Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, they’re doing things to extract even more wealth, harm your health, diminish democracy, and rig the whole system in their favor. How did this happen? Why do we tolerate it? How can we stop the billionaires? And can we get a hold of our own super-yacht for Crazy Town pleasure cruises? Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Originally recorded on 10/3/25.<h2>Sources/Links/Notes:</h2><ul><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://thenewpress.org/books/burned-by-billionaires/?v=eb65bcceaa5f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Burned by Billionaires</a>: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet, The New Press, October 2025.</li><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/born-on-third-base/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Born on Third Base</a>: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing, September 2016.</li><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-wealth-hoarders-how-billionaires-pay-millions-to-hide-trillions--9781509543489" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Wealth Hoarders</a>: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Polity, January 2022.</li></ul> <h2>Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:</h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-05-13/tackling-inequality-one-pair-of-lederhosen-at-a-time-episode-10-of-crazy-town/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 10</a>, "Tackling Inequality, One Pair of Lederhosen at a Time"</li><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-05-27/overproduction-of-elites-and-political-upheaval-or-the-story-of-rich-people-doing-stupid-things-episode-43-of-crazy-town/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 43</a>, "Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things"</li></ul>

Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, they’re doing things to extract even more wealth, harm your health, diminish democracy, and rig the whole system in their favor. How did this happen? Why do we tolerate it? How can we stop the billionaires? And can we get a hold of our own super-yacht for Crazy Town pleasure cruises? Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Originally recorded on 10/3/25.Sources/Links/Notes:Chuck Collins, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet, The New Press, October 2025.Chuck Collins, Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing, September 2016.Chuck Collins, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Polity, January 2022. Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:Episode 10, "Tackling Inequality, One Pair of Lederhosen at a Time"Episode 43, "Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things"

Billionaires. They should be objects of scorn rather than envy. While they ride around in their super-yachts and private jets, producing the climate-damaging pollution of entire nations, they’re doing things to extract even more wealth, harm your health, diminish democracy, and rig the whole system in their favor. How did this happen? Why do we tolerate it? How can we stop the billionaires? And can we get a hold of our own super-yacht for Crazy Town pleasure cruises? Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Originally recorded on 10/3/25.Sources/Links/Notes:<ul><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://thenewpress.org/books/burned-by-billionaires/?v=eb65bcceaa5f" rel="noopener noreferrer">Burned by Billionaires</a>: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet, The New Press, October 2025.</li><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/born-on-third-base/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Born on Third Base</a>: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing, September 2016.</li><li>Chuck Collins, <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-wealth-hoarders-how-billionaires-pay-millions-to-hide-trillions--9781509543489" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Wealth Hoarders</a>: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Polity, January 2022.</li></ul> Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:<ul><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-05-13/tackling-inequality-one-pair-of-lederhosen-at-a-time-episode-10-of-crazy-town/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Episode 10</a>, "Tackling Inequality, One Pair of Lederhosen at a Time"</li><li><a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-05-27/overproduction-of-elites-and-political-upheaval-or-the-story-of-rich-people-doing-stupid-things-episode-43-of-crazy-town/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Episode 43</a>, "Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or... the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things"</li></ul>

Burned by Billionaires, with Chuck Collins

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 Burned by Billionaires, with Chuck Collins

Sign up to save your podcasts

Burned by Billionaires, with Chuck Collins

Burned by Billionaires, with Chuck Collins

More shows like Crazy Town

Living on Earth

Climate One

For The Wild

Team Human

Emergence Magazine Podcast

Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration

Drilled

Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast

The Climate Pod

Accidental Gods

Breaking Down: Collapse

Planet: Critical

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

Human Nature Odyssey

WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?