Recombination Nation
Explore the intersection of evolution, ecology and civilisation with crop and livestock breeders, low input farmers, social engineers and a dazzling array of deep thinkers.Read more of Shane Simonsen's work at the Recombination Nation substack.
Experimental Farming for the Win with Tanja Eskildsen
Tanja Eskildsen fell in love with plants in chilly Denmark but unleashed their potential through low-input experimental farming on the sunny island of Majorca. We retrace her path learning to trial, select and breed crops for her challenging soil and extreme climate.
Check out Tanja's Substack.
And lots of gorgeous photos on Instagram.
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles.
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology.
Evolving Beyond Hope with Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts
Peter Watts is a notorious science fiction author with a fascination of the outer edges of biology, fractured minds and a taste for the dark and confronting. We dive into the lessons the living world and our own nature can teach us when contemplating the destiny of this civilisation, our species and the fate of the planet.
Check out Peter's insightful blog and backlist (including many complete novels, free to read)
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles.
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future...
Applying Ethnobotany to Regen Ag with Ryan Huish
Associate Professor Ryan Huish is an experienced ethnobotanist with experience in both North America and the South Pacific, who also runs his own experimental low input farm in the mountains of Appalachia. We explore the lessons from historical and traditional cultures' relationships to plants and landscapes and how that has influenced his own efforts to develop a truly sustainable local agriculture.
Learn more about his farm, book a tour or buy some seed.
Read more about his extensive research and teaching.
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly...
New Zealand, Energy Limits and Resilience with Nathan Surendran
Nathan Surendran is an Engineer who moved from the UK to New Zealand in response to the terrible creaking sound coming from the heart of the world's industrial systems. There he has worked consistently to help local government prepare for the unfolding shocks and stresses in our planetary supply chain, which New Zealand sits on the very end of.
You can read Nathan's work at Energy and Resilience
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles:
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial...
A Route to Beaver Domestication
In Shane's first solo episode, we explore the possible route to the domestication of the beaver and the potential benefits of developing a close relationship with this powerful ecosystem engineer.
Check out more novel domestications in my ebook Taming the Apocalypse
Audiobook available on Kobo
Audiobook also available via a paid subscription to the Recombination Nation Substack
Agricultural Magic with the Cunning Farmer Todd Elliott
Todd Elliott is an experience market farmer who followed his passion for agricultural spiritual traditions deep into history, applied those lessons to his own surroundings, then wrote a book about his discoveries.
Read Todd's blog: https://thecunningfarmer.substack.com
Buy his book from the publisher: https://www.innertraditions.com/the-cunning-farmer
Or Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Cunning-Farmer-Agrarian-Practices-Mythology/dp/B0F1LQSDFC
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post...
The Russian Outlook on Industrial Decline with Dmitry Orlov
Dmitry Orlov was a prominent voice in the early 2000s peak oil movement in response to his book "The Five Stages of Collapse", comparing the recent collapse of the USSR with the likely prospects of the USA under similar circumstances. He has since moved from the USA back to Russia, where he continues to monitor history as it unfolds. This conversation was a rare opportunity to delve into the Russian outlook on the state of the world from one of my favourite writers.
Sign up for Dmitry's blog: https://boosty.to/cluborlov
Watch his delightful...
Zach Elfers- Tree Crops and the Organisations That Love Them
Zach Elfers is a superstar in the agroforestry community, helping multiple innovative organisations develop both the crops and their uses. We talk about his work with hickory, honey locust and more, and their processing into value added products through collaborative groups.
Read his substack: https://zachelfers.substack.com/profile/posts
And his original blog: https://www.nomadseed.com
Check out his nursery: https://www.futureforestplants.com
The Keystone Tree Crop Cooperative: https://ktcc.coop
Tickets to the Northern Nut Growers Association conference: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/northernnutgrowersassociation1/2149900
<...Buddhism, Monasteries and Existential Threats with Soryu Forall.
Soryu Forall is a meditation teacher and spiritual leader dedicated to bringing all beings to enlightenment. He teaches that ethical behavior is the beginning of the path, and that the first step in ethics is to prevent the destruction of life on Earth. Soryu is the Head Teacher and Founder of the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth (MAPLE) where he guides that community to develop the wisdom, compassion, and power necessary to create AI systems that genuinely care for all life.
Visit MAPLE: https://www.monasticacademy.org/guests
Train...
Avocado, Carob and Golden Chinquapin with Nicholas Mallonee
Nicholas is a passionate rare tree grower in the blessed lands of California where just about everything seems to grow. He has tapped into the growing diversity in avocado, and gathered up the remnants of legendary crop breeder Luther Burbank in his backyard.
If you would like to get in touch with Nicholas reach out to me via my Substack.
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com...
Eons of Life, Both Future and Past, with Professor Peter Ward
Peter Ward is a palaeontologist and prolific author with books covering a vast range of the deep past and distant future of life on Earth (and beyond it). His book "Future Evolution: An Illuminated History of Life to Come" caught my attention and I was thrilled for the opportunity to drop an avalanche of speculative biology questions his way.
You can find his books online and in major book stores: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Peter-Douglas-Ward/author/B001I9OZ12
Browse reviews on his many titles here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/28065.Peter_D...
Creating a Seed Farmer Community with Edmund Frost
Edmund Frost founded a collective of seed growers and breeders who sell their selection of seeds suitable for the humid southeast USA as Common Wealth Seed Growers. He lives in Louisa County, Virginia, a center for the intentional communities movement, and spent many years living at Twin Oaks Community. He is passionate about breeding cucurbits for disease resistance, along with many other crops.
Read more about the Common Wealth Seed Growers: https://commonwealthseeds.com
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's...
Orbiting The Biological Singularity with Arnold Schroder
Arnold Schroder, from the Fight Like an Animal podcast, is an ecological anarchist who bridges the world between biology and politics across the depths of time.
Check out his archive of fascinating articles: https://www.againsttheinternet.com
Grab his new book: https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Like-Animal-Revolutionary-Biology/dp/B0GZ1GKCVX/
Listen to his podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/09DTUqzsCjGkvxw0GbFobE
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fight-like-an-animal/id1511430305
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read...
Julia Dakin and Anna Mieritz- How "Going to Seed" Germinated
Julia Dakin and Anna Mieritz are key members of the "Going to Seed" organisation, which brings adaptation crop breeding to numerous communities in the USA.
In this two part interview I learn more about their own vegetable breeding projects, but also take the rare opportunity to learn more about how their organisation got started, how it grew, and plans for the future. A great episode for people keen to get involved or start something similar in their part of the world.
Check out all the work going on at Going to Seed: https://goingtoseed.org<...
Cultural Evolution with Roger's Bacon
Roger's Bacon is an evolutionary biologist who turned his tool set on the related problem of how cultures mutate, compete, hybridise and evolve.
He writes fascinating deep dive articles at Secretorum on substack: https://www.secretorum.life
And runs the Seeds of Science blog to give a wider audience to pioneering thinkers: https://www.theseedsofscience.pub
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com...
Teosinte, Arracacha and Mauka Breeding with Steve in Australia
Steve is an independent crop breeder in southern Australia breeding a host of uncommon crops from similar climates in the Andes. We dive into his work back crossing maize to its ancestor (teosinte), plus his early work preparing to wide cross mauka and arracacha. Steve is pursuing the true zero input approach to breeding staple crops which can produce on unirrigated soil with minimal nutrient inputs and fertility added.
If you want to reach out to Steve get in touch via my substack.
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https...
Reviving Landrace Staple Crops with Glenn Roberts from Anson Mills
Glenn Roberts is the founder of Anson Mills, an extraordinary project to bring traditional landrace staple crops back from the brink of extinction in his part of the humid south eastern USA. This interview digs into how he achieved such an extraordinary feat, looking for clues to how others could follow his example in their own bioregions.
