Episodes

  • Finding Crazy Town Part 1: The Straight of Everything

    Finding Crazy Town Part 1: The Straight of Everything
    Jul 15 2026

    What happens when the global economy depends on fish traveling 10,000 miles, oil flowing through a single strait, and enough cheap fossil fuel energy to build civilizations that previous generations couldn't even imagine?

    In Part 1 of our six-part summer series, producer Alex Leff begins investigating the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following the clues leads to international shipping, global trade, and the hidden energy that powers modern civilization. Along the way, we'll revisit some of Crazy Town's foundational ideas—and begin asking how our modern techno-industrial world came to be, why it's so fragile, and what it would take to build something more resilient.

    Originally recorded on 7/1/26 with archival episodes.

    Related Episodes
    • Episode 11, “My Dinner Is Stuck in Traffic”
    • Episode 16, “The 10,000-Mile Cod and Insane Global Trade”
    • Episode 23, “Mayor McCheese & Modern Medicine: the Good & Bad of High Energy”

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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    44 mins
  • Gaslit by the Four Horsemen: Maddening Signs of the Apocalypse

    Gaslit by the Four Horsemen: Maddening Signs of the Apocalypse
    Jul 1 2026
    With the churn of daily news growing more apocalyptic by the headline, and with earth scientists competing ferociously for the title of “gloomiest doomer,” it’s time for some fun (or at least making fun) with a new fantasy-football-style draft. This time, Jason, Rob, and Asher are making their way through their top 3 signs of civilizational collapse, in 3 categories: Earth systems, pop culture, and politics. But they refuse to remain mired in the muck. Each draft pick has to be accompanied by a countervailing force, a real-world example of people facing reality and building resilience together. Originally recorded on 5/22/26.Sources & LinksThe 'Doomsday' Glacier's Giant Ice Shelf by Alison George, New Scientist, May 18, 2026Thwaites glacier in AntarcticaAntarctica’s ‘doomsday glacier’ by Hope Nguyen, Yahoo! News, May 20, 2026Plastic-Eating Microbe by Hafsa Aslam, UC Davis, Apr 7, 2025Gardening google search trendAdvances in AI will boost productivity, by Mark A. Wynne and Lillian Derr, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, June 24, 205Dallas Fed Chart 3 Possible AI Futures by Rudo Chakrabarti, Yahoo! Finance, May 9, 2026Local governments oases of compromise by Alexandra Marquez, NBC News, Oct 23, 2024North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre collapse by Laurie Laybourn, IPPR.org, Oct 9, 2024Global Tipping Points: Atlantic CirculationThe most pro-business Supreme Court ever by Felix Salmon, Axios, Aug 4, 2022Voting Rights Decision, New York Times, May 28, 2026Planetary Boundaries frameworkLand System ChangeWillamette Valley Wet PrairieWillamette Valley Upland Prairie and SavannaMaps of Crazy Town: Mar de Plastico by Rob Dietz, Resilience, Sep 4, 2025The Land Trust AllianceCommunity Land TrustsHow F1 Became the Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S. by Douglas Jase, Complex, May 6, 2026Fatalities in F1 racingExplainer: What’s happening with gerrymandering in the United States—and who will “win” the redistricting battle? Harvard Kennedy School, May 4, 2026Democracy was never designed to work — but something better is emerging by Jeremy Lent, Resilience, May 6, 2026Related EpisodesEpisode 96, “The Frequent Flyer Tree: Losing the Last Bit of Sense in the Climate Emergency”Episode 103, “It Was Never Your Democracy Anyway: Thomas Linzey on Rethinking the Constitution”CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • What Lies Beneath: AMOC, El Niño, & Climate Chaos with Emily Schoerning

