Topic: Localization

[ Episode #86 // Slow Money // Part C ]

May 25 2015

Panel with Wendell Berry, Chellie Pingree and Greg Fischer
Town Hall Meeting on Culture
Douglas Gayeton - Keynote

The soil of our food system provides the roots of our culture. Without soil, our modern lifestyle would cease to exist. As climate change accelerates rates of soil erosion, will the global population be left as a stranded asset? As we fail to describe the real cost of cheap food through our vocabulary and economics, and true value of land is lost in the equation. Can we change our language and culture in time to create a new practice of sustainable farming and eating?

Extraenvironmentalist #86 closes out our coverage of the recent Slow Money National gathering through discussing the farm bill, culture, and the language of sustainability. We first hear from a panel with poet, farmer and author Wendell Berry, Maine Representative Chellie Pingree and Louisville, KY Mayor Greg Fischer. Then, a session on culture covers how our society is shaped by expectations and approaches to food. Our final piece from the conference features Douglas Gayeton discussing the Lexicon of Sustainability.

// Links and News Items

GMO Investing Q1 2015 Newsletter - Jeremy Grantham - Are We the Stranded Asset?
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye: Is Mad Max Our Future?
US National Census: Biking to Work Increases 60 Percent Over Last Decade, Census Bureau Reports h/t @GregorMacdonald
Journal of Environmental Investing: What Divesting May Yield: Revisiting “The Grasshopper and the Ant” in the Context of University Endowments

// Books

The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture by Wendell Berry

Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty by Gary Nabhan

Local: The New Face of Food and Farming in America by Douglas Gayeton

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Jeremy Grantham Speaks at League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner

// Music (in order of appearance)

Burhou - Please Delete via IndieShuffle
Gramatik - In This Whole World via Soundcloud
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
Glass Ghost - Sound of Money via Soundcloud
Mirror Talk - Some Boys via All Things Go Music
Trampled by Turtles - Where Is My Mind (Pixies Cover) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Ben Evans of BenEvansCreative.com

Episode #86 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Shad in British Columbia
Kiel in California
Carolina in Sweden
Seymour in Massachusetts

[ Episode #85 // Slow Money // Part B ]

Apr 13 2015

Town Hall Meeting: Food
Severine von Tscharner Fleming
Breakout session: GMOs
Vandana Shiva - Keynote Video

Our 20th century food system has created a global market for cheaply priced commodities of corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. We pump a plethora of food from the earth, in the same way we pump barrels of oil. A vision of never-ending technological progress frames the creation of genetically modified organisms in an attempt to keep agribusiness as usual moving forward. But do GMOs work as claimed? Will they be a crucial part of a sustainable food future?

Extraenvironmentalist #85 focuses on the topic of GMOs in the second of our three part series from the 2014 Slow Money Gathering. We first hear from a town hall meeting on food with Patrick Holden, Richard McCarthy, Judy Wicks and Preston Correll. Then Severine von Tscharner Fleming presents a youth perspective on farming and food. Then, a panel on GMOs covers the latest research into industry claims. In the second half of our show, we hear an exclusive radio edit of Vandana Shiva's keynote on the psychology of war embedded in our industrial food system.

// Links and News Items

The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money - free ebook

What's the true cost of gasoline?

Wolf Street: no bottom yet under the fracking bust

// Books

Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local-Economy Pioneer by Judy Wicks

Making Peace With the Earth by Vandana Shiva

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Aziz Ansari on Chickens

// Music (in order of appearance)

Phoria - Emanate (Tom Gillieron Rework) via Soundcloud
Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit (Claptone Remix) via IndieShuffle
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
The Be Good Tanyas - Waitin' Round to Die (Avener Remix)
Gramatik - Victory via Soundcloud
Monkey Safari - Cranes (Wolf + Lamb Remix) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Ben Evans of BenEvansCreative.com

Episode #85 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Richard in Spain
Paul in CA
Benny in Australia
Jim in WA
Zach in NJ

[ Episode #84 // Slow Money // Part A ]

Mar 2 2015

Joel Salatin Keynote video
Marco Vangelisti video
Woody Tasch - Opening Keynote Video
Mary Berry - Keynote Video

Our industrial system of agriculture and an integrated global marketplace has created an abundance of available food for those in wealthy nations. Cheaply priced produce and meat shows up in our supermarkets and restaurants with rarely any concern. Values of efficiency and synchronized just-in-time deliveries have been served by a philosophy of capital-intensive financing for food. A monoculture has been created that is now threatened by droughts of water and credit. Are there less complex ways of growing food that can reduce dependencies on large-scale finance?

Extraenvironmentalist #84 is the first of our three part series from the 2014 Slow Money Gathering. We’ve taken more than 22 hours of our live broadcast footage from the leading thinkers on sustainable sustainable food systems, editing their thoughts and speeches down to the best parts for our podcast audience. We first hear from Woody Tasch, author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered, Marco Vangelisti of Essential Knowledge for Transition and Mary Berry of The Berry Center. Then, Joel Salatin outlines a vision for building a truthful farming system that can dramatically reduce the capital intensity of farming while building living systems.