Read much more about Anson Mills here: https://ansonmills.com/
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future...
Talking Baseyu with Andiru- The Hot New Auxlang on the Block
Andiru is a conlang enthusiast who took things the next step and created the auxiliary language Baseyu along with a dedicated community of enthusiasts. Auxiliary languages are designed to be small, simple and accessible enough for anybody to learn them as a new global common tongue- kind of like the Tower of Babel in reverse.
You can check out the project here: https://baseyu.com
Browse the dictionary: https://dictionary.baseyu.com/en
Join the community on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Baseyu/
And request a discord invite there.
<...Talking Toki Pona and Esperanto with Okan
Okan learnt two of the most successful constructed languages- the sprawling, romantic Esperanto and cute minimalist Toki Pona.
After covering the history of these languages we delve deeper into the dynamics of experimental language communities, the psychology of conlangers, and the potential interplay of culture, technology and experimental languages in the near future.
Drop me a message on substack if you would like to reach out to Jan.
Try learning Toki Pona yourself here: https://wasona.com
Learn more about Esperanto here: https://lernu.net
Sign up...
Technopuritanism for the Next New World with Malcolm Collins
Malcolm Collins is an unclassifiable frontiersman for the coming century of chaos, a hardened fighter from the trenches of the culture wars, and a pronatalist who put his own blood line on the line by having a gaggle of embryo selected children with his lovely wife Simone, who cohosts their Based Camp podcast.
You can watch their diverse discussions at Based Camp: https://www.youtube.com/@SimoneandMalcolm
And also check out their Pragmatists Guide book series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/365119-the-pragmatist-s-guide
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free...
Breeding Mashua, Babaco and Passionfruit with Chuck Chan
Chuck Chan is an accomplished amateur crop breeder from the humid cloud forests of California, adapting plants to his little pocket of Andean climate. He has made the most of his challenges by breeding a host of rare crops which struggle in other places, particularly the root crop Mashua, and papaya relative Vasconcellea along with numerous other projects. We also delve into how he manages his diverse plant collection and his experiences sharing the breeding work with the wider community.
You can check out glimpses of his successes through his regular posts: https://www.facebook.com/chuck...
Gail Tverberg- My Favourite Data Wrangling Grandma at the End of the Oil Age
Gail Tverberg was a star during the 2000s oil crisis, producing data rich reports on the TheOilDrum.com in a way that only a trained actuary could pull off. She has continued to impress me in subsequent years with her uncommon knack for digging into the numbers beneath the stories that others are trying to spin.
In this interview we discuss the current state of the energy crisis, why a handful of people saw it coming decades ago, and how she hopes society can adapt to the coming challenges.
Read Gail's regular articles at her...
The Dynamic of Declining Civilisation with James Howard Kunstler
From razor tongued darling of the peak oil movement to bette noire of the culture wars, James Howard Kunstler simply cannot keep from running his mouth, rustling feathers and shining a spot light on the absurdity and obscenity of modern civilised life as it staggers toward the dust bin of history.
You can read his weekly blog here: https://www.kunstler.com
His latest fiction book, following a 12 year olds New York adventure the week JFK is assassinated is hot off the presses: https://www.amazon.com/Look-Gone-James-Howard-Kunstler/dp/1952685974
His non-fiction book The...
In the Permaculture Nursery with Sean Demobrosky from Edible Acres
Sean Dembrosky runs Edible Acres, a permaculture nursery in New York. We explore his recent successes with edible Canna, and his appreciation for persimmons, plus all the ins and outs of managing a huge range of plants for sale.
Check out the nursery: https://www.edibleacres.org
Take a tour of his gardens on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/EdibleAcres
Sign up to Recombination Nation on Substack for free weekly articles: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read Shane's book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post...
