KunstlerCast - Suburban Sprawl: A Tragic Comedy (general)
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere, The Long Emergency, and World Made By Hand, takes on the converging catastrophes of the 21st century. Features a new guest each month. (Note: Episodes 1 - 214 featured conversations between Duncan Crary and JHK during the years 2008 through 2012 and focused on the topics of suburban sprawl, disposable architecture and the end of the cheap oil era.)

    Dr. David E, Martin returns after delivering tough love about the Covid crime to governments in the UK and continental Europe. David is the Founder and Chairman of M·CAM Inc., the international leader in innovation finance, trade, and intangible asset finance. He’s been among a select band of international thought-leaders investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular the relationships between US public health officials, the pharmaceutical companies, and a number of shadowy organizations behind the development of hugely profitable vaccines with a poor record of safety and viability.

The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger

Direct download: KunstlerCast_391.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:09pm EDT

Stephanie Seneff is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. For over three decades, her research interests have always been at the intersection of biology and computation. She has published over 170 refereed articles on these subjects, In recent years, Dr. Seneff has focused her research interests back towards biology, especially the relationship between vaccines and autism; the harmful effects of the agricultural herbicide glyphosate (sold as “Roundup”); and study of the spike protein associate with the Covid-19-virus and the mRNA vaccines developed for it. She has published several papers on it with Dr. Peter McCullough and others.

 

The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger.

Direct download: KunstlerCast367.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:58pm EDT

Charles Hugh Smith founded his blog Of Two Minds in 2005 after 17 years of free-lance journalism in the San Francisco Bay Area. Of Two Minds has grown to thousands of posts that have logged tens of millions of page views on his site and many others such as Zero Hedge and Peak Prosperity. He is the author of eight novels and fourteen non-fiction books on socio-economic-political dynamics. He lives by Winston Churchill's dictum that "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

Charles's Blog: OfTwoMinds.com

Charles's Books:

Will You Be Richer or Poorer?: Profit, Power, and AI in a Traumatized World 

Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic 

Money and Work Unchained 

Direct download: KunstlerCast_328.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:25pm EDT

Nir Buras is a PhD architect and planner with over 30 years of in-depth experience in strategic planning, architecture, and transportation design, as well as teaching and lecturing. His planning, design and construction experience includes East Side Access at Grand Central Terminal, New York; International Terminal D, Dallas-Fort-Worth; the Washington DC Dulles Metro line; work on the US Capitol and the Senate and House Office Buildings in Washington. Projects he has worked on have been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, local newspapers, and trade magazines. Buras, whose original degree was Architect and Town Planner, has watched first-hand how architecture and urbanism impact each other. After the last decade of applying in practice the classical method that Buras absorbed in his practice, his book, The Art of Classic Planning (Harvard University Press, 2019), shows how we can best face the future by once more building beautiful, balanced, and durable urbanism.

The theme music for the podcast is the Two Rivers Waltz by Larry Unger.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_325.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:26pm EDT

Larry Kummer. Are these the Crazy Years in America? Larry is The editor of the Fabius Maximus website.

FabiusMaximus.com

He has 37 years experience in the finance industry in a variety of roles, retiring as a VP and Senior Portfolio Manager at a global investment bank. He was a Boy Scout volunteer leader for 15 years, running a Troop for 7 years and retiring as Director and VP-Finance of the Mt Diablo-Silverado Council. For 20 years he was an active Republican, working on many campaigns — until the party abandoned its traditional principles. He began writing about geopolitics in 2003

A sampling of important posts from Fabius Maximus: 

America isn’t falling like the Roman Empire. We're falling like the Roman Republic.

Welcome to ClownWorld, the final meme for America - It is the next phase of the "crazy years", long ago predicted by Robert Heinlein.

A new, dark picture of America’s future - our institutions are falling like a line of dominoes.

Larry says, “I’ve written 140 posts about ways to reform America. They are the least popular posts. We want simple morality tales, to cheer the good people and boo the bad. We flee from talk about responsibility and work like vampires from daylight. None of the risking "our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" for us. We see ourselves as customers in a restaurant, whining that the menu isn't good enough for people so awesome.”