// Links and News Items

Dead malls: Half of America’s shopping centres predicted to close by 2030

‘Not Mayberry anymore’: Oil patch cops scramble to keep up

// Books

Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered by Woody Tasch

Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Christine Lagarde on facing strong headwinds in the global economy

// Music (in order of appearance)

Caribou - Back Home (umami edit) via Soundcloud
Hayasua - Farewell Blues via IndieShuffle
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
Huon Kind - Feel Like This via The 405
Shakarchi & Stranéus - Hissmusik (HNNY Edit) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #84 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Ekaterina in Canada
Pete from North Carolina
Eric from Massachusetts

[ Episode #83 // Degrowth 2014 // Part B ]

Dec 22 2014

Paul Krugman: Could fighting global warming be cheap and free
Paul Krugman on whether energy is a limit to growth
New Climate Economy Report

The degrowth movement seeks to decolonize a cultural imaginary that is currently directed to expand the scale and scope of a materially extractive economy. Through adopting strategies like voluntary simplicity and convivial activities, degrowth advocates aim to create an economic system that is compatible with the biosphere. Are the ideas and concepts of degrowth ready for a wider debate?

In Extraenvironmentalist #83 we publish a much belated podcast to wrap-up our two part series on the 2014 International Degrowth Conference where The Extraenvironmentalist team was livestreaming and recording sessions. We first hear from post-growth researcher André Reichel about whether solutions for climate change are cheap and easy. Then, we speak with three of the Degrowth 2014 organizers, Christopher Laumanns, Jonas Streicher and Malo Vidal about the state of the conversation on growth in Germany. Next, we hear a recap from our chief blog editor and EU correspondent Louisa Clarence-Smith as she interviews Federico Demaria about how he balances academic work on degrowth with living those concepts on an organic olive oil cooperative. To close out 2015 for the XE podcast, Seth and Justin discuss views on whether the Global North should degrow so the Global South can grow, as highlighted by the viewpoints of Sunita Narain and Giorgos Kallis.

// Links and News Items

// Books

Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era by by Giacomo D'Alisa, Federico Demaria & Giorgios Kallis

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Breaks]

Conversations with degrowth conference attendees as recorded by Louisa Clarence-Smith

[End]

Nate Hagens on Degrowth vs. Limits to Growth?

// Music (in order of appearance)

Caribou - Back Home (umami edit)
The Avener - Fade Out Lines (Synapson Remix)
Indiana - Only The Lonely (Fred Falke Remix)
Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Kalev Remix)
Son Little - The River (DGTO Remix)

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #83 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Ian in Australia
Dave in British Columbia
Joseph in Missouri
Linda from Canada

[ Episode #82 // Degrowth 2014 // Part A ]

Sep 28 2014

Grist.org article on Degrowth
Transcript of interview with Gail Tverberg by Nathan
Paul Krugman on climate change and degrowth

The degrowth movement seeks to redefine a cultural imagination focused on expanding the scale and scope of a materially extractive economy. Through adopting strategies like voluntary simplicity and convivial activities, degrowth advocates aim to create an economic system that is compatible with the biosphere. Are the ideas and concepts of degrowth ready for a wider debate?

In Extraenvironmentalist #82 we look at Part A of a two part series on the 2014 International Degrowth Conference where The Extraenvironmentalist team was livestreaming and recording sessions. We first hear from Hartmut Rosa on ideas for subverting the motivations in our own lives which replicate the logic of unsustainable growth. Then, we talk to Geoff Garver, one of the lead organizers of the 2012 Montreal Degrowth conference, about the ideas of degrowth and the general assemblies that worked on moving the developing the concept further.

// Links and News Items

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 31m

What is Degrowth? for Grist.org edited by Sam Bliss

[End]

Naomi Klein @ the Degrowth 2014 Opening Session

// Music (in order of appearance)

Cloud Castle Lake - Sync
Pablo Paolo Kilian
Susie Suh x Robot Koch - Here With (Bearson Remix) via IndieShuffle
Carole King - I Feel The Earth Move (Senior Citizens Remix)

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Thomas Victor for the photograph used as the cover image on this episode

Sam Bliss for the edited break made from our videos at the 2014 Degrowth Conference

Episode #82 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Gordon in British Columbia
Jay in Maryland
Dana from the noosphere
Carla in Quebec
David in Michigan

[ Episode #77 // Locally Invested ]

Apr 29 2014

60 Minutes: Is the Stock Market Rigged?

As trust is lost in the global financial system and its intermediaries, surplus investment capital seems stranded in ever more risky international asset flows. Are there ways of re-routing investments towards local processes that rebuild communities and food systems? Will alternative investment strategies develop in time to challenge the failing narrative of a standard approach to retirement savings?

