KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century

KunstlerCast 434 — Charles Marohn on Strong Towns and the Battle to Reform the Fiasco of Suburban Sprawl

Charles Marohn is the founder and president of Strong Towns [https://www.strongtowns.org]. With decades of experience as a land use planner and civil engineer, Marohn is on a mission to help cities and towns become stronger and more prosperous through classic, traditional town planning. He's the bestselling author of Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis [https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Housing-Trap-Strong-Response/dp/B0D2LZF938/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Aa3BT057T3rjfLqCaFaNsg.i7GRx-TSa5rNlCZ1-u_sJlpwbLBfCX2e7yTPxXG6Mog&dib_tag=se&keywords=Escaping+the+Housing+Trap%3A+The+Strong+Towns+Response+to+the+Housing+Crisis&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1764362126&s=audible&sr=1-1]. Like your host, JHK, Chuck is a member in good standing of the Congress for the New Urbanism, [http://www.cnu.org] a national movement to repair and reform the fiasco of Suburban sprawl lanes development. The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger

KunstlerCast 433 — Piero San Giorgio Has Just Returned from Russia

Piero San Giorgio is one of Switzerland's best selling authors. After 20 years as an executive in the software business, Piero decided to write essays about the future. His first book Survive —The Economic Collapse [https://www.amazon.com/Survive-Economic-Collapse-Piero-Giorgio/dp/1593680147/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LOUBT6YEX803&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.b-cvrAO2VRWEmCP08EdwXqrJLisL5CPgd5xzTob0XIU.tbUCQBy9-JjVBLhUBYHjEkdDLmfXeg7IwmBO_ZhGzGU&dib_tag=se&keywords=survive+the+economic+collapse+%2B+piero+san+giorgio&qid=1762710638&s=books&sprefix=survive+the+economic+collapse+%2B+piero+san+georgio%2Cstripbooks%2C156&sr=1-1] was in the top-50 best selling books of 2012 in France and has sold over 200,000 copies, with translations into English, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Romanian, Polish, Turkish etc. and has a foreword by JHKunstler. His other books are , CBRN (How to Survive Nuclear, Radiological, Biological,and Chemical events) [https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/cbrn-surviving-chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear-events-9781912975679], and Giuseppe: A Survival Story [https://www.amazon.com/Giuseppe-Survival-Piero-San-Giorgio/dp/1914208064/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MKPSSWOG7O24&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2hY4kGGpZ6iWgvoxnTdrkm0tI4mCd4JB4SG0mv_5e9vGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.ScyxPG7CsMp1R4A9DVwmfPtDL75OoRC71-L83vUCcCo&dib_tag=se&keywords=giuseppe+by+piero+san+giorgio&qid=1762710821&s=books&sprefix=giuseppe+by+piero+san+georgio%2Cstripbooks%2C192&sr=1-1], a biographical novel about his grandfather's ordeals in WW2. The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger

KunstlerCast 432 — Jeffrey Tucker of The Brownstone Institute on his new book, The Spirits of America

Jeffrey Tucker is founder and president of Brownstone Institute, Senior Economics Columnist at Epoch Times, and author of 15 books. His newest book, The Spirits of America [https://www.amazon.com/Spirits-America-Semiquincentennial-Jeffrey-Tucker/dp/1630693014/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E864UdTHCAGUc0gKDMLkphqgPZO_2CrN9JoMB2FypC6LQ4sepiK-koHw9lWhdfUyXrcxTQLWoInifdkSTKw0QRzzY27jP92V1is8IZ0U4GUuxT8s32I25sYocqyyUVu5gsl-Egyl1X-xelgTNnFADOLT_E3D9lPxGmonWD-PN5oGs49uy-rf5iG8o9gG0aclWdaKu7n9ddc4tQCi0hQ9_FEIL3O02KQaAvOf1xAlPHw.MSp8A_Ywha1mjwffPm_TQY-78-hw2tOT1oA5487M5DY&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+spirits+of+America+%2B+Tucker&qid=1761684686&s=books&sr=1-1], is a reflection on American values – cultivated deep in US history dating back to the founding. The book is meant to inspire us to a restoration of our once-sturdy common culture in this period of great political turbulence. Please take the time to visit the Brownstone Institute's excellent website [https://brownstone.org/articles/] and its stable of fine writers. The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger [https://www.larryunger.net]

KunstlerCast 431 — Thomas Fowler on the Diminishing Returns of Artificial Intelligence

Thomas B. Fowler is the author of five books and over 150 articles and reviews, ranging over philosophy, theology, engineering, physics, and mathematics. He is an expert in analyzing systems and procedures for the U.S government. He says he is "keenly aware of the rapid politicization that has occurred not just in the humanities, but increasingly in the science, technology, and mathematics (STEM) areas, and is devoted to debunking the shoddy reasoning behind many contemporary trends such as the extravagant claims made for Artificial Intelligence." His latest book is Artificial Intelligence: Foundations, Limitations, Benefits and Dangers [https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Foundations-Limitiations-Benefits/dp/173499522X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EBBO74F7T2KW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.j_PvKMznbmNi9EuDD7Ac1g.eHUHMN_YTtj9kxz5nrAaQfKLQzf7OuoWxz7geLR3qkk&dib_tag=se&keywords=artificial+intelligence+by+thomas+Fowler&qid=1761137255&s=books&sprefix=artificial+intelligence+by+thomas+fowler%2Cstripbooks%2C334&sr=1-1] — and is the subject of this conversation. He is president of the Xavier Zubiri Foundation of North America, and has translated several of the Spanish philosopher's books into English. Currently an independent consultant and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at George Mason University, he has lectured widely in the U.S., South America, and Europe on science and philosophy. His doctorate from George Washington University is in system theory.

KunstlerCast 430 — Charles Hugh Smith, blogger at "Of Two Minds," Talking Finance and The Ultra-Processed Life

Charles Hugh Smith founded his blog Of Two Minds [https://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html] in 2005 after 17 years of free-lance journalism in the San Francisco Bay Area. His 4,600 posts on the economy, society, housing and technology have logged over 150 million page views. He is the author of 9 novels and 20 non-fiction books on socio-economic-political dynamics, including The Mythology of Progress [https://www.amazon.com/Mythology-Progress-Anti-Progress-21st-Century/dp/B0DJT34JRV/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WDHcYSwbDTNHWUc4wW5DLA.2fgfDACHfc9v0IgVyKEjJPsXU8GnPjKM0fpI3_DzI5s&qid=1758993542&sr=8-1] and Ultra-Processed Life. [https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Processed-Life-Charles-Hugh-Smith/dp/B0FDWZDNH6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N9818LKECM52&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ad9KVdvgEvIFtAyNCHAvDNOcwwPERAu5f2A4Y6APlqhjGbxKP_M_XLdcCsSeomGJl4qS-uW89NcMZrHfKQgEW8gbkz-f3nBsXly0V0gMOXcjciBWia_SyxbFjgySo2JMgG_srig77PkaZP2UnSaHQOm3pPJgJRh_84j160RtJWqEOigwoISHvWozFXfTMESYGoNh3xVeZGMVD8UiC7Yw9AfhY5LaI1ji4WlnCsDQK-E.pMJerm6-06y2iIi1fI0kXv2dKnaLitkTi9beZyjvzQA&dib_tag=se&keywords=charles+hugh+smith+books&qid=1758993454&sprefix=Charles+Hugh+Smith%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1] His work can also be found on Substack and Patreon. The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger [https://www.larryunger.net]