Great simplification pulsing lines

#34 | Frankly

The Limits to Podcasting About Limits

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Frankly

Description

On this Frankly, Nate shares a personal reflection on the challenges of creating and broadcasting content focused on biophysical limits to growth.  In a media industry that promotes feel-good content, over-simplified narratives and easy answers, the themes being highlighted on The Great Simplification can be complex, overwhelming, and leave more questions than answers. What should the goals be for these types of content creators? What are the pitfalls? How do the conventional social media rules apply to media that is so outside the norm? Most importantly, what is the best way to maintain credible, helpful, widely accessible, and factual information that can help steer society towards a gentler landing into The Great Simplification?

In French, we have a motto that says that a simple drawing is often better than a long explanation. Jean-Marc Jancovici Carbone 4 President

That’s very understandable because with left atmosphere thinking, one of the problems is that you see everything as a series of problems that must have solutions. Iain McGilchrist Neuroscientist and Philosopher

We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of real relationships that are healthy because that requires time and effort and full attention and awareness of being in real relationship and conversation with the other human. Nate Hagens Director of ISEOF

This is the crux of the whole problem. Individual parts of nature are more valuable than the biocomplexity of nature. Thomas Crowther Founder Restor

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

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Frankly#115 | Inflation, Deflation, & Simplification: The 8 Things That Influence Prices

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Frankly#114 | Directional Advice for the (More Than) Human Predicament

In this week’s episode, Nate invites listeners into an exploration of what it means to navigate a growing predicament shaped by ecological limits, rapid technological changes, and shifting expectations of reality. Our complex world hosts an immense diversity of human (and non-human) circumstances, which demand responses that are adaptive, not static. Rather than offer misleadingly prescriptive answers, Nate lays out a set of “compass points” that serve to both challenge our assumptions, and to attune our values in the direction of 'better futures than the default.’

Watch nowNov 21, 2025
Frankly#113 | 11 Discoveries That Changed My Worldview

In this episode, Nate weaves personal reflections into an exploration of the human predicament, unpacking a series of chronological insights that have reshaped his worldview. What began years ago as an investigation into oil has morphed into a deep lifelong journey into the complex web of energy, psychology, evolution, and systems that drive today's society. By sharing stories and realizations from his own life, whether it’s the debunking of Wall Street energy illusions or unpacking how sexual selection is often as important a behavioral driver as natural selection, Nate invites listeners to step back and see the human story through a much wider lens.

Watch nowNov 14, 2025

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The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future (ISEOF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, founded in 2008, that conducts research and educates the public about energy issues and their impact on society.

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