Topic: Optimism

Latest

[ Episode #37 // Techno-Fix ]

Mar 4 2012

Mini Episode

Are you optimistic about technology? Let's talk about why. Could the majority of our proposed technological solutions be doing little more than kicking the can down the road towards ecological collapse? Politicians and economists speak of the ability for technological innovation to boost and grow economies, yet where does their techno optimism come from? Do technologies hold intrinsic values or are they neutral tools that are misused by a species with the wrong intentions?

In Extraenvironmentalist #37 we discuss technological optimism with Dr. Michael Huesemann. Michael explains his fifteen year study into environmental science and philosophies of technology as outlined in his recent book Techno-Fix, co-written with his wife Joyce Huesemann. Is there an inherent reason that the United States is the most technologically optimistic culture in the world? We ask if he has advice for students who are thinking about careers in advanced science and about the value systems embedded in technological systems.

Be sure to visit the Techno-Fix website and to pick up a copy of Techno-Fix if you want to learn more about the limitations of technology in addressing our global problems.


 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Dusty Springfield - Spooky via IndieShuffle
St. Lucia - We Got It Wrong via Consequence of Sound
CHLLNGR - Change  via Soundcloud
Santigold - Disparate Youth via Skeetbeatz
Summer Camp - Losing My Mind via All Things Go Music

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[First Break]
Jason Silva - Techno-Optimism
Bush on Google
Ray Kurzweil Explains the Coming Singularity
Michio Kaku - Are We Ready for the Coming Age of Abundance
[Second Break]
MPR: America's Crumbling Infrastructure
 Activists Publicly Pray For Lower Gas Prices
[End]
Alan Watts - A Conversation With Myself

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[ Episode #30 // Austerity + Hope ]

Dec 2 2011

Mini Episode

Through the transfer of private debt to balance sheets of governments around the world, we've entered an age of austerity where citizens are experiencing drastic cuts to basic necessities. Civil unrest has resulted from people demanding that corporate greed should be punished instead of individuals. As the Occupy movement reaches a transition point, have we witnessed the spark of global anti-captialist movement or has it just been a brief glimpse of the anger developed from decades of economic injustice? Are there true reasons for hope with an increasing number of youth facing diminished opportunities for participating in the promises that capitalist markets once offered? Is this truly a turning point in history? If so, what does it mean to live in the midst of a global revolution?

In Extraenvironmentalist #30 we speak with David McNally about themes from his book Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance, that draw on examples of successful populist uprisings around the world to demonstrate that in the Western world we too have options for resisting the tyranny of an age of austerity. We discuss the natural evolution of the Occupy movement and the potential to ensure that the movement grows while keeping food on the table and meaningful work available for the unemployed. Have elites secretly been preparing for unrest as they use taxpayers to bail out an unsustainable industry built on the pipe dream of perpetual growth? Are youth willing to accept their role as movement builders instead of iPhone owners?


 

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Pretty Lights - Finally Moving via Et Musique Pour Tous
Hezekiah Jenkins - The Panic is On  via Ghostcapital
Makana - We Are The Many
Connor Youngblood - Will You Be There (Michael Jackson Cover) via Pigeons and Planes
Aarab Muzik - Let it Go via SkeetBeatz

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
America's New Poor Fending for Food Stamps
 Doug Stanhope - Fear in the US News Media
 Steve Keen on BBC Hardtalk
 WBEZ on Oligarchy: How the Super Rich Defend Their Wealth
 Public Sector Workers Strike in the UK

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[ Episode #25 // Saving Money ]

Oct 5 2011

Mini Episode

Is it more practical to learn permaculture than to earn a business degree? As financial markets sell off around the globe and world leaders scramble to prevent national defaults from collapsing the global economy, today's youth are certain to live through a massive shift in the monetary paradigm. An education system that prepared us to receive jobs in a consumer economy injured our ability to truly learn and now we face the insult of entering a bleak job market. Is money real or is it based on societal myths? Can a monetary system built on collaboration rather than competition create a society that amplifies the positive aspects of human nature? As Mike Ruppert says: until we change the way money works, we change nothing.

In Extraenvironmentalist #25 we speak with Charles Eisenstein about his new book Sacred Economics which explains how to save the concept of money from being subject to our outdated understanding of human nature and simplistic mechanistic models of the physical world around us. While the social unrest sweeping from Cairo to Athens to Barcelona to New York is disrupting monetary dynamics can it also create an applicable positive vision? Charles explains how a negative interest currency and an economic model that integrates equity and ecology can end what we perceive to be the human nature emphasized by our current currency. Can we accept that the failure of money isn't the end of the world but that it is an opportunity to reorganize?


 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Zeds Dead - Coffee Break via The Music Ninja
MGMT - All We Ever Wanted (Bauhaus Cover) via Stereogum
Michita - November via Earmilk
HEALTH - Goth Star (Pictureplane Cover) via Gorilla vs. Bear
Beatles - Eleanor Rigby (Butch Clancy Remix) via Dubtunes

// Extended Clips
Fiat Money via Renegade Economist
Trader Interview on BBC
Occupy Boston

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[ Episode #21 // When Technology Fails ]

Aug 18 2011

Mini Episode

The complex supply chain delivering our goods and the electrical grid powering our lifestyle meets the daily needs of modern humanity with astounding efficiency. With a relative low cost and remarkable ease of use, we've trimmed the fat and placed an ever more complex behemoth on top of increasingly brittle and spare supports. Our ability to eat and communicate relies on a startlingly fragile few core systems that face threats from natural and nefarious factors. In the event of a disruption to normalcy, do we have the knowledge, psychological and spiritual strength to thrive?

In Extraenvironmentalist #21 we present our most important podcast to date as, without exaggerating, it just might provide you with tools to save your life.

We speak with engineer, author and speaker Mat Stein about his books, When Technology Fails and the upcoming, When Disaster Strikes. Mat explains how our illusion of abundance and order can be easily shattered through solar flares, EMP strikes and peak oil. We discuss techniques and approaches by which a concerned individual can prepare for such possibilities in an ever greater time of uncertainty and how to make life-or-death decisions by using the Pit of the Stomach technique. While physical preparedness is a key to survival, perhaps more importantly we cover the need for spiritual strength in facing the difficult challenges of the 21st century. Seth reveals a life threatening situation of recent occurrence and also experiences a slight overwhelming panic attack in the light of information overload, Justin appears to remain calm in the face of terrifying music but harbors deep concerns of his own.


 

 

// Music (in order of appearance)
Son Lux - All The Right Things via Zen Tapes
Etta James - Something's Got a Hold On Me via Funky16Corners
Medicine Hat - Forbidden via BandCamp
 Sleep ∞ Over - Romantic Streams via Gorilla vs. Bear
The Barber of Seville - Largo Al Factotum (Mustard Pimp Remix) via The Music Ninja

// Extended Clips
'US empire designed to self-destruct, more unrest to follow'
London Riots. (The BBC will never replay this. Send it out)
Mainstream Media Commercial
Preppers Stock Up
Obama's Kickstarter

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