Direct download: KunstlerCast_322_2.mp3
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Richard Vague, from Texas originally, is a Philadelphia-based managing partner of the venture capital firm, Gabriel Investments. He’s the author of A Brief History of Doom: Two Hundred Years of Financial Crises and The Next Economic Disaster: Why It's Coming and How to Avoid It. He’s been in and around the policy world for years and is considering a run for president as a Democrat. He intends to make his decision about that sometime this fall.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_319.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:03pm EDT

David W. Orr is Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and senior adviser to the president of Oberlin College. He is a founding editor of the journal Solutions, and serves as the executive director of the Oberlin Project, a collaborative effort of the city of Oberlin, Oberlin College, and private and institutional partners to improve the resilience, prosperity, and sustainability of Oberlin.

Orr is the author of seven books, including Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009) and coeditor of three others. He has authored nearly 200 articles, reviews, book chapters, and professional publications.

In the past 25 years, he has served as a board member or advisor to eight foundations and on the boards of many organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently he is a trustee of the Bioneers, the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and the Worldwatch Institute.

He has been awarded seven honorary degrees and a dozen other awards including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, and a Visionary Leadership Award from Second Nature. Orr is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

While at Oberlin, he spearheaded the effort to design, fund, and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which was named by an AIA panel in 2010 as “the most important green building of the past 30 years,” and as “one of 30 milestone buildings of the twentieth century” by the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

Direct download: KunstlerCast_292.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:54pm EDT

David W. Orr is Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and senior adviser to the president of Oberlin College. He is a founding editor of the journal Solutions, and serves as the executive director of the Oberlin Project, a collaborative effort of the city of Oberlin, Oberlin College, and private and institutional partners to improve the resilience, prosperity, and sustainability of Oberlin.

Orr is the author of seven books, including Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009) and coeditor of three others. He has authored nearly 200 articles, reviews, book chapters, and professional publications.

In the past 25 years, he has served as a board member or advisor to eight foundations and on the boards of many organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently he is a trustee of the Bioneers, the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and the Worldwatch Institute.

He has been awarded seven honorary degrees and a dozen other awards including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, and a Visionary Leadership Award from Second Nature. Orr is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

While at Oberlin, he spearheaded the effort to design, fund, and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which was named by an AIA panel in 2010 as “the most important green building of the past 30 years,” and as “one of 30 milestone buildings of the twentieth century” by the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

Direct download: KunstlerCast_292.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:54pm EDT

#265 — Futurist, Strategic Analyst, podcaster and rock and roll musician Eric Garland, taking with JHK from the troubled heartland city of St. Louis, Mo. Among other things, Eric and I talk about the Big Box shopping model, the contagion of business idiocy in the USA, the causes behind the Ferguson riots of 2014, and the current financial system as a raft of fraud going down a river of no return. His “Competitive Futures” podcast is available free on iTunes. His website is www.competitivefutures.com

Direct download: KunstlerCast_265.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:52am EDT

#260 — Independent petroleum geologist Arthur Berman says of the shale oil and shale gas scene: “What we’re reading in the newspapers everyday is completely distorted. It couldn’t be more wrong and delusional.” JHK and Art delve into the finer points of the so-called shale oil miracle. Can anybody actually make any money in it? What are the long-term prospects? How are they raising capital to do it? We explore some deep, dark corners of this largely misunderstood phenomenon and its relation to the wishful thinking economy of our time.

The KunstlerCast music is “Adam and Ali’s Waltz” from the recording Waiting to Fly by Mike and Ali Vass.

Direct download: KunstlerCast260.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:57pm EDT

JHK chats with tugboat fleet owner Rob Goldman about the revival and future of shipping on America's inland waterways. Rob's company, NYS Marine Highway runs tugboats that push cargo barges through the Erie Canal system and the Great Lakes, as well as along the Atlantic Coast. Rob graduated from Rensslaer Polytechnic as an Architect, got into the pleasure boat marina business, and eventually started his shipping company. It's not your great-great-grandfather's Erie Canal anymore.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_245.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:31pm EDT

JHK speaks with Rob Williams, co-author "Most Likely to Secede: What the Vermont Independence Movement Can Teach Us about Reclaiming Community and Creating a Human Scale Vision for the 21st Century." 

Direct download: KunstlerCast_220.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

James Howard Kunstler will be resuming the KunstlerCast, solo, in the near future. In the meantime, this is the "pilot" episode for "A Small American City," a new podcast series by former KunstlerCast host Duncan Crary. Jim helped Duncan launch the new series with this special interview.