On Extraenvironmentalist #77 we talk about developing an investment paradigm for the future that's rooted in local business and healthy food, first with Michael Shuman of Cutting Edge Capital and author of Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity. We ask Michael about ways to invest locally that have the potential for better returns on capital and community cohesion while getting thoughts on the coming revolution in crowdfunding. Then, we speak with Carol Peppe Hewitt about the idea of Slow Money and ways that it can rebuild our foodsheds as detailed in her book Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money.

// Books

Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael Shuman
Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money by Carol Peppe Hewitt

// Links and News Items

NYT: Can a Pop-Up Service Fix It? Probably

Extraenvironmentalist Youtube Channel

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 21m

Forget gold, buy farmland
Jim Rogers on commodities, the agriculture boom and perilous times ahead
As Farmers Age, Japan Rethinks Relationship With Food, Fields
BBC Report on Farmland Investment in the Ukraine

[End]

Jeb Brugmann - from the upcoming XE miniseries on the built environment

// Music (in order of appearance)

Cuz - Tamatebako via god is in the tv
Robin Schulz - Shyer (Bootleg)
Paperwhite - Got Me Goin (Robotaki Remix) via The Burning Ear
Ghetto Brothers - There Is Something In My Heart (Spanish Gold Cover) via IndieShuffle
MSMR - Hurricane (Goldroom Remix) via Dancing Astronaut
Pharrell - Happy (NEUS Remix // Bobby C Sound TV edit)

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #77 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Sarah in North Carolina
Hadi in British Columbia
Raul in Illinois
Feargal in Ireland

// Send us a BTC tip for #77

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[ Episode #76 // Energy Slaves ]

Mar 31 2014

Stephen Kopits Presentation on Energy Supply Forecasting

Our command of energy resources has created amazing technologies and social systems at a grand scale, but at what cost? Where past societies shackled human muscle with force and subjugation to create an energy surplus, beginning in the late 19th century we have used coal, oil & gas to create an unprecedented energy abundance. As the era of surplus energy comes to an end, how will our systems reliant on energy slaves for mechanical and cognitive work adapt? How is the energy transition moving forward?

In Extraenvironmentalist #76 we discuss our global energy systems with Andrew Nikiforuk as we discuss his new book, The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude. Andrew discusses ways of understanding our use and abuse of cheap energy. Then, Chris Nelder joins us to talk about the ongoing energy transition and how it is reaching a tipping point through the recognition of a financial carbon bubble, the German Energiewende and the decline of the traditional oil majors.

As Terence McKenna once said, "Reason, and science, and the practice of unbridled capitalism, have not delivered us into an angelic realm. Quite the contrary: they’ve delivered 3% of us into an angelic realm, completely overshadowed by guilt about what’s happening to the other 97% of us who are eating it!"

// Books

The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitudeby Andrew Nikiforuk

// Links and News Items

News Item #1. NPR: US Commuters Ditch Cars For Public Transit In Record Numbers

News Item #2. Fukushima’s “crisis of manpower”: Unskilled and destitute workers have taken over the cleanup process

[jwplayer mediaid="3532"]

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[First Break] - 35m

Shell energy scenarios to 2050
RT: Running on Empty
"Peak Oil Debunked"
Canadian Tar Sands Ad

[Second Break] - 85m

Earth 2050 - How Much Energy Will We Need
Stephen Kopits on Energy Forecasting

[End]

From the XE Youtube Channel: Richard Heinberg on Snake Oil: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Henry Green - Electric Feel (Kygo Remix)
Camera2 - Appetite via KCRW Today's Top Tune
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine (Rare Monk Cover)
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (Paddy McAloon Cover)
No Nukes - Power
Porter Robinson - Sea of Voices (RAC Remix)
Great Good Fine Ok - Not Going Home

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Mr. Nelder for music suggestions

Episode #76 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Derek in CA
Jay in WA
Linus in Sweden
Simon in Norway
Kim in Quebec City

// Send us a BTC tip for #76

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

[ Episode #72 // Green Wizardry ]

Jan 27 2014

#2 - http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/29/241664654/community-supported-canning-gets-locavores-through-winter?ft=1&f=1001

The members of the middle class in the United States are finding increasing difficulty achieving and maintaining their expectations for jobs, housing and other basic aspects of life. With the limits to growth putting basic lifestyle assumptions under increasing assault, can people use intermediate technologies to reduce their ecological and financial footprint? If we start imagining new ways of procuring energy, food and shelter can we also reconfigure our culture in the process?

In Extraenvironmentalist #72 we discuss appropriate technology with John Michael Greer as he describes the ideas in his new book Green Wizardry: Conservation, Solar Power, Organic Gardening, and Other Hands-On Skills From the Appropriate Tech Toolkit. JMG describes how a downwardly mobile middle class can begin mastering the skills necessary to change their lives and their culture. Then, we talk to Jessica Kellner of Mother Earth Living about her book Housing Reclaimed: Sustainable Homes for Next to Nothing and the people across the United States who are building their homes out of salvaged materials for hardly any money.

Note: In the RSS feed version of this episode we have a 15 minute version of our interview with Jessica Kellner, on our Soundcloud page you'll find the full 36 minute interview.

