Libsyn Directory

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

Release Date: 11/26/2024

Starting a Cosmic Commune: Inside Spaceship Earth and Biosphere 2

Human Nature Odyssey

This is the first 30 minutes of a longer conversation. The full conversation is available on the === In 1991, a group of artists, inventors, and visionaries set out to live inside a sealed desert enclosure for two years—a bold experiment to see if humans could survive in a self-contained environment. The project made headlines, sparked controversy, and became a cultural sensation. Spaceship Earth is the riveting documentary that tells the nuanced story of the people behind this audacious experiment. In this bonus conversation, Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan from the Death and the Garden...

16 - How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse

Human Nature Odyssey

A horrific zombie apocalypse has ravaged the world—but hardly anyone seems to notice. One lone podcast sets out to interview those navigating this strange new reality: from people attending mindful zombie retreats and binging zombie media, to those stockpiling shotguns and fortifying bunkers, to others disappearing into the woods to build something entirely new. CREDITS This is an original script written by Alex Leff VOICE ACTING CREDITS Jason Bradford Rob Dietz Jake Gibson Maia Kinney-Petrucha Jessie Lian Jake Marquez Asher Miller Maren Morgan Ray Tannheimer Maggie...

Andor, Star Wars, Rebellion, and the Reality of Our Global Empire

Human Nature Odyssey

This is the first 30 minutes of a longer conversation. The full conversation is available on the === A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was an old Republic that, out of fear of a phantom menace, voted to consolidate authoritarian power—unknowingly sealing its own demise. It transformed into an Empire, bent on wielding its weapons of mass destruction to conquer all who dared resist. But don’t worry—this is just a story. It has nothing to do with us. After all, it all happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Right? Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan are fellow...

15 - Are Hunter-Gatherers Liberals or Conservatives?

Human Nature Odyssey

What insights can our ancient past shine on our political future? Were hunter-gatherers the ultimate traditionalists—or proto-communists? Is it possible hunter-gatherers lived with greater equality and more political freedom than most societies today? And why do both communism and capitalism, despite being sworn enemies, rest on the same assumption of endless growth? Psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that humans are wired with both liberal and conservative tendencies—and that societies function best when those forces stay in balance. Where can we find the liberal and conservative...

And On The Eighth Day God Created AI

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...

More Episodes

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 level. As horrible as the side effects of these things are, enough people are having so much fun playing.

And not just those winning. Sure, winning is awesome. But don’t count out how much fun it is to be down just enough to think if you keep trying you can get back in it. Your competitiveness takes over and you can’t put the game down.

And then for even more people, they have no choice in the matter, they have to play, even though there’s no hope for winning, they’re just trying to survive and stay in the game.

At this point, most of the world has been roped into this game of conquering, exploitation, and finance. We’re so convinced this is just normal life, most people don’t even think they’re playing a game. But unlike most board games, it doesn't come with an instruction manual. That is… until now.

In this episode, we use sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein’s seminal text, World-Systems Analysis, as our instruction manual to the game of colonization and exploitation. We explore how dominant countries rise and fall, the dance between capitalism and the state, and the unexpected truth about what real power looks like.

Join us for a deep dive into empires, markets, mafias, and everyone’s favorite Monopoly piece: the thimble. Macro-economics has never been this entertaining and fun for the whole family.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

CREDITS

Additional Writer ... Weslie Lechner

Voice Acting ... Patrick Boylan and Weslie Lechner

CITATIONS

World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction [book] by Immanuel Wallerstein (2004)

The Emergence of France [article] by Gabriel Fournier and John Frederick Drinkwater (2024)

The secret history of Monopoly: the capitalist board game's leftwing origins [article] by Mary Pilon (2015)

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:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425

3. Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

TOPICS