Doomer Optimism

DO 303 - AI, Existential Risk, and the Future of the Human Soul

AI, Existential Risk, and the Future of the Human Soul

DO 302 - Starting a Farm and a Farm Store on Main Street

Geoffrey Long of Long Story Farms joins Jason to talk about what it actually takes to build a working farmstead part-time, the real challenges of scaling production and finding local markets, and why he thinks a permanent storefront can do what farmers' markets can't. We also get into his philosophy around local economies, community resilience, and why he believes people with skills and agency are better positioned more than most for whatever comes next.Geoffrey Long runs Long Story Farms in Newberry, South Carolina, where he raises Jersey cows, pigs, laying hens, ducks, and turkeys on 130 acres while maintaining a nine-year-old food forest and holding down a full-time corporate job. He's also spent the last three years renovating a historic building on Main Street to open Farms on Main, a local food grocery and zero-waste refillery focused on low food miles and minimal packaging.instagram.com/longstoryfarmscfacebook.com/longstoryfarmsx.com/longstoryfarms

DO 301 - Open Source Civilization: Marcin Jakubowski of Open Source Ecology

When Your Tractor Breaks, Open Source the Whole Civilization Marcin Jakubowski, founder of Open Source Ecology, joins Ashley to talk about his 20-year project to open source the blueprints for civilization, starting with a broken tractor on a Missouri farm and expanding into a full Global Village Construction Set of 50 industrial machines. They get into the abundance vs. scarcity mindset, solar concrete, modular open source housing at $100K build cost, why proprietary design is a bad mental model, and how Marcin is now recruiting 75 people for his Future Builders Academy to finish the whole set by 2028. If you've ever been frustrated by planned obsolescence, right to repair, or the cost of building anything in America, this one's for you. https://www.opensourceecology.org/

DO 300 - Celebrating 300 Episodes of Doomer Optimism

Three hundred episodes in, and we’re still here, still questioning, still laughing, still building. In this special 300th episode, we gather voices from across DO; past guests, hosts, collaborators, and community members, to reflect on what this experiment has meant to us. What began as a space to grapple honestly with economic, ecological, and political unraveling has become something deeper: a living, breathing community grounded in realism and sustained by stubborn hope. We discuss our favorite moments and celebrate what happens when people choose to face hard truths together, and still believe in the possibility of regeneration. If you’ve listened once or a hundred times, joined us at an event, or simply wrestled with these ideas on your own, you’re part of this story. Here’s to the next chapter.

DO 299 - Small Scale Production, Henry George, and the Land Value Tax

Willy Denner of Little Seed Gardens in Chatham, NY, joins Jason and returning co-host Nigel Best for a wide-ranging conversation about 32 years of small-scale organic farming, the economics of direct market production, and the political philosophy of Henry George. Willy shares how he and his wife, Claudia, built their 100-acre vegetable and grass-fed beef operation from scratch — no farming background, just conviction, soil maps, and thousands of miles of driving back roads in search of land. He talks about the decision to scale back production by 75% this year, the grind of farmers' markets, and what it means to farm as a strategy toward a life rather than as an end in itself. They go into a deep, practical discussion of Georgism and the Land Value Tax. Willy, Nigel, and Jason explore why Henry George’s Progress and Poverty — once the best-selling book in English after the Bible — argued that taxing land value (not labor, not production, not transactions) is the only morally coherent and economically efficient basis for taxation. They dig into the difference between land and capital, the concept of economic rent, and why current property and income taxes penalize production while rewarding speculation, and whether any path to a single tax exists short of civilizational crisis. Also covered: no-till vegetable growing, solarization techniques, homemade farm equipment, holistic management as a decision-making framework, and advice for young people trying to find their footing. www.littleseedgardens.com