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Reviews of books, films, TV shows, and websites.

Post-peak fiction: First Journey

By May 20, 2013
river

We're pleased to publish the first chapter of the latest installment of W.R. Flynn's Shut Down series of novels, set in the Pacific Northwest after the collapse of the global economy. This excerpt comes from Flynn's volume entitled First Journey: After the Shut Down, in which the post-collapse colony in Corbett decides to send a small crew on a mission to explore the ruins of Portland, Oregon. Enjoy. In the brutal struggle for survival after the sudden collapse, they pulled through, not by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Fiction Tagged With: , ,

Convinced that food can save America

By May 6, 2013
Student drinking yogurt

It's hard to overestimate the importance of food. Yet, sometimes it appears just as hard for food writers to avoid hype. It's all too easy for people who love food enough to write about food to lose themselves in breathless raptures over the deliciousness of forest foraged mushrooms or the power of artisanal pork to cure diabetes, resurrect rural economies and provide meaningful careers to former baristas from Philadelphia to Portland. It makes even a sympathetic reader wonder: is all this … [Read more...]

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Radical homemakers

By April 22, 2013
cozykitchen

Confucius said that the health of a nation could be determined by the integrity of its homes. If we apply that standard, we’re in trouble. Culturally, most Americans don’t even have homes anymore. They have houses, not homes. Homes are something that are made, not bought. And, homes, thus, require homemakers. That’s right, plural: homemakers. I'm not talking about just women. And, I'm not talking about Ozzie and Harriet stereotypical housewives. I am talking about what Dr. Shannon … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Books, Re-skilling Tagged With: , , , , , ,

3 steps to raise a happy peak oil kid

By April 12, 2013
a mother and a child in a garden

Your baby absorbed so many early-learning podcasts in utero that when she's born she doesn't know if she's supposed to be Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart or Baby Bill Gates. Your husband or wife had to call in some big favors to reserve little Emma or Alessandra a place in a top preschool. After that, you've got her future all planned out: a decent gifted program, Yale undergrad, Wharton MBA, partner at Goldman Sachs. If this is your parenting style, then Honeycomb Kids: Big Picture Parenting … [Read more...]

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Lessons for the Great Recession from throwaway books

By March 27, 2013
Book Swap

This new trend of "eco swaps" sounds harmless enough — people exchanging stuff they don't want for other people's stuff they do want, with no money involved. Seems perfect for a down economy. But don't be fooled. The eco swap is a boil on the butt of capitalism. Just take the books-and-music swap that my wife and Transition Voice Editor Lindsay Curren held last Sunday. The promise of an excuse to finally clear out old copies of Fifty Shades of Grey (who knew it was a trilogy?) along … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Economy Tagged With: , , ,

Follow nature and avoid collapse

By March 11, 2013
scoreboard

Neoclassical economists, business gurus, the Republican Party and every high school teacher that ever gave C+ to a slacker sophomore would have us believe that human society cannot function successfully without competition among its members. In life, we're told, there are either winners or losers. There's no other option. So you better be smarter, work harder, get luckier and be born richer than the other guy or gal unless you want to wind up on the junk heap of history. Or even natural … [Read more...]

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Eating for the Cure

By March 5, 2013
Photo from Coqui The Chef

You'll need a pretty high tolerance for research studies and medical lingo to get through Autoimmune: The Cause and The Cure.  But then if you or someone you love is suffering from an autoimmune disease such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lupus or even type 2 diabetes, then you've probably already learned to deal with jargon-filled medical research and advice. And most of the advice, despite its complexity, can likely be boiled down to a simple choice, repeated in a hundred different … [Read more...]

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Burn your cash before it burns you

By February 26, 2013
burning-money

"Moneyless Man" Mark Boyle, living as he does in the UK, has an advantage over Yanks like me in that he can survive without an income but still enjoy free healthcare through the British National Health Service. Gotta love that socialism. Yet, Boyle still argues against hospital-based high-tech medicine and for localized healthcare based on herbs and natural remedies because the results will be healthier for both our bodies and our spirits. Wherever we live in the industrial world, we all … [Read more...]

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Fracking movie “Promised Land” is a gusher

By January 9, 2013
Promised Land still

After I saw Matt Damon and John Krasinski's new fracking drama Promised Land, I couldn't help but compare it to the slew of trite pieces trotted out during the previews. There was the typical wedding family hijinks RomCom; the take-no-prisoners gangster-fest; the scorched-earth-meets-futuristic-savior piece; and some picture about a lovable psychotic redeemed by a chick. Guilty pleasures, all (for somebody). And all committed to film using no small amount of fossil fuel … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Films, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Visual guide to the cost of growth. Review: ENERGY

By December 14, 2012
noplace

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. With that in mind, the 195 color, mostly full page — often double page — photographs in the Post Carbon Institute's* latest book, ENERGY: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth, speaks volumes beyond its gigantic sized pages about the energy and environmental predicament humanity is immersed in today. But while the book is heavy on blunt and unforgiving photographs, it also boasts a series of probing essays from such peak oil … [Read more...]

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