If my recent post riffing on Waves seemed unduly alarmist (and I worried that it was, until I picked up my newspaper), you might want to check out someone who covers this ground with considerably more authority.

I listened to this podcast interview (23:24min) with Thomas Homer-Dixon almost immediately after I wrote that post, and was struck by how many of the same themes he hit — except he enjoys the advantage of knowing what he’s talking about…

As the title of his latest book, The Upside of Down, suggests, Homer-Dixon is not entirely pessimistic about the human capacity to get through the impending crises. I excerpt here a bit (1.3 MB MP3, 1:30min) from the interview, one that suggests I might not be in the wrong line of work after all:

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