Best Michael Eliason Podcasts (2024)

1
29: El Salvador, Bitcoin Circular Economy, and Entrepreneurship with Michael Ruiz 1:04:33

3M ago1:04:33

1:04:33

In this episode, I spoke with entrepreneur and writer Michael Ruiz. Michael has been a long-time Bitcoin proponent who raised concerns years ago about the lack of a Bitcoin circular economy and capture by large financial interests. When El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender, Michael decided to visit and is now moving to the country while building m…

1
28: Crypto Confidential with Nat Eliason 1:31:18

4M ago1:31:18

1:31:18

In this episode, I spoke with my good friend (and podcast co-host at Made You Think!) Nat Eliason. His book Crypto Confidential is about his journey into the world of crypto and is one of the best narrative non-fiction books I've ever read. We discussed Nat's crypto experience, his journey as a writer, fiction vs non-fiction, health, and of course …

1
Ursula Goodenough: Science and the Sacred 53:24

4M ago53:24

53:24

"Cultural understandings can be very rapid, they can also be sometimes very resistant to change, which is part of the problem, but the evolution of culture is something we can and should think about in a very different way from biological evolution, which takes a long time--and the fact that cultural evolution can turn on a dime can be very encoura…

1
Just Me: The Spring Creek Project lecture 35:42

5M ago35:42

35:42

This week I have something a little different. I was asked to take part in the Collective Climate Action lecture series for the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University. These are the same folks who asked me to do a keynote five years ago, which turned into the essay that’s in the wonderful book All We Can Save. I struggled with this one, as…

1
Michael Eliason: What Our Cities Could Look Like 1:12:06

6M ago1:12:06

1:12:06

"If we had a climate leader like Anne Hidalgo, the Pike/Pine network itself, going from Capitol Hill, which is dense enough to support its own pedestrian zone and car-free streets, could be car-free or mostly car-free down to the water, there'd be this wonderful green interchange between Capitol Hill and downtown and there's really wonderful opport…

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27: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons with Kris Newby 1:06:29

7M ago1:06:29

1:06:29

In this episode, I spoke with Kris Newby, the author of Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons. You may be skeptical about the premise of this book but I promise there is a lot more here than a baseless conspiracy theory. Kris has top tier technical credentials and spent a large chunk of her career at Stanford. Much of he…

1
Lauren Regan: They're Doing This Because We're Winning 1:18:27

8M ago1:18:27

1:18:27

"Because the one thing they will never have that we have is numbers, and moral high ground. Most of us are doing this because we care, it's coming from a place of love, often we're doing it in our volunteer time--and the government and corporations will never match that." ____ Lauren Regan is the legendary founder, executive director, and staff att…

1
Paul Koberstein & Jessica Applegate: Canopy of Titans 1:07:10

8M ago1:07:10

1:07:10

"The clear-cuts were littered with these big old logs, they were just lying there rotting in the sun, and we asked Dominick DellaSalla, the scientist who was our tour guide, what's that all about, and he said 'they're really picky about which logs they bring back to market, so if they see flaws in the wood they'll just leave it behind...70% of the …

1
George Monbiot: Nourishing Ourselves and the Wild 1:18:23

9M ago1:18:23

1:18:23

"Our ignorance of the soil really impedes our efforts to reach what I see as the holy grail here, which is low-impact, high-yield farming. There's plenty of high-impact, high-yield farming, and plenty of low-impact, low-yield farming, but neither of those are the answers that we need to find. We have this enormously challenging thing that we face, …

1
Justin J. Pearson: Doing Nothing Was Not an Option 59:02

10M ago59:02

59:02

"The climate crisis that we have now, the environmental justice crises that we have now, are because there was not an investment or concern about the communities that are feeling the brunt of these illnesses when these facilities were being created, when these plans were being made. If we had cared about climate change, if we had cared about the en…

1
Paul Gilding: Disruption and (Positive) Change 1:09:24

11M ago1:09:24

1:09:24

"We need regulation, we need policy, we need community pressure, we need expectations, we need movies, we need poetry...we need all these things that drive us to a certain behavior, because we have got a lot of good sides, and they're not brought out by our current society and our current economic model, they are repressed and destructed by it. The…

1
Rachel Heaton: Recognizing Our Place 1:21:04

11M ago1:21:04

1:21:04

"Standing Rock was like the beginning and the end of various parts of my life. I feel like I was asleep before Standing Rock. When I took my children out there it became more about recognizing our place on Earth as human beings and realizing that if we don't have our children in those spaces, how are we going to pass that knowledge on, or how do we…

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26: The Anthology of Balaji: Technology, Truth, Regulation, and More with Eric Jorgenson 1:14:56

