In the world of college sports, money talks and the volleyball team walks, er, flies 33,000 miles to play games. The NCAA, like almost everyone else, is playing games with Mother Nature. What do we expect student-athletes to gain from ignoring the climate emergency (not to mention putting their health at risk)? Who cares, as long as we can wring a few more dollars out of the TV deals — am I right?!? Jason, Rob, and Asher propose a new plan for college sports and for taking the climate emergency seriously.
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
Asher became the Executive Director of Post Carbon Institute in October 2008, after having served as the manager of our former Relocalization Network program. He’s worked in the nonprofit sector since 1996 in various capacities. Prior to joining Post Carbon Institute, Asher founded Climate Changers, an organization that inspires people to reduce their impact on the climate by focusing on simple and achievable actions anyone can take.
Related Articles
'SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.ID
FROM wp_posts LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships ON (wp_posts.ID = wp_term_relationships.object_id)
WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.ID NOT IN (3507317) AND (
wp_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (3,5,46432,47210,47212,47214,47441,47503,47544)
) AND wp_posts.post_type = \'post\' AND ((wp_posts.post_status = \'publish\'))
GROUP BY wp_posts.ID
ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC
LIMIT 0, 3'
Much of science is in the service of modernity, producing remarkable short-term advantages for humans generally at the expense of the rest of the community of life.
Two major reports released this year tell a grim story: Global freedom continues to decline and the US has lost its longstanding classification a liberal democracy. But hope lies in the data.
The nation-state model sustains itself on the logic that nature – and colonized peoples – are things to be conquered, assimilated, dominated, and exploited. It’s time for an Earth-centered form of governance.
October 1, 2026
Comments
We changed commenting systems on September 10, 2026 as part of a site-wide functionality and security upgrade. Your past comments have not disappeared, and you can still log in with your old Disqus account credentials if you wish. Contact us with any questions.
Always my most fav thing to listen to! Thank you for the amazing discussions. I still remember when Climate Breakdown became a thing – so now LA has popularized Climate Whiplash. I wonder when "desertification" will be rolled-out, or what term they'll coin to cover it up? And who decides what terms to use? A newsroom editor?
Centibillionaire: "I will fund your university as long as you don't mention thermodynamics, and give it an amazing name"
Department Chair: "You got it!"
I knew LOTS of scientists at USAF Space Command who worked for money, not facts; would dissemble-on-command, and knew their role and place in perpetuating the overextended/failing system. The evident reason was carbon footprint – the ultimate arbiter of all this. One very good scientist said she would not feel good until she drove a Mercedes. OMG!
________________________
We already import everything in AZ. Can you guys think what the next big shock will be? I'm guessing food. But maybe global economic/supply shocks b/c of insane government? What picture emerges if you just look at facts and ignore social media? Maybe you see the hand of those who work behind the scenes? I know high-paid scientists/professors have sold themselves, but have those who carry real responsibility?
I'm about where that guy in the interview is. Yea, it's no wonder nobody says that. Now imagine you have a mortgage and kids in schools and on sports teams and with friends and you really just want to keep your job so what are you going to do? Say what's really on your mind or what you know the folks who pay you want you to say?
stevekane111
1 year ago
With the recent LA fires, the writings of Mike Davis – The Ecology of Fear – are again being discussed . Your points regarding the cognitive dissonance happening in Stanford, of all places, is more of the same. Daniel Quinn tried to steer us clear of this thinking with Ishmael, all to no avail. With the recent election results it seems that rationality is completely obsolete, not that I am giving up. As long as hubris is more common than compassion; as long as money rules all, we will not have the leverage to make permanent, sustainable changes to the way will live in this world. Thank you for helping to keep us from Crazy Town. I'll be sure to share any more epiphanies that come my way.
By coincidence I was in the LA area a week before the fires. Went to Will Rogers park and birded. Went to Malibu. Was in the hills above Pasadena. And even in Santa Clarita to catch a train. All these areas caught fire! And I remember thinking, by gosh, this place is going to burn some day, coastal chaparral will just do that, and these houses are toast. I didn't imagine it this bad though.
Jason Bradford
1 year ago
I know that far away look well. I've probably done it myself. Maybe when someone has brought up "chem trails" and I don't know how to keep talking to them. Maybe this is where they are, thinking you're off your rocker. Or, they have gone into what I've called "tilt" mode, as in the pinball machine won't play. A dissociative fugue state where the brain is weighing the situation. The calculation may be "agree with this person and become a kind of social outcast, or stop right here as in the near term there is no payoff for going this far in my reasoning." So yea, discounting is built into status preservation.
PattiMichelle Sheaffer
1 year ago
In trying to talk to "responsible" peeps, the conversation seems to consistently wind up at the point where the other person says, "When disaster hits, somebody will do something…" It would seem this is the "discounting the future" phenomenon? The correct words seem important. When I say "climate breakdown," or "gaslighting," conversations sort of stop and the other person gets a faraway look in their eyes. I guess this means they're thinking? Typically, they won't talk to me again…
When I told the USAF Lt. Col. how many tons of benzene and PAH's musk's rockets were illegally (and fraudulently) dumping into the atmosphere, I got that far-away look, followed by ignore, and an abrupt management change and several peeps took early retirement. But the problem endures because there's always someone willing to carry a fraud for a big promotion, and, anyway, the powers that be can swat an individual like a bug.
Comments
We changed commenting systems on September 10, 2026 as part of a site-wide functionality and security upgrade. Your past comments have not disappeared, and you can still log in with your old Disqus account credentials if you wish. Contact us with any questions.
Always my most fav thing to listen to! Thank you for the amazing discussions. I still remember when Climate Breakdown became a thing – so now LA has popularized Climate Whiplash. I wonder when "desertification" will be rolled-out, or what term they'll coin to cover it up? And who decides what terms to use? A newsroom editor?
_______________________
https://youtu.be/6CXRaTnKDXA?t=95
________________________
Centibillionaire: "I will fund your university as long as you don't mention thermodynamics, and give it an amazing name"
Department Chair: "You got it!"
I knew LOTS of scientists at USAF Space Command who worked for money, not facts; would dissemble-on-command, and knew their role and place in perpetuating the overextended/failing system. The evident reason was carbon footprint – the ultimate arbiter of all this. One very good scientist said she would not feel good until she drove a Mercedes. OMG!
________________________
We already import everything in AZ. Can you guys think what the next big shock will be? I'm guessing food. But maybe global economic/supply shocks b/c of insane government? What picture emerges if you just look at facts and ignore social media? Maybe you see the hand of those who work behind the scenes? I know high-paid scientists/professors have sold themselves, but have those who carry real responsibility?
I'm about where that guy in the interview is. Yea, it's no wonder nobody says that. Now imagine you have a mortgage and kids in schools and on sports teams and with friends and you really just want to keep your job so what are you going to do? Say what's really on your mind or what you know the folks who pay you want you to say?
With the recent LA fires, the writings of Mike Davis – The Ecology of Fear – are again being discussed . Your points regarding the cognitive dissonance happening in Stanford, of all places, is more of the same. Daniel Quinn tried to steer us clear of this thinking with Ishmael, all to no avail. With the recent election results it seems that rationality is completely obsolete, not that I am giving up. As long as hubris is more common than compassion; as long as money rules all, we will not have the leverage to make permanent, sustainable changes to the way will live in this world. Thank you for helping to keep us from Crazy Town. I'll be sure to share any more epiphanies that come my way.
By coincidence I was in the LA area a week before the fires. Went to Will Rogers park and birded. Went to Malibu. Was in the hills above Pasadena. And even in Santa Clarita to catch a train. All these areas caught fire! And I remember thinking, by gosh, this place is going to burn some day, coastal chaparral will just do that, and these houses are toast. I didn't imagine it this bad though.
I know that far away look well. I've probably done it myself. Maybe when someone has brought up "chem trails" and I don't know how to keep talking to them. Maybe this is where they are, thinking you're off your rocker. Or, they have gone into what I've called "tilt" mode, as in the pinball machine won't play. A dissociative fugue state where the brain is weighing the situation. The calculation may be "agree with this person and become a kind of social outcast, or stop right here as in the near term there is no payoff for going this far in my reasoning." So yea, discounting is built into status preservation.
In trying to talk to "responsible" peeps, the conversation seems to consistently wind up at the point where the other person says, "When disaster hits, somebody will do something…" It would seem this is the "discounting the future" phenomenon? The correct words seem important. When I say "climate breakdown," or "gaslighting," conversations sort of stop and the other person gets a faraway look in their eyes. I guess this means they're thinking? Typically, they won't talk to me again…
When I told the USAF Lt. Col. how many tons of benzene and PAH's musk's rockets were illegally (and fraudulently) dumping into the atmosphere, I got that far-away look, followed by ignore, and an abrupt management change and several peeps took early retirement. But the problem endures because there's always someone willing to carry a fraud for a big promotion, and, anyway, the powers that be can swat an individual like a bug.