Human Nature Odyssey

Human Nature Odyssey explores the myths, systems, and stories shaping our unraveling world. Blending history, mythology, philosophy, ecology, and cinematic audio storytelling, the show uses the past to better understand the present — and the possible futures we’re creating. You are living the latest chapter in a 10,000-year human story. Join documentary filmmaker and storyteller Alex Leff on a cinematic audio journey through civilization, collapse, meaning, and myth, in search of clearer ways to experience the incredible, terrifying, and ridiculous world we inhabit. A narrative audio documentary for anyone asking how we got here — and what comes next.

19 - Modern Myths: Flat Earth, Space Colonization, and the Stories We Tell to Escape Reality 01/22/2026

28 Years Later: Embracing Zombies, Death, and Gilmore Girls 01/08/2026

18 - Time Machine 2126 (Part 2): Techno-Utopia Or Apocalypse? 12/18/2025

17 - Time Machine 2126 (Part 1): Has Green Energy Saved Us Yet? 12/04/2025

17 - Time Machine 2126 (Part 1): Has Green Energy Saved Us Yet? What does a livable future look like 100 years from now? If we unlocked unlimited green energy, what would we actually do with it? And are our dreams of a renewable-energy utopia sometimes just as delusional as the fossil-fueled drill baby drill mentality? In this two-part series, Alex is joined by the hosts of Crazy Town—Jason Bradford, Rob Dietz, and Asher Miller—a research biologist, ecological economist, and Executive Director of the Post Carbon Institute, who bring a depth of knowledge as well as dad jokes. Together, they explore the implications of exponential energy growth on a finite planet, the hard truths behind a renewable-energy future, and which expectations we need to rethink as we chart a path forward. Along the way, we encounter an Olympic athlete attempting to toast bread using a bicycle. We also step inside a billionaire’s latest invention: a time-travel device promising to fling us ahead one hundred years. Will the future be a gleaming techno-utopia powered by infinite green energy? A scorched wasteland of collapse? Or something else entirely—a lower-energy world that future generations might actually enjoy living in? Stay tuned for Part 2 where we take the full leap into the time machine and imagine what life a century from now could really look like in a post high-energy future. CITATIONS The Toaster Challenge, , 2015 Tom Murphy, , Do the Math, 2011. Tom Murphy, , Nature Physics, August, 2022. , Indiegogo, 2014 podcast ADDITIONAL MUSIC Modified version of "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" by Strauss, from classicals.de — licensed under CC BY 4.0 If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/39223120

Starting a Cosmic Commune: Inside Spaceship Earth and Biosphere 2 11/20/2025

16 - How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse 10/30/2025

Andor, Star Wars, Rebellion, and the Reality of Our Global Empire 10/16/2025

15 - Are Hunter-Gatherers Liberals or Conservatives? 09/25/2025

15 - Are Hunter-Gatherers Liberals or Conservatives? 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 elements in our hunter-gatherer past? And how might it reframe our political future? In The King Is Dead, Now What? we explored modern political history. Now we zoom out, connecting the dots to a much broader civilizational story. Plus, we’re debuting a new segment: The State of Civilization, featuring our up-and-coming optimistic reporter Jeff Opolis, reporting on the fantastic news coming from civilization right now. Everything is great! Or… is it? If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: CITATIONS Haidt, Jonathan. “The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives.” TED, 2008. Fiddler on the Roof. Directed by Norman Jewison, United Artists, 1971. “Net Energy and Sustainability, or… The Story of the Overstuffed Strongman.” Crazy Town podcast, Post Carbon Institute, 2021. Ryan, Christopher. Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress. Avid Reader Press, 2019. “Ken Burns.” The Joe Rogan Experience, episode 1745, Spotify, 2022. Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Hill and Wang, 1983. Marx, Karl. Critique of the Gotha Programme, 1875. Hyde, Lewis. The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. Vintage, 1983. Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013. Norberg-Hodge, Helena. Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh. Sierra Club Books, 1991. Ho, Fred. A World Where Many Worlds Fit. Big Red Media, 2008. World Health Organization. (2024, July 24). Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen. Colquhoun, P. A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis. Elhacham, Emily, et al. “Global Human-Made Mass Exceeds All Living Biomass.” Nature, vol. 588, no. 7838, 2020, pp. 442–444. Additional music for this episode by , from the albums , , and . Courtesy of Adam Tell. All rights reserved. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/38317615

