The Entropy Model w/ Thomas Tunstall

In this interview with author, film critic, and economist Thomas Tunstall, we explore the themes presented in Thomas' recent book The Entropy Model: A Novel. We discuss the interesting ways we can explore difficult and complex ideas through art, especially in a time of radical change and limits. 

Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D. is the senior research director at the Institute for Economic Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has published peer-reviewed research, written op-ed articles for the Wall Street Journal, testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere, obtained Top Secret clearance and delivered a TED Talk on rural community development. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy, and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas, as well as a B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Pick up his book The Entropy Model: A Novel.

Read his film reviews at the Irish Film Critic.

Follow Thomas on LinkedIn and Facebook.

[This is a public post on the podcast Patreon page.]

A Good-For-Nothing Trainwreck Debate w/ Michael Wood Jr.: An Examination Of The Reid Technique

In this video, I try to adequately examine my “debate” with Michael Wood Jr. — former Baltimore police officer, whistleblower, and Police Management Scholar. I’ve spoken with Michael previously on the podcast (#163), in which we discussed his experiences and research into modern policing in the United States. But, in this “debate” (if we can even call this exchange a “debate”) we attempt to work out our views on human nature, humanity’s relationship with the natural world, what is “natural,” and whether the science behind human-caused climate change, ecological collapse, and catastrophic loss of biodiversity, as a result of collective human behavior within the context of our modern society, is worth being at all concerned about. My contention is that yes, it certainly is. His contention is no, not so much. In fact, Michael repeatedly asserts that the science behind these subjects is “conjecture” and mostly “opinion.”

In this introduction, I examine the technique Michael used in this so-called “debate.” After our two hour exchange was over, I felt this "debate" was basically a waste of time, as well as incredibly frustrating to participate in. After uploading the audio of this “debate” to my Patreon page, I got some much needed feedback. A friend of the podcast nailed it right on the head: Michael used the “Reid Technique” in this exchange. In this video, I examine what the “Reid Technique” is, how it’s used by law enforcement to manipulate people into giving confessions (whether they actually committed the crime or not), and how using this kind of technique in this ”debate” is a pathetic approach in discussing the subjects presented in it.

If you are like myself, you will find this whole “debate” incredibly frustrating to watch. I had some reservations about releasing this at all. But, I do think there is some value that can be derived from this thing, in particular when it comes to examining how certain people use manipulative tactics to “win,” at least in their eyes, regardless of what the actual science points to. I hope that some value can come from this, at the very least to examine how Michael uses this technique in this exchange.

Notes:

Learn more about the “The Reid Technique”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_technique

Segments of this video was used in the introduction: https://youtu.be/7H19F_8AP-E

This is the article that started this whole thing — ‘How Trump's Wall Would Alter Our Biological Identity Forever’: http://bit.ly/2R1phs0

The papers Michael referenced can be found here: http://bit.ly/2ASMgQM

These are the sources I referenced in this “debate”:

- What Is the Anthropocene and Are We in It?: http://bit.ly/2sBN2gz

- Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines: http://bit.ly/2sBN2gz

- Climate-driven declines in arthropod abundance restructure a rainforest food web: http://bit.ly/2QYIIC0

- Border Fences and their Impacts on Large Carnivores, Large Herbivores and Biodiversity: An International Wildlife Law Perspective: http://bit.ly/2QYIIC0

- Carbon Pollution Has Shoved The Climate Back At Least 12 Million Years, Harvard Scientist Says: http://bit.ly/2T3WUv4

- WMO climate statement: past 4 years warmest on record: http://bit.ly/2QXe7Vf

- Arctic Ice Volume: http://bit.ly/2QXe7Vf

- Antarctic Ice Loss Has Tripled Over the Past Decade: http://bit.ly/2U08VBV

- Mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2017: https://go.nature.com/2FApX6B

- How Much Heat Does the Ocean Trap? Robots Find Out: http://bit.ly/2RAL6UL

- Direct isotopic evidence of biogenic methane production and efflux from beneath a temperate glacier: https://go.nature.com/2RV1Ll7

- Exclusive: Some Arctic Ground No Longer Freezing—Even in Winter: https://on.natgeo.com/2Ml2lmR

- Future warming increases probability of globally synchronized maize production shocks: http://bit.ly/2W6QopE

- Effect of environmental changes on vegetable and legume yields and nutritional quality: http://bit.ly/2TZzrLN

- How Feedback Loops Are Driving Runaway Climate Change: http://bit.ly/2swlo4K

- William Rees: Cognitive Blindspots; The Road To Extinction: http://bit.ly/2FIzJTg

Chaos/Order: An Unproductive Conversation w/ Skyler Rienstra

Skyler Rienstra is a musician, friend, patron of the podcast, founder and lead organizer of the College of Southern Idaho's Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) chapter. We discuss Skyler's recent visit to the Spirit Plant Medicine Conference in Canada, the value of ritual with psychedelic and cannabis use, ethics and capitalism, some thoughts on some recent episodes of the podcast, egalitarianism and hierarchy in human societies, and other topics relating to these subjects. 

