Libsyn Directory

6 - A Civilization That Flies

Release Date: 10/05/2023

Human Nature Odyssey

This is the first 30 minutes of a longer conversation. The full conversation is available on the === Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan are fellow podcasters, filmmakers, and new friends. Starting today, the three of us are joining forces to create monthly bonus episodes where we’ll seek to better understanding this self-destructive civilizational 10,000 year predicament we find ourselves in. In this episode we discuss artificial intelligence. We found that despite all our philosophical overlap we were advocating two different approaches when it came to AI. I was exploring the idea of a...

Sex at Dawn, Civilized to Death, and Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

Human Nature Odyssey

Christopher Ryan joins the odyssey to discuss human nature - shouldn’t be surprising - it’s in the name! What’s universal, what’s cultural, and what’s personal? Can we really change the culture we live in? And are some societies better suited to human well-being than others? Christopher Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships as well as the book Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress. He also hosts the long-running podcast, Tangentially Speaking,” which has been downloaded over 30 million...

14 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 3)

Human Nature Odyssey

Breaking news: The Soviet Union has collapsed! The Berlin Wall has crumbled! Communism has fallen! Capitalism wins! USA! USA! But wait… what’s this? Russia has been overtaken by oligarchs and an authoritarian dictator. Oh no… Well, at least that could never happen in the United States. Right? This is the climactic Part Three of our three-part series on the history of the left/right political spectrum. After the youth protests of the 1960s failed to topple governments, left-wing radicalism shifted its focus—from revolution to championing social equality through pop culture. But as...

13 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 2)

Human Nature Odyssey

In the The King Is Dead, Now What? we're exploring the history of the left / right political spectrum and the 250 year struggle for democracy. In Part 1 we started telling the story that began with the French Revolution of 1789, when those in favor of monarchy sat on the right wing of the national assembly room and those in favor of revolution sat on the left wing. In the wake of the 1848 revolutions, the struggle between left and right gave rise to three major political ideologies—conservatism, liberalism, and radicalism—each offering a distinct vision for society. These competing...

12 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 1)

Human Nature Odyssey

How many people are happy with the way society is headed? There seems to be a general consensus - maybe the one thing we all agree on - that things are not right. But our different opinions on what’s wrong and what directions could be better too often fall on either side of a left vs right political spectrum. Where did we get this idea of a left wing and a right wing anyway? How is it in a world of such diversity of languages and traditions and religions there’s just two freakin’ wings? What are we, a bird? Well, it all started… during the French Revolution. And if we want...

Astrophysics for a New Stone Age with Tom Murphy

Human Nature Odyssey

What will happen to our scientific knowledge if civilization collapses? Will astrophysics survive a future stone age? In this episode, we rest from our journey to talk with astrophysicist Tom Murphy, who’s been on an odyssey of his own—moving from academia to a growing concern about the collapse of civilization, to an ever expanding appreciation of the cosmos. Together we’ll gaze at the grandeur of the stars and marvel at the complexity of one of our oldest cousins: the amoeba. If you’re seeking a moment to marvel at the interconnectedness of life on Earth and the universe its...

11 - Capitalism & Monopoly: Why The Best Board Games Make The Worst Reality

Human Nature Odyssey

Looking for a game to play over the holidays? Why not try the real world global economy? Too late, you’re already playing it! Have you ever noticed how the most popular board games just so happen to reflect core components of our civilization? Settlers of Catan involves the extraction of raw materials. Risk is the imperialism and war between nations. Monopoly demonstrates the pitfalls of capitalism. Now in the real world, I rarely celebrate resource extraction, imperialism, or capitalism. But the board game versions are so much fun. Maybe that’s why we’re all playing it at a global...

10 - Against Leviathan: An Anarchist Fairytale of the Origin of Civilization

Human Nature Odyssey

Gather around the campfire for a ghost story about the most destructive monster in history: civilization itself. In this episode, we delve into the countercultural writings of Fredy Perlman, whose strange 1983 book “Against His-Story, Against-Leviathan”—riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings—blends myth and history to explore the nature of power, subjugation, and the struggle between the rulers and the ruled. Our journey takes us back to ancient Sumer, where egalitarian hunter-gatherer communities transformed into peasants and slaves bound by a mysterious force even the...

9 - Out of Society and Into the Wild: The Legend of Christopher McCandless

Human Nature Odyssey

In the spring of 1992, twenty-four-year-old Christopher McCandless left society behind, hitchhiking 3,000 miles into the Alaskan wilderness. Two years earlier, Chris had donated his entire life savings to Oxfam, burned his social security card, and headed west seeking life on his own terms - without telling a soul, particularly his parents. In this episode, we delve into Into the Wild's larger cultural implications, exploring the conflict between self and society, community and solitude. Philosophers like Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Locke will weigh in. As well as George...

Can We Escape Modern Civilization? A Conversation with the Hosts of Crazy Town

Human Nature Odyssey

Is it possible to escape industrialism, capitalism, imperialism or are we trapped? Crazy Town podcast hosts Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller join us for a wide-ranging discussion of big topics like modern civilization’s converging crises, the concept of 'red pilling', and the 1993 Bill Murray classic film Groundhog Day. 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. In addition to hosting the...

More Episodes

Is it possible to build a civilization that flies? (metaphorically speaking of course)

How did we eventually learn to fly? It wasn’t by defying gravity and disobeying aerodynamics but by learning how to work with them.

Daniel Quinn, in his novel Ishmael, argues there are laws of nature that we have to learn to live within, rather than resist, if we are to continue as a society. In this episode we explore what this “Law of Life” could be.

This is an episode of short stories, cinematic sound effects, and wacky voices. Strap in for liftoff.

Citations

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (1992)

Scientific American (2020)

Thank you to Maddy and Austin for their voice acting. You can listen to Madima's music on Spotify here.

"Vadim Krakhmal - Journey To The Toucan Isle" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) license Music promoted by BreakingCopyright

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

1. Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop

https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI

2. iTunes: