Doomer Optimism

Episode 45 - Scott Johnson w/ Ashley Colby and Dr. Josh Kearns


Listen Later

On this episode of Doomer Optimism, first time host Josh Kearns (@HillbillyNarnia) teams up with Ashley Colby (@RizomaSchool) to discuss potential low tech futures with Scott Johnson (@Low_Techno), the founder of the Low Tech Institute in Wisconsin.


About Scott Johnson

Scott has been carrying out research into low tech since tried to build a catapult in 6th grade. He is a jack of all trades, but a master of none, including carpentry, gardening, electric, plumbing, beekeeping, brewing, butchery, baking, and more. His interest in past technologies led to a Ph.D. in anthropology (Tulane University, 2012), focusing on archaeology. He’s taught at universities across the US and Canada and led international field projects funded by the National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society. He is also the author of several books (Translating Maya Hieroglyphs, Why Did Ancient Civilizations Fail?). Today, he works at the Low Technology Institute and lives in the historic village of Cooksville, Wisconsin (just south of Madison), with his wife, kid, and dog. He enjoys a good cup of tea, aikido, running, and books. He is founder of the Low Tech Institute based in Wisconsin.


About Ashley Colby

Ashley is an Environmental Sociologist who studied at Washington State University, the department that founded the subdiscipline. She's interested in and passionate about the myriad creative ways in which people are forming new social worlds in resistance to the failures of late capitalism and resultant climate disasters. I am a qualitative researcher so I tend to focus on the informal spaces of innovation. She's the founder of Rizoma Field School and Rizoma Foundation.


About Dr. Josh Kearns

Josh is a born-n-bred Appalachian and a native of West-By-God-Virginia and damn proud of it. He studied chemistry and environmental engineering at Clemson (BS), biogeochemistry at Berkeley (MS), and environmental engineering at CU-Boulder (PhD). He's spent years bumming around rural and remote communities in Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, India, Nepal, Ladakh, Sri Lanka, and Mexico, and generally tried to make himself useful while doing so. He's the Director of Science for Aqueous Solutions, and the Chief Technical Advisor for Caminos de Agua, grassroots water and health development organizations in Thailand and Mexico, respectively. He taught environmental engineering courses at NC State University for a couple of years before returning to his roots as a freelance renegade scientist and exponent of ecological transition engineering. He lives with his wife Rachael and all their critters on a small mountaintop homestead in southern Appalachia.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Doomer OptimismBy Doomer Optimism

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

46 ratings


More shows like Doomer Optimism

View all
Philosophize This! by Stephen West

Philosophize This!

15,214 Listeners

The Art of Manliness by The Art of Manliness

The Art of Manliness

14,273 Listeners

KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century by James Howard Kunstler

KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century

440 Listeners

Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

26,364 Listeners

First Things Podcast by First Things

First Things Podcast

722 Listeners

Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff

Team Human

373 Listeners

Hidden Forces by Demetri Kofinas

Hidden Forces

1,436 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

930 Listeners

Hermitix by Hermitix

Hermitix

344 Listeners

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers by UnHerd

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

219 Listeners

Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning by Razib Khan

Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning

209 Listeners

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens by Nate Hagens

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

411 Listeners

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry by Louise Perry

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

277 Listeners

The Last Invention by Longview

The Last Invention

707 Listeners