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  • Take Me to the River: Getting Rid of Deadbeat Dams

    Take Me to the River: Getting Rid of Deadbeat Dams
    2026/05/06
    People REALLY love their impervious surfaces. Concrete structures practically permeate human-built landscapes. Rather than layering ever more concrete on top of living soils, in waterways, and all over the countryside, what if we re-established our connection with natural ecosystems and put a stop to the concrete madness? One of the most inspiring developments of environmental and cultural restoration involves the cleanup of tons and tons of concrete. We’re talking dam removal today. So grab a sledge hammer, a few sticks of dynamite, and a wrecking ball, and come along as we explore the battle between concrete placement and concrete removal. And don’t miss our interview with Tara Lohan, author of Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life. Originally recorded on 3/17/26.Sources/Links/Notes:The Reef Line“Underwater ‘traffic jam’ off Miami beach, CBS News, November 3, 2025Miami Beach’s New Traffic Jam Frolics With the Fishes, New York Times, December 1, 2025We Finally Know Why Ancient Roman Concrete Stood The Test of Time, Science Alert by Michelle Starr, October 29, 2025L“Concrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Future” by Mary Soderstrom. University of Regina Press, 2020. “Concrete: From the Ground Up” by Larissa Theule. Candlewick Press, 2022.“This is the total weight of everything humans have created since 1990” World Economic Forum, December 6, 2021“Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass” Nature.com, December 9, 2020“Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life” by Tara Lohan. Princeton University Press, 2025Map of U.S. Dams Removed Since 1912“Ten years after Oregon’s largest dam removal” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2017“‘Salmon Everywhere’ One Year After Klamath Dam Removal” California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2025Undammed: The Klamath River Story podcast“First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath River after the largest dam removal in U.S. history” Oregon Public BroadcastingCar Free AllianceAuto MatTransportation Action Network“Stop this destructive, car-centric development” Hindustan Times, December 22, 2025Ridges to RifflesRivernetwork Member DirectoryDepave.orgRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:Episode 48, “The Taming of the Slough: Humanity’s History of Trying to Control Water”Episode 123, “Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!”
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    58 分
  • Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!

    Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!
    2026/04/22

    It’s really refreshing to hear from you, our listeners and fellow strugglers living in high-energy modernity (affectionately known as Crazy Townies). This mailbag episode offers the element of surprise, as it gives Jason, Rob, and Asher a chance to respond with delight and spontaneity to your questions and comments. Join the guys as they apply their dubious intellectual powers, subpar comedic talents, and underwhelming insights to your Crazy Townie queries. Originally recorded on 3/6/26.

    Sources/Links/Notes:

    • Tradable Energy Quotas
    • Carfree City Alliance
    • Braver Angels
    • Maclean Art Blog

    Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:

    • Episode 19, “I Can’t Drive… 35! The Rationale for Rationing”
    • Episode 45, “Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or… the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath”
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    53 分
  • Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide

    Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide
    2026/04/08

    What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26.

    Sources/Links/Notes:

    • Holding the Fire
    • Owen Reiser, Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, 2025
    • David Frankel, The Big Year, 2011 film
    • Nature photographer Hannah Seilhan
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    51 分
  • Being Team Human in Crazy Town

    Being Team Human in Crazy Town
    2026/03/25

    Have you ever had that feeling in your gut, when you suddenly realize that the person you’re talking with might have a screw or two loose? What about when you’re the one others are trying to slowly back away from at the punch bowl? The question of who’s the real nut often arises for us collapse-aware folks living here in Crazy Town. Since Mr. Peanut is no longer returning their phone calls, Rob, Jason, and Asher invite Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist, professor, and host of the Team Human Podcast to answer the question. In this far ranging conversation, they discuss why “leveling down” might be the best strategy for navigating late stage capitalism and bringing ourselves back into right relationship with each other and the planet. Originally recorded on 2/24/26.

    Sources/Links/Notes:

    1. Team Human
    2. Douglas Rushkoff YouTube Channel
    3. Douglas Rushkoff, “You Are Not Crazy,” Substack, January 7, 2026
    4. Douglas Rushkoff, “Survival of the Richest,” Medium, July 5, 2018
    5. Jesse Armstrong, Mountainhead, 2025 film
    6. Dan Fogelman, Paradise, Hulu, 2025 series
    7. Prospera
    8. Neom
    9. California Forever
    10. Jack Manno, Privileged Goods, 1999 book


    Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:

    1. Tech Bros on Acid with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)
    2. It’s All Paradox with Douglas Rushkoff (Bonus episode of Crazy Town)
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    54 分
  • You Ain’t Gonna Live Forever: The Dos and Don’ts of Legacy Building

