Crazy Town cover art

Crazy Town

Crazy Town

Written by: Post Carbon Institute
Listen for free

With equal parts humor and in-depth analysis, Asher, Rob, and Jason safeguard their sanity while probing crazy-making topics like climate change, overshoot, runaway capitalism, and why we’re all deluding ourselves. Each fortnightly episode helps you understand the “Great Unraveling” of our environmental and social systems and describes how we can make the transition to a sustainable and equitable world. If you’re someone who questions the trajectory of society and struggles to understand why most people would rather eat nachos on the deck of the “SS Denial” than face reality, you’ll find community and plenty of laughs in Crazy Town. Brought to you by https://www.resilience.org/ and the unconventional minds at Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit think tank that builds awareness of the polycrisis and prescribes community resilience-building as the most appropriate response. Your hosts: Asher Miller - Nonprofit executive director by day, apocalypse comedian by night. Feels most at home exploring insanity-inducing topics while trying not to spill coffee on his keyboard as he convulses over the latest ecomodernist fantasy. In danger of losing his mind every time he encounters someone using a gas-powered blower to move leaves from one spot to another. Rob Dietz - Jack-of-all-trades environmental scientist, conservation biologist, and ecological economist with a penchant for relating planetary overshoot to the catalog of movie scenes that play on a continuous loop in his colonized brain. Known for inserting random ecological facts into casual conversation, often in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. His friends call him “pessimistically hilarious.” Jason Bradford - Activist farmer and former encyclopedia salesman with a PhD in plant ecology who gets genuinely excited discussing soil microbes and societal collapse in the same breath. Morally opposed to doomsday prepping, but predisposed toward sharing everything he keeps in his bunker, er root cellar, including potatoes, wine, and a 47-month supply of scientific esoterica and embarrassing anecdotes. These guys are the Three Stooges of sustainability podcasting, although they tend toward scientific analysis, righteous outrage, and self-deprecation rather than beating each other up with hand tools. How can they have this much fun while contemplating collapse and navigating the Great Unraveling? Heartfelt thanks to the team at Post Carbon Institute, our volunteers, and all our fellow Crazy Townies out there who help bring this podcast to life.© 2025 Post Carbon Institute Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Nature & Ecology Science
Episodes
  • Cheerful Pessimist: The Life and Legacy of Richard Heinberg
    Oct 21 2026

    On July 19, 2026 the world lost a 5’11”, 150 pound giant of intellect and compassion… Richard Heinberg. Richard was a prolific writer, speaker, educator, musician, and a gentle soul – none of which applies to your Crazy Town hosts. Jason, Rob, and Asher gather in the studio for the first time since Richard’s passing to commiserate, reflect on his legacy, and talk about how to keep his work and ethos alive. There’s no way to replace Richard, but we can all aspire to be a little more like him and steer things toward kindness, intelligence, justice, and simple living.

    Originally recorded on 10/1/26 with archival episodes.

    Sources & Links
    • RichardHeinberg.com
    • Asher’s post announcing the news
    • Legacy page, with info on how to add live Celebration of Life to calendar
    • EverLoved website, where listeners can read tributes and share their own
    • Richard’s widow, Janet’s, GoFundMe
    • Richard’s articles on what he learned from chickens, why the blues should be our national anthem; and fountain pen as bellweathers
    • 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds
    • Richard’s free online course, Think Resilience
    • Post-Carbon Music, Richard’s speech and musical performance at the New England Conservatory of Music

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.

    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
  • Finding Crazy Town Part 6: Facing the Future
    Oct 7 2026

    What would it actually mean to live with less? From World War II rationing to the possibility of a contracting economy, the search explores what happens when a civilization built on endless expansion runs up against ecological limits. And if we're forced to power down, can we preserve the things we value most—health, human rights, cultural diversity, individual freedom—without preserving the system that created them?

    In Part 6 of our six-part series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff reaches the final stop in his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. After following clues through global trade, complexity, economic growth, progress, and the adaptive cycle, Alex finally looks in the one place he hasn't searched yet: the future.

    Originally recorded on 9/11/26 with archival episodes.

    Related Episodes
    • Episode 19, “I Can’t Drive… 35! The Rationale for Rationing”
    • Episode 27, “Poked by a Porcupine: the Politics of Contraction”

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.

    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • Finding Crazy Town Part 5: Adapting to the Adaptive Cycle
    Sep 23 2026

    What if collapse isn't the end of the story but part of a larger cycle?

    In Part 5 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller. Following clues from the Crazy Town archives leads to the adaptive cycle: a framework from ecology that describes how complex systems move through growth, maturity, collapse, and reorganization.

    From the Titanic and lifeboats to Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, the search turns toward a more difficult question: How do we navigate a period of contraction while building something more just, sustainable, and resilient on the other side?

    Originally recorded on 9/10/26 with archival episodes.

    Related Episodes
    • Episode 25, “Koala Butts Ablaze and the Sweet Relief of the Adaptive Cycle”
    • Episode 26, “Doors and Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Reimagining Lifeboat Ethics in the Age of Overshoot”

    Credits

    Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

    Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by Midnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

    Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet