Worried about the Future? Join the Club

Worried about the Future? Join the Club

Author: Post Carbon Institute November 19, 2025 Duration: 51:54

There’s the book club, the Rotary Club, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the club sandwich. Whatever your preference, you might want to think about joining a club. Social clubs, fraternal orders, and the like have had a storied and critical role in public life. That is, until government programs and technology gave us an out from having to deal with each other. But with modernity failing, will clubs and community organizations make a huge comeback? In this episode we explore club life – past, present, and future, if there is one. Originally recorded on 11/6/25.

Sources/Links/Notes:

  • Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, 2000.
  • John Michael Greer, "Secret Handshakes," The Archdruid Report, January 21, 2010.

Related episode(s) of Crazy Town:

Episode 65, "Why the Polycrisis Is a Statistical Anomaly: The Willful Delusions of the World’s Leading Pseudointellectual"


Trying to make sense of a world that often feels like it's lost the plot? That's the space where Crazy Town lives. Hosted by Asher, Rob, and Jason from the Post Carbon Institute, this fortnightly conversation navigates the disorienting headlines and deeper systemic crises-from climate chaos and ecological overshoot to the relentless engine of runaway capitalism-with a necessary blend of sharp analysis and dark humor. They’re not just diagnosing the "Great Unraveling" of our social and environmental fabric; they’re actively exploring what a transition to a genuinely sustainable and equitable society could look like, all while trying to keep their own wits about them. This podcast is for anyone who looks at the status quo and senses the profound delusions holding it together, offering listeners a mix of grounded understanding and candid discussion that’s as engaging as it is urgent. Tune in for conversations that are both a reality check and a search for a viable path forward.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Crazy Town
Podcast Episodes
Finding Crazy Town Part 4: The Myth of Progress - Are We There Yet? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:22
What if the story we tell ourselves about progress is wrong?In Part 4 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jason Bradford,…
Finding Crazy Town Part 3: Unlimited Limits to Growth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:32
Can our economy keep growing forever on a finite planet?In this third installment of Finding Crazy Town, we explore the idea of exponential economic growth, why economists and politicians have become so committed to it,…
Finding Crazy Town Part 2: Simplifying Complexity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:13
What if the greatest strength of modern civilization—its incredible complexity—is also its greatest weakness?In Part 2 of our six-part summer series, Finding Crazy Town, producer Alex Leff continues investigating the mys…
Remembering Richard Heinberg: The Power Podcast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:18
The world has lost a voice of clear, truth-telling wisdom—a man whose work reached millions of people and fundamentally changed the lives of thousands.Richard Heinberg was regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocate…
Finding Crazy Town Part 1: The Straight of Everything [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:13
What happens when the global economy depends on fish traveling 10,000 miles, oil flowing through a single strait, and enough cheap fossil fuel energy to build civilizations that previous generations couldn't even imagine…
Gaslit by the Four Horsemen: Maddening Signs of the Apocalypse [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:52
With the churn of daily news growing more apocalyptic by the headline, and with earth scientists competing ferociously for the title of “gloomiest doomer,” it’s time for some fun (or at least making fun) with a new fanta…
Join the 2026 Crazy Town Hall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55
Join your fellow Crazy Townies by registering at resilience.org/crazytownhallThe Crazy Town Hall is a live, online get-together for our most engaged listeners, affectionately known as Crazy Townies. The Town Hall is your…
The Lighter Side of Dark Ages with Chris Smaje [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:47
Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call them “pharm…