Tag Archives: ted conference

Ecologist Eric Berlow: Simplicity On The Other Side Of Complexity

Trained as an ecologist, our guest this week on Sea Change Radio uses complexity theory to map spheres of influence and find solutions to any number of problems. Eric Berlow has applied this systems perspective to solve a diverse array of riddles, from stopping the disappearance of the yellow-legged frog in the Sierra Nevada to distilling the core issues in the US Counter-Insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Listen now as this tireless optimist explains to host Alex Wise how embracing the true complexity of a problem reveals its simplest solution, and why a starfish, or a fly, or a toad can be the keystone to our ecology’s health.

-Here’s a link to a video of Eric’s 2010 TED conference talk

A Brand Nuclear Day: Green Icon Stewart Brand Takes Controversial Stance

Alex Wise speaks with Stewart Brand, author, Merry Prankster, and one of the fathers of the modern environmental movement. In the first part of this two-part interview, Brand discusses his provocative new book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, and makes the case for nuclear energy expansion. Brand’s pro-nuclear stance has certainly ruffled a number of feathers in the environmental movement. Since the book’s publication, Brand has been debating luminaries on the topic from Amory Lovins (Grist article) to Mark Jacobson (here’s video from TED conference):