Topic: Anthropology

Latest

[ Episode #54 // Love + Marriage ]

Dec 10 2012

Mini Episode

Our cultural institutions face such immense challenges from economic and environmental factors that even our assumptions about love and marriage on the table. What does recent research into early human sexuality say about our ideas of love as practiced by our early ancestors? In hard times, did our predecessors practice fierce egalitarianism to ensure group survival?

In Extraenvironmentalist #54 Chris Ryan joins us to talk about evidence of prehistoric sexuality in the book Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality co-written with Cacilda Jetha. Chris discusses his research into why so many marriages fail. We try to develop a conversation about sex and love between all guys without turning it into a boys club. Is that even possible? Examples are given of rituals from ancient societies that bypassed jealousy to defeat feelings of scarcity amongst hunter-gatherer bands.

// Music (in order of appearance)

Frank Sinatra - Love and Marriage (Remix)via Youtube
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (Ohdahl Remix) via Tracasseur
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together (Siik Remix) via Soundcloud
Porter Robinson and Matt Zo - Easy (Extended Remix) via The Music Ninja
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (Leonard Destroy Remix) via The Blunted Library

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 39m

Alan Watts on why Christianity is afraid of sex

[End]

Jiddhu Krishnamurti on Sex and Love

[Additional Resources]

Secrets of the Tribe
XE on C-Realm Podcast #334
XE on the Ecohypen Podcast via Ecohyphen

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

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[ Episode #44 // Evolving Innovation ]

Jul 1 2012

Mini Episode

Our understanding of innovation has been shaped by decades of growth in the rate by which we can extract environmental resources. Now that conventional oil reserves are no longer flowing as readily, what does this do to how our modern civilization thinks about innovation? Do the innovations of the future involve faster processors and further advances is silicon materials or will it encompass something entirely different? Can we achieve sustainability through innovating?

In Extraenvironmentalist #44 we discuss the archeology of innovation with Sander van der Leeuw to learn how our complex societies have shifted short-term risks to long-term risks through the application of technologies. Sander explains how our complex societies developed and describes why our previous models of innovation may not address issues of sustainability. We ask if the genius factor can have a role in developing the breakthroughs necessary to preserve our species or if we'll need to look for other models of development. Then, we travel to Salt Spring Island, BC to meet Amy and Larry who innovated in low-energy models of living by living off the grid for fourteen years in California.


// Music (in order of appearance)
C2C - Mack the Knife (Tribute to Louis Armstrong)  via Soundcloud
 The Mynabirds - Body of Work via Stereogum
 Santigold - The Keepers via Pretty Much Amazing
 Hacienda - Don't Turn Out the Lights via The Eargazm
I Am Oak - On Trees and Birds and Fire via Soundcloud
Clams Casino - Swervin (Remix) via Stereogum
Phaeleh - Orchid via Soundcloud
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Damian Taylor Remix) via Soundcloud
C2C - Down the Road via Soundcloud

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[Break]
Sander van der Leeuw

[End]
Nipun Metha - Designing for Generosity

// Production Credits
Production Assistance  | Kevin at the Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Cover art via creative commons license

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[ Episode #33 // Year of Jubilee ]

Jan 5 2012

Mini Episode

Expectations for the year 2012 A.D. have grown from tales of Mayan calendrical cycles and timewaves. Were there truly ancient prophecies describing catastrophes in the coming year? Is a change in human consciousness imminent as human novelty reaches its concresence? What if the global consciousness shift we've all been asking for is barreling towards us as a complete transformation in the way we think about our economy?

In Extraenvironmentalist #33 we move through all the themes for the next 365 days: from Mayans to timewaves to economic collapse and debt retribution. Our journey begins with Patricia McAnany to learn the truth about the connection between the Mayan Calendar and 2012. Next, we speak with Dennis McKenna about his brother's legacy as we enter the year Terence popularized as a potential date for the eschaton and the cultural singularity. Then, Mike Ruppert articulates the trends converging as an economic collapse, threatening to disrupt the commercial goods we rely on. Lastly, Charles Eisenstein describes the necessity for a debt jubilee to relieve the burden crushing our national economies.