// Books

The Integral Urban House
Green Wizardry by John Michael Greer
Housing Reclaimed by Jessica Kellner

// Links and News Items

#1 - http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.ca/2014/01/seven-sustainable-technologies.html via our listener Robin

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[First Break] - 34m

Jacob Brownowski - The Ascent of Man
Thomas Friedman - Why Green is the new Red, White and Blue
Obama - The True Engine of Economic Growth
Ray Kurzweil - The Coming Singularity
Carlin: When the Electric Grid Goes Down
James Burke - Connections - The Trigger Effect
EF Shumacher on Appropriate Technology

[End]
Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz Schumacher

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Afrobeta - Love is Magic
Emilijo A.C. - That's All I Do
Stefan Biniak - The Read All About It Bootleg via Soundcloud
Rhianna - Stay (Call Me Señor Cover) via IndieShuffle
Androme - Gunjule

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #72 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Vincenzo in PA
Patrick in OR
Dean in CO
Kevin in CT
Paul in CA

// Send us a BTC tip for #72

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

[ Episode #70 // Downloading Responsibility ]

Dec 10 2013

Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman
Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money by Woody Tasch
The Money Illusion by Irving Fisher

An ongoing economic crash that feels like the onset of a deep freeze is far more exhausting than a rapid implosion. As bubbles are reflated and debts accumulate yet again, the system lurches towards its next financial accident. While the global operating system fails, can the exchange of critical goods and services detach from failing currencies? Does the international financial system retain any value if people no longer need it?

In Extraenvironmentalist #70 we catch up with Nicole Foss and Laurence Boomert on their tour across North America as they speak with communities about preparing for hard times. Nicole and Laurence highlight community initiatives that can help people meet basic needs, even as monetary institutions pursue desperation measures. Then, John Michael Greer joins us [88m] to answer a few listener questions and to highlight the lack of whole systems thinking in internet visionaries after Seth and Justin discuss the money illusion.

// Books

// News and Other Items Discussed

Freicoin - the demurrage based cryptocurrency

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 35m

Consum-oholic zombies fed big debt transfusion
Living Debt: Rising costs in UK force millions to borrow
Bartering to survive in Spain
I'm broke, let's barter - Greece's new alternative economy

[End]

Alan Watts

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Dorothy Morrison - Rain (Bobby Busnach Make it Rain Remix)
Skeewiff - Man of Constant Sorrow
Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Kygo Remix) via Earmilk
ZZ Ward - 365 Days (Jerry Folk Remix) via Jaqui
Fredico Aubele - Somewhere Else

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Kevin in CA for the Filter Bubble Wrap at the end

Episode art: Wall Street in 1929, one week before the Black Friday crash. People gather due to high volume of trading.

This show was supported by donations from our generous listeners:

Danny in New Orleans
Patrick in Oregon
Eric in DC

// Send us a BTC tip for #70

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

[ Episode #63 // Next US Revolution ]

Jul 18 2013

Greek Salaries Cut Another 10%
Mafia launders dirty money in clean energy

With a media ecosystem focused almost entirely the corporate system, burgeoning elements of a new economy revolution escape the mainstream eye. As our political systems stagnate in the face of ecological, energy and social crises, can an alternative to capitalism develop over the next few decades? Do ongoing experiments in money, society and energy have the ability to coalesce into a broader cultural shift?

In Extraenvironmentalist #63 we talk about the growing network of institutions and businesses that are forming the new economic revolution in the United States with historian and political economist Gar Alperovitz. Gar describes the ideas in his new book, What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution. Then we hear from two of Italy's leading economists Stefano and Vera Zamagni about the civil society model of a market economy.

// Books

Gar Alperovitz // What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution

// News and Other Items Discussed

New Economics Institute ReRoute Summit - July 19th-21st

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 31m

New Era Windows Cooperative is Now Open for Business
Cooperatives Cash in on Austerity
Spanish Cooperative Mondragon Weathers the Financial Storm
Make a Job - Don't Take a Job

[End]

Terence McKenna speaking about the historic crisis

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Ta-ku - Higher (Flume Remix)via Salacious Sound
Foals - Late Night (Solomun Remix) via The Beat Mill
Ernie Hines - Our Generation (Straightened Out Mix) via Soundcloud
Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker - Fire and Fortune (Pete Flood Remix) via Folk Radio UK
CSS - Hangover (RAC Remix) via Pigeons and Planes
iET - Control It (Kratos Himself Remix) via Kratos Himself

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #61 // Cure for Capitalism? ]

Jun 12 2013

Two sold bikes for every car sold in Europe
Japanese Banishment Rooms
Greece Considers Debtors Prisons for Poor Taxpayers

Can we link the decline in our democratic institutions to the nature of the workplaces that occupy so much of our time? Is there reason to believe that we can transition to an alternative economic system while our current economy crashes? Can we learn from the collapse of feudalism and the formation of capitalism to prepare for the next economic system?

