Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens is the Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF) an organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition. Allied with leading ecologists, energy experts, politicians and systems thinkers ISEOF assembles road-maps and off-ramps for how human societies can adapt to lower throughput lifestyles.

Nate holds a Masters Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He teaches an Honors course, Reality 101, at the University of Minnesota.

Episode 127

Wide Boundary News: Biodiversity Depletion, Iran & the Strait of Hormuz, and the Green Wedge

This week’s Frankly is another edition of Nate’s Wide Boundary News series, where he invites listeners to view the constant churn of headlines through a wider-boundary lens. Today’s edition features reflections on renewable energy and CO2 emission trends, updates on species adaptability, and a discussion about nuclear treaties and Iran.

February 24, 2026

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Humanity as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: The Symptoms, Patterns, and Drivers

In this week’s Frankly, Nate looks at how aggregate human behavior changes as groups scale from small tribes to large and complex societies. He uses the framing of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde throughout the episode to illustrate how traits that once helped small groups survive can serve to destabilize complex societies when expanded globally.

February 23, 2026

Jason Bradford episode

The Future is Rural: Reclaiming Food Sovereignty through Farming Clubs?

In this episode, Nate is joined by biologist and farmer Jason Bradford, to discuss his ‘Farming Club,’ which offers hands-on learning for ecologically based agriculture, where members also get to take home food and build a relationship with the land.

February 19, 2026

questions

Uncomfortable Questions in Unstable Times

This week’s Frankly marks a new recurring segment on this platform where Nate poses questions about our shared future: Uncomfortable Questions in Unstable Times. In this edition, he explores what would change if societies shifted their primary goal from growth to stability.

February 17, 2026

CO2 cycles

The Misunderstood History of CO2: The Science Behind Earth’s Most Controversial Molecule

In this episode, Nate is joined by science journalist Peter Brannen, who reframes CO2 from an industrial pollutant to a miraculous substance whose critical role within the carbon cycle makes Earth habitable.

February 13, 2026

Wide Boundary energy news graphic

Peak Oil (Not!), Peak Dispatchability, and WEF Risks

This week’s Frankly is another edition of Nate’s Wide Boundary News series, where he invites listeners to view the constant churn of headlines through a wider-boundary lens. Today’s edition features reflections on a new peak in crude oil production, the growth of non-dispatchable electricity, and a report recently released by the World Economic Forum assessing global risks.

February 10, 2026

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