The Lighter Side of Dark Ages with Chris Smaje

About this episode

Chris Smaje discusses sustainable practices and community-driven solutions in agriculture with host Jason Bradford.

Chris Smaje visits Crazy Town for some farmer-to-farmer straight talk with Jason Bradford. Are these two long lost cousins? Both dropped out of academia years ago to become philosophizing farmers (can we call them “pharmers” with a “ph,” as in PhD?!?). Chris’s latest book, Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft explores how we can move from modernity’s unsustainable political economy toward a re-organization of society, driven by communities and local food systems. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Jason cover everything from Viking raids to agrarian populism, from societal collapse to the practicalities of making your way in a failed state. And they can’t get away from the shop talk of gardens, livestock, and home economics. Originally recorded on 4/2/26. Sources & Links Chris Smaje’s Blog Finding Lights in a Dark Age by Chris Smaje Excerpt of the book on Resilience Second excerpt on Resilience Review: Saying NO to Ecomodermism. Smaje Versus Monbiot, It’s No Contest Related Episodes Episode 98, “Bargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Balls” Credits Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and…

People in this episode

Host: Jason Bradford

Guest: Chris Smaje

Topics covered

• sustainable agriculture
• community organization
• societal collapse
• local food systems
• philosophy of farming

Keywords

• sustainable farming
• agrarian populism
• local food systems
• societal collapse
• philosophizing farmers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Post Carbon Institute

Books & works: Finding Lights in a Dark Age

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