11M ago1:14:56

1:14:56

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Eric Jorgenson, an author and investor, whose latest book is The Anthology of Balaji, a collection of wisdom, ideas, and quotes from technologist Balaji Srinivasan. Balaji is an electrical and chemical engineer, investor (Andreesen Horowitz), and successful entrepreneur, notably in both biotech (C…

1
Adam Welz: Field of Wonders (at Risk) 1:15:07

12M ago1:15:07

1:15:07

"Start by just learning the names of the bumblebees in your garden and the butterflies that fly past your room, of the birds, and it's not hard...and once you open that door, once you start, it's this neverending unfolding field of wonders, as crazy and naive as that sounds, and I wouldn't be able to live my life without it." ________ Adam Welz is …

1
Season 2 Introduction 2:48

12M ago2:48

2:48

Just a quick hello to note that the second season is coming soon! My guests will include cultural educator and mountaineer Rachel Heaton, lawyer Lauren Regan, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson, and writers Adam Welz, Paul Gilding, Ursula Goodenough, George Monbiot, Paul Koberstein, and Jessica Applegate. Stay tuned!…

1
25: Pee & See (Plus TV Shows, DJing, and More) with John Ganotis 50:14

1y ago50:14

50:14

In this episode, I spoke with my friend John Ganotis. John is the creator of a popular iPhone app called Pee & See (the number one number one app!) which helps users measure their hydration and health. John’s progression and journey as an independent creator is super inspiring to me. When he was in middle school, he created a YouTube esque show bef…

1
24: What Your Food Ate with David Montgomery and Anne Biklé 59:15

1y ago59:15

59:15

In this episode, I spoke with David Montgomery and Anne Biklé, the authors of What Your Food Ate: How to Heal the Land and Reclaim our Health. I don't mean this lightly - What Your Food Ate is the most impactful book I've read in a long time. The central premise is that the quality of your food is determined by what your food is eating. Plants get …

1
Lise Van Susteren: Turning What We Know into What We Do 1:16:59

1+ y ago1:16:59

1:16:59

“The issues that we attempt to suppress and sweep under the rug--or repress, which means we sweep under the rug unconsciously—they don’t go anywhere, they just go in the darker crevices of our mind and then, like poisoning in groundwater, they seep into us, unconsciously, and we feel stressed and anxiety, and when it reaches a certain level we beco…

1
Craig Santos Perez: Caring for the Earth and Each Other 44:18

1+ y ago44:18

44:18

“To me, that is the power of poetry, where we can take these fragments of our lives, of our psyches, and of our emotions, and to really conjure something new—not necessarily something whole and complete, but something that's beautiful and something that's empowering and inspiring from these ruins of history and migration and so on, and so that's wh…

1
Lhadon Tethong & Tendor Dorjee: Connection, Contentment, & Independence 1:50:37

1+ y ago1:50:37

1:50:37

“One of the words for which I haven’t been able to find an English equivalent is the word ‘nyingjey’...you'll hear Tibetans say this word very often, if you have a friend who is a little bit down, or there is a suffering animal nearby or a wounded bird or a wounded deer on the road… nyingjey, nyingjey. It's an expression of compassionate empathy, b…

1
23: Value for Value Music with Joe Martin 1:00:55

1+ y ago1:00:55

1:00:55

In this episode, I spoke with Joe Martin, a musician from the UK who is pioneeering how artists can leverage value-for-value and Bitcoin to connect directly with fans and take power back from record labels and platforms like Spotify. Joe gets into the details of how value-for-value has worked for him, where the pain points are, what the response ha…

1
David Abram: A Shadowed, Exquisite, Holy World 1:15:48

1+ y ago1:15:48

1:15:48

"It's about being a part of, and participant in, a world that is shot through with loss, predation, grief, and yet it's all that shadowed difficulty that also makes this world so exquisitely beautiful, so holy." Cultural ecologist, geophilosopher, and performance artist David Abram is the author of Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology and The Spel…

1
Interlude: It's all about Connection 19:55

1+ y ago19:55

19:55

I had some scheduling issues with folks, so I took this opportunity to do a short episode that attempts to begin to tease out some of the overlaps and intersections of my guests so far, and where those might lead. Coming next week will be a great interview with David Abram, followed by (in some order, perhaps not this one) Jerome Foster II, Craig S…

1
Kathleen Dean Moore: Bird-Graced World 1:02:40

1+ y ago1:02:40

1:02:40

"The ability to imagine what it's like to be inside another person's mind or another person's life is the beginning of compassion...and it seems to me too that moral imagination is a necessary condition for hope. When you set out to think of something new, then you have a reason to think it might be possible. If you can't imagine anything better th…

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22: Layered Money with Nik Bhatia 52:31