    You Ain’t Gonna Live Forever: The Dos and Don’ts of Legacy Building
    2026/03/11
    Immortality projects represent an often irrational, and sometimes even unconscious, way to tamp down anxiety about death. There are some shocking examples of people, especially those with lots and lots of money, who try to leave some sort of mark in a futile attempt to keep from facing death. In this episode, we run a special fantasy-football style draft to take a look at immortality projects, some horrendous, but some with positive effects. Originally recorded on February 6, 2026.Sources/Links/Notes:Adam McCay, The Big Short, 2015 filmHenry VIIIGabriella Angeleti, “Two men sentenced to prison time for vandalising Nevada petroglyphs,” The Art Newspaper, November 10, 2022Owen Clarke, “A Utah Woman Must Pay $15,000 in Fines for Vandalizing Ancient Petroglyphs,” Outside Magazine, November 20, 2025Lehman’s CatalogJohn Prine, “Paradise” 1971 songX post on Brian Johnson’s erections, February 11, 2024Epic of GilgameshTompkins Conservancy and Patagonia National ParkInstituto TerraEric Grundhauser, “Visit a Beard That Killed Its Owner,” Atlas Obscura, January 26, 2018Raoul WallenbergRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:Crazy Town Classics “Terror Management Theory”Episode 51, “A Load of Papal Bull: Greenlighting Colonization and the Mindset of Extraction”Episode 54, “Colonizing the Sky: The Untold Environmental Toll of Skyscrapers”Episode 92, “Escaping Otherism: Why Dr. Seuss Could Never Find a Rhyme for Genocide”
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    41 分
  • Crazy Town Classics - Terror Management Theory

    Crazy Town Classics - Terror Management Theory
    2026/02/25

    What can we learn about death from the X-Men, small screaming rodents, and unwitting college students in psychology experiments? It turns out that the fear of death (or death anxiety) affects human behavior in all sorts of surprising and deeply troubling ways. Especially disconcerting is the way such fear entices people to cling to cultural beliefs so tightly that they will attack anything or anyone they perceive as a threat to their beliefs. And extra-super-duper disconcerting is how unaware most of us are that we are susceptible to such bad behavior when we’re reminded that one day we’ll die. Follow Jason, Rob, and Asher as they try not to deny climate change, vilify any out-groups, or assault one another while diving into the topic of death. In the Do-the-Opposite segment, Michael Hebb (author of Let’s Talk about Death over Dinner) shares wisdom for developing a healthier relationship with death. For episode notes and more information, please visit our website. Originally recorded on December 22, 2020.
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    1 時間 1 分
  • Getting Real about Resiliency with Emily Schoerning

    Getting Real about Resiliency with Emily Schoerning
    2026/02/11

    What if there were a news outlet that actually covered the most important environmental stories of our time? Dr. Emily Schoerning and her nonprofit, American Resiliency, translate the latest and most urgent climate science into useful information for communities across the United States. Jason and Emily discuss the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the merits of mitigation versus adaptation, and how to take meaningful action in your own community. Originally recorded on 12/22/25.

    Sources/Links/Notes:

    1. American Resiliency
    2. Mark Rober YouTube Channel
    3. Sixth National Climate Assessment, International Panel on Climate Change


    Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:

    1. Episode 8, “Mosquito-Flavored Popcorn, or What Climate Scientists Are Getting Wrong”
    2. Episode 34, “Fear of Death and Climate Denial, or… the Story of Wolverine and the Screaming Mole of Doom”
    3. Episode 37, “Discounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or… the Story of the Dueling Economists”
    4. Episode 45, “Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or… the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath”
    5. Episode 77, “The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk”
    6. Episode 97, “The House Is Quite Literally on Fire: Peter Kalmus on the Climate Emergency Hitting Home”
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    55 分
  • Choose Your AI Adventure: Immiseration or Extinction

    Choose Your AI Adventure: Immiseration or Extinction
    2026/01/28

    Jason and Asher replace Rob with a much more humane and humble co-host, Elon Musk, to explore the feasibility of harnessing the entire sun to power AI superintelligence. We come away perplexed that not much of the excellent reporting on the environmental, energy, and financial risks of the AI boom address the googleplex-sized elephant in the room – that both AI success and failure lead to immiseration. Originally recorded on 12/3/25.

    Sources/Links/Notes:

    1. “Colossus 1” Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025
    2. “Colossus 2” Search Engine podcast, November 21, 2025
    3. Episode 77, "The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk", Crazy Town podcast, June 14, 2023
    4. “Elon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Imploding” All In podcast, September 9, 2025
    5. “Is there an A.I. Bubble? And What if It Pops?” The Daily, November 20, 2025
    6. Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, “What If AI Is a Bubble?” The Atlantic, November 13, 2025


    Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:

    1. Episode 77, “The Elon Musk Episode about Elon Musk Brought to You by Elon Musk”
    2. Episode 84, “Escaping Technologyism: Dreams of AI Sheep and the Deadliest Word in Film History”
    3. Episode 101 “Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant”
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    34 分