010 The Age of Consilience with Dr Adam Izdebski

Dr Adam Izdebski is a paleo-scientist and historian. He leads a multi-disciplinary research group at the Max Planck Institute which explores climate change, historical epidemics and their causes, the economy of past European societies, early attempts at regional integration and their traces in today's landscape, and many other things. In this conversation, Adam and KMO dig very dip and unearth a bucketful of topics, including: 07:20 – Multidisciplinary studies, "Consilience" by E. O. Wilson, and non-overlapping magisteria, and unifying diverse positions 11:10 – Adam’s team's research scope and specialization 14:45 – The early globalization in the Mediterranean 15:55 – Bronze Age collapse and the multi-causal nature thereof 17:57 – Popularizing science 19:55 – Kyle Harper's “The Fate of Rome” 25:40 – Plagues in the Roman Empire, ancient DNA studies, and using the Black Death as a model for other pandemics 30:34 – How pathogens may spread and cause pandemics 34:20 – Intermission (KMO's solo riff) 41:15 – The geological epochs chart 47:45 – John Michael Greer's critique of the notion of the Anthropocene 52:10 – Humanity's role throughout the (geologically, very recent portion of the) history of our planet 59:35 – Three practical uses of the research work's results 01:02:40 – Engaging in public outreach 01:03:35 – The misanthropic aspect of humanity and staying optimistic Participants: Adam: shh.mpg.de| en.padverb.com/adamizdebski KMO: @Kayemmo | en.padverb.com/kmo Books and Articles Discussed: "The Fate of Rome" by Kyle Harper press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691166834/the-fate-of-rome "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge" by E.O.Wilson en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consilience_(book) "The Myth of the Anthropocene" by J.M.Greer resilience.org/stories/2016-10-06/the-myth-of-the-anthropocene/ Geological eras and epochs (visual aid): i.imgur.com/TAeY5yw.jpg Don't forget to join Padverb's Telegram Channel: t.me/padverbpodcast