Apprehensive about the future? Like many, you likely have a gut feeling that things aren't quite right, but haven’t been able to place your finger on why. That feeling only grows with the increasing political tensions, economic uncertainty, natural disasters, and supply chain disruptions. What do all these challenges mean? And what will be the result of society’s current trajectory? “Breaking Down: Collapse” takes the complex concepts surrounding the ultimate collapse of modern industrial society and simplifies them so they’re easier to learn. The compelling evidence for our inevitable decline is introduced by collapse-aware Kory to his good friend, Kellan, who probably doesn’t realize what he signed up for! Skeptical? Gear up for a paradigm shift! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Daily Episode 243 - Heat is increasing... increasingly
The rate at which the planet is heating is accelerating. Models haven't taken this into account, so when do we hit climate sensitivity, and how hot will that be?
Post by
Sep 17 12 min
Daily Episode 242 - Take AI Development Seriously
#2 trending · Earth Sciences
AI is an increasingly divisive topic, even (or especially) among collapse aware folk. How seriously should we take its development?
Anthropic Researcher Quit, Says AI La
Sep 16 20 min
Daily Episode 241 - And it starts at the bottom
#12 trending · Earth Sciences
Today we take a look at the bottom of the marine food chain, where new research indicates things aren't looking to great:
Climate change may erase 25 million hectares of
Sep 15 14 min
Daily Episode 240 - Wildlife is running out of time
#21 trending · Earth Sciences
Wildlife is collapsing, and time is running low to make the changes we must in order to protect them.
Gray whales are washing up dead on the West Coast. The reason is al
Sep 14 17 min
Daily Episode 239 - This Week in Fascism #40
Sources:
Judge blocks Trump’s new USPS rules for mail-in ballots with just weeks before midterm elections | The Independent
2026 midterms: Trump is getting the mail-bal
Sep 11 22 min
Daily Episode 238 - Do people even want change?
Am I alone in imagining a better future? A whole bunch of data says no:
Support for changing the current economic system | Pew Research Center
Americans stand out inter
Sep 10 21 min
Daily Episode 237 - Is there a point to it all?
If collapse is inevitable, is there a point to trying?
FYI the episode contains spoilers for the musical "Hadestown".
Please join us on Patreon for weekly bonus conten
Sep 9 25 min
Daily Episode 236 - Renewables have made big strides: Can they save us now?
Renewables have made massive strides in the 2020s. I answer the question that still comes up from time to time: Can a successful rollout of renewables save society from c
Sep 8 22 min
Daily Episode 235 - +1.5C is Dead
A new UN report officially announced that limiting warming to +1.5C is no longer a viable goal:
Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good o
Sep 7 18 min
Daily Episode 234 - This week in Fascism #39
Sources:
Judge Tells RFK Jr. to Stop Using Fake AI Studies on Teen Pregnancy | The New Republic
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Stanford Students Who Criticized I
Sep 4 27 min
Daily Episode 233 - Collapse and the US Military
The US military is simultaneously contributing to collapse, as it also says it's working to fight against it (climate change and resulting instability). Meanwhile, it's a
Sep 3 22 min
Daily Episode 232 - The US is a Mess
A collection of articles highlighting the current mess that is the US. And we're just getting started:
Gary, Indiana’s Suffering in a Blackout Brings a Global Crisis Hom
Sep 2 20 min
Daily Episode 231 - Nepal's Disaster made more likely by Climate Change
A look at stories across the world related to climate change, including the story of a landslide/flash flood along the Tibet/Nepal boarder that has resulted in the deaths
Sep 1 16 min
Daily Episode 230 - Climate Change News across Europe
A look at several articles highlighting this summer of climate chaos in Europe:
Lake Zurich sees water level hit record low amid drought
European farmers face ‘unpreced
Aug 31 19 min
Daily Episode 229 - This Week in Fascism #38
Sources:
Supreme Court Sides With Trump for Now on Mail Ballot Curbs - Bloomberg
Half the Country Sues to Stop Trump’s Dangerous USPS Mail Ballot Rule | The New Republi
Aug 28 26 min
Daily Episode 228 - Is Europe in for a difficult winter?
A Substack breaks down the troubles that Europe may experience this winter due to the effects of catabolic collapse:
Blackout Europe: The Coming Winter Energy Crisis
Pl
Aug 27 27 min
Daily Episode 227 - Hothouse Earth by mid century?