And On The Eighth Day God Created AI 09/11/2025

Sex at Dawn, Civilized to Death, and Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan 08/28/2025

14 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 3) 07/24/2025

14 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 3) 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 culture wars raged, neoliberalism—liberalism and capitalism’s love child—conquered the globe, fueling deregulation, rising corporate power, and deepening economic divides that hollowed out democracy itself. Just three decades after the Cold War, the old adversaries—Russia and the U.S.—found themselves on eerily parallel paths, ushering in a new era of oligarchy and a return to right-wing rule—like the one the French Revolution fought against all those years ago. Join us as we trace how the world drifted from dreams of liberation to authoritarian control—and how a new generation began planting the seeds of liberty and equality once again. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: CITATIONS “Vietnam War.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics.” National Archives. Thatcher, Margaret. Speech to the Conservative Women’s Conference. May 21, 1980. Wong, Edward. “China’s Black Cat, White Cat Diplomacy.” Foreign Policy, July 10, 2009. Reagan, Ronald. Speech at Reagan-Bush Rally in Warren, Michigan. October 10, 1984. “Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989.” Federal Reserve. Davidson, Amy. “Exploring Occupy Wall Street’s Adbusters Origins.” NPR, October 20, 2011. “Youth Voting in 2016 Primaries and Caucuses.” CIRCLE, Tufts University. Kestenbaum, David. “How Shock Therapy Created Russian Oligarchs and Paved the Path for Putin.” NPR, March 22, 2022. Steele, Jonathan. “How Football Conquered Russia.” The Guardian, July 2, 2003. Harding, Luke. “Roman Abramovich: The Billionaire Oligarch with a Backstory Shrouded in Secrecy.” The Guardian, March 21, 2022. Keats, Jonathon. “Design of Dissent.” Forbes, October 28, 2019. Birnbaum, Michael. “Occupy Wall Street Protests Go Global.” The Washington Post, October 15, 2011. Jojo Rabbit. 2019. Directed by Taika Waititi. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/37508230

13 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 2) 06/26/2025

13 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 2) 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 forces would ignite a global struggle for power. In this episode, we trace the ongoing clash between these ideologies, imagining them as bickering gods, each vying for control of the human realm. From the Russian Revolution and the collapse of monarchies after World War I to the rise of fascism, the global conflict of World War II, the Cold War standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union, and the global youth protests of 1968, we explore how these powerful ideas collided, evolved, and continue to shape the struggle for power, equality, and freedom. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: Articles Narewska, Elli. “Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates.” The Guardian, March 3, 2017. Hoffmann, David L. "The October Revolution in Russia" Ohio State University Origins, 2017 “The Paris Riots of 1968, Part 1.” CBC Radio, April 24, 2018. Keats, Jonathon. “Design of Dissent.” Forbes, October 28, 2019. Baker, Peter. “CIA Helped Arrest Mandela.” Time, February 2023. Statista. 2022. “Second World War: Share of Total Population Loss.” BBC Bitesize. “The Vietnam War: Casualty Statistics.” U.S. National Archives. “Vietnam War Casualty Statistics.” ECPAT International. “How Many Vietnamese Died in the Vietnam War.” Horner, Sam. “The Birth of the Soviet Union and the Death of the Russian Revolution.” JSTOR Daily, 2021. YouTube “Days That Shook The World: Russia's Two Revolutions of 1917” Epic History. Mar 8, 2022 Films Jojo Rabbit. 2019. Directed by Taika Waititi. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/37138060