TROY, N.Y. - For many Americans, "The City" only refers to New York City, or one of the other major metroplexes in the country with populations in the millions. But North America is filled with smaller cities that were once just as lively, if only at a smaller scale. And they may come back to life again as events already underway continue to unfold.

Urban polemicist James Howard Kunstler believes that people will be living a lot differently in the U.S.A. during the coming years. Financial distress and energy scarcity are just two forces that may dictate Americans re-inhabit the centers of our smaller cities. But contrary to prevailing suburban notions of our times, life in an activated urban center - at a smaller scale - is delightful. The more activated these places become, the more desirable it will be to be in them.

Kunstler feels that Troy, N.Y., with its currently population of 50,000, has many characteristics that make it a universal stand-in for every small American city. But he also believes there are aspects that make Troy uniquely poised for a genuine comeback.

For this pilot episode of A Small American City, Kunstler joins host Duncan Crary for a special, introductory conversation about small cities, Troy, N.Y. and the urban fabric. From 2008 to 2012, Crary and Kunstler produced the popular podcast series, The KunstlerCast, a weekly conversation about "the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl." During their run, the two often used Crary's home city of Troy, N.Y. as an informal laboratory to illustrate and observe the urban design, energy and economic issues of the times.

Now, after completing what he considers an "intellectual apprenticeship," Crary will be setting off alone to continue exploring the urban organism. The episode begins with an excerpt from an essay by Crary about his time spent learning from Kunstler and living in Troy, NY. It first appeared in print as the concluding chapter of Crary’s book, The KunstlerCast: Conversations with James Howard Kunstler...the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl, (New Society Publishers, 2011). Visit http://asmallamericancity.com to hear more.

http://asmallamericancity.comVisit

Direct download: KunstlerCast_214.mp3
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Duncan and Jim update listeners on the future of the KunstlerCast now that Duncan is stepping back his role.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_213.mp3
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JHK gives a walking tour of the grounds of the Kunstler Compound in Washington County, NY and updates listeners on his progress in planting his own edible garden and orchard.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_211.mp3
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Author James Howard Kunstler reads "The Multicultural Dilemma" from Chapter 9 of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 237-239).

Direct download: KunstlerCast_TMM_04.mp3
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Author James Howard Kunstler reads " Social Relations and the Dilemmas of Difference" from Chapter 9 of his nonfiction book "Too Much Magic" (Altantic Monthly Press, 2012: pp 216-221).

Direct download: KunstlerCast_TMM_03.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:38pm EDT

JHK and Duncan have a ramble 'n rant episode on the robitification of our communications landscape, that wasteland of overcomplexity and hyperdependence of modern technology. Sponsor: http://theheirloom.blogspot.com/

Direct download: KunstlerCast_199.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00pm EDT

Twelve years ago James Howard Kunstler visited Mexico City to write a chapter for his book "The City in Mind." He recently returned there to speak at a conference. In this podcast Jim shares his thoughts on the history, present state and future prospects for this major world city. Note: This episode includes cursewords.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_173.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:30pm EDT

JHK updates us on the recent credit downgrading of America as it relates to the unfolding Long Emergency. At the end of the show we play a song based on The Long Emergency by a podcast listener.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_168.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:53pm EDT

Originally broadcast April, 2008: When James Howard Kunstler isn't railing against suburban sprawl, he's painting it. Vincent van Gogh painted the peasant sleeping by the haystack because he was living in a landscape populated by people. Our landscape is populated by cars. So, as a sur la motif painter of our time, Jim's subjects include cars on the road, gas stations and the industrial ruins of America's manufacturing past. Making this landscape legible on the canvas is a challenge, but it's also dangerous! An angry manager once told Jim that painting the Burger King is not allowed.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_167.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30pm EDT

JHK Critiques Ed Glaeser's talk from recent Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU 19) and the ideas presented in his best-selling book Triumph of the City. Sponsor: Orion Magazine.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_162.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:57pm EDT

In a special cross promotion, Andrew Blechman of the Orion Magazine podcast interviews JHK about cities of the future. For the full interview, visit: http://www.orionmagazine.org/cities

Direct download: KunstlerCast_161.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:30pm EDT

