Green Earth, Episode 7: "Undecided," "Sacred Space," "Emerson for the Day:" Necessity, Joy, and Cats

In this, our PENULTIMATE episode in our examination of Green Earth, Matt and Hilary start off by sharing what they're going to miss after the global civilizational collapse (heat in the winter, showers, i.e., relief from the pressure to be clean), and talk about how we're not talking about the very real threat of civilizational collapse. Then we talk about Chapters 25, 26, and a bit of 27 before we run out of brain power. Here our conversation runs through decision-making and the myths surrounding it, complaints about sociobiology and evo psych and their connection to imagining responses to climate change, the ways history keeps us anchored to the present, realism and science fiction. How will we wrest freedom from the grasp of necessity? What is the ransom adequate to save the world? Are cats a liquid or a solid? We dive deep into Edgardo's experience of the Piazzolla concert and think about the premise that all joy is anticipatory, "dragged out from some better future time," and we lament the total unnecessariness of the misery of the present that we all, nevertheless, persist in reproducing. Whether we find all that funny is an open question. This section also includes "Sacred Space," which depicts Rudra's death and funeral and Charlie and Frank's trip to the Sierras. We wonder about the Single-Frank Theory, also known as the Theory of Transcendent Franks. This episode is bookended by cat appearances, so be sure to stay tuned until the end! (And don't make your hobby your side hustle.) Thanks for listening! Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @podcastonmars Leave us a voicemail on the Anchor.fm app Rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Spirit of Space