12 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 1) 05/22/2025

12 - The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy (Part 1) 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 to expand our map and chart a better direction, that’s where our story needs to begin. In this episode, we journey back to the French Revolution, where revolutionaries and monarchists first split into left and right wings—and the world has never been the same. Out of the chaos emerged ideals of liberty, the terror in the streets, and a fierce battle of ideas that spread across Europe, sparking revolutions from Sicily to Poland. The 1848 uprisings shook monarchies to their core, as liberals, conservatives, and radicals fought over society’s future. Most of the revolutions were crushed—but none left the world unchanged. Join us for a deep dive into political ideologies, French accents, guillotines, and the struggle for democracy. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: CITATIONS Websites and Articles Britannica. France: Peasant Insurgencies. Yale University Library. French Revolution Political Cartoons: The Guillotine. Fine Dining Lovers. 2022. “Dining with King Louis XVI.” Chastain, James. The Two Sicilies. Ohio University. Statista. 2024. Global Elections in 2024. Hincks, Joseph. 2024. “More Voters Than Ever Will Vote in 2024.” TIME. Reuters. 2024. “What Are the Key Issues in Mozambique’s 2024 Elections?” World History Encyclopedia. French Republican Calendar. Britannica. Reign of Terror. Prothero, Stephen. 2016. “Culture War Is an American Tradition.” Los Angeles Times, February 14. Chastain, James. The European Revolutions of 1848 and 1989: A Comparative Analysis. Tocqueville, Alexis de. “Speech to the French Chamber of Deputies, January 29, 1848.” Speeches USA. Books Arasse, Daniel. 1987. The Guillotine and the Terror. Bussiek, Dagmar. 2002. Mit Gott für König und Vaterland: Die Neue Preußische Zeitung (Kreuzzeitung) 1848–1892. Münster: LIT Verlag, p. 18. Clark, Christopher. 2023. Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World. Kirchner, Emil J. 1988. Liberal Parties in Western Europe. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Communist Manifesto. Terwecoren, Edouard. 1870. Collection de Précis historiques. J. Vandereydt, p. 31. Podcasts and YouTube The Rest Is History. 2023. “The Year of Revolutions: 1848.” Podcast audio, April 30, 2023. Duncan, Mike. Revolutions podcast season 7 Green, John. Crash Course: European History #26. YouTube playlist. Additional Music Track: Symphony no. 41 in C 'Jupiter', K. 551 - I. Allegro vivace Music provided by Classical Music Copyright Free [] Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. 1. Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 2. iTunes: 3. Spotify: /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/36627930

Astrophysics for a New Stone Age with Tom Murphy 12/19/2024

Astrophysics for a New Stone Age with Tom Murphy 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 interwoven with, this is the episode for you. Tom Murphy is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy/Astrophysics at the University of California, San Diego. After a career studying colliding galaxies and testing General Relativity using lasers to the moon, Murphy retired early to shift focus onto Planetary Limits and the intrinsic incompatibility between modernity and ecological longevity. Creator of a textbook on energy, the Do the Math blog, and the Metastatic Modernity video series, his main plea is that you bypass these resources and read the book Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. More from Tom: If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. 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 /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/34526665

11 - Capitalism & Monopoly: Why The Best Board Games Make The Worst Reality 11/26/2024

11 - Capitalism & Monopoly: Why The Best Board Games Make The Worst Reality 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 listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: 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 Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. 1. Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 2. iTunes: 3. Spotify: /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/34148995

10 - Against Leviathan: An Anarchist Fairytale of the Origin of Civilization 10/24/2024

10 - Against Leviathan: An Anarchist Fairytale of the Origin of Civilization 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 rulers couldn’t control. We trace the rise of the first Lugals, the original kings of Mesopotamia, from Urukagina of Lagash, whose reforms sowed the seeds of his downfall, to Sargon of Akkad, who conquered all of Sumer only to become part of the Leviathan’s vast machinery. Together, we’ll explore how power and control first took root in the world's earliest cities—and how those ancient systems still shape our world today. This is a spooky episode. The hair on the back of your neck might stand up. But we can stay seated and relax. It is just a story after all. A fairytale, as Fredy would call it. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and join us on for exclusive audio extras, writings, and notes. For full episode transcripts, essays, and additional context, visit: CITATIONS Against His-Story, Against Leviathan [book] by Fredy Perlman (1983) [article] by (2009) Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles [book] by Albert Kirk Grayson (1975) circa 2300 BC from Louvre Museum Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI All rights reserved. 1. Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 2. iTunes: 3. Spotify: Additional Credits Vanhan ajan sota, taistelu, miekkailu / Ancient, old time battle, combat, horses snorting and galloping, men shouting and barking, fencing, swords clanging, mix by YleArkisto -- https://freesound.org/s/258207/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 /episode/index/show/a209e7d1-3aad-4c73-a173-b84a891831ad/id/33586797