Human Nature Odyssey

Picture the future 100 years from now. What do you imagine? Flying cars? Space colonies? AI talking toasters? But if we can't sustain an endlessly growing economy - even with a transition to green energy - what does a realistic and positive future look like? Alex joins the hosts of Crazy Town to imagine life in the 22nd century: walking from our family farms into communal villages, living off the land in a low-energy lifestyle, taming our pet donkeys, and resisting our local warlords. It's not the future the movies told us to expect. But it might be a future we enjoy living in. CITATIONS Crazy Town podcast If you'd like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved.

What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energy utopia sometimes just as delusional as the fossil-fueled drill baby drill mentality? In this two-part series, Alex is joined by the hosts of Crazy Town—Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller—a research biologist, ecological economist, and Executive Director of the Post Carbon Institute, who bring a depth of knowledge as well as dad jokes. Together, they explore the implications of exponential energy growth on a finite planet, the hard truths behind a renewable-energy future, and which expectations we need to rethink as we chart a path forward. Along the way, we encounter an Olympic athlete attempting to toast bread using a bicycle. We also step inside a billionaire's latest invention: a time-travel device promising to fling us ahead one hundred years. Will the future be a gleaming techno-utopia powered by infinite green energy? A scorched wasteland of collapse? Or something else entirely—a lower-energy world that future generations might actually enjoy living in? Stay tuned for Part 2 where we take the full leap into the time machine and imagine what life a century from now could really look like in a post high-energy future. CITATIONS The Toaster Challenge, Olympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?, 2015 Tom Murphy, Galactic-Scale Energy, Do the Math, 2011. Tom Murphy, Limits to Economic Growth, Nature Physics, August, 2022. Solar Freakin' Roadways, Indiegogo, 2014 Crazy Town podcast ADDITIONAL MUSIC Modified version of "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" by Strauss, from classicals.de — licensed under CC BY 4.0 If you'd like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved.

This is the first 30 minutes of a longer conversation. The full conversation is available on the Human Nature Odyssey Patreon. === In 1991, a group of artists, inventors, and visionaries set out to live inside a sealed desert enclosure for two years—a bold experiment to see if humans could survive in a self-contained environment. The project made headlines, sparked controversy, and became a cultural sensation. Spaceship Earth is the riveting documentary that tells the nuanced story of the people behind this audacious experiment. In this bonus conversation, Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan from the Death and the Garden podcast join me to explore the legacy of Biosphere 2. Together, we discuss what makes a tribe function, and why the experiment's worth revisiting today.

A horrific zombie apocalypse has ravaged the world—but hardly anyone seems to notice. One lone podcast sets out to interview those navigating this strange new reality: from people attending mindful zombie retreats and binging zombie media, to those stockpiling shotguns and fortifying bunkers, to others disappearing into the woods to build something entirely new. CREDITS This is an original script written by Alex Leff VOICE ACTING CREDITS Jason Bradford Rob Dietz Jake Gibson Maia Kinney-Petrucha Jessie Lian Jake Marquez Asher Miller Maren Morgan Ray Tannheimer Maggie Weiler If you'd like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved.

This is the first 30 minutes of a longer conversation. The full conversation is available on the Human Nature Odyssey Patreon. === A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was an old Republic that, out of fear of a phantom menace, voted to consolidate authoritarian power—unknowingly sealing its own demise. It transformed into an Empire, bent on wielding its weapons of mass destruction to conquer all who dared resist. But don't worry—this is just a story. It has nothing to do with us. After all, it all happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Right? Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan are fellow podcasters, filmmakers, and friends. We continue our mid-month bonus series where we take something from the zeitgeist and view it through a broader civilizational lens.