Podcasts. See link       https://alanmulhern.podbean.com/

Latest podcast series July 2023. - ... Feb 2024

The Ecological Catastrophe.

This is the start of a mini-series on the ecological catastrophe of the Anthropocene. In the first episode the emphasis is on climate but subsequent ones will explore other components of this crisis, for example the great destruction of  bio-diversity, otherwise known as the sixth extinction event.

​

Part 1 July 15th. S2 Ep87

The current ecological emergence is undeniable. But evidently it can be ignored.

Can the attack upon nature be characterised as evil since it is a prime example of the destruction of Life and the Good?

Can something of the magnitude of Business Civilization,  the first example of a truly global civilization, reform itself to the extent required to avoid catastrophe?

Can a global leadership emerge that stops fighting and squabbling?

Will a global totalitarianism be required and will this lead to a world dystopia?

Can we rise to meet the scale of the challenge we face?

Do we realise that what is required is not just some new inventions leaving our standard of living and way of life intact  but rather a vast paradigm shift and a change in our very thinking and way of life?

​

Part 2. August 15th. S2 Ep88.  Life has always been dependent on and deeply interlinked with climate. The earth passes though great cycles of glacial and warming conditions with enormous consequences for the promotion or restriction and even extinction of life. Hominins, our ancestors, adapted to changing habitats and climatic environments. The genus Homo, of which Homo sapiens is but one species among others, had an even greater capacity to adapt. Nevertheless many of them succumbed to extreme climate change. Homo sapiens with its higher level brain power, symbolic thought and language, wider social and trading networks, more complex tools and weaponry was the most able to manage the increasingly colder and extreme climatic conditions and consequent changing food supplies. so far.

However the extremity of environmental and climatic change continues to our own period and we are reminded of Toynbee’s acute observation that civilization has to continually manage its challenges or face extinction. The same applies to species. Our species, Homo sapiens, is now a global business civilization and despite all its creativity is in great danger. Climate change, often very severe, quite simply has been one of the biggest factors in earth history. And it has been one of the most powerful influences also in human history.

​

Part 3. Oct 1st.  Ep89 

This episode identifies the other elements of the ecological crisis aside from climate:

Biodiversity loss

Chemical pollution into land, air, rivers, and oceans

Particle pollution of the atmosphere

Deforestation and land use

Freshwater scarcity

The phosphorous and nitrogen cycle

The episode continued by identifying Business Civilization as the immediate source of the contemporary ecological disaster.

Next it introduced the Dasgupta Review with its investigation of the contemporary trauma of global biodiversity reduction.

Finally it explored Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind.

​

Part 4. S2 Ep90  Oct 31st

This is the fourth episode in this miniseries on the ecological catastrophe of our age.

The GHG emissions targets are not being reached on time.

We need to prepare for survival in a degraded world.

There needs to be a spiritual vision to give us insight into the climate and other crises of our age. This spiritual vision should also provide guidance.

​

Part 5 S2 Ep91  Dec 18 2023

Cop 28 shows a world unable to avoid climate catastrophe.

This episode gives a review of Cop 28 which confirms the view that despite strenuous efforts of the United Nations, the IPCC, and many other institutes and organizations the world is politically and economically unwilling or unable to avoid climate catastrophe in the decades to come.  Mankind’s economic short term interests triumph over reason and common sense. To prepare for a severely degraded world is a task totally other than what we have contemplated so far. 

​

Part 6 S2 Ep92  29 Dec 2023

Too little, too late. 

The COP commitments are critically scrutinised.  Even if all its  pledges were kept concerning GHG emissions, the tripling of renewable capacity, and energy efficiency  improvements - and that is a tall order - the world is heading for a 10% increase in emissions by 2030, instead of the 43% reduction required to keep global warming under the 1.5 degree threshold.

Following further research post Cop28 I see no reason to change my central warning: prepare for survival on a degraded planet.

A new attitude on the global scene is noted - climate defiance. Arguments for climate denial are also examined and dismissed as contrary to the evidence. 

The episode ends with a beautiful song The Turning of the Year by Mark Dunn of The Bringers of Change whose music albums can be found on Spotify etc. and as CDs at www.fallingarecords.com

This episode is being released a few days early in the breather between Christmas and New Year. The next and probable final episode in this mini-series  will be Feb 1st 2024. Its subject will be the spiritual, mythical, and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis.

 

Part 7 S2 Ep93 1st Feb 2024

Psychoanalytic Diagnosis of Business Civilization. 

The climate crisis and the ecological catastrophe are an existential threat to Homo sapiens especially when combined with other crises of the 21st century. This is of immense evolutionary and even metaphysical significance. As our species gained in technological power the exploitation of nature became more extensive and under business civilization this has become a world wide phenomenon.

The competitive state of the world economic and political system prevents adequate international cooperation on climate matters. Psychiatry and psychoanalysis have provided diagnostic terms that are useful when describing negative aspects of business civilization such as psychopathic, addictive, manic-depressive, and schizoid. They have also provided insight into climate denial as a defence against anxiety. But the more obvious source of problems is in our values systems, our beliefs about ourselves, nature and even the cosmos. There is in the human psyche a combination of opposites – god-like powers and a demonic destructiveness.