Shows / KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
James Howard Kunstler, author of "The Geography of Nowhere" and "The Long Emergency," takes on suburban sprawl, disposable architecture and the end of the cheap oil era each week with program host Duncan Crary.
Episodes
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #48: From Suburbia to Peak Oil
James Howard Kunstler tells the story of how he came to learn about peak oil while writing about suburban sprawl. Topics include The Yom Kippur War, The…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #47: Credit Crisis
James Howard Kunstler believes the credit orgy that was the background and basis for our era is over. It will become increasingly harder to lend money into…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #46: Highway to Hell
A listener caller asks James Howard Kunstler about President-elect Barack Obama's massive proposed stimulus package, which will probably be used to rebuild…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #45: JHK's Resolution for 2009
In this abbreviated edition, James Howard Kunstler shares his New Year's resolutions for 2009. He also sets some personal goals for finishing the sequel to his…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #44: Forecast 2009 - Remembering Y2K
Every year James Howard Kunstler publishes his annual forecast on his popular blog. For this installment of the KunstlerCast, Jim gives us a sneak preview of…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #43: Missing Teeth in the Urban Fabric
James Howard Kunstler explains the negative effects that empty building lots have on the urban streetscape. These empty spaces or "missing teeth" are dead…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #42: Victorian Stroll
James Howard Kunstler joins host Duncan Crary for the Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy, NY. During this annual event, the city evicts the automobile from the…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #41: Private Property
James Howard Kunstler says the notion that Americans have a long tradition of being able to do whatever they want with their land is a fallacy. This false…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #39: Water Transit
The Future of North American Shipping James Howard Kunstler responds to a listener question about the future of water transportation in North America. There is…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #38: Obama
JHK Reacts to the Election of Barack Obama James Howard Kunstler shares his feelings about President-elect Barack Obama. For now Jim is hopeful that Mr. Obama…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #37: Impotent Politics
James Howard Kunstler muses on the increasing irrelevance of the two political parties in America. Neither party seems to be truly facing our energy…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #35: The City 1939 - Part 1 Audio Only
This is the audio only version of KunstlerCast #35. There is a video podcast version of this episode as well. In this special edition of the KunstlerCast…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #34: On Hope and Despair
James Howard Kunstler is not a hope dispenser to passive consumers of hope. But ultimately he believes that life is moving into a more favorable phase, even if…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #33: The Great Bailout 2008
James Howard Kunstler comments on the Great Bailout of 2008 and how we got into the current financial crisis. As the U.S. manufacturing economy withered away…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #29: Tattoos and the American Costume
James Howard Kunstler addresses the proliferation of tattoos on the American main street. He thinks the fierce looking tattoos on young Americas are actually a…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #28: The Pickens Plan
This July, oilman T. Boone Pickens told Congress that James Howard Kunstler is worth listening to and that he's right on about the mistakes we've made in…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #27: Anti-urban Bias
This installment attempts to explore America's anti-urban bias. Topics include: environmentalists and the human habitat, suburban style housing projects in the…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #26: From Hippies to Yuppies
How did the granola crunching nature-loving hippies of the 1960s become the gas guzzling, McMansion dwelling, suburban yuppies of today? James Howard Kunstler…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #25: Frederick Law Olmsted and the American Park
Frederick Law Olmsted is most noted for designing Central Park in Manhattan. His method of landscape design now serves as the main model for how we design…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #24: One City Block - Part 2
James Howard Kunstler continues his walking tour of one city block in downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a classic Main-street American town. We resume the tour…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #23: One City Block - Part I
James Howard Kunstler often describes Saratoga Springs N.Y. as a classic Main Street American town. In part one of this special program, we take to the streets…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #22: Handicap Access
James Howard Kunstler explores the consequences of handicap access laws and codes, and how they have unintentionally promoted suburban sprawl throughout much…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #21: Convenience
In preparation for the Fourth of July, Jim and Duncan celebrate the God-given right of every American to convenience, Cheez Doodles and happy motoring…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #19: Wishful Thinking
Religious activists are praying at Washington DC gas stations for cheaper fuel. James Howard Kunstler says that type of neurotic behavior isn't much different…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #18: Pavement
Asphalt has become the default paving solution in America. And it's helped turn even side streets into mini freeways. It's ugly, it's bad for the environment…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #17: San Francisco
A listener from San Francisco, who admits to suffering excessive civic pride for his hometown, asks James Howard Kunstler to critique The Golden Gate City and…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #16: Peak Oil New Zealand
A listener from New Zealand asks JamesHoward Kunstler what peak oil holds in store for his island nation. The picture isn't pretty. Kunstler says the Kiwis…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #15: Reactivating Small Cities
A listener from Canada asks if small cities will be willing and able to absorb more people after peak oil makes big city life problematic. James Howard…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #13: Personal Transit & Green Buildings
James Howard Kunstler takes questions on personal rapid transit, sustainable green buildings and the happy motoring program in America. He also scolds us for…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast#12: Gentrification
A listener from Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. wants to know about the ethics of gentrification. What happens to the poor people who get pushed out of the…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast#11: Picturing Suburbia
When James Howard Kunstler isn't railing against suburban sprawl, he's painting it. Vincent van Gogh painted the peasant sleeping by the haystack because he…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #10: Children of the Burbs
Is raising children in suburbia a form of child abuse? What happens to developing people when public space is the berm between the Wal-Mart and the K-Mart?…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #9: Urban Planning
James Howard Kunstler is one of the most vocal critics of modern urban planning. So it's only fair that in this show Jim fields some questions from the…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #8: The Glossary of Nowhere
When James Howard Kunstler wrote The Geography of Nowhere, it was to give people "the vocabulary to understand what's wrong with the places they ought to know…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #7: Fate of Flagstaff & Hydrogen Cars
A listener from Flagstaff, Ariz. wants to know what fate awaits his town in the post oil future. The verdict from Jim? At least it's not Phoenix, but most of…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #6: Zoning
Ya seen one town in America ya seen 'em all. But that's because they're all mandated to look that way! James Howard Kunstler tells the tragic story of zoning…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #5: Starchitects
How and why did Seattle build that hideous new public library? asks one listener from that city. James Howard Kunstler tells us how cities get hoodwinked into…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #4: Parking Garages
A listener from Columbus, Ohio shares the bad news about two proposed downtown parking garages. Even though James Howard Kunstler thinks the happy motoring…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #3: World Made By Hand
James Howard Kunstler reads from World Made By Hand, his new novel based on the post-oil future. Published by The Atlantic Monthly Press, World Made By Hand is…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #2: Small Cities & Towns
James Howard Kunstler describes the impending end of cheap oil, which he calls The Long Emergency. Suburbia is a living arrangement with no future. Things are…
- KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
KunstlerCast #1: Drugstores
James Howard Kunstler rips on drugstores: the one-story, junk food- dispensing boxes that masquerade as buildings on America's street corners. Topics include…