. Jim parses Obama's State of the Union Address. 

JHK banters with videographer Joe Schiappi, 27, who came to the Kunstler cave to interview JHK for  a video about about technology, art, and the future, but also ended up as a guest on the podcast in Jim's quest to suss out the mood of the 20-something generation. Joe has been living in Switzerland, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand since graduating from the University of Wisconsin.

JHK steps up to resume the KunstlerCast solo without Duncan Crary. I'll do interviews with guests sometimes, and sometimes I will just yak on my own. This week I was fortunate to have Nicole Foss of TheAutomaticEarth.com swing by as an overnight houseguest and we got to sit down at the microphones for a chat. Nicole is a veteran of Canadian government's electrical ministry and has worked in the nu...

James Howard Kunstler will be resuming the KunstlerCast, solo, in the near future. In the meantime, this is the "pilot" episode for "A Small American City," a new podcast series by former KunstlerCast host Duncan Crary. Jim helped Duncan launch the new series with this special interview. TROY, N.Y. - For many Americans, "The City" only refers to New York City, or one of the other major metroplexes...

Duncan and Jim update listeners on the future of the KunstlerCast now that Duncan is stepping back his role.

JHK updates listeners on his recent health issues. Duncan gets listeners caught up on recent tech issues.

JHK gives a walking tour of the grounds of the Kunstler Compound in Washington County, NY and updates listeners on his progress in planting his own edible garden and orchard.

Author James Howard Kunstler reads "A Systematic Misunderstanding of Reality" the coda of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 241-243).

Author James Howard Kunstler reads "The Multicultural Dilemma" from Chapter 9 of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 237-239).

Author James Howard Kunstler reads " Social Relations and the Dilemmas of Difference" from Chapter 9 of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 216-221).

Author James Howard Kunstler reads "The Futility of Party Politics in The Long Emergency" from Chapter 5 of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 85 - 86).

Author James Howard Kunstler reads "Kingdom Come," Chapter 1 of his nonfiction book, "Too Much Magic," (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp. 19 – 22).

JHK discusses his newly published nonfiction book "Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation." Kunstler considers "Magic" to be an update on his 2005 book "The Long Emergency." He says it was time to issue a reality testing report from reality central.