Post Carbon Institute 41d ago

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 “pharmers” with a “ph,” as in PhD?!?). Chris’s latest book, Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft explores how we can move from modernity’s unsustainable political economy toward a re-organization of society, driven by communities and local food systems. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Jason cover everything from Viking raids to agrarian populism, from societal collapse to the practicalities of making your way in a failed state. And they can’t get away from the shop talk of gardens, livestock, and home economics. Originally recorded on 4/2/26. Sources & Links • Chris Smaje’s Blog (https://chrissmaje.com/blog/) • Finding Lights in a Dark Age (https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/finding-lights-in-a-dark-age/) by Chris Smaje • Excerpt of the book on (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-10-02/finding-lights-in-a-dark-age-excerpt/) Resilience (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-10-02/finding-lights-in-a-dark-age-excerpt/) • Second excerpt on (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2026-03-18/finding-lights-in-a-dark-age-excerpt-2/) Resilience (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2026-03-18/finding-lights-in-a-dark-age-excerpt-2/) • Review: Saying NO to Ecomodermism. Smaje Versus Monbiot, It’s No Contest (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-06-30/review-saying-no-to-ecomodermism-smaje-versus-monbiot-its-no-contest/) Related Episodes • Episode 98, “Bargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Balls” (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-02-13/crazy-town-episode-98-bargaining-collapse/) Credits Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal. Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” by (https://midnightshipwrecks.bandcamp.com/) Midnight Shipwrecks (https://midnightshipwrecks.bandcamp.com/) , used with permission. Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.