1+ y ago52:31

52:31

Welcome back to Outside The System. Today’s episode is with Nik Bhatia, the founder of The Bitcoin Layer and the Author of Layered Money. We spent a good amount of time in this episode talking about the foundations of money, monetary hierarchies, historical money like gold, and where Bitcoin fits in. We also spoke about Nik’s opinions on self-custo…

1
Bill McKibben: Bringing us to Attention 1:18:15

1+ y ago1:18:15

1:18:15

"Sometimes [kindness] means waking people up, and that's what movements do...when we build movements, one of the reasons we do it is to bring people back to attention." ____ Bill McKibben needs no introduction. He’s the author of The End of Nature, which was the first layperson’s book about climate change, and a book that had a profound influence o…

1
Sonia Shah: Stewardship, Flux, and Migration 1:16:58

1+ y ago1:16:58

1:16:58

“I do think it's very important to be connected to your place, even if those places change, you have to be a student of that place. So this is what we've tried to teach our kids, is that wherever you end up, that you become a steward of that place, you become a student of that place, and you look after that place because you are part of it. When yo…

1
21: Skin Health Myths and Truths with Athina Christacos of Feminrgy 1:01:00

1+ y ago1:01:00

1:01:00

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Athina Christacos, founder of Feminrgy, a holistic skin health business. Athina and I worked together at The Estee Lauder Companies, one of the largest cosmetics companies in the world, where she was a cosmetic chemist. Using her background in biology and chemistry, Athina spent years trying to so…

1
Naomi Klein: Stamina, Transformation, & Collective Joy 1:13:27

1+ y ago1:13:27

1:13:27

“We have an economic system that is very profitable for the winners, and they’re not that interested in the level of change that IPCC report after IPCC report is telling us we need: fundamental transformation of virtually every aspect of society….So how do we build the political power that wants that transformation?” Naomi Klein needs no introducti…

1
Jeremy Lent: Towards an Ecological Civilization 1:14:22

1+ y ago1:14:22

1:14:22

"We need to start to imagine what would it look like if we actually built a civilization that was designed from the outset to set the conditions for all people to flourish on a regenerated, living earth.” Jeremy Lent is a former tech entrepreneur, and the author of The Patterning Instinct, which George Monbiot called "perhaps the most profound and …

1
Introduction (A Bit of Background) 6:14

1+ y ago6:14

6:14

Just a bit of stage-setting for how I came to this podcast, and what I hope to offer in it....By Emily Johnston

1
20: The Unconventional Real Estate Entrepreneur with Shiloe Bear of Creek Development 49:08

1+ y ago49:08

49:08

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Shiloe Bear, Founder of Creek Development. Her firm specializes in developing science-related properties and she took a really unconventional path into real estate. She's done build outs for companies like Y Combinator, Lyft, Blue Bottle, and many others. Lots of inspiration here for anyone lookin…

1
19: The Generational Bitcoin Adoption Path with Aleks Svetski of The Bitcoin Times 1:10:26

1+ y ago1:10:26

1:10:26

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Aleks Svetski, author of The Uncommunist Manifesto and founder of The Bitcoin Times. We got into topics in and around Bitcoin, including the Three Generation Theory of Bitcoin, merchant adoption, Bitcoin vs the state, cronyism vs capitalism, and a lot more. Aleks is a passionate speaker and this c…

1
18: Regenerating Our Soil to Transform Human and Environmental Health with Gabe Brown 50:58

1+ y ago50:58

50:58

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Gabe Brown, one of the world's foremost experts on soil health. I came across Gabe through Kiss The Ground, a documentary recommended by Calley Means when he came on the show (episode 14). Gabe held nothing back in this wide-ranging conversation about soil health and its relationship to farmer inc…

1
Trailer — A Wild and Beautiful World 1:50

1+ y ago1:50

1:50

Who do we have to become, in order to preserve the chance of a wild and beautiful world that includes humans?By Emily Johnston

1
17: Outside The System Labs #1: Unbundling Higher Education With Peter Conley of Unbundl.ed 54:57

1+ y ago54:57

54:57

This episode is the inaugural episode of Outside The System Labs, a new series about extremely early solutions and the people building them. In this episode, I spoke with Peter Conley, the founder of Unbundl.ed, which is a marketplace for buyers and sellers of higher education alternatives. They're working to unbundle the different elements of high…

1
16: Building a Cooking Club On Twitter, Creator-Led Brands, and Good Home Cooking With Myles Snider of Mother Tongue Cooking Club 1:28:14

1+ y ago1:28:14

1:28:14

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Myles Snider, founder of the Mother Tongue Cooking Club. Myles is one of my favorite follows on Twitter, mostly because I love eating and he shares a lot of pictures of amazing meals. During our conversation, Myles shared a masterclass on creator-led brands, the food industry, becoming a better co…

