Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
Post Carbon Institute: Energy, Climate, and Collapse
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Top 10 Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Optimal Power
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
11/02/22 • 54 min
Overpopulation, overconsumption, and overexploitation of Earth's resources go way beyond the realm of simple problems with straightforward solutions. Instead, they are dilemmas that require tradeoffs and difficult decisions. To guide such decisions, energy and sustainability expert Richard Heinberg explores big ideas such as the adaptive cycle, resilience theory, and prudent predator theory. Heavy topics abound, from death to extinction to societal collapse, but Richard proposes the "optimum power principle" to help humanity step back from the edge. And the good news is that we have a long history of deploying self-limiting tools (even ordinary policies like taxation and rationing) to curtail our overzealous quest for power. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
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Overpowered: The Days of Climate Chaos
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
10/26/22 • 55 min
As exploitation of fossil fuels powered exponential growth in population and consumption, humanity began running into problems. Serious problems. The existential kind, like the potential for runaway global warming and the onset of the sixth mass extinction. For many problems, a solution exists, but what happens when a selected solution actually generates more problems? Energy and sustainability expert Richard Heinberg explains the difference between problems and dilemmas, and discusses how to escape our current climate dilemma. Sources of renewable energy have a major role to play, but we can’t rely on technofixes and business as usual. Real change will require shared sacrifice and wise decisions in the face of tradeoffs. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Fossil Fuels Changed Everything
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
10/19/22 • 61 min
Over the 19th and 20th centuries physical power, social power, and economies grew explosively. The main cause was humanity’s exploitation of fossil fuels. Sources of oil, coal, and natural gas – a vast underground storehouse of ancient sunlight – provided an almost magical and seemingly unlimited supply of energy to grow more food, provision more people, build more cities, and create more technologies. But this age of "more" also brought global warfare, consumerism, and overproduction. Improve your energy literacy with stories about pushing motor vehicles, enduring blackouts, and growing $10 tomatoes, and take a tour of history that visits ancient China, industrializing Britain, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and the Green Revolution. Resources mentioned in this episode include a juxtaposition of old and new city photographs, and Jason Bradford’s report The Future Is Rural. The song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" was written by lyricist Yip Harburg and composer Jay Gorney. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
The Rise of Social Inequality
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
10/12/22 • 51 min
Richard Heinberg, renowned energy and sustainability expert, explores the development of social power – simply defined as the ability to get other people to do something. Whether through money, violence, writing, or other means, humans have devised interesting ways of exerting influence over one another. One major downside, with implications for the collapse of societies, is widespread inequality. Concentration of social power tends to create social instability. You'll hear how power acts as a drug, damages people’s brains, and leads to the tragedies of slavery and colonization. Along the way, you might adopt new verbs like "Tom Sawyering" and "Robin Hooding." Note: Choral music in this episode was licensed from Allen Grey Music, "Lost Voices Soundscape." For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Fire, Tools, and Language
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
10/05/22 • 44 min
Join renowned energy and sustainability expert, Richard Heinberg, as he describes the flow of power in hunter-gatherer communities of the Pleistocene. As people learned to wield fire, deploy an array of tools, and coordinate actions through increasingly descriptive language, they became more capable of concentrating power. This development produced mind-blowing impacts on brain capacity and other aspects of human evolution. As you go back in time to the dawn of civilization, you'll become familiar with self-reinforcing feedback loops and how they shaped humanity's rise to dominance. And finally, you'll get to hear about (and appreciate) the surprising power of beauty in all its varied forms, but especially in the form of music. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Power in Nature
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
09/28/22 • 51 min
To understand humanity's relationship with energy and power, and to get a handle on why we're experiencing a polycrisis of climate change, social inequality, and loss of biodiversity, you have to go back to the beginning – all the way back to the origins of life on Earth. Explore how power functions in nature, including predator/prey relationships, self-balancing mechanisms in organisms and ecosystems, and the maximum power principle. Along the way, you'll tour exotic locations like the Grand Canyon and volcanic vents at the bottom of the sea, as well as more humble destinations like a neighborhood pond and a root cellar – places that will help you appreciate how power in nature drives evolution and determines biological success. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Introduction to Power
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
09/21/22 • 41 min
Climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, poverty, and inequality are all symptoms of one overarching problem: the way we humans accumulate and use power. If we want to address this problem and reduce the chances of a chaotic collapse of society, we will have to confront our overuse and abuse of power. But first we'll need to define power (both physical and social) and learn how energy flows through ecosystems and human society. Take a tour of these topics with succinct explanations from renowned energy and sustainability expert, Richard Heinberg, and clarifying stories that feature airplane flights, wrecking balls, charismatic leaders, and other seats of power. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Trailer for Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
09/19/22 • 1 min
How have humans become powerful enough to disrupt the world's climate, trigger the sixth mass extinction, and cause serious harm to the biosphere? And with all the abilities and technologies we've accrued, why do we so often oppress instead of uplift one another? Join us as we explore the hidden driver behind the converging crises of the 21st century. It all comes down to power - our pursuit of it, overuse of it, and abuse of it. Learn how different forms of power arose, what they mean for us today, and why giving up power just might save us.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
Powered Down and Better Off
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
11/09/22 • 61 min
Learn how humanity can exercise collective self-restraint to navigate the social and environmental crises of the 21st century. The world is in overshoot. There are too many people consuming too much stuff, and we're facing climate change, biodiversity loss, and immense social inequality. We're currently on a pathway to collapse, but the future doesn't have to be bleak. We can develop communities where we take care of one another and the ecosystems we inhabit. By understanding power relationships, overhauling economic institutions, and nurturing our most honorable cultural and spiritual traditions, we can forge a happy and healthy future. Follow along with sustainability expert Richard Heinberg as he explores these topics and offers sound advice for young people who will be living through turbulent times. And don't miss Melody’s song at the end of this episode. For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
How to Navigate Power with Wisdom
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival
01/24/23 • 21 min
First wisdom, then action. Richard Heinberg shares insights from his deep dive into the nature of power and power relationships. He addresses the three main "power tools": money, weapons, and communication technologies with humble and thoughtful advice on how to approach them. You’ll have the chance to contemplate how you might live your most authentic life with moderation, rationality, responsibility, and sometimes sacrifice. And you’ll learn how to evaluate potential solutions to global environmental and social problems by answering a simple question about how power is shared (or how it is not). For more information, please visit our website.
Learn more at power.postcarbon.org
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FAQ
How many episodes does Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival have?
Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival currently has 10 episodes available.
What topics does Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival cover?
The podcast is about Power, Environment, Earth Sciences, Energy, Climate Change, Podcasts, Science and Sustainability.
What is the most popular episode on Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival?
The episode title 'Optimal Power' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival?
The average episode length on Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival is 44 minutes.
How often are episodes of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival released?
Episodes of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival?
The first episode of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival was released on Sep 19, 2022.
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