Two new pieces of research highlight the earth is potentially warming much faster than previously thought, and that the models are wrong (imagine that):
World may warm b
Aug 26 22 min
Daily Episode 226 - A focus on the UK
An episode to focus on various aspects of collapse showing up in the UK in recent days:
Network Rail says heat poses ‘exceptional challenges’ after two trains derail in
Aug 25 17 min
Daily Episode 225 - The Peak Population Question
New research suggests that the global population will peak much earlier than expected, and that's without considering major collapse forces:
Economists Say World Populat
Aug 24 21 min
Daily Episode 224 - This Week in Fascism #37
Sources:
New evidence suggests White House took steps to punish Colorado over Tina Peters case
Former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer breaks down Todd Blanche’s 21-page me
Aug 21 24 min
Chart trend
Position in the Earth Sciences chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#12#22JunJulAugSep
#2
all-time peak
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days in the top 3 since Sep 2025
Chart positions
Where Breaking Down: Collapse ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 17, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
I appreciate the dry humor and accessibility of the hosts. It's a good point of entry for anyone interested in starting to learn about the salient problems of our time while neither sensationalizing nor minimizing them.
Bellamy1717 · Jun 2025
I’ve found Kory and Kellan’s banter on the subject of collapse to be enjoyable.
If you’ve been paying attention, much of what is discussed will not come as a surprise.
I appreciate that they take their time to devote whole episodes to discuss the Kessler effect and abandoned nuclear sites.
Many of the topics discussed in previous episodes have indeed come to pass.
I really don’t understand what the negative reviewers were expecting here. Maybe skip the review and move along.
This is my favorite podcast along with “Fall of Civilizations”.
sandcamp7 · Feb 2025
This podcast covers a wide range of subjects regarding the dire issues facing our planet and people. The coverage is informative at a basic level, but you can listen to the entire series and not get your ankles wet. This is problematic because the gravity of the message (extraordinary claims) requires a deeper and more substantiated discussion (extraordinary evidence). I recommend that folks go to a library and read books by experts, or if you must do podcasts, try Nate Hagens’ “the great simplification”. He’s an expert, interviews experts, and isn’t monetizing his project.
Mike Griffin77 · Mar 2024
I discovered this Podcast while searching for information about a climate change related situation, the slowing down of the AMOC. Discovered that climate change is but one area where we’ve pushed the limit. Kory and Kelan are two good friends discussing difficult information in a gentle but matter of fact way. Their kindness and compassion come through. I’ve found listening to their voices to be therapeutic. Hearing them makes me feel less lonely more able to carry this heartbreaking knowledge. Note that while they don’t have a science or economics background, this very fact makes their podcast more broadly accessible. Glad to have Kory and Kelan to share the unfolding of the years to come.
oldtime sp · Jul 2023
My sister recommended this podcast as she knows I’m sort of a technocratic in-the-weeds logician. (I listen to local government meetings.) I wanted a thoughtful perspective on Project 2025 so this episode caught my eye. I’m 27 minutes into the Project 2025 episode and the majority is hot breathing and quotations of other partisans. No analysis. Way to go, guys. Now I’m questioning my sister’s sanity. Does she even know me? Has she suffered head trauma? Next she’ll be recommending shows on Bravo and mayonnaise-based foods. They do a lot of quoting of other people talking about it but haven’t really done any analysis on their own and I’m not even sure if they’re citing Project 2025 accurately. The one androgynously-named guy admits to only reading the 17 page Forward. And the other androgynously-named guy, it seems, didn’t even read that! How can you do a podcast analyzing a document yet not read the document?!? So, I question what they deem analysis. Yes, it’s a large document. But this is a podcast about the details of it. If you want to be taken seriously, READ IT! That’s the job. I skimmed a good bit of it and see the logic of most of what I read. That doesn’t mean they have to agree with it. Not at all! I was hoping for piece by piece technical researched deep dive. After 27 minutes of hot breathing and emotional insults while admitting you didn’t actually read the document, it’s clear that isn’t coming. The only citations I heard were the four pillars of the document, which they didn’t actually disagree with, yet strangely read with a disgusted tone! An embarrassing enterprise.
Sweatpants00 · Mar 2025
This podcast is the Collapse subreddit and Wikipedia presented as an audio medium. The first few episodes were informative but as I kept listening, I realized that the level of research put into each episode is equates to a basic level of googling and wikipedia. The episodes don’t feature any guests with expertise so the information is mostly speculative and opinion based with lots of hypothetical scenarios. There’s much better collapse related podcasts out there: I recommend: 1. “Planet Critical” and “Hot Takes” for environmental collapse. 2. “Current Affairs” for economic collapse. 3. “Gaslit Nation” and “The New Abnormal” for political collapse.
QuidProHo · Feb 2023
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