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February 08, 2008

Good Podcasts (2/4/08 - 2/8/08)

• WPR's To The Best Of Our Knowledge - To Sprawl or Not To Sprawl (real, mp3) - "Subdivisions. Industrial Parks. Strip Malls. Gridlock. Sprawl is socially unequal, environmentally irresponsible, and aesthetically ugly. Right? In this hour of To the Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll look at the costs and – YES – the benefits of suburban sprawl. Because maybe, just maybe, sprawl is a good thing."  A distressing listen as I wade through traffic in on my morning commute.  Interestingly, it is claimed that the entire population of the United States could fit in the space of Wyoming at average suburban density...can that be true?
  
• Paul Saffo @ The Long Now Foundation - "Embracing Uncertainty - the secret to effective forecasting" (mp3) - "Rule:  Look for indicators - things that don't fit...Rule:  Look back twice as far...Rule:  Cherish failure...Rule: Be indifferent...Rule:  Assume you are wrong...Rule:  Embrace uncertainty."  I think this is my first brush with Saffo's work...and he seems like a prolific, fascinating thinker...one i'll be following.
• Tim Kasser - "A revolution of values: Psychological research on materialism and its alternatives" (mp3) - "Consumer society encourages people to take on materialistic values, but the empirical research shows that doing so is associated with lower personal well-being, less positive social behaviour, and more ecologically damaging lifestyles. Kasser will review this literature as well as studies demonstrating how policies that support people's 'intrinsic' values can enhance well-being and promote environmental sustainability."  One (of many) interesting (if weird and hyperbolized) points Kasser raises:  in our strictly GDP-based measure of "wellness," it is "better" for someone to lease a car, drive to a pub, get drunk, crash on the way home, killing someone (which forces a family to spend money on funeral services, caskets, etc)...than it is for someone to walk to a pub and walk home.
  

Clampants | February 8, 2008 07:08 AM