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.
50episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
How This Civilisation Ends with Professor Jiang
Jan 101:31:47Tap to summarizeProfessor Jiang brought deep historical, economic and cultural analysis to the masses through his popular YouTube lectures.In this interview Shane digs deeper into his perspective on the east/west divide as we navigate the unfolding end of the industrial era.Find all of Professor Jiang's videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@PredictiveHistoryAnd sign up to read his substack articles: https://predictivehistory.substack.comFind more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.comRead his 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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Eugene McCarthy Returns
Mar 27, 202501:24:06Tap to summarizeShane talks to Dr Eugene McCarthy once more, delving into his astonishing theory about the possible hybrid origin of humans (and not the recent discoveries about mixing of modern humans with neanderthals and their kin). Eugene has assembled a compelling body of evidence that our chimp like ancestors may have hybridised with the humble pig, accounting for a long list of unusual human traits that are lacking in our primate ancestors.You can read more detail about Eugene's theory here: https://www.macroevolution.net/human-origins.htmlYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Gregg Muller
Mar 20, 202501:14:08Tap to summarizeShane talks to Gregg about his long journey through breeding a wide range of crops in his challenging Mediterranean climate in southern Australia. We also compare notes on the challenges of creating local crop breeding groups and discuss fresh approaches.Check out Gregg's incredible range of seeds for sale: https://www.usefulseeds.comJoin Gregg's local crop breeding group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18wjkbJUWh/You find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Fedor Steeman
Mar 13, 202501:35:25Tap to summarizeShane talks to Fedor Steeman about the limits of evolving and engineering life itself.Check out more of Fedor's amazing videos on speculative biology at Phrenotopia-https://www.youtube.com/@PhrenotopiaThe origin of animal body plans - https://youtu.be/3Gql2iyY5Gw?si=lCEY3vtmibvfYaFGYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Salvatore Ceccarelli
Mar 6, 202501:41:07Tap to summarizeShane talks to Salvatore Ceccarelli about his incredible contribution to the preservation and reinvigoration of ancient landrace crop genetics in the Middle East and Europe, putting diverse mixes of ancient grains back into the hands of farmers and bakers throughout the region.You can read more about Salvatore's work at- https://salvatorececcarelli.wordpress.com(translation into English might be helpful using translate.google.com for selected passages).You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Book Review- The One Straw Revolution
Feb 27, 202500:12:07Tap to summarizeShane revisits an old substack post reviewing Fukuoka's "One Straw Revolution", comparing his experiences as an experimental farmer to those of one of the founders of this philosophy.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Dr. Eugene McCarthy
Feb 20, 202501:24:12Tap to summarizeShane talks to Dr Eugene McCarthy about his lifetime studying the importance of hybridisation in the creation of new forms of life (usually called speciation). This is part of a three episode series with Dr McCarthy, Part 2 will investigate his thought provoking pig-chimp hypothesis, and part 3 will cover implications and applications of hybrid speciation theory.Read all about Dr. McCarthy's work at his extensive website detailing his theories in accessible language:https://www.macroevolution.netA recent research paper showing the differences between bonobo and human genomes correlate with pig sequences- https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.14.607926v1.full.pdfYou can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Plant Profile- Shallots (Allium fistulosum)
Feb 13, 202500:10:32Tap to summarizeShane reflects on his oldest vegetable landrace crop, the humble shallot or spring onion (Allium fistulosum), an indispensable fresh leafy vegetable that deserves a place in just about every warm climate garden. The general principles and steps in developing your own landraces are explored, plus the numerous long lasting benefits.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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Jason Howard
Feb 6, 202500:52:59Tap to summarizeShane talks to Jason about his extraordinary passion for breeding diverse, aromatic and hardy basil that goes so far beyond the common leafy green type most people know.Check out more of Jason's work at the links belowThe Basically About Basil main page where you can buy diverse basil seed and select plantshttps://basicallyaboutbasil.comThe highly informative Basically About Basil Youtube channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@BasicallyaboutBasilEmail Jason directly at- info@basicallyaboutbasil.com
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Direct Sowing versus Transplants
Jan 30, 202500:08:05Tap to summarizeShane argues for the advantages of direct sowed seed over transplants, and outlines the key ingredients to achieve success sowing your own seed where it will grow.You can find more of Shane’s work at:Zero Input Agriculture blog: https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.comTaming the Apocalypse ebook - https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/Taming the Apocalypse audiobook - https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/taming-the-apocalypse-2Our Vitreous Womb - https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vitreous-Womb-Book-1-4-ebook/dp/B0C7H9N1K3/
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