Oil 301: The World After Cheap Energy | Frankly 137
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Today’s Frankly is the final installment in a three-part series on the role oil plays in modern civilization, prompted by the recent flow disruptions and geopolitical conflict surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Nate frames the entire arc of this series through the concept of the carbon pulse: a one-time inheritance of ancient stored sunlight that humanity is burning through in a few hundred years. He highlights how modern economies, now roughly a thousand times larger than five centuries ago, are built on the assumption that the energy abundance at the top of this curve is permanent, when in...
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Oil 201: What Happens When the Oil Stops Flowing | Frankly 136
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
This week’s Frankly is the second in a three-part series on the role oil plays in modern civilization, prompted by the recent flow disruptions and geopolitical conflict surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. This installment explores how modern society has been built on the assumption of cheap and abundant energy, and what happens when that assumption breaks down. Nate describes the ways our built systems, including food production, water treatment, manufacturing, and global trade, are calibrated to cheap energy inputs, and how processes that look economically efficient are often deeply...
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Oil 101: What You Actually Need to Know About Oil | Frankly 135
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
This week’s Frankly is the first in a three-part series on the role oil plays in modern civilization, prompted by the recent flow disruptions and geopolitical conflict surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. This initial installment covers some foundational concepts of The Great Simplification platform, including what oil actually is, what it does for us, and why most of us never see any of it. Nate begins by describing how oil formed from the compression of ancient marine phytoplankton over millions of years, framing it as a solar battery that took geological time to charge and that humans are...
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Navigating the Metacrisis: Finding Calm in the Storm through Awareness and Meditation with Sam Harris
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Between global crises and personal problems, modern life is overflowing with things to worry about, including many issues that feel too big to even address. Yet, our ability to influence these problems and how much we worry about them are not equal to each other – and in fact, getting lost in thoughts of anxiety can reduce our ability to act. Given the direct line between individual inner states and civilizational dysfunction, what global change might be possible if we train ourselves to observe thought, rather than be unconsciously consumed and paralyzed by it? In this episode, Nate is...
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Uncomfortable Questions for Unsettled Times: A World at the Edge of Change | Frankly 134
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
This week's Frankly is another in a recurring series, Uncomfortable Questions in Unsettled Times, where Nate poses questions about our shared future. Today he focuses on the unfolding crisis in the Persian Gulf, unpacking hidden implications that aren’t covered by the headlines. Nate opens by examining how behind-the-scenes geopolitical decisions at the highest level create a widespread ripple effect – influencing everything from oil production to water desalination to fertilizer and food systems. He considers the risk of continued geopolitical conflict as global alliances shift, as well...
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Scrambling for Energy Security: Navigating Unstable Energy Supplies Amidst Global Conflict with Chris Keefer
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
As the war in Iran creates chaos in every domain of life, the already-fragile energy systems of many countries find themselves on the brink of crisis after spending decades investing in natural gas infrastructure, largely supplied by Middle Eastern countries. With projected natural gas prices now spiking across the world, a growing number of nations are re-prioritizing energy security over energy convenience – calling into question the types of electricity generation needed for their citizens as they look to the coming decades. Could this lead to calls for a nuclear power revival in the...
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Iran, U.S., and the Rest: The Unavoidable Pig in the Python | Frankly 133
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
In this episode, Nate offers a personal reflection on the unfolding geopolitical tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, beginning with an examination of how disruptions to fossil fuel flows propagate through the global economy, but with a time lag. He points out how many of the world’s countries rely heavily on imported fossil fuels, as well as the potential impact on California’s already high gas prices. Nate also contrasts the relative insulation of those in the United States with the far greater exposure of those living in Asia, Europe, and Africa, outlining how second- and...
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Ending the AI Arms Race: Why Safer Futures Are Still Possible & What You Can Do to Help with Tristan Harris
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
The conversation around artificial intelligence has been captured by two competing narratives – techno-abundance or civilizational collapse – both of which sidestep the question of who this technology is actually being built for. But if we consider that we are setting the initial conditions for everything that follows, we might realize that we are in a pivotal moment for AI development which demands a deeper cultural conversation about the type of future we actually want. What would it look like to design AI for the benefit of the 99%, and what are the necessary steps to make that...
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What to Do as the World Falls Apart: A Framework for Action | Frankly 132
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
This week’s Frankly marks a turning point in the work of The Great Simplification. Having spent twenty years articulating the more-than-human predicament, Nate shifts from diagnosis to direction as current events – including conflict in the Strait of Hormuz – accelerate the timeline. Today Nate shares a first-pass framework for action and response that’s organized around what to do now, which could be applied to various places and at multiple scales. The framework begins with a personal foundation of inner work: stabilizing the nervous system, recapturing a sense of agency, doing...
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The Plastic Detox: Reducing Endocrine Disruptors for Better Fertility and Human Health with Shanna Swan & Sian Sutherland | RR 23
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
The number of couples struggling to become pregnant due to unexplained infertility is growing at an alarming rate across the globe. Alongside this concerning rise is the growing awareness of how endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) – particularly those found in plastics and personal care products – are negatively affecting our hormonal health and overall well-being. If we removed or reduced EDCs from the environments of couples struggling to conceive – dramatically reducing their exposure – is it possible their fertility would be improved? In this episode, Nate is joined by Dr....
info_outlineThis week’s Frankly unpacks humans’ current identification with the label “consumer.” Consumption is something much deeper and more nuanced than shopping or spending. Nate highlights the ways that it shows up across our whole lives – from basic needs and stability to status and mental escape. He outlines a “consumption pyramid” framework that acts as a map for the different layers of consumption present in daily life, emphasizing that they vary in dependency, reliability, and necessity.
This episode also explores why this understanding is especially relevant in a world that will be increasingly volatile, expensive, and uncertain. In the energetically-intensive reality we have lived in for the past few decades, it has been easy to drift to the top of the consumption pyramid without even really choosing to. This has made us increasingly dependent on systems that reliably provide us comfort and convenience. Rather than taking some sort of moral high ground on consumption, Nate aims to invite listeners to pay closer attention to their own patterns of consumption. He analyzes habits that could support stability, and how listeners might intentionally simplify before external circumstances force the issue – mirroring the taking stock he’s doing in his own life.
Where in your life do you feel most dependent on things always being fast, easy, and available? What kinds of consumption actually make you feel better afterward, not just distracted in the moment? Finally, if you stopped thinking of yourself primarily as a consumer, which other roles – maker, neighbor, caretaker, citizen – do you think would come most clearly into focus?
(Recorded February 1, 2026)
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