1
13: the future of single family homes 21:32

1+ y ago21:32

21:32

Two years ago, a German newspaper ran a piece hinting that Green Party Bundestag member Anton Hofreiter was calling for a ban on new single family homes. Hofreiter had not been calling for a ban on single family homes, but rather an end to subsidies that cater to sprawling detached single family homes, as well as the lower energy efficiency standar…

1
15: Turning $20,000 of Poker Winnings Into a 44 Unit Retail Chain with John-Paul Willett of Red Star Vapor 56:21

1+ y ago56:21

56:21

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with John-Paul Willett, the founder of Red Star Vapor. JP first caught my attention in a Twitter thread where he shared how he got the initial funding for his business through winning $20,000 playing poker. Since then, I've gotten to learn more about his entrepreneurial journey and wanted to share it w…

1
12: Strike Zone 17:19

2y ago17:19

17:19

Strike. Verb. A disaster, or other unwelcome phenomenon that suddenly occurs and has harmful or damaging effects on something. Zoning has afflicted our cities - some might say even damaged them - through their lack of flexibility and sterility. A hundred years on, the experiment of zoning is a massive failure. However, it doesn't have to be this wa…

1
14: Exposing The Food Cartel Playbook And Why It Matters with Calley Means of True Medicine 1:05:52

2y ago1:05:52

1:05:52

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Calley Means, the founder of True Medicine. We focused our conversation on the American industrial food system, especially how food companies manipulate government, institutions, and culture to promote their products. We also talked about how this same playbook is now being applied by the pharmace…

1
13: Competing With Netflix and Creating Better Conversations Online With Anna Gát of Interintellect 52:09

2y ago52:09

52:09

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Anna Gát, the founder of Interintellect which describes itself as "Reinventing the French literary salon for the internet". They host online salons around topics across literature, science, psychology, and tons of other topics. They've hosted over 2,000 conversations so far and have featured speak…

1
11: Better living through Baugruppen 20:59

2y ago20:59

20:59

Housing prices in the US are completely out of balance. Affordable housing is difficult to attain in entire metropolitan areas. There are few options for middle class households, and even fewer for working class residents. We need a reset on the American dream. From one that is sprawling, unaffordable, lonely, carbon intensive, and exclusive – to o…

1
12: Let's Build The World's Fair Together. Cam Wiese Part 2 33:42

2y ago33:42

33:42

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke again with Cam Wiese, the founder of World's Fair Co to follow up on our first discussion (Episode 11). If you haven't listened to that episode, I highly recommend starting there to get a deeper sense of what Cam and his team are creating. During this conversation, we focused more on tangible next step…

1
10: Re-compaction with Aufstockungen 16:05

2y ago16:05

16:05

Aufstockungen is the German term for vertical additions. These are rooftop additions common throughout European cities - where many structures were built with concrete, block, or stone. Vertical additions offer a really interesting path towards re-compacting (densifying) existing neighborhoods in an incredibly sustainable manner. They preserve more…

1
09: On Lost Opportunities 16:51

2y ago16:51

16:51

Our cities are full of ghost projects. Lost opportunities. Potentialities that could have prioritized safe streets or public health. Transit station with homes for cars, instead of a neighborhood for people. Streets that prioritize speeding cars, instead of safety and sustainable mobility. But the reality of our cities, at least in the U.S. – is th…

1
11: Bringing Back the World's Fair and Inspiring Millions Along the Way with Cam Wiese 1:19:38

2y ago1:19:38

1:19:38

In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Cam Wiese, a dreamer with a grand and ambitious vision - to bring back the World's Fair. The original World's Fair was an exhibition for companies and nations to come together to showcase their inventions and grand vision for the future. Cam believes that re-creating this event and telling better …

1
08: housing and single parents 27:24

2y ago27:24

27:24

Several of our friends and colleagues are currently going through divorces and other changes in their family household structure. Many of them were homeowners. However, Seattle - as many other cities in the US, has a pretty severe housing shortage. There are very limited options for housing that is affordable for single parents or those co-parentin…

1
07: Freiburg, a Model Green City 24:21

2y ago24:21

24:21

Nestled at the southwest edge of the Black Forest, close to where France, Germany and Switzerland all come together - is the Green City of Freiburg. I spent a year living and working in Freiburg in 2003-2004, with a really amazing architecture firm ( Pfeifer.Roser.Kuhn Architekten) doing incredible things around low energy buildings and dowel lamin…

1
06: Smoke Signals: Passivhaus mandates now. 18:22

2y ago18:22

18:22

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have had fairly significant wildfire smoke for the last six weeks. For the most part, wind patterns have kept much of the Seattle Metro from experiencing the worst of it. That changed this week, as weather patterns shifted and the dense wildfire smoke cloaked our region for several days, thrusting both Seattle and …

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