KunstlerCast - Conversations: Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
Episodes
KunstlerCast #57: New Orleans Follow up
26 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In this short podcast, James Howard Kunstler returns briefly to the topic of New Orleans. This time he discusses the future of the Port of New Orleans...
KunstlerCast #56: Virtual Walking Tour of Paris
19 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
At the suggestion of a listener caller, James Howard Kunstler gives a virtual walking tour of Paris, France using Google Street View. Google Street Vi...
KunstlerCast #55: Meaningful Work in a New Economy
12 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
At the suggestion of a listener, James Howard Kunstler muses on the future of animal powered transportation in the future. He briefly describes the s...
KunstlerCast #54: Retooling Suburbia
05 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler explores the topic of building traditional town centers in suburbia, where town centers are typically absent. Though it may be ...
KunstlerCast #53: Incomprehensible Buildings
26 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A listener asks James Howard Kunstler to react to the Feb. 9 fire that destroyed a Beijing building by Dutch starchitect Rem Koolhaas. Kunstler believ...
KunstlerCast #52: Rebuilding New Orleans
19 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler discusses the issue of rebuilding New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Legal disputes, government inefficiency and suburban mind...
KunstlerCast #51: Seaside Revisited
12 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler is back from a visit to the American South. He reports on two New Urbanist developments outside of Montgomery, Alabama. In many ...
KunstlerCast #49: After the Plastic Fiesta
29 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Many everyday items in our lives are made from petroleum byproducts like plastic. But James Howard Kunstler believes that the rising costs of petroleu...
KunstlerCast #48: From Suburbia to Peak Oil
22 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler tells the story of how he came to learn about peak oil while writing about suburban sprawl. Topics include The Yom Kippur War, T...
KunstlerCast #47: Credit Crisis
15 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler believes the credit orgy that was the background and basis for our era is over. It will become increasingly harder to lend money...
KunstlerCast #46: Highway to Hell
08 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A listener caller asks James Howard Kunstler about President-elect Barack Obama's massive proposed stimulus package, which will probably be used to re...
KunstlerCast #45: JHK's Resolution for 2009
01 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In this abbreviated edition, James Howard Kunstler shares his New Year's resolutions for 2009. He also sets some personal goals for finishing the sequ...
KunstlerCast #44: Forecast 2009 - Remembering Y2K
25 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Every year James Howard Kunstler publishes his annual forecast on his popular blog. For this installment of the KunstlerCast, Jim gives us a sneak p...
KunstlerCast #43: Missing Teeth in the Urban Fabric
18 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler explains the negative effects that empty building lots have on the urban streetscape. These empty spaces or "missing teeth" are ...
KunstlerCast #42: Victorian Stroll
11 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler joins host Duncan Crary for the Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy, NY. During this annual event, the city evicts the automobile ...
KunstlerCast #41: Private Property
04 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler says the notion that Americans have a long tradition of being able to do whatever they want with their land is a fallacy. This f...
KunstlerCast #39: Water Transit
20 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The Future of North American Shipping James Howard Kunstler responds to a listener question about the future of water transportation in North Ameri...
KunstlerCast #38: Obama
13 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
JHK Reacts to the Election of Barack Obama James Howard Kunstler shares his feelings about President-elect Barack Obama. For now Jim is hopeful th...
KunstlerCast #37: Impotent Politics
30 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler muses on the increasing irrelevance of the two political parties in America. Neither party seems to be truly facing our energy p...
KunstlerCast #35: The City 1939 - Part 1 Audio Only
16 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This is the audio only version of KunstlerCast #35. There is a video podcast version of this episode as well. In this special edition of t...
KunstlerCast #34: On Hope and Despair
09 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler is not a hope dispenser to passive consumers of hope. But ultimately he believes that life is moving into a more favorable phase...
KunstlerCast #33: The Great Bailout 2008
02 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler comments on the Great Bailout of 2008 and how we got into the current financial crisis. As the U.S. manufacturing economy wither...
KunstlerCast #29: Tattoos and the American Costume
28 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler addresses the proliferation of tattoos on the American main street. He thinks the fierce looking tattoos on young Americas are a...
KunstlerCast #28: The Pickens Plan
21 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This July, oilman T. Boone Pickens told Congress that James Howard Kunstler is worth listening to and that he's right on about the mistakes we've made...
