Breaking Down: Collapse

In this episode we discuss the ongoing and worsening mental health crisis taking place globally. Learn More: https://www.mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/16/well/mental-health-crisis-america-covid.html https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/mental-health-america-crisis https://www.projecthope.org/the-global-mental-health-crisis-10-number...

Margaret Killjoy joins us on the podcast to dicsuss community and individual preparedness.  Margaret is a transfeminine author, musician, and podcaster living in the Appalachian mountains. She is the author of A Country of Ghosts as well as Danielle Cain series of novellas and is the host of the community and individual preparedness podcast Live Like the World is Dying. Support the show Please joi...

There are two technologies that techno-optimists love to tout as our saviors, that which will save us in the future: Carbon Capture and Geoengineering. While Geoengineering has been covered previously in this podcast, this episode focuses on the current state of carbon capture and why it's not the answer to all our problems. Learn More: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/book-excerpt-the...

Kellan and I were pleased to interview Dr. Joseph Tainter. The conversation revolved around his widely known book "The Collapse of Complex Societies". Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join our Discord community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the most concerning consequences of the future is mass migration. Mass migration is both a cause and consequence of collapse, creating a positive feedback loop of escalating problems. Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join our Discord community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we had the opportunity to speak with Daniel J Kim, AKA The Pop Mythologist, about the role that pop culture and works of fiction play when it comes to learning about, coping with, and educting on collapse. The Pop Mythologist is the founder and editor of the pop culture blog, PopMythology.com . In his "Hero Wisdom" column he uses pop culture to discuss important real-life issue...

In this second installment of our new Why We're Wrong (or so they say) subseries, we're exploring why they say we're wrong about Climate Change. the conversation is lengthy, so we made it a two-parter! This is part 2, which covers the remainder of the arguments made against climate change.  Please forgive the audio issues with this week (and last week's episode), we had a mic m...

In this second installment of our new Why We're Wrong (or so they say) subseries, we're exploring why they say we're wrong about Climate Change. the conversation is lengthy, so we made it a two-parter! We also discuss at length the new movie "Don't Look Up", and it's relevancy to this conversation! Please forgive the audio issues with this week (and next week&apo...

This year we start an annual tradition of discussing how collapse has played out during the year, as well as discussing predictions for the next year. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/siberia-us-wildfires-broke-emissions-records-this-year-2021-12-06/ https://www.space.com/2021-record-wildfire-season-from-space https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arctic-record-siberia-100-degree-heat-climate-...

This week we were pleased to interview Haven Scott McVarish, who is the founder and director of the non-profit organizations Common Sense Democracy and 5Journeys. He has been a community organizer, a strategist for local political campaigns, a union leader, and the founder of one of the most successful immigration law firms in Los Angeles. He is a former congressional candidate, a frequent progres...

When it comes to greenhouse gasses, C02 typically takes center stage. In this episode we take on the 2nd most prolific greenhouse gas, methane, which is comparatively a much more powerful gas when it comes to global warming. There are many theories that exist regarding the future of methane, and we try to take a balanced look at those here. Learn More: https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-a-new-...

Previously (episode 45), we talked about the weaknesses in global infrastructure from a very high level, with the promise to touch deeper on different aspects of infrastructure later on. In this episode we focus on dams and bridges, two very critical aspects of our physical infrastructure, and each with their own unique battles to fight now and in the coming decades. Learn more: https://www.nature...

This podcast, and the exploration of collapse itself, can be a bit of an echo chamber. In this sub-series we want to take an honest look at the counter-arguments that exist which try to explain why collapse won't happen. In this episode, we take a look at the arguments against resource scarcity.  Learn More: https://interstem.us/2021/07/10/will-the-earth-ever-run-out-of-resources https://www....

History is full of examples of collapse of all sorts. This week we take a high level look at some of those collapses and attempt to find the parallels with our situation today.  Learn More: https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-are-some-common-reasons-why-empires-fall/ https://www.theguardian.com/education/higher/humanities/partner/story/0,9885,678228,00.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_c...

This is an example of the bonus episodes we release weekly every Friday to our Patreon subscribers. Use the link below to join! Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join our Discord community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were pleased to interview Michael Rezl, one of the senior moderators on r/collapse, on his perspective on Reddit, moderating, and getting his insights on Paul Chefurkas "Ladder of Collapse Awareness". Learn More: Ladder of Awareness Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join our Discord community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

It is one of the most talked about aspects of climate change in the mainstream, and yet one of the most misunderstood.  Sea level rise is more than just cities under water and is not something we have until 2100 to start seeing the effects of. It's happening now, and the problem is growing exponentially.  Learn More: https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/publications/ranking-of-the-wor...

When it comes to natural disasters, California doesn't have it easy. Droughts, wildfires, mudslides, The Big One, (and last but certainly not least), ARkStorm.  ARkStorm is more than just an ominous-sounding name. It is a storm that has happened in a  historically consistent pattern, and one that would decimate the California economy as well as potentially that of the US and even the world. I...

In the "Can Technology Save Us?" series up to this point we've taken a look at renewable electricity, nuclear fission, geoengineering, and nuclear fusion. In this episode, we take a look at electric vehicles and the hopes that have been put in them to help power a sustainable future. Can electric cars save us? I think you already know the answer (not a chance), and this episodes sho...

The US defence budget is enormous - as big as the next 10 countries combined! In this episode we discuss the true cost of the US military, beyond just dollars. Learn more: https://sipri.org/media/press-release/2021/world-military-spending-rises-almost-2-trillion-2020 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-rein-in-inflated-military-budgets/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_bud...

A recent model predicts civil conflict and even civil war in the United states. A prerequisite for this to happen is that there has to be restrictions on upward socioeconomic mobility. In this episode we explore how that has taken place, and what the final result will be for the ruling elite if the working class is pushed too far. Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content...

With increases in technology come increases in complexity. Over the years we've continually added important infrastructure to Earth's orbit, infrastructure which is now imperilled by ever-increasing chances for a cascading failure that could jeopardize our financial systems, communication, and supply chains. Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join...

In this episode we take an up-close look at one example of our currently strained supply chains, semiconductors. Why are we running short? What implications does it have? How is it an example of overall supply chain disruption? Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to join our Discord community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many parts of the world live in areas heavily impacted by tropical cyclones. Costing 10's and even 100's of billions of dollars per year in damages, these storms have the potential to cause real harm to supply chaines, infrastructure, and economy. Thanks to climate change, they're getting worse. Learn More: Projected Increases in Hurricane Damage in the United States: The Role of Cl...

Mental health and resilience is one of the lesser-spoken-about topics of collapse, but one that is so important as the world around us continually changes at an accelerated pace. In this episode, we check in on eachother's mental health and Kellan gives some specific examples and ideas for building mental resiliency.  Support the show Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus content and to...