The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

In this Frankly, Nate unpacks the choice of the podcast title "The Great Simplification", and how he thinks about responses - rather than solutions - to the challenges we face in the decade ahead of us. He lays out the framework for the scale and degrees for how we can elevate the chances for a positive future. He also reflects about what he's learned while hosting The Great Simplification and whe...

On this episode, we meet with ecologist and conservationist Dr. Gerardo Ceballos. Ceballos discusses animal populations, the sixth mass extinction, his new project, Creatures United, and how we can better care about and protect Earth's remaining biodiversity. About Gerardo Ceballos: Dr. Gerardo Ceballos is an ecologist and conservationist very well-known for his theoretical and empirical work on a...

On this episode, Jason Bradford, who is an author, activist, farmer, and teacher, talks about the energy intensity of our modern industrial agriculture system.  How do we feed billions of people with depleting energy systems? How do we also protect existing biodiversity and ecosystem health? We also discuss what makes for healthy soil, why we're losing it, and how small farms can help get it back...

Nate explains how our culture is "energy blind" and the implications. The YouTube video, featuring charts and graphs, of this podcast is available now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVjhb8Nu1Sk For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-03-energy-blindness  

On this episode, we meet with author, social scientist, policy researcher, and mental health advocate Tim Watkins. Watkins gives us a bird's eye view of how energy, the economy, the environment, and mental health fit together. How important will mental health be to help us navigate uncertain times? About Tim Watkins: Tim Watkins is the author Consciousness of Sheep, social scientist, policy resear...

On this episode, we meet with cofounder of the Earth Species Project, cofounder of the Center for Humane Technology, and cohost of the podcast Your Undivided Attention, Aza Raskin.  Raskin gives us a general overview of what artificial intelligence is, how it's about to become more deeply embedded in our lives, and how he and his team plan to use AI as a Rosetta Stone to translate the languages of...

Show Summary:  On this episode, we meet with social innovator, writer, and speaker, Vicki Robin. Robin unpacks how the machine of community begins. How does being vulnerable, sharing, and being obligated to others create a system that allows everyone to contribute?  Why do we need to learn to begin asking for help? Further, Robin shares how we can begin to take steps toward food resiliency. Robin...

On this episode we meet with founding member of The Consilience Project, Daniel Schmachtenberger. In the second of a four-part series, Nate and Daniel explore the relationship between energy, information, technology, the Superorganism, and the maximum power principle. How can we maximize returns on agency? Nate and Daniel explain the importance of hyper agents: those humans who have an outsized in...

On this episode, we meet with Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland, Dr. Simon Michaux. Why do humans ignore important mineral and material limits that will affect human futures?  Dr. Michaux reveals how we are "minerals blind" — and the consequences of this myopia. To shed light on the effects of our minerals blindness, Dr. Michaux explores the disconnect betwee...

On this episode, we meet with Professor of Physics at UCSD and the Associate Director of CASS, the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Tom Murphy. Murphy shows us how continued growth and energy use is an impossibility if continued at our current trajectory. How does physics constrain our planetary ambitions? Murphy helps us do the math. To help us align with a post-growth trajectory, Murp...

Show Summary: On this episode, we meet again with risk expert Chuck Watson.  How can we avoid a nuclear conflict? Watson gives a primer on how to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict and the measures we can take to mitigate nuclear exchange as individuals, a nation, and the world. Further, Watson explains the potential pathways to nuclear escalation. This episode was recorded thanks to the valuable...

On this episode, we meet with Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology and co-host of Your Undivided Attention Podcast , Tristan Harris. Harris explores the intersection of society and social media technology. How does modern social media pose an existential risk for society? How can we create a healthier, sustainable relationship between our social technology and culture? Harris explains ho...

On this episode, we meet with Professor at the University of British Columbia and Founder of Sea Around Us, Dr. Daniel Pauly. Dr. Pauly shares the role warming sea water plays in fish migration. How do warming temperatures affect water oxygen levels and fish behavior? Dr. Pauly explains that the world has passed peak fish, and why contemporary metrics do not always paint a complete picture of our...

On this episode, we meet with Ecological Economist, John Gowdy. Gowdy explores the revolution in biology and its significance in society. How do different cultures manifest human nature? What role has agriculture, and specific crops, played in how societies developed? Further, Gowdy discusses the relationship between capitalism, surplus, and The Superorganism. Does human agency matter to the Super...

On this episode, we meet with Executive Director of the Flow Genome Project, Jamie Wheal. Jamie discusses the evolutionary importance of music as a coping mechanism, how the United States' university system fails to prepare students for the crises of the coming decades, and how to find hope in this time of tumult.  About Jamie Wheal: Jamie Wheal is the Executive Director of Flow Genome Project. Hi...

On this episode, we meet with Professor Emeritus of Systems Management and author, Dennis Meadows. Meadows revisits Limits to Growth 50 years after it was published.  Looking back, how does Meadows view the book? How much of the response to his description of overshoot was based in fear? Meadows offers advice to current leaders based on the models he developed in Limits to Growth. Why is it import...

On this episode, we meet with ecologist, writer, and Greenpeace cofounder, Rex Weyler. Weyler explains how the ecology movement was hijacked by the environmental movement. How is climate change one of many issues that has a root cause of overshoot?  Weyler also explores the dangers of relying on hope as a strategy.  Why must we be careful about virtual signaling in the environmental movement, and...

An important dialogue with Chuck Watson on: 1) Why the U.S. public is naïve about what nuclear war means 2) The mechanics on how nuclear war with Russia could actually happen 3) How bad would nuclear war short and long term effects be? For Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-02-are-americans-willing-to-risk-nuclear-war To Watch on Youtube: https://www....

On this episode, we meet with award-winning filmmaker, writer, educator, and President of the International Bateson Institute, Nora Bateson. Nora brings us beyond the descriptions of the physical science that underpins our predicament to the nuance and perception of the complexity that we live within. How can we improve our relationships with others, as well as the broader world? Nora helps us und...

In addition to regular Wednesday longform podcasts, this video is #1 of new series of short takes, "Frankly" which are framings and context on current world events. Today, I riff on longer term implications of Ukraine/Russia especially with energy and global systems. For Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-1-what-war-in-the-ukraine-means-for-energy-and...

The second part of The Great Simplification Animated Series is now available! Visit http://thegreatsimplification.com to view now.

On this episode, we meet with Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University and author of The Population Bomb , Paul Ehrlich.   Ehrlich discusses what has happened with the human population situation in the decades since he published The Population Bomb . Why has humanity not responded to our long-term sustainability challenges? How would Ehrlich frame contemporary discussions ab...

On this episode, we meet with author and paleobiologist Peter Ward. Ward helps us catalogue the various risks facing Earth's oceans, how the Atlantic Ocean's currents are slowing due to warming, what happened in Earths history when ocean currents stopped, and why a reduction in elephant poaching is contributing to the destruction of coral reefs. About Peter Ward: Peter Ward is a Professor of Biolo...

On this episode we meet with ecological economist and Professor in Community Development & Applied Economics and Public Administration, Josh Farley.  Farley explores the importance of human cooperation in a modern superstructure that incentivizes competition. What role will cooperation play in helping us solve our largest existential problems? Farley explains the critical social dilemma humans fac...

The first part of The Great Simplification's animated series is now available! Visit thegreatsimplification.com to view now.