In Extraenvironmentalist #61 we talk about historical economic transitions with professor, economist and author Rick Wolff and his recent book Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism. Professor Wolff describes how our future economic system will likely build from alternative arrangements of workplaces through worker self-directed enterprises and cooperative businesses. We ask why changing the way our workplaces operate would change our economic system and how policy ideas from other countries could serve as a framework.

// Books

Rick Wolff // Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism

// News and Other Items Discussed

Firefly Skills Convergence 2013 - Asheville, NC - June 20th-23rd
Urban Permaculture Workshop with Toby Hemenway - Vancouver, BC - July 27th-28th

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 47m

Zizek - Don't Act, Think
Geoffrey Bloom - Why the Whole Banking System is a Scam
David Stockman on Crony Capitalism
Max Keiser: That's not capitalism, that's fraud
Bill Clinton on why we should help the world

[End]

A skit written and performed by Kevin in Los Angeles

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Victor Déme - Djon Maya (Synapson Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Thabo and The Real Deal - Revolution
Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain (Jim James Remix)via Earmilk
Phaleah - Here Comes the Sun feat. Soundmouse

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

This show was supported by donations from our generous listeners:

Kevin in Sweden
Nathan in Ontario
Sandra in New York
Michael in Ontario
Isaac in West Virginia
Dana in The Noosphere

[ Episode #58 // Permaculture Possibilities ]

Apr 17 2013

Extraenvironmentalist Youtube Channel for New Economy Summit Coverage
Coursera MOOC on Climate Change Literacy
Allan Savory's TED Talk on Greening Deserts

Even though our global environmental challenges have become dramatically more severe over the last several decades, our understanding of ecological processes have significantly deepened. Permaculture approaches offer a unique toolkit to address problems of desertification, poisoned landcapes, impure water supplies and more. Yet will low-tech solutions that work with nature be able to capture a public imagination expecting technological progress to look like business as usual?

In Extraenvironmentalist #58 our correspondent Kevin joins us to cover permaculture approaches to our global challenges. We hear segments from Pacific Northwest Permaculture Convergence sessions on innovative landscape management practices, biochar for carbon sequestration, mycological approaches to cleaning up our pollution and more. We also hear a few extended interviews from the Pacific Northwest Permaculture Convergence to wrap up our coverage of the largest permaculture summit in North America.

// Additional Links

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[End]

The Overview Effect

// Music (in Order of Appearance)
NONONO - Pumping Blood via Pigeons and Planes
Formidable Vegetable - Small and Slow via Soundcloud
The Garden Song via Youtube
The Embassy - Everything I Ever Wanted (Kisses Remix) via Soundcloud
Formidable Vegtable - Oil via Soundcloud
James Blake - Retrograde (Finn Filly Edit) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Haim - Falling (Duke Dumont Remix) via Hard Candy

// Speakers in Order of Appearance

3:06 - Maurice Robinette via www.managingchangenorthwest.com
13:40 - Francesco Tortorici
15:52 - Chuck Estin via www.biosdesign.us
16:30 - Francesco Tortorici
22:49 - Peter McCoy via www.radicalmycology.com
37:28 - Forest Shomer via www.insidepassageseeds.com
41:00 - Andrew Millison via www.beaverstatepermaculture.com
52:19 - Judith Alexander via l2020.org
55:42 - Paul Cienfuegos via PaulCienfuegos.com
1:04:55 - Mark Robinowitz via www.peakchoice.org
1:25:26 - Josho Somine
1:41:00 - Nancy Chase via www.shambalafarm.com

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #57 // Permaculture Convergence ]

Mar 19 2013

Despite the massive destruction our species has wrought on the earth, we've also learned a tremendous amount about ecological systems in the process. As our old narrative of domination crumbles, an understanding of how to work with nature is emerging. Can we apply the ideas of permaculture to society when facing energy depletion, climate change and social breakdown? Will our future society be able to regenerate the planet?

In Extraenvironmentalist #57 we hear from the many speakers at the 2012 Northwest Permaculture Convergence as recorded by our editor Kevin. We hear segments from the dozens of conference session sessions themed around permaculture approaches to global challenges, the social aspects of permaculture and ideas on the built environment. Kevin explains some of what he learned about permaculture from attending the conference and we briefly discuss a few signs that our economic reality is quickly changing.

Note: On our next episode we'll be bringing you a bit more coverage from the Pacific NW Permaculture Convergence.

