Interviews

Builder and author Shay Salomon finds that the happiest home builders are often the ones with the smallest houses. They're less costly to build and maintain, more likely to be finished, use fewer resources and help people simplify their lives. One version of "smaller" is to share a house, which can ease our loneliness while building our social network. Co-founder of the Small House Society, Shay notes that scaling down can enable a ratcheting up of our whole lifestyle, as we revalue quality over quantity. Declaring "Enough", she says, is the most ecological thing one can do. Episode 119.

Richard Heinberg, author of “Peak Everything”, reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we’ve missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, “how far down the staircase of complexity will our global civilization have to go until we’re sustainable?” His answer: when managed properly, with deliberate simplification, not as far as we might otherwise. In addition to long term efforts to relocalize our economies, he advocates developing community “resilience” to withstand short-term catastrophic events like food shortages or extreme weather. Noting that healthy fear can move us into action, he encourages an attitude of clarity, concern and informed action in this “calm before the storm” that he feels is soon coming to an end. Episode 115. With transcript.

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 of Saratoga to experience the sense of place in this small city. Kunstler brings us from the busy sidewalks along Broadway to a sidestreet leading to a major urban infill project. He explains the urban sensibilities of the 19th century structures, points out the boneheaded decisions of the 1960s one-story development, and the promising efforts of mid-1990s new urbanism. Episode 23.

A new project in British Columbia is encouraging an alternative model of preserving agricultural land in light of rising costs of land. A farm that becomes a part of the Community Farms Program of BC is collectively owned in public trust, long-term leases are assigned for local food production, and farmers are housed on the land. Agricultural activities are small-scale and intensive, and are carried out by a group of people working collaboratively or cooperatively.

Summertime is here, and that means a whole lot more time outdoors. More active lifestyles require changes in our diets. For some it means energy bars and Gatorade on long bike rides. But for those of us looking to support local food, what can we do? No need to fret. This episode of Crop To Cuisine will look at what we should be fueling our active lifestyles with, and how we can do so using local food and ingredients.

Today's Reality Report is a call-in show. Jason Bradford talks about climate change and peak oil, our understanding of history, and other topics with call-in interlocutors from Ukiah and beyond.

Are we in the perfect financial storm? Marc Cuniberti, a market analyst and host of "Money Matters" on our local community radio station KVMR, thinks so. Marc talks about the cause of inflation (rising prices are just a symptom) and how you can stop it with a candy bar! He discusses strategies to protect and even make money in a weakening economy -- like getting out of debt and investing in physical things you really need. In the stock market, he suggests dividend paying stocks, stressing the importance of using interest compounding in your favor: $100 saved today with an 8% return will grow to $200 in 9 years. Also read Janaia's blog about this conversation. Episode 118.

James Howard Kunstler takes questions on personal rapid transit, sustainable green buildings and the happy motoring program in America. He also scolds us for us referring to ourselves as consumers. This show is the result of a special collaboration between The KunstlerCast and Planetizen, the online network for professional planners. Episode 13. With transcript.

Ryan Nassichuk builds food gardens for people. His bicycle and trailer are the sole transport for himself, tools, and materials - including soil and plants! This horticulturist also builds container gardens and composters. Tour a backyard garden in which a 6-week class of students filled raised beds with soil, compost and fertilizer, did succession planting, and built a low-cost composter. Recently Ryan has added free seed-sharing to his wisdom-sharing, while continuing to propagate food gardens throughout Vancouver. This man has a low ecological footprint -- or should we say bike tire tread? Episode 117.

In this episode of KunstlerCast, James Howard Kunstler explores the consequences of handicap access regulations and how these codes have unintentionally promoted suburban sprawl throughout much of America. In many instances, developers feel it's easier and cheaper to just build one-story buildings rather than multi-story handicap accessible buildings. These codes can also discourage the retrofitting of second and third story retail space in old "Main Street" buildings as well. So while handicap codes may make it easier for some people to use our built environment, they can also indirectly make it more difficult for those do not own a car. Episode 22.