Listen to Skyler's music and support his passion: https://fromtheflora.bandcamp.com 

[This is a public post on the podcast Patreon page.]

Leaving The Church: Lost Faith & Shaky Foundations w/ John Halstead

Writer John Halstead and I discuss our relationship with the LDS Church, our loss of faith in the belief system of the Church, and our individual experience in developing a more nuanced relationship with the religion we have left behind. 

This is a continuation of my conversation with John Halstead after our discussion on abrupt climate change and "learning to die in the Anthropocene" presented in episode #148 of the podcast (http://bit.ly/LBWhalstead), based on John's two-part series published at Gods&Radicals titled “What If It’s Already Too Late?”: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene,and “Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene.

John Halstead is a native of the southern Laurentian bioregion and lives in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago. He is one of the founders of 350 Indiana-Calumet, which works to organize resistance to the fossil fuel industry in the Region. John was the principal facilitator of “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment”. He strives to live up to the challenge posed by the statement through his writing and activism. John has written for numerous online platforms, including Patheos, Huffington Post, PrayWithYourFeet.org, and at Gods & Radicals. He is Editor-at-Large of HumanisticPaganism.com. John also edited the anthology, Godless Paganism: Voices of Non-Theistic Pagans. He is also a Shaper of the Earthseed community which can be found at GodisChange.org.

[This is a public post on the podcast Patreon page.]

From Commune to Capitalism: How China’s Peasants Lost Collective Farming and Gained Urban Poverty w/ Zhun Xu

In this episode I speak with Zhun Xu, Assistant Professor of Economics at Howard University, and the author of 'From Commune to Capitalism: How China’s Peasants Lost Collective Farming and Gained Urban Poverty.' 

To quote directly from the description of the book: 

"In the early 1980s, China undertook a massive reform that dismantled its socialist rural collectives and divided the land among millions of small peasant families. Known as the decollectivization campaign, it is one of the most significant reforms in China’s transition to a market economy. From the beginning, the official Chinese accounts, and many academic writings, uncritically portray this campaign as a huge success, both for the peasants and the economy as a whole. This mainstream history argues that the rural communes, suffering from inefficiency, greatly improved agricultural productivity under the decollectivization reform. It also describes how the peasants, due to their dissatisfaction with the rural regime, spontaneously organized and collectively dismantled the collective system.

A closer examination suggests a much different and more nuanced story. By combining historical archives, field work, and critical statistical examinations, From Commune to Capitalism argues that the decollectivization campaign was neither a bottom-up, spontaneous peasant movement, nor necessarily efficiency-improving. On the contrary, the reform was mainly a top-down, coercive campaign, and most of the efficiency gains came from simply increasing the usage of inputs, such as fertilizer, rather than institutional changes. The book also asks an important question: Why did most of the peasants peacefully accept this reform? Zhun Xu answers that the problems of the communes contributed to the passiveness of the peasantry; that decollectivization, by depoliticizing the peasantry and freeing rural labor to compete with the urban workers, served as both the political and economic basis for consequent Chinese neoliberal reforms and a massive increase in all forms of economic, political, and social inequality. Decollectivization was, indeed, a huge success, although far from the sort suggested by mainstream accounts."

Learn more about this Zhun and his book 'From Commune to Capitalism' at the Monthly Review.

Zhun Xu's main research interests include political economy, social development and Chinese economy. His previous research provides strong critique on the mainstream research on decollectivization in China. Learn more here: https://howard.academia.edu/ZhunXu 

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Hustle Bones Comin' Out My Mouth: A Review Of The Death Grips Discography & Artistic Progression w/ Jordan Thornquest

Local musician and music producer Jordan Thornquest and I discuss one of my all-time favorite bands/musical projects - Death Grips. We discuss their most recent album Year of the Snitch (2018), and we fit it within the larger context of the band's discography. This experimental project (comprised of MC Ride, Zack Hill, and Flatlander) has maintained a core of devoted fans since their first EP and full-length mixtape/album Exmilitary (2011) was released seven years ago. Jordan and I discuss the what it is about this musical project that is worth paying attention to, and discuss the band's progression over their seven year discography.

Jordan Thornquest's website: http://music.jordanthornquest.com

Neighborhood Sounds: https://www.neighborhoodsounds.com

Death Grips website: http://thirdworlds.net

[This is a public post on the podcast Patreon page.]