Podcast
Recombination Nation
Hosted by Shane Simonsen · EN
Explore the intersection of evolution, ecology and civilisation with crop and livestock breeders, low input farmers, social engineers and a dazzling array of deep thinkers.
Read more of Shane Simonsen's work at the Recombination Nation substack.
40episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Orbiting The Biological Singularity with Arnold Schroder
6d ago01:33:37Tap to summarizeArnold Schroder, from the Fight Like an Animal podcast, is an ecological anarchist who bridges the world between biology and politics across the depths of time.Check out his archive of fascinating articles: https://www.againsttheinternet.comGrab his new book: https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Like-Animal-Revolutionary-Biology/dp/B0GZ1GKCVX/Listen to his podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/09DTUqzsCjGkvxw0GbFobEhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fight-like-an-animal/id1511430305Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Julia Dakin and Anna Mieritz- How "Going to Seed" Germinated
2w ago01:23:57Tap to summarizeJulia Dakin and Anna Mieritz are key members of the "Going to Seed" organisation, which brings adaptation crop breeding to numerous communities in the USA.In this two part interview I learn more about their own vegetable breeding projects, but also take the rare opportunity to learn more about how their organisation got started, how it grew, and plans for the future. A great episode for people keen to get involved or start something similar in their part of the world.Check out all the work going on at Going to Seed: https://goingtoseed.orgI highly recommend Julia's recent presentation on the link between crop genetics and nutritional content- https://youtu.be/5ErwX5_u7EE?si=ItAFtJzhdOL9PE49Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Cultural Evolution with Roger's Bacon
3w ago02:13:43Tap to summarizeRoger's Bacon is an evolutionary biologist who turned his tool set on the related problem of how cultures mutate, compete, hybridise and evolve.He writes fascinating deep dive articles at Secretorum on substack: https://www.secretorum.lifeAnd runs the Seeds of Science blog to give a wider audience to pioneering thinkers: https://www.theseedsofscience.pubSign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Teosinte, Arracacha and Mauka Breeding with Steve in Australia
4w ago01:29:29Tap to summarizeSteve is an independent crop breeder in southern Australia breeding a host of uncommon crops from similar climates in the Andes. We dive into his work back crossing maize to its ancestor (teosinte), plus his early work preparing to wide cross mauka and arracacha. Steve is pursuing the true zero input approach to breeding staple crops which can produce on unirrigated soil with minimal nutrient inputs and fertility added.If you want to reach out to Steve get in touch via my substack.Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Reviving Landrace Staple Crops with Glenn Roberts from Anson Mills
Apr 2402:18:03Tap to summarizeGlenn Roberts is the founder of Anson Mills, an extraordinary project to bring traditional landrace staple crops back from the brink of extinction in his part of the humid south eastern USA. This interview digs into how he achieved such an extraordinary feat, looking for clues to how others could follow his example in their own bioregions.Read much more about Anson Mills here: https://ansonmills.com/Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Talking Baseyu with Andiru- The Hot New Auxlang on the Block
Apr 1701:05:29Tap to summarizeAndiru is a conlang enthusiast who took things the next step and created the auxiliary language Baseyu along with a dedicated community of enthusiasts. Auxiliary languages are designed to be small, simple and accessible enough for anybody to learn them as a new global common tongue- kind of like the Tower of Babel in reverse.You can check out the project here: https://baseyu.comBrowse the dictionary: https://dictionary.baseyu.com/enJoin the community on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Baseyu/And request a discord invite there.Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Talking Toki Pona and Esperanto with Okan
Apr 1001:14:09Tap to summarizeOkan learnt two of the most successful constructed languages- the sprawling, romantic Esperanto and cute minimalist Toki Pona.After covering the history of these languages we delve deeper into the dynamics of experimental language communities, the psychology of conlangers, and the potential interplay of culture, technology and experimental languages in the near future.Drop me a message on substack if you would like to reach out to Jan.Try learning Toki Pona yourself here: https://wasona.comLearn more about Esperanto here: https://lernu.netSign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Technopuritanism for the Next New World with Malcolm Collins
Apr 301:26:15Tap to summarizeMalcolm Collins is an unclassifiable frontiersman for the coming century of chaos, a hardened fighter from the trenches of the culture wars, and a pronatalist who put his own blood line on the line by having a gaggle of embryo selected children with his lovely wife Simone, who cohosts their Based Camp podcast.You can watch their diverse discussions at Based Camp: https://www.youtube.com/@SimoneandMalcolmAnd also check out their Pragmatists Guide book series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/365119-the-pragmatist-s-guideSign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Breeding Mashua, Babaco and Passionfruit with Chuck Chan
Mar 2700:59:19Tap to summarizeChuck Chan is an accomplished amateur crop breeder from the humid cloud forests of California, adapting plants to his little pocket of Andean climate. He has made the most of his challenges by breeding a host of rare crops which struggle in other places, particularly the root crop Mashua, and papaya relative Vasconcellea along with numerous other projects. We also delve into how he manages his diverse plant collection and his experiences sharing the breeding work with the wider community.You can check out glimpses of his successes through his regular posts: https://www.facebook.com/chuck.chan.562019Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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Gail Tverberg- My Favourite Data Wrangling Grandma at the End of the Oil Age
Mar 2001:16:20Tap to summarizeGail Tverberg was a star during the 2000s oil crisis, producing data rich reports on the TheOilDrum.com in a way that only a trained actuary could pull off. She has continued to impress me in subsequent years with her uncommon knack for digging into the numbers beneath the stories that others are trying to spin.In this interview we discuss the current state of the energy crisis, why a handful of people saw it coming decades ago, and how she hopes society can adapt to the coming challenges.Read Gail's regular articles at her website: https://ourfiniteworld.comCheck out a teaser for another podcast interview with Geopolitics and Empire (who also interviewed me a while back): https://youtu.be/pW5xeCGWFjM?si=88rThEep8qIcA1GASign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
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