Podcast: Planet: Critical (LS 46 · TOP 1% what is this?)
Episode: Why Complex Societies Collapse | Joseph Tainter
Pub date: 2025-08-07

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Is the world even collapsing?

Joseph Tainter is a Professor at Utah State University and the author of The Collapse of Complex Societies. He explains on this episode that collapse happens when a civilisation experiences a diminishing return on complexity, the fact that it takes more capital, more energy, more resources to maintain society until eventually that maintenance is no longer useful.

We discuss his research and apply it to today’s world, linking in energy, technology, even geopolitical order, with Joseph—surprisingly, despite all the evidence that points to this moment in history as truly exceptional given Earth’s systems breakdown—stating that there is nothing special about the world we live in and its precarious future.

Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis. Join subscribers from 186 countries to support independent journalism.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

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