    What Lies Beneath: AMOC, El Niño, & Climate Chaos with Emily Schoerning
    Jun 17 2026
    It’d be easy, with the clusterf**k of crazy-making economic, geopolitical, and democracy-in-decline news dominating the scene, to forget that the unraveling of environmental systems waits for no person. That’s why we’ve asked Emily Schoerning to return to Crazy Town. Asher and Emily sit down together (uh, virtually) to discuss the oceanic dynamics – from worrisome to downright apocalyptic – that could make the Strait of Hormuz disruption look like a five-minute wait at the Starbucks drive-thru. In this episode they discuss the possibility of a 2026-2027 Super El Niño, the growing risks of an AMOC collapse, and how each of us can approach near- and longer-term resilience.Originally recorded on 5/20/26.Sources & LinksAmerican ResiliencyLinks to graphs/resources that Emily mentioned:NOAA ENSO Update (see page 23)Columbia El Nino UpdateClimate Reanalyzer (to visualize average SST changes as a graph)Zach Labe's visualizations (to visualize currently non-apocalyptic Antarctic sea ice)Copernicus (to visualize SST anomalies on world map)Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown modulates atmospheric rivers in a warmer climate by Mimi, M. S., Liu, W., Ma, W., & Chen, G. Nature Communications, 2026Articles/papers related to AMOC and El Nino:Observational constraints project a ~50% AMOC weakening by the end of this century by Portmann, V., Swingedouw, D., Khattab, O., & Chavent, M. Science Advances, 2026Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought by Carrington, D. The Guardian, April 15, 2026El Niño/Southern Oscillation (Enso) Diagnostic Discussion, Climate Prediction Center, 14 May 2026A'super El Niño?‘ The Conversation, May 14, 2026Related EpisodesEpisode 119, “Getting Real about Resiliency with Emily Schoerning”CreditsProduction and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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    59 mins
  • Join the 2026 Crazy Town Hall

    Join the 2026 Crazy Town Hall
    Jun 10 2026

    Join your fellow Crazy Townies by registering at resilience.org/crazytownhall

    The Crazy Town Hall is a live, online get-together for our most engaged listeners, affectionately known as Crazy Townies. The Town Hall is your chance to hang out with Jason, Rob, and Asher – and your fellow Crazy Townies – as we continue our arduous journey to the center of a collapsing techno-industrial, politically incompetent civilization. This 75-minute event will feature plenty of lampoonery, fun pop quizzes, and even good ideas for building community resilience.

    Like any respectable political circus these days, this event is also a fundraiser. So please consider making a donation to our modest nonprofit organization, and join us for some fun at the Crazy Town Hall.
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    2 mins
  • The Hypocrite’s Guide to the Galaxy: Muddling Toward a Sustainable Footprint

    The Hypocrite’s Guide to the Galaxy: Muddling Toward a Sustainable Footprint
    Jun 3 2026

    Is hypocrisy the one thing that can grow infinitely on our finite planet? When you learn that humanity’s fossil fuel burning, including your own, is contributing to climate chaos, what can you do? When you understand that economic growth and consumption are causing habitat loss and the sixth mass extinction, can you opt out? As long as you are embedded in an unsustainable society, it’s hard not to be a hypocrite. At the same time, dropping out seems isolating and ineffective, if you can even do it. Join Jason, Asher, and Rob as they hit the confessional to examine the challenges and psychology of hypocrisy. Originally recorded on 4/23/26.

    Sources & Links
    • Hassan Fathy
    • A Short History of Endurance by Charlotte Del Signore
    • Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus
    • Nature’s Best Hope by Doug Tallamy
    • Homegrown National Park
    • "What Is the Window of Tolerance, and Why Is It So Important?" Psychology Today, May 23, 2022.
    • Asher recommends taking 20 minutes to sit down with this worksheet to better understand triggers/signs for when you’re either in hyperarousal (fight/flight) or hypoarousal (freeze).

    Related Episodes
    • Episode 16, “The 10,000-Mile Cod and Insane Global Trade”

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • The Lighter Side of Dark Ages with Chris Smaje

    The Lighter Side of Dark Ages with Chris Smaje
    May 20 2026

    Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call them “pharmers” with a “ph,” as in PhD?!?). Chris’s latest book, Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft explores how we can move from modernity’s unsustainable political economy toward a re-organization of society, driven by communities and local food systems. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Jason cover everything from Viking raids to agrarian populism, from societal collapse to the practicalities of making your way in a failed state. And they can’t get away from the shop talk of gardens, livestock, and home economics. Originally recorded on 4/2/26.

    Sources & Links
    • Chris Smaje’s Blog
    • Finding Lights in a Dark Age by Chris Smaje
    • Excerpt of the book on Resilience
    • Second excerpt on Resilience
    • Review: Saying NO to Ecomodermism. Smaje Versus Monbiot, It’s No Contest

    Related Episodes
    • Episode 98, “Bargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Balls”

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.
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    58 mins
  • Take Me to the River: Getting Rid of Deadbeat Dams

    Take Me to the River: Getting Rid of Deadbeat Dams
    May 6 2026
    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 mins
  • Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!

    Mailbag: The Crazy Townies Speak!
    Apr 22 2026

    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 mins