Given Biden’s exit from the race, I thought it might be interesting to replay the first episode I recorded following his election. Here is my November 5th, 2020 conversation with Rob Johnson, Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Rob and I have made a point to talk after the last several elections. This episode is very much a conversation rather than an interview, as the two of us give you our take on where the country stood at that moment, how we’d gotten there, and our hopes for a Biden administration. Joe Biden’s age was the one issue where voters agree with the Republicans for which there was no defense. 

I’ve talked with journalist and best-selling author, GEORGE PACKER, about 2013’s National Book Award-winning The UNWINDING and 2021’s LAST BEST HOPE, in which he offers four narratives of America that motivate and divide us. Today our jumping off point will be his current cover story in The Atlantic on Phoenix, Arizona, WHAT WILL BECOME OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION? Conspiracism and Hyper-partisanship in the Nation’s Fastest-growing City. More tour guide than pundit, George chooses the characters and makes the introductions, but the voices in this piece are those of the people of Phoenix. 

Packer, George – Edited Transcript – 7.11.24

 

Two conversations about the big picture. First, 20 years ago USPS released a stamp honoring inventor and multi-hyphenate visionary Bucky Fuller. Here’s my 2004 conversation about the man and his work with his daughter, ALLEGRA FULLER SNYDER. Buckminster Fuller Institute: bfi.org. Second, one of my favorites, my 2008 conversation with MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist STUART KAUFFMAN about his book, REINVENTING THE SACRED: A NEW VIEW OF SCIENCE, REASON, AND RELIGION. Is the universe’s ceaseless creativity the best way for us to think about God? Learn more: stuartkauffman.com

This week, we step aside from today’s news to dig into a story millions of years in the making, as I speak with ZOE SCHLANGER about her best-selling THE LIGHT EATERS: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. What are we to make of a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Schlanger‘s research over the last several years reveals a reality that challenges our understanding of consciousness, intelligence, and life itself. You can learn more at zoeschlanger.com

As Congress negotiates a new “Farm Bill” – they do so every 5 years – will health, nutrition, poverty, and nature/climate get seats at the table or will Big Ag and Big Food dominate and dictate as usual? Speaking of food, here’s my 2021 conversation with MARK BITTMAN, longtime fixture at the New York Times, author of 30 books, about one of his latest – ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, JUNK: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal. How did things get so bad and how can we turn things around before it’s too late? Learn more at markbittman.com