Thu, 24 September 2009
James Howard Kunstler shares his thoughts on Los Angeles, California after a recent visit to Tinseltown. The motoring infrastructure of Los Angeles stretches from horizon to horizon. It is a provisional civilization in which all is subordinate to the car. However, Kunstler believes Los Angeles is more urban than people assume. He was particularly surprised by the pleasant side streets of West Hollywood. But Kunstler wonders how well Los Angeles would fare after even a minor disruption to the supply of cheap gasoline. Sponsor: New Society Publishers. NewSociety.com |
Thu, 17 September 2009
Professor Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, is advocating for people to paint their rooftops white in order to save on energy and to cut down on global warming. James Howard Kunstler reacts to this idea and also addresses the topic of rooftop gardens, or "green" roofs. This week's podcast is sponsored by New Society Publishers http://newsociety.com |
Thu, 10 September 2009
A Listener caller asks James Howard Kunstler if now is a good time to emigrate from the U.S. to France. During his response, Kunstler poses the question: exactly what allegiance do you owe to your country if your country is making a foolish spectacle of itself? Kunstler explains why he himself has not packed his bags for Europe. And he covers the possibility of regional autonomy arising in the U.S. if various energy, climate, political and financial crises push us in that direction. Warning: This episode contains explicit language. Times: 5:13, 21:09, 22:15, 22:24. Today's sponsor is NewSociety.com, publishers of peak oil thinkers. |
Thu, 3 September 2009
James Howard Kunstler says one reason why American cities are so dirty is because we do not have a firm agreement about how to treat the public realm in this country. He believes that people will literally trash a place that they don't like or respect. And a lot of American space is difficult to respect. While suburbia contains meticulously groomed private yards, the public highways are often lined with impressive amounts of trash on the shoulder. On a larger scale, many corporations treat the American landscape with a similar disregard. While Kunstler believes that large scale pollution from mega corporations may taper off with the cheap oil supply, he thinks local manufacturing in the future might reintroduce forms of pollution that haven't been seen in the U.S. for a while. Note: The voice of Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk appears in this episode, courtesy of Planetizen, publisher of The Story of Sprawl DVD. KunstlerCast listeners receive a $5 discount when purchasing this DVD by using the discount code FIESTA: http://www.planetizen.com/DVD SPONSOR: This week's sponsor is New Society Publishers, the leading publisher of Peak Oil thinkers such as Dmitry Orlov, Richard Heinberg, Sharon Astyk and Michael Ruppert. NewSociety.com |