Topic: Higher Education

[ Episode #59 // Financialized Education ]

The amount of college debt is skyrocketing in the United States while job opportunities sought by graduates are dwindling. Costly undergrad and graduate degrees used to be the passport to a middle class lifestyle but are now leading to a growing number of indebted youth who are bitter about their time in higher ed. Have modern ideas of higher education been so deeply shaped by the logic of the financial sector that we won't find an alternative? What methods of self-learning can we use to gain skills while avoiding the debt burden of a university education?

In Extraenvironmentalist #59 we speak with critical theorist Max Haiven about the financialization of higher education and how it has limited our imagination. Max discusses the Edufactory Collective and how we can't separate the university from the transformations underway in global capitalism. Then, we talk to Kio Stark about her recent book Don't Go Back to School: A Handbook for Learning Anything to discuss how successful self-learners were able to master skills without going through institutions of higher education.

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 32m20s

Michael M'Gonigle - Montreal Degrowth Conference
Generation Jobless: Spain's Disenchanted Youth
Charles Eisenstein on Higher Ed as interviewed in Vancouver

[End]

Bill Hicks on the University of Houston

// Music (in Order of Appearance)
Beat Connection - Saola (ODESZA Remix) via Soundcloud
MSMR - Fantasy (NICITA Remix) via The Orange Press
Steel Train - You Are Dangerous (RAC Remix) via Caveman Sound
Jeff Spec ft. NaRai - Stop via Bandcamp
Airbird & Napolian - In the Zone via Gorilla vs. Bear
Travelling Day - Smoking Dog via Soundcloud

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

(more…)

[ Episode #56 // So Much Magic ]

// Duncan's Photos From His Canalers Adventures
[nggallery id=2 width=400]

Maintaining the complexity of our civilization requires a consistent input of net energy and a stable climate. We've already experienced the first few years of a long emergency through economic stagnation and contraction, financial fraud and a lack of meaningful political momentum. Can we expect advances in technology to make a useful contribution to solving modern challenges or are we headed for a technological time out? Are we approaching a magic moment when those oppressed by debt refuse to pay?

In Extraenvironmentalist #56 we speak with James Howard Kunstler about his recent book, Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology and the Fate of the Nation. Jim talks about how the magnitude of corruption in our financial system revealed since 2008 has been even greater than he could have imagined. We ask Jim about his views on the rapidly changing landscape of higher education and how to think about its future. Then, Duncan Crary tells us about his years of podcasting on the Kunstlercast and his new podcast A Small American City. Duncan tells us about life on the inland waterways of New York and about pioneering a new American way of life in the small towns abandoned over the second half of the 20th century.

// Music (in order of appearance)

Aretha Franklin - One Step Ahead (DiscoTech Edit) via The Burning Ear
Django Django - Default (Mr Mitsuhirato Edit) via Soundisstyle
Harry Belafonte - Jump In The Line (John Bourke's Bmore Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous
The Killers - Runaway (RAC Mix) via Soundcloud
Spin Doctors - Two Princes (G Templeton & Branded James Remix) via Youtube

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 40m
Paul Krugman: We Are on The Brink of a Technology Revolution That Will Transform Our Economy
The Superbowl Blackout
US Hides Real Debt, In Worse Shape than Greece

[Additional Resources]

A Small American City Podcast

Canalers
New Economy Summit at The University of British Columbia, April 5th and 6th

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

(more…)