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 1h10m

Max Keiser - Soviet era of empty shelves dawns
Michael Hudson via Renegade Economists on 3cr
Bailout terms shock Cypriots

[End]

John Liu - Green Gold

// Music (in order of Appearance)

Bibio - A tout a l'heure via Tell All Your Friends
Formidable Vegetable - Yield via Soundcloud
Formidable Vegtable - No Such Thing as Waste via Soundcloud
Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Free n Losh Remix) via Salacious Sound

Learn more about the speakers along with full time-coded show notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_8WqD40M5Z0kbMWeIS8dlLsoRLSP__Jkdd-S88X3168/edit?usp=sharing

// Speakers in Order of Appearance

Learn more about the speakers along with full time-coded show notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_8WqD40M5Z0kbMWeIS8dlLsoRLSP__Jkdd-S88X3168/edit?usp=sharing

[Permaculture Approach to Challenges] - 3m46s

Mark Robinowitz
Mike Maki
Jan Spencer
Andrew Millison
Sharon Ferguson
Marisha Auerbach
Jenny Pell
Maurice Robinette
Rick Valley
Michael Pilarski
Pat Rasmussen
Forest Shomer

[Social Aspects of Permaculture] - 45m55s

Willie-the-Wind
Judith Alexander
Maurice Robinette
Sharon Ferguson
Jenny Pell
Mighk Simpson
Mark Lakeman
Forest Shomer
Mike Maki
Afia Menke
Marisha Auerbach
Melanie Rios
Jan Spencer
Mark Robinowitz

[Permaculture Approaches to the Built Environment] - 1h20m05s

Afia Menke (reading from an unsourced book)
Mark Lakeman
Andrew Millison
Joel Lee
Marisha Auerbach
Jan Spencer
Rick Valley
Mark Robinowitz
Sharon Ferguson

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #56 // So Much Magic ]

Feb 12 2013

// Duncan's Photos From His Canalers Adventures
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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

[ Episode #51 // Culture of Dying ]

Oct 15 2012

You can stream Griefwalker, the film made about Stephen's work.

The globally dominant culture is suffering from an economic, ecological and social crisis that has deeper roots than failing budgets and environmental degradation. Do we have a role to play if our culture is headed towards its eventual death? Though our economic system has trained us to be needy, can we approach these challenges as if we were needed?

In Extraenvironmentalist #51 we speak with Stephen Jenkinson about our cultural difficulty with death. Stephen draws on lessons learned from decades of working with death to describe how we can frame our civilization's trajectory. We ask how to find sanity in a time of alienation and if we can be a human in difficult circumstances. Stephen describes the distinct jobs given to us as our family members die. Also, John Michael Greer joins us briefly to talk about the death of Western culture.

// Music (in order of appearance)

Van She - Don't Fear the Reaper via The Fader
Kaki King - Bowen Island via KCRW
Trails and Ways - Animal (Miike Snow Cover) via IndieShuffle
Elle Goulding - Anything Could Happen (Blood Diamonds Remix) via Salacious Sound
Crystal Fighters - At Home (Passion Pit Remix) via Fist In the Air

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 40m
John Michael Greer speaks on death

// Production Credits
Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #47 // Power Transition ]

Aug 9 2012

After years of stagnant growth in conventional oil extraction rates, ignorance of Hubbert's Curve has peaked. Now that the mainstream can't dismiss the issue, public conversations proclaim an exuberant belief in marginal reserves as our savior. Claims of American energy independence have fueled a dialogue that threatens to drive the US economy towards a fiscal and energy cliff. Can we look toward renewables to meet our energy needs for the future? Is it possible to start telling a new story about our energy future?

In Extraenvironmentalist #47 we discuss the global energy picture with Chris Nelder as he describes the energy stories we tell ourselves and explains exactly how many natural gas wells it will take for the United States to gain energy independence. We ask Chris about the complexity of our international energy markets and why we shouldn't give up on renewable energy even if it doesn't fit the power grid of today. Then, we speak with Gregor MacDonald about the recent blackout in India that cut electricity to 10% of Earth's population. Gregor tells us about the process of normal accidents and why the risk we've offloaded might be trickling back into our energy infrastructure. Last of all, we speculate about the future of capitalism as growth ends. Will we look back on these years of corporate rule as the golden age before serfdom?

// Music (in order of appearance)
Deerhoof - The Trouble With Candyhands via Tiny Mixtapes
Fleetwood Mac - That's All For Everyone (Tame Impala Cover) via Stereogum
F*ck you Pepco via Youtube
Marlena Shaw - California Soul (Diplo Remix) via Soundcloud
Nico - These Days (Shinichi Osawa Edit) via Daily Beatz
Elton John - Good Morning to the Night (PNAU Remix) via Tracasseur

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[1st Break] - 36m
America's Infrastructure is Failing
Heat Adds Misery to Atlantic Power Outage
Congress Ignores Nations Infrastructure

[End]
Gail Tverberg on Peak Oil at the Montreal Degrowth Conference

// Production Credits
Josh B.
Kevin M. via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #45 // Opening Money ]

Jul 11 2012

By failing to question our money system, we've accepted an understanding of finance and fiat that's showing its flaws greater than ever. This globalized currency system draws money out of localities and into the hands of corrupt financial institutions. Can we start recapturing these flows of money to build resilient communities? If the Federal Reserve can print money, why can't we?

