Human Nature Odyssey

26 - Can Games Save The World From Bureaucracy? With C. Thi Nguyen

How did humans go from living in small-scale communities where everyone knew each other to building a massive civilization filled with billions of strangers? And what the

25 - The Forest and the Forager

You might think that you are not a forager. But what if no matter our lifestyle or job title, we are forever hunter gatherers in this world: of food, of love, of meaning.

24 - Stories That Create or Destroy: Myth, Death, and Animism with Sophie Strand

What if the crises of our time are not just ecological or political, but also mythological? Poet and author Sophie Strand joins Human Nature Odyssey for a wide-ranging

23 - What Is Human Nature Odyssey?

You, me, and everyone we know were born on the Titanic.  Some are warning of icebergs. Some are shoveling coal into the furnaces. Some are jamming out while the band pl

Hajar Tazi: Weaving Our Way Back Home

Today Hajar Tazi joins us on our odyssey. Hajar is a poet, writer, facilitator, and self-described "ecosystem weaver." Our conversation is part of a new five-episode mini

22 - Earth Abides (Part 2): Future Animists

Okay, it's been fifty years since the sudden collapse of civilization - why isn't everything back up and running already? In the 1949 sci-fi novel Earth Abides, Isherwood

21 - Earth Abides (Part 1): Life After Civilization

You ever go on a little trip, to just get away from it all — only to come home and find all of civilization collapsed while you were gone and you might be the last person

20 - Joanna Macy & The Great Turning — with Jess Serrante

How do we live through wild times? Legendary scholar, activist, and systems thinker Joanna Macy named the moment we are living through the Great Unraveling—a time when

19 - Modern Myths: Flat Earth, Space Colonization, and the Stories We Tell to Escape Reality

At first glance, believing the earth is flat and dreams of colonizing Mars couldn't seem further apart. But both are built on the same story — that reality can be escaped

18 - Time Machine 2126 (Part 2): Techno-Utopia Or Apocalypse?

Picture the future 100 years from now. What do you imagine? Flying cars? Space colonies? AI talking toasters? But if we can't sustain an endlessly growing economy - eve

17 - Time Machine 2126 (Part 1): Has Green Energy Saved Us Yet?

What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energ

16 - How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse

A horrific zombie apocalypse has ravaged the world—but hardly anyone seems to notice. One lone podcast sets out to interview those navigating this strange new reality: fr

15 - Are Hunter-Gatherers Liberals or Conservatives?

What insights can our ancient past shine on our political future? Were hunter-gatherers the ultimate traditionalists—or proto-communists?  Is it possible hunter-gathe

Sex at Dawn, Civilized to Death, and Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

Christopher Ryan joins the odyssey to discuss human nature - shouldn't be surprising - it's in the name! What's universal, what's cultural, and what's personal? Can we re

14 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 3)

Breaking news: The Soviet Union has collapsed! The Berlin Wall has crumbled! Communism has fallen! Capitalism wins! USA! USA! But wait… what's this? Russia has been ove

13 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 2)

In the The King Is Dead, Now What? we're exploring the history of the left / right political spectrum and the 250 year struggle for democracy. In Part 1 we started tell

12 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 1)

How many people are happy with the way society is headed? There seems to be a general consensus - maybe the one thing we all agree on - that things are not right.  But

Astrophysics for a New Stone Age with Tom Murphy

What will happen to our scientific knowledge if civilization collapses? Will astrophysics survive a future stone age? In this episode, we rest from our journey to talk

11 - Capitalism & Monopoly: Why The Best Board Games Make The Worst Reality

Looking for a game to play over the holidays? Why not try the real world global economy? Too late, you're already playing it!  Have you ever noticed how the most popula

10 - Against Leviathan: An Anarchist Fairytale of the Origin of Civilization

Gather around the campfire for a ghost story about the most destructive monster in history: civilization itself.  In this episode, we delve into the countercultural wri