Some of the Biggest Names in Climate Change
I realized the other day that I had the pleasure of interviewing some of the biggest names in climate change circles.
I have to say that I have developed a personal friendship with Steve Keen, and to this day, we are still recording a weekly YouTube series with cohost Tyrone Kynes called Steve and Friends. The show's goal isn't mass viewership; Steve cares as much about preserving a relaxed version of himself and just having a fun chat with friends.
I've said publically that I think Professor Steve Keen is the greatest living economist. The funny thing is that I am more certain about Steve actually being the greatest living economist than I am sure about whether or not to capitalize Greatest or Economist.[^1] Steve is an iconoclast, and I suspect could be accused of self-sabotaging his opportunities in life or Steve, could the explanation be that you like to introduce complexity in the world on your own terms? Disrupt the pattern and see what emerges. Personally, I hope it's the latter, for it's not in our nature to view ourselves how we think others will view us. We tend to bias our own image of ourselves to the Good. This ideal was what Plato referred to as Goodness in and of itself (καλός), which also means handsome and noble.
Maybe that is how Steve and I met; he took a risk on a guy that has "integrity and knows how to assess what my own beliefs are." Well, I really am fortunate to have met Steve and value his friendship. 10:38
In the meantime, I want to return to the topic of this post, namely, talking about some of the biggest names in climate change and what that has to do with me, a self-proclaimed philosopher and founder of planksip.org? Well, I guess that is up to me and anyone else reading this post to ask themselves, can I see myself working with Daniel? Could we actually make a YouTube series together? Maybe.
The Jurgen Randers episode was special. I was super unprepared and nervous for this interview. Probably because Jurgen was one of the original authors of Limits to Growth (1974). It's not that I didn't feverishly try to prepare for the show but in the end, anything that I prepared would take a backseat to the exchange between Steve and Jurgen. I mostly had to become invisible as soon as possible and then let the show unfold in a natural dialogue between friends.
Ian Dunlop and David Spratt were both fascinating guests, I really enjoyed these conversations and meeting these two.
There is also Tyrone Keynes, who has to be one of the top System Dynamics modellers in the world.
Put this together with the other guests that I have had the pleasure of working with over the last couple of years, Carmen Medina, the ex-Deputy Director of the CIA, Robert Hanna, a world-leading philosopher and Kant scholar; and many more.
I would like to say that it's been a pleasure to work with these people, and I look forward to having more meaningful conversations in the space of climate action, biodiversity, and beyond. If only I could have had E.O. Wilson on the show.
Anyways, some of you may ask yourselves why is he writing in this way? Well, the truth is I needed to make a quick article and include it in an email to Teresa Coady. You see, I hope that Teresa's publisher will connect the two of us and agree to produce a weekly YouTube series. I have read her book and so will you.
Let's see what happens.
FOOTNOTES:
[^1]: Fact, Fiction, Who Cares? An exploration into language is about due.