The Great Simplification is a podcast that explores the systems science underpinning the human predicament. Through conversations with experts and leaders hosted by Dr. Nate Hagens, we explore topics spanning ecology, economics, energy, geopolitics, human behavior, and monetary/financial systems. Our goal is to provide a simple educational resource for the complex energetic, physical, and social constraints ahead, and to inspire people to play a role in our collective future. Ultimately, we aim to normalize these conversations and, in doing so, change the initial conditions of future events.
379 episodes transcribedFor this year's Earth Day presentation, I highlight common terms in the English language - the meanings of which we've come to take for granted. These...
In this episode, Dr. Robert Lustig joins Nate to dive into the metabolism of the micro level of human systems - the humans ourselves. Over the last ce...
In this episode, Simon Michaux returns to discuss his new paper "A Resource Balanced Economy", which outlines an alternative economic and social syste...
On this episode, financial historian Edward Chancellor joins Nate to give a meta-history of interest rates and human societies. With recent news of gl...
Recorded April 10, 2023 Description In this Frankly, Nate explains how he views the future from a probability perspective - a tool frequently used...
On this episode, Nate is joined by climate science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson to discuss how he contributes to the discussion of climate and...
Recorded April 4, 2023 Description In this Frankly, Nate shares his early Wall Street experience of 'squawkboxes' summarizing the daily financial...
On this episode, physicist Antonio Turiel joins me for a wide-ranging discussion from oceans and climate to energy and culture. Oceans are one of the...
Recorded March 29, 2023 Description In this Frankly, Nate reflects on the varying perspectives from which people perceive the meta-crisis relative...
On this episode, permaculture expert and educator Andrew Millison joins us to unpack how we can better design our societal infrastructure and agricult...
On this episode, chemical engineer Paul Martin joins The Great Simplification to talk about all things hydrogen. There are many 'Fuels of the Future'...
In this Frankly, Nate shares some context about how he thinks about the recent global banking and financial market news. How do the catalysts triggeri...
On this episode, Jodi Archambault, a member of the Hunkpapa and Oglala Lakota tribes, joins the podcast to share her experiences as an activist, gover...
On this Frankly, Nate reflects on his experiences in the financial industry with the cognitive bias Loss Aversion and the ways it may manifest to the...
On this episode, geologist and entrepreneur Gareth Roberts joins Nate on the podcast to discuss the geological science behind how we find, extract, an...
On this episode, author and social entrepreneur Nina Simons reminds us that in a fact driven culture, sometimes it's important to return to the emotio...
Today, Nate is joined by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Professor Haidt is one of the leaders in the understanding of human biases and predisposi...
On this episode, environmental peacemaker and mediator Olivia Lazard joins Nate to unpack the relationship between mineral deposits, conflict-vulnerab...
On this episode, Nate speaks with econometrician and sustainability researcher Gaya Herrington about her new book, Five Insights for Avoiding Global C...
Recorded January 30, 2023 Description This week, Nate reflects on one of the biggest questions humanity is facing - what is and is NOT for sale? The...