The Front Lines of Ecological Journalism with Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce is a prolific author and environmental journalist with fifteen extraordinary books under his belt, including the one which transformed my own perspective on invasive species "The New Wild".
In this conversation we discuss the numerous topics he has investigated, and probe the state of science journalism today.
Check out Fred's latest book "Despite it All" that finds hope among the chorus of climate catastrophism : https://www.amazon.com/Despite-All-Handbook-Climate-Hopefuls-ebook/dp/B0FT6GFTFP
My personal favourite "The New Wild" : https://www.amazon.com/New-Wild-Invasive-Species-Salvation-ebook/dp/B00N6PB69A/
...
Recombining Crop Selection and Production with Bunya Halasz
Bunya Halasz is a permaculturalist and syntropic practitioner from the lush hinterland of northern New South Wales. This in depth conversation explores his winding journey through the roots of permaculture in Australia, his experience in reuniting the ongoing selection of crops in the context of spaces that produce an economic yield.
You can sign up for Bunya's course on Dynamic Agroforestry beginning April 30- https://www.growingrootspermaculture.com/events/p/dynamic-agroforestry-refining-food-forests-incorporating-fungi-animals-and-community-dynamics-into-agroforestry-systems-march-26-29
And check out all the other work he does with Growing Roots Permaculture: https://www.growingrootspermaculture.com/about
Sign...
Ambling with Sam through Andean and Papuan Agricultural History
Sam runs the brilliant Youtube channel, documenting his adventures exploring the traditional agriculture of the Andes, Papua New Guinea and the natural world in his own back yard in the chilly plains of North America.
You can watch Sam's many wonderful videos here:https://www.youtube.com/@AmblingwithSam/featured
I recommend starting with this impressive documentary about Andean agriculture: https://youtu.be/CWYAWX9rOPE?si=hPZINZO4qsrGlUmg
Sign up to Shane's Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological...
Genetics, Evolution, Technology and Culture with Stetson from Holodoxa
Stetson is a medical geneticist who writes about his extensive interests on Substack, dipping into a wide range of topics including genetics, neuroscience, human behaviour, psychology, history, literature, culture, politics, and much more.
Check out his writing: https://stetson.substack.com
Sign up to Shane's Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
Building the Experimental Farm Network with Nate Kleinman
Nate is a long term experimental crop breeder who has also invested heavily in building community to bring other growers together, most notably with the Experimental Farm Network which is developing a wide range of perennial crops.
You can follow Nate on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/experimentalfarmnetwork/
Join the Experimental Farm Network: https://citsci.org/organizations/experimental-farm-network/
Buy seeds from the EFN: https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org
Sign up to Shane's Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological...
Ritual Money Burning with Reverend Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris is the spark behind the Church of Burn, a UK group which burn money to reimagine our relationship to this mysterious substance which follows us everywhere. In this conversation we talk about money, sex, privacy and death along with countless other aspects of society which are up for renegotiation during these turbulent times.
Read more about the Church of Burn:https://churchofburn.org
And find more of John's writings at the Vestry:https://churchofburn.substack.com
Sign up to Shane's Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming...
Crop Breeding for Human Health with Mark Christensen
Mark Christensen transitioned from a career in accounting to a passion for quantifying the astonishing health benefits of select heritage crops through the power of modern chemistry. He founded the Heritage Foods Crops Research Trust in New Zealand and created a potent organisation to spread his work into the wider community.
Check out his organisation: https://www.heritagefoodcrops.org.nz
Their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/heritagefoodcrops
And their superstar apple : https://www.heritagefoodcrops.org.nz/montys-surprise-apple/
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com<...
The Microbiome Revolution with Stephen Skolnick
Stephen Skolnick is a human microbiome researcher exploring the outer fringes of this rapidly expanding field. His theories on the microbiological origins of a host of significant and baffling diseases like schizophrenia and type 1 diabetes can be found on his substack.