In Extraenvironmentalist #45 we speak to Michael Linton, developer of LETS and the Community Way currency system about how to open up our money to emphasize positive aspects of human nature . Michael describes how local currencies can help to overcome the feeling of scarcity imposed by a centralized national currency. We ask Michael if our federal dollars should be replaced or if we should be looking to compliment them through local money. Then, we speak with Jordan Bober who is launching the Seedstock in Vancouver, BC based on Michael's Community Way model.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Chick Bullock - Are You Making Any Money? via Youtube
Gold Diggers of 1933 - We're in the Money via Youtube
Matt and Kim - Let's Go via Consequence of Sound
The Beatles x Carlos Santana x Griz x Gramatik – Don’t Let Me Change (Ego Mashup) via The Music Ninja

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[Break]
FT - Libor scandal rocks banking
Max Keiser - How Tom Cruise Stole Libor
Michael Hudson - Summit MMT in Italy

[End]
Michael Hudson - Summit MMT in Italy

// Production Credits
Production Assistance | Kevin at the Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #43 // Occupy With Aloha ]

Jun 13 2012

[End]
Bill Rees speaking at the Montreal Degrowth Conference

The people of Hawaii have lived an incredible story of cultural assimilation. Numerous external influences on the island have driven a process of creation and destruction, resulting in innovative musical styles. Now, Hawaii faces difficult challenges with food security and genetically modified seeds as it survives the dying values of a corporate culture. Can we learn from the adaptability of the Hawaiian people to facilitate a process of cultural change in Western society?

In Extraenvironmentalist #43 we speak with Makana about his mastery of the slack-key guitar and the lessons Hawaiian culture has to teach us at this tumultuous time. Makana tells us about GMOs in Hawaii, the importance for food security and the story of his experience in singing truth to power at an APEC dinner in Honolulu hosted by President Obama. We ask him for a brief summary of how his aquaponics system works. Next, we speak with Darren Drrda [at the 1h12m mark] about the themes in his book The Four Global Truths and how we can take the first steps towards living an interconnected life that embodies the new story we're creating about our species.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Telepopmusik - Brighton Beach (Freddie Joachim Remix) via The Music Ninja
Makana - Napo'o Ka La via Makana
Makana - We Are the Many via Makana
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Man on Fire (Little Daylight Remix) via Soundcloud
Sunday Girl - Self Control (Young Empires Remix) via IndieShuffle

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[1st Break] - 25m
Hawaii GMOs - Islands at Risk
What is aquaponics

[2nd Break] - 52m
Makana on CNN

// Production Credits
Production Assistance | Kevin at the Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

[ Episode #29 // Creating Wealth ]

Nov 22 2011

Occupy Wall Street has directed our attention to the extreme concentration of wealth resulting from decades of policy designed to trickle down prosperity. Through using a single type of bank debt currency, we allocate our labor and resources to benefit a global elite instead of our communities. Can we engage our local leaders and municipal governments to break this currency monoculture? Can global examples of currency ecology provide a map for improving educational experiences, enhancing the arts and building resilience to the fragility of central bank finance mechanisms?

In Extraenvironmentalist #29 we speak with Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer about Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies, their recent book on how to implement complimentary currency systems while creating intentional cities with money ecosystems. We cover examples of complimentary currencies in Brazil (saber), the United States (time banking), Switzerland (WIR), Belgium, Lithuania and Uruguay (C3) to demonstrate how alternative forms of money can help to enhance our education, business and sense of community. Could the WIR be the reason for Switzerland's stability? Are there ways to retool education funding that could help us realize our dreams?

Note: Justin's poor understanding of French led to him mis-speaking Bernard's last name, it should be said Liet-ya instead of Liet-air

// Music (in order of appearance)
John Lee Hooker - (Money) That's What I Want
The J's - The Sound of Money via WFMU's Beware of the Blog
Sharon Jones - Money via This is Real Music
The Drums - Money (Chad Valley Remix) via Niteversions
Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs (Cry Wolf Remix) via The Music Ninja

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
Debt Diets and Riots: Euro Lose Lose via RT
Greeks Abandon Cash Resort to Bartering via RT
Annie Leonard - Story of Broke
Enslaved to banks US students drawn to join Occupy
Chris Hedges Speaking at OWS

[ Episode #23 // Fermenting Culture ]

Sep 14 2011

Sustainability is not a spectator sport. Unless every single one of us radically alters our participation in the rapidly failing industrial food system, within the next few years we'll find our food prices spiking and chaotic weather decimating the food distribution networks we have relied on. In the age of cheap and abundant refrigeration, we're losing our species' long relationship with live culture foods produced by fermentation. The health and nutrition of humanity is suffering from this relatively sudden break from ingesting bacteria responsible for regulating the energy metabolism of our bipedal bodies.

