What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26.Sources/Links/Notes:<ul><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/holding-the-fire-podcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Holding the Fire</a></li><li>Owen Reiser, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38023177/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_listers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching</a>, 2025</li><li>David Frankel, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Big Year</a>, 2011 film</li><li>Nature photographer <a href="http://www.thecuriocat.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hannah Seilhan</a></li></ul>

What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26. Sources/Links/Notes:Holding the FireOwen Reiser, Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, 2025David Frankel, The Big Year, 2011 filmNature photographer Hannah Seilhan

What happens when technology and competition start to invade our experiences in nature? For example, what if you’re so focused on documenting a bird sighting in your iPhone app that you fail to appreciate the majestic songs of the bushtit or dickcissel on the branch in front of you? In this episode, Jason, Rob, and Asher explore the world of competitive birding, the relationship between those who love nature and the technology they use to connect to it, and how even the most gentle of shared passions can get corrupted by status-fueled competition. Bear with us through the maddening tech and over-the-top competition as we rediscover how to observe and just exist within our home ecosystems. Originally recorded on 3/5/26.Sources/Links/Notes:<ul><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/holding-the-fire-podcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Holding the Fire</a></li><li>Owen Reiser, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38023177/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_listers" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching</a>, 2025</li><li>David Frankel, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big Year</a>, 2011 film</li><li>Nature photographer <a href="http://www.thecuriocat.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hannah Seilhan</a></li></ul>

Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide

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. Each fortnightly episode helps you understand the “Great Unraveling” of our environmental and social systems and describes how we can make the transition to a sustainable and equitable world. If you’re someone who questions the trajectory of society and struggles to understand why most people would rather eat nachos on the deck of the “SS Denial” than face reality, you’ll find community and plenty of laughs in Crazy Town.


Brought to you by https://www.resilience.org/ and the unconventional minds at Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit think tank that builds awareness of the polycrisis and prescribes community resilience-building as the most appropriate response.


Your hosts:
Asher Miller - Nonprofit executive director by day, apocalypse comedian by night. Feels most at home exploring insanity-inducing topics while trying not to spill coffee on his keyboard as he convulses over the latest ecomodernist fantasy. In danger of losing his mind every time he encounters someone using a gas-powered blower to move leaves from one spot to another.


Rob Dietz - Jack-of-all-trades environmental scientist, conservation biologist, and ecological economist with a penchant for relating planetary overshoot to the catalog of movie scenes that play on a continuous loop in his colonized brain. Known for inserting random ecological facts into casual conversation, often in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. His friends call him “pessimistically hilarious.”


Jason Bradford - Activist farmer and former encyclopedia salesman with a PhD in plant ecology who gets genuinely excited discussing soil microbes and societal collapse in the same breath. Morally opposed to doomsday prepping, but predisposed toward sharing everything he keeps in his bunker, er root cellar, including potatoes, wine, and a 47-month supply of scientific esoterica and embarrassing anecdotes.


These guys are the Three Stooges of sustainability podcasting, although they tend toward scientific analysis, righteous outrage, and self-deprecation rather than beating each other up with hand tools. How can they have this much fun while contemplating collapse and navigating the Great Unraveling?


Heartfelt thanks to the team at Post Carbon Institute, our volunteers, and all our fellow Crazy Townies out there who help bring this podcast to life.

Science

Natural Sciences

Nature

Earth Sciences

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. Each fortnightly episode helps you understand the “Great Unraveling” of our environmental and social systems and describes how we can make the transition to a sustainable and equitable world. If you’re someone who questions the trajectory of society and struggles to understand why most people would rather eat nachos on the deck of the “SS Denial” than face reality, you’ll find community and plenty of laughs in Crazy Town. Brought to you by https://www.resilience.org/ and the unconventional minds at Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit think tank that builds awareness of the polycrisis and prescribes community resilience-building as the most appropriate response. Your hosts: Asher Miller - Nonprofit executive director by day, apocalypse comedian by night. Feels most at home exploring insanity-inducing topics while trying not to spill coffee on his keyboard as he convulses over the latest ecomodernist fantasy. In danger of losing his mind every time he encounters someone using a gas-powered blower to move leaves from one spot to another. Rob Dietz - Jack-of-all-trades environmental scientist, conservation biologist, and ecological economist with a penchant for relating planetary overshoot to the catalog of movie scenes that play on a continuous loop in his colonized brain. Known for inserting random ecological facts into casual conversation, often in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. His friends call him “pessimistically hilarious.” Jason Bradford - Activist farmer and former encyclopedia salesman with a PhD in plant ecology who gets genuinely excited discussing soil microbes and societal collapse in the same breath. Morally opposed to doomsday prepping, but predisposed toward sharing everything he keeps in his bunker, er root cellar, including potatoes, wine, and a 47-month supply of scientific esoterica and embarrassing anecdotes. These guys are the Three Stooges of sustainability podcasting, although they tend toward scientific analysis, righteous outrage, and self-deprecation rather than beating each other up with hand tools. How can they have this much fun while contemplating collapse and navigating the Great Unraveling? Heartfelt thanks to the team at Post Carbon Institute, our volunteers, and all our fellow Crazy Townies out there who help bring this podcast to life.

Share Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide

Sign up to save your podcasts

Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide

Birdbrained: When Nature and Technology Collide

More shows like Crazy Town

Living on Earth

Living Planet

Climate One

For The Wild

Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff

Emergence Magazine Podcast

The War on Cars

Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast

The Emerald

Accidental Gods

Planet: Critical

Wild with Sarah Wilson

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

The Chris Hedges Report

Human Nature Odyssey