KunstlerCast #27: Anti-urban Bias
14 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This installment attempts to explore America's anti-urban bias. Topics include: environmentalists and the human habitat, suburban style housing proje...
KunstlerCast #26: From Hippies to Yuppies
07 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
How did the granola crunching nature-loving hippies of the 1960s become the gas guzzling, McMansion dwelling, suburban yuppies of today? James Howard ...
KunstlerCast #25: Frederick Law Olmsted and the American Park
31 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Law Olmsted is most noted for designing Central Park in Manhattan. His method of landscape design now serves as the main model for how we ...
KunstlerCast #24: One City Block - Part 2
24 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler continues his walking tour of one city block in downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a classic Main-street American town. We res...
KunstlerCast #23: One City Block - Part I
17 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
KunstlerCast #22: Handicap Access
10 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler explores the consequences of handicap access laws and codes, and how they have unintentionally promoted suburban sprawl througho...
KunstlerCast #21: Convenience
03 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In preparation for the Fourth of July, Jim and Duncan celebrate the God-given right of every American to convenience, Cheez Doodles and happy motoring...
KunstlerCast #19: Wishful Thinking
19 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Religious activists are praying at Washington DC gas stations for cheaper fuel. James Howard Kunstler says that type of neurotic behavior isn't much d...
KunstlerCast #18: Pavement
12 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Asphalt has become the default paving solution in America. And it's helped turn even side streets into mini freeways. It's ugly, it's bad for the envi...
KunstlerCast #17: San Francisco
05 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from San Francisco, who admits to suffering excessive civic pride for his hometown, asks James Howard Kunstler to critique The Golden Gate ...
KunstlerCast #16: Peak Oil New Zealand
29 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from New Zealand asks JamesHoward Kunstler what peak oil holds in store for his island nation. The picture isn't pretty. Kunstler says th...
KunstlerCast #15: Reactivating Small Cities
22 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from Canada asks if small cities will be willing and able to absorb more people after peak oil makes big city life problematic. James Howar...
KunstlerCast #13: Personal Transit & Green Buildings
08 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler takes questions on personal rapid transit, sustainable green buildings and the happy motoring program in America. He also scol...
KunstlerCast#12: Gentrification
01 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. wants to know about the ethics of gentrification. What happens to the poor people who get pushed out o...
KunstlerCast#11: Picturing Suburbia
24 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
When James Howard Kunstler isn't railing against suburban sprawl, he's painting it. Vincent van Gogh painted the peasant sleeping by the haystack beca...
KunstlerCast #10: Children of the Burbs
17 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Is raising children in suburbia a form of child abuse? What happens to developing people when public space is the berm between the Wal-Mart and the K-...
KunstlerCast #9: Urban Planning
10 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler is one of the most vocal critics of modern urban planning. So it's only fair that in this show Jim fields some questions from th...
KunstlerCast #8: The Glossary of Nowhere
03 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
When James Howard Kunstler wrote The Geography of Nowhere, it was to give people "the vocabulary to understand what's wrong with the places they ought...
KunstlerCast #7: Fate of Flagstaff & Hydrogen Cars
27 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from Flagstaff, Ariz. wants to know what fate awaits his town in the post oil future. The verdict from Jim? At least it's not Phoenix, but ...
KunstlerCast #6: Zoning
20 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Ya seen one town in America ya seen 'em all. But that's because they're all mandated to look that way! James Howard Kunstler tells the tragi...
KunstlerCast #5: Starchitects
13 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
How and why did Seattle build that hideous new public library? asks one listener from that city. James Howard Kunstler tells us how cities get hoodwin...
KunstlerCast #4: Parking Garages
06 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from Columbus, Ohio shares the bad news about two proposed downtown parking garages. Even though James Howard Kunstler thinks the happy mot...
KunstlerCast #3: World Made By Hand
28 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler reads from World Made By Hand, his new novel based on the post-oil future. Published by The Atlantic Monthly Press, World Made...
KunstlerCast #2: Small Cities & Towns
21 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler describes the impending end of cheap oil, which he calls The Long Emergency. Suburbia is a living arrangement with no future. Th...
KunstlerCast #1: Drugstores
12 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
James Howard Kunstler rips on drugstores: the one-story, junk food- dispensing boxes that masquerade as buildings on America's street corners. Topics...