In Extraenvironmentalist #23 we speak with food activist and author Sandor Katz about how to ferment the counterculture. We discuss the philosophical underpinnings of live culture foods, the historical role these foods have played through human history and share some recipes to get your hands dirty and your cabbage sauering. Sandor describes how a local economy built of food preserved with bacteria from your own backyard can help you become part of your environment on a deeper level. Can our trend toward ever greater rates of obesity and poorer health be partly due to our obsession with hygiene and the sterilization of everything that we eat? All of this along with the first appearance of Cooking with the Extraenvironmentalist as our airwaves pick up a slightly different version of public radio.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Stewart Phillips - Thanks, Smokey! via Zoochosis Youtube Channel
Zack Hemsey - Mind Heist
Anomie Bell - Ain't No Sunshine via The Music Ninja
DJ Topcat - Folsom Prison Gangstaz via Soundcloud
A Smooth Jazz Tribute to Gorillaz
California Dreamin - Minnesota via This Song Slaps

// Extended Clips
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Symphony of Science - Children of Africa
Bruce Lee - Be Water My Friend

[ Episode #18 // The Wealth of Nature ]

Jul 27 2011

Our economic systems are beginning to expose the first intimations of how drastically they've been failing us. Is this breakdown happening because our economics are reflecting the state of our ecosystems? Generations of economists have adhered with religious fervor to tenets of growth and free market dynamics that have detached from reality so drastically these beliefs have become superstitions that now drive our currencies to the brink of collapse. How can a naturally centered mindset re-focus our economic ideals?

In Extraenvironmentalist #18 we speak with John Michael Greer about his latest book, The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered. John blogs prolifically at The Archdruid Report and has written several additional spectacular books on the precarious predicaments of industrial society like, The Long Descent and The Ecotechnic Future. As Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America John's naturally focused mind shines an illuminating viewpoint on the fallacies of modern economics and how our physical reality can create a sustainable economic system. We discuss why people typically embrace denial when first encountering his ideas, the role his druid practice has had in revealing many fallacies of commonly held viewpoints about industrial society, the role of politics in the collapse of industrial civilization and what a day in the life of a druid looks like.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Balam Acab - Oh Why via The Music Ninja
Channel Cairo - Elephant Room via Earplugs Not Included
Graffiti 6 - Free via Youtube
John Denver - Country Roads (Pretty Lights Remix) via Sunset in the Rear View

[ Episode #17 // Economics of Sustainability ]

Jul 4 2011

The interplay between energy and money will be the underlying factor behind the biggest stories of the next decade. While easily accessible energy has created a massive financial bubble on the way up Hubbert's curve, the primary agent on the way down will be unraveling financial complexities built up over the last 60 years. Surviving in this new world will require a radically different idea about how money can operate in localized units of economic exchange. Can ideas like liquidity networks help us survive in this new age of emergency?

In Extraenvironmentalist #17 we speak with Richard Douthwaite about the collection of essays he co-edited on the coming financial storm, Fleeing Vesuvius. Richard is an author of many books on the fallacies of economic growth, co-founder of the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. Richard explains how his educational background in economics stifled his worldview for a many years and the effect The Limits to Growth had on changing his mind about the ways in which modern economics are practiced. We discuss why entrepreneurs are worshiped by economic leaders, the promise of liquidity networks for reforming currency dynamics, the ability for energy bonds to revolutionize community energy projects and the effect of introducing new technologies into an economic system.

Also in XE #17 we respond to listener feedback, play a fantastic voicemail from a dedicated listener on ethanol subsidies and throw our endorsement behind an upcoming film about youth fighting for climate justice: you can support Just Do It via their IndieGoGo project.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover) via The Music Ninja
ceo - Halo (Beyonce Cover) viaPretty Much Amazing
Daytona Beach - Loud Valley via Zen Tapes
Toro y Moi - New Beat (Fare Soldi "Canatu" Remix) via Harder Blogger Faster
inc - Swear viaGorilla vs. Bear

Corrections //

Justin incorrectly refers to Richard Blume, he means David Blume's alcohol economy

Original post on July 1st had the wrong audio file

[ Episode #9 // Economics of Happiness ]

Jan 3 2011

Converging crises of the environment, energy and our personal psychology threaten to destabilize the economic systems we depend on for subsistence. Globalization has provided tremendous financial benefits and convenience for specific groups but has degraded communities while spreading the emotional and spiritual depravity of materialism. By developing a local resilient economy can we counteract the shadow of globalization while addressing the predicaments of energy depletion, resource scarcity and desolate communities?

In Extraenvironmentalist #9 we speak with Helena Norberg-Hodge, director of The Economics of Happiness, a documentary film about the worldwide movement for local economic development. Our discussion covers Helena's experiences in the Ladakh region of India which inspired her to recognize the problems with the standard model for economic development, inspiring her book and film Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh. We also spoke with Helena about the numerous benefits of decentralized local economies in addressing our converging crises and the specifics of the psychological impacts of advertising and media on society in its push for expanded economic activity.

We're also thinking of starting an Extraenvironmentalist book club. Are you interested in perhaps doing a monthly group call to discuss a book on Extraenvironmentalist topics? If so, let us know through voicemail or email and we'll choose a book, set a timeline and record a discussion.

//Supplemental Links
Website | Economics of Happiness
Facebook | Facebook Page for Economics of Happiness
// Music (in order of appearance)
Pepper Rabbit - Older Brother via The Music Ninja
The Kopecky Family Band - Our Remedy via The Music Slut
Mr. Little Jeans - Rescue Song (RAC Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Sunday Girl - Time to Pretend (MGMT Cover) via AudioPorn Central