Stephen's Substack Eat Shit and Prosper: https://stephenskolnick.substack.com
Another episode about the power of microbiology with Bacterium: https://rss.com/podcasts/zeroinputagriculture/2198945/
https://youtu.be/I30ZJcklA3Q?si=HWKM6yL-GB-ywtGh
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his...
How This Civilisation Ends with Professor Jiang
Professor Jiang brought deep historical, economic and cultural analysis to the masses through his popular YouTube lectures.
In this interview Shane digs deeper into his perspective on the east/west divide as we navigate the unfolding end of the industrial era.
Find all of Professor Jiang's videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@PredictiveHistory
And sign up to read his substack articles: https://predictivehistory.substack.com
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post...
Restoring Lost Crops with Professor David Shields
Professor David Shields is most often known for his work restoring Carolina Golden Rice to prominence in his native South Carolina, but this conversation goes further to explore parallel projects returning a wide range of preindustrial crops to the local food system. We also explore the culture impact of food, and its essential role as a touchstone for identity and belonging.
Read more of David's work at his blog: https://davidsanfordshields.substack.com
Check out his many books starting here:
https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Provisions-Creation-Revival-Cuisine/dp/022614111X
https://www.amazon.com...
Resource Limits with the Honest Sorcerer
The Honest Sorcerer is an engineer from Eastern Europe with a passion for studying the resource limits squeezing our global industrial economy. We talk about the intersections between advancing technology, eroding resources, deflating demographics and scrambling politics along with many other topics usually considered in isolation. The discussion peaks with a survey of the geopolitics of all the major regions of the planet.
Read more of The Honest Sorcerer on Substack: https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the...
Bruce Steele
Bruce Steele works with resilient, low input staple crops (including oaks for flour) and breeds heritage mangalitsa pigs in Southern California.
Check out Bruce's substack: https://steeleb.substack.com
Learn more about Bruce's farm: https://www.winfieldfarm.us
Read Shane's weekly blog for free, or support his work with a paid subscription to get access to his audiobook and archive of past posts: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Archdruid John Michael Greer
John Michael Greer is a historian of religion, the occult, and every aspect of history that typical historians overlook. In this conversation we explore the cultural impact of industrialisation and deindustrialization, and the many ways the future will be weirder and more wonderful than expected.
Read John's weekly blog posts: https://www.ecosophia.net
John's dreamwidth journal: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org
All of Johns many and varied books can be found here and at other distributors: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IOFELW
Find more of Shane's work...
Mandy from Incredible Vegetables
Mandy operates a fantastic nursery in England specialising in a mind blowing diversity of perennial vegetables. Shane interviews her about her collecting and breeding projects, the challenges of running a commercial nursery, the advantages of buying rural land as a collective and loads of other topics.
Learn more about Mandy's nursery : https://incrediblevegetables.co.uk/about-us/
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial biological technology: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Apocalypse-Shane-Simonsen-ebook/dp/B0D2XCLJ85/
<...Amateur Plant Biotech with Sebastian Coccioba
Shane talks to Sebastian Coccioba about his obsession with plant biotechnology, and how his determination to build his own home laboratory (including a gun that shoots genes into plants) paid off. Also includes a survey of all the techniques an independent scientist could consider mastering.
Read more of Sebastian's work at his open lab book : https://binomicalabs.notion.site/?v=cc508bd627a64aa7bf84512445e87e8e
Follow Sebastian's updates : https://x.com/ATinyGreenCell
Find more of Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book...
Simon Michaux
Shane grills Simon Michaux on the key resource limits preventing the promised renewable energy transition and his comprehensive plans to develop a thorium powered alternative.
Read more about Simon's work at:
The complex systems limits threatening industrial civilisation: https://www.simonmichaux.com
The plan to build an alternative civilisation: https://www.promethean-nexus.com
The plan to develop sustainable thorium energy: https://www.vulcancatalyst.com
Follow Shane's work at Substack: https://recombinationnation.substack.com
Read his book, Taming the Apocalypse, about the future of post industrial...