JHK gives an update on the bursting housing bubble and the fate of car dependency in America. This episode includes a short interview with Sharon Feigon, CEO of I-Go Car Sharing, and Sonya Newenhouse, president of Community Car, two professionals in the car sharing industry. Sponsor: Bjorn Bergman who reminds listeners to eat local this summer! 651-276-8875

Direct download: KunstlerCast_160.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:54pm EDT

In the first of many installments to come, Duncan updates James Howard Kunstler on the recent Congress For the New Urbanism, held June 1-6, 2011 in Madison, Wisc. The Congress for the New Urbanism is a professional association of planners, architects, developers, political leaders and activists who are committed to revitalizing cities and curb the continuation of sprawl. During this show, we hear from: Andres Duany, New Urbanist architec; Ed Glaeser, Harvard economist & author; U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR; Paul Soglin, mayor of Madison, Wisc.; Paul Minett, Ridesharing Institute; Will Allen, Wisconsin farmer and founder of Growing Power; Charles Waldheim, Harvard professor and leader of the Landscape Urbanism movement; and Stefanos Polyzoides, New Urbanist architect. JHK reacts to some short sound bites regarding Landscape Urbanism, skyscraper cities and the development of New Urbanism.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_159.mp3
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James Howard Kunstler discusses and reads from his novella, A Christmas Orphan -- the story of a young boy from the big city who runs away on Christmas Eve to small-town Vermont. JHK explains how this story deals with many of the issues he writes about in his nonfiction commentary on our living arrangements of the late 20th and 21st centuries. A Christmas Orphan is available for purchase at http://Northshire.com. Music used by permission of IODA Promonet.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_138.mp3
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James Howard Kunstler reports on his recent trip to Perth, Australia. He joins host Duncan Crary by telephone during a long layover at the LAX aiport on the return trip. Kunstler found Perth to be a very pleasant city with good urbanism and public transit. And in spite of an enthusiasm for suruban development, the center city is very dense. However, he believes Australians may be caught off guard by the coming geopolitical changes of the Long Emergency.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_136.mp3
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James Howard Kunstler reads the first chapter of his post-oil novel The Witch of Hebron (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2010). Music: "McCully's Waltz," performed by Ed Lowman & John Kirk, recorded specially for the World Made By Hand series.

Direct download: JHK_WOH_Reading_Ch1.mp3
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JHK and Duncan celebrate the Fourth of July by touring Uncle Sam's neighborhood. They stroll down Second Street in Troy NY, admiring the 19th century architecture along the way. Destinations include: Russell Sage College, the county court house and one of only two privately owned and maintained residential green squares in New York state (the other is the famous Gramercy Park in Manhattan). They speak to some workers laying a stone street by hand, and explore the alley in an exclusive neighborhood. Sponsor: PostCarbon.org
Direct download: KunstlerCast_118-Audio-Only.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:43pm EDT


James Howard Kunstler reports on his recent visit to Berlin, Germany...the one place where people know how to pronounce his name correctly. Thirteen years ago, James Howard Kunstler traveled to Berlin, Germany to research a chapter for his third nonfiction book, The City in Mind. On his recent trip, he discovered that the place has healed remarkably over the past decade. Of course he had to go check in on the Führerbunker which is now the site of one of Berlin's few surface parking lots. JHK notes that history is a great prankster and therefore it's no surprise that while the U.S. won the war against Germany, it's cities looked bombed out. While Germany lost the war and its cities are beautiful, civilized places. Listeners  end the show with their reactions to the BP oil spill. Listeners end the show by sharing their reactions to the BP oil spill. Sponsor: Post Carbon Institute, http://postcarbon.org
Direct download: KunstlerCast_117.mp3
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James Howard Kunstler shares his observations from a recent visit to Atlanta, Ga.
Direct download: KunstlerCast_115.mp3
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James Howard Kunstler talks about two former industrial cities undergoing massive contractions: Flint, Michigan and Youngstown, Ohio . The local governments in both cities have adopted policies to manage the contraction to reduce public safety issues caused by large abandoned areas within their borders. Kunstler then responds to a listener call from suburban Chicago about the prospects of farming in the post-cheap oil suburbs. The conversation then turns to the future of former city farms. Sponsorship for this podcast comes from Audible. Visit http://audiblepodcast.com/kunstler for a free audio book download and 14-day trial.

Music supplied by IODA Promonet.

Direct download: KunstlerCast_64.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:58pm EDT