 

// Interviews

7'35" | Patricia McAnany on Mayan 2012 Prophecy
34'30" | Dennis McKenna on Terence McKenna and the Timewave
55'08" | Mike Ruppert on Collapse
88'25" | Charles Eisenstein on Debt Jubilee

// Music (in order of appearance)
Birdy - Young Blood (Naked and the Famous Cover) via Blahblahblahblahscience
Adam and the Amethysts - Prophecy  via The Music Ninja
Counting Crows - Colorblind (Oliver Schories Edit)  via The Music Ninja
Sophie Trilby - Guardian (2012)
Memoryhouse - This Will Be Our Year (The Zombies Cover) via Pretty Much Amazing

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Alan Watts on the Great Depression
Zizek on The Silent Voice of a New Beginning

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[ Episode #15.2 // Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss // Part II ]

May 7 2011

Mini Episode

In the course of an extraordinary life, one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents. Two young men set out from Colorado to the rainforest of South America as they hunt down an elusive chemical with the potential to reveal new dimensions of human nature. During this quest, they find something much greater, as their encounter with an enigmatic other sets their lives on a path too wild to predict.

In Extraenvironmentalist #15 we speak with Dennis McKenna about his Kickstarter project, Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss which, with your support, will become a book detailing his life with philosopher and visionary Terence McKenna. Dennis is co-author of The Invisible Landscape and a professor of ethnobotany at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing with an extensive career researching how plants and humans can create a productive partnership. We spoke with Dennis about the ways he and Terence would develop ideas, how Dennis made the trip to the Amazon with Terence, how events at La Chorrera changed him. Though we don't stop there, Dennis also shares with us many of his ideas on life, the universe and everything and weighs in on whether he coined the term extraenvironmentalist originally.

Please support Dennis' Kickstarter project

Note: This is Part II of II.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Youth Lagoon - Cannons via KLUBB ACE
Peter, Bjorn & John - Second Chance (RAC Remix) via Dealer of People Emotions

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[ Episode #15.1 // Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss // Part I ]

May 7 2011

Mini Episode

In the course of an extraordinary life, one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents. Two young men set out from Colorado to the rainforest of South America as they hunt down an elusive chemical with the potential to reveal new dimensions of human nature. During this quest, they find something much greater, as their encounter with an enigmatic other sets their lives on a path too wild to predict.

In Extraenvironmentalist #15 we speak with Dennis McKenna about his Kickstarter project, Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss which, with your support, will become a book detailing his life with philosopher and visionary Terence McKenna. Dennis is co-author of The Invisible Landscape and a professor of ethnobotany at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing with an extensive career researching how plants and humans can create a productive partnership. We spoke with Dennis about the ways he and Terence would develop ideas, how Dennis made the trip to the Amazon with Terence, how events at La Chorrera changed him. Though we don't stop there, Dennis also shares with us many of his ideas on life, the universe and everything and weighs in on whether he coined the term extraenvironmentalist originally.

Please support Dennis' Kickstarter project

Note: This is Part I of II.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Cults - Go Outside (2 Bears Remix) via The Bang Pop
MillionYoung - Calrissian via I Guess I'm Floating
How to Be Alone via Vimeo
James Vincent McMorrow - We Don't Eat (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix) via SoundCloud
Doug Hoyer - Oh, The Wind Will Blow (ft. Jessica Jalbert) via New Music Collaborative
Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed via KLUBB ACE

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[ Episode #12 // Questioning Collapse ]

Mar 13 2011

Mini Episode

As anthropologists, historians and popular writers fit the complex events of the past into stories that relay morals to the modern world, sometimes details can be overlooked to make a point. Does a civilization collapse or does it merely transform? What role does human resilience play in the shifting structures of a society? Has a society failed if it still has millions of descendants and a rich cultural history?

In Extraenvironmentalist #12 we speak with Patricia McAnany, co-editor of Questioning Collapse which addresses many oversights in the complex narratives conveniently distilled to form the pages of Jared Diamond's Collapse. We discuss some of the issues with the often cited reasons for the collapse of Mayan civilization, including simplifications made in Diamond's writings. How can we identify and classify a civilizational collapse? While many historical examples of rapid societal change may appear to be a collapse, they might just represent a collection of people living in the aftermath of empire.

NOTE: All celebrity voices are purely very poor impersonations and are not meant to be real in any way, shape or form.

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Chris Bathgate - No Silver via Chris Bathgate's Website
Oh Land - Wolf and I via Et Musique Pour Tous
RÜFÜS - We Left via FRENCH EXPRESS
Generationals - Greenleaf via Klubb Ace

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