Introducing...The Great Simplification

New Podcast with Nate Hagens

Hello~

Today I launched a podcast portal - “The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens” - taking a deep dive into the central issues of our time in hopes of informing - and steering - the coming cultural transition.

Every Wednesday we will offer a new conversation - or video - or essay -on topics related to: energy, economics, anthropology, neuroscience, ecology, cultural evolution and the environment.

Today’s launch includes 3 episodes:

1. a conversation with former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt on the current risks to democracy in the USA from social media and polarization as well as an appeal to leadership and civic engagement

2. a discussion with endocrinology expert Dr. Shanna Swan on the impact of pthalates and endocrine disrupting chemicals on human (and animal) sperm counts -ultimately impacting the ability to reproduce

3. a conversation with geologist Art Berman on the unique importance of oil to our economies along with an overview of how much is left and the implications.

I’ve spent more than 20  years assembling the scientific building blocks of what I refer to as “The Human Predicament.”The world is speeding up. There is  too much going on and too much to pay attention to. In this new weekly newsletter, I will offer a high signal-to-noise ratio of what really matters in hopes of influencing thinkers and doers to be more productive in their lives and missions during the time we have remaining until events accelerate - and simplify.

Out of a dozen or so potential names for the podcast, (including RumiNate) , I ultimately settled on The Great Simplification because: 

1. As a culture we are riding  more than a century of complex arrangements and structures all built on cheap energy. As energy becomes more expensive and less available, our economies and, in direct fashion, our lives, will undergo a Great Simplification. While this outcome is currently felt by many it’s not being seriously discussed or planned for.

2. We are unlikely to change our behaviors en masse until there is a crisis. As individual humans, however, we can simplify first and beat the rush. Despite the risks on the horizon, we can live great and meaningful lives.

3. The world is unbelievably complex with dozens of memetic tribes, topics-du-jour, and media distractions. In conversations on The Great Simplification, we’ll simplify the great issues of our time into mind-size pieces, to educate, inform and hopefully inspire.

Ultimately, I realize the topics on this podcast will not be for everyone - because they are not necessarily fun to think about. But in order to meet the future halfway we have to understand what we face, and which doors remain open to us. My hope with this website is to gradually build a movement of people who:

A) Understand our Reality

B) Have wide boundary empathy and care about things/people/species beyond their immediate moment/self.

C) Have the ability to transcend - even a little - the agenda of the gene, deferring immediate gratification towards larger more meaningful goals. '

D) Connect with Others who share A, B and C and build a community of humans ready to play a role in the events and stories that will shape the coming decade.

We are the first generation of our species capable of understanding the Big Picture.

How we respond as individuals and as a culture is the Big Question.

I invite you to subscribe, tune in, and participate in our collective future.