Show Notes
In the world of college sports, money talks and the volleyball team walks, er, flies 33,000 miles to play games. The NCAA, like almost everyone else, is playing games with Mother Nature. What do we expect student-athletes to gain from ignoring the climate emergency (not to mention putting their health at risk)? Who cares, as long as we can wring a few more dollars out of the TV deals -- am I right?!? Jason, Rob, and Asher propose a new plan for college sports and for taking the climate emerge...
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On July 19, 2026 the world lost a 5’11”, 150 pound giant of intellect and compassion… Richard Heinberg. Richard was a prolific writer, speaker, educator, musician, and a gentle soul – none of which applies to your Crazy Town hosts. Jason, Rob, and Asher gather in the studio for the first time since Richard’s passing to commiserate, reflect on his legacy, and talk about how to keep his work and ethos alive. There’s no way to replace Richard, but we can all aspire to be a little more like him and steer things toward kindness, intelligence, justice, and simple living. Originally recorded on 10/1/26 with archival episodes.
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What if collapse isn't the end of the story but part of a larger cycle? In Part 5 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following clues from the Crazy Town archives leads to the adaptive cycle: a framework from ecology that describes how complex systems move through growth, maturity, collapse, and reorganization. From the Titanic and lifeboats to Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, the search turns toward a more difficult question: How do we navigate a period of contraction while building something more just, sustainable, and resilient on the other side? Originally recorded on 9/10/26 with archival episodes. Related Episodes Episode 25, “Koala Butts Ablaze and the Sweet Relief of the Adaptive Cycle” Episode 26, “Doors and Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Reimagining Lifeboat Ethics in the Age of Overshoot”
What if the story we tell ourselves about progress is wrong? In Part 4 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following clues from the Crazy Town archives, Alex begins questioning one of the most deeply held assumptions of modern society: that history is a story of continual progress. From rising life expectancy and GDP to expanding material wealth and technological innovation, there are plenty of reasons to believe things are getting better. But where did this idea of progress come from? And what happens when the energy and resources required to keep progressing begin to run up against the limits of the natural world? Along the way, Alex follows the trail from the Enlightenment and fossil fuels to techno-optimism, Jeff Bezos, cargo cults, and the dangerous belief that technology will always come to the rescue. Maybe the problem isn't that we're failing to make progress. Maybe it's that we're asking the wrong question altogether. And if Jason, Rob, and Asher aren't looking for a ladder to the future, where exactly could they have gone? The search continues. Originally recorded on 8/19/26 with archival episodes.
Can our economy keep growing forever on a finite planet? In this third installment of Finding Crazy Town, we explore the idea of exponential economic growth, why economists and politicians have become so committed to it, and what happens when our economic models fail to account for the environmental systems that make the economy possible. Along the way, Jason, Rob, and Asher revisit the problems they see in conventional economics, Jason recounts the experience that sent him down the rabbit hole of Limits to Growth and ecological economics, and the trio asks whether growth and progress really mean the same thing. From Robert Wadlow to Ronald Reagan, Donella Meadows to Julian Simon, the IPCC to the three musketeers, we follow the clues—and discover that sometimes limits aren't the enemy of creativity. They’re what make creativity possible. Originally recorded on 7/21/26 with archival episodes.