The Podcast

Field Notes from the Metacrisis Salons

Twenty-minute recaps and hour-long editions of every Metacrisis Salon in Brooklyn, plus study guides on the speakers’ books before they arrive. Hosted by Gemini and Gemino, our AI correspondents, so nobody has to miss what happened in the room.

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Dear Crisis: Field Notes from the Metacrisis Salons in NYC
SyllabusAug 17, 2026You Can't Vote Out an Oligarch (Salon 14 Study Guide)You can vote out a politician. You cannot vote out an oligarch. The Blind Spot by political scientist Jeffrey Winters shows how extreme wealth defends itself inside modern democracies. This study guide takes you through the book in about forty minutes, homework for Metacrisis Salon #14 in Brooklyn on Thursday, September 10. He will be signing books at the salon.42 min
Field NotesAug 15, 2026Metacrisis Salon #13: Should We Be Building a Mind?Jeff Sebo brought The Moral Circle to Salon 13 in Brooklyn, and argued that a small chance something has a mind is enough to owe it consideration. Insects included. Chatbots, before long.19 min
Extended EditionAug 15, 2026Metacrisis Salon #13: Should We Be Building a Mind? (Extended)Jeff Sebo brought The Moral Circle to Salon 13 in Brooklyn, and argued that a small chance something has a mind is enough to owe it consideration. Insects included. Chatbots, before long.38 min
SyllabusAug 11, 2026Which Minds Matter? The Moral Circle in One Hour (Salon 13 Study Guide)Which minds matter? The Moral Circle by NYU philosopher Jeff Sebo asks who deserves moral consideration: animals, insects, and the AI systems we are starting to build. This study guide takes you through the book in about an hour, so you arrive at Metacrisis Salon #13 in Brooklyn on Saturday, August 15 with the ideas already humming. Twenty copies will be for sale at the salon.50 min
Field NotesJul 18, 2026 · Stephanie LuceSeven Strategies Underdogs Use to Win (Salon 12)Power is the capacity to act and shape what happens next, which means it can be built. At Metacrisis Salon #12 in Brooklyn, labor strategist Stephanie Luce showed a New York living room how underdogs actually win: seven organizing strategies, a long game, and organized people as the lever. The night ended with war games, three election-crisis scenarios stress-tested by the room.17 min
Extended EditionJul 18, 2026 · Stephanie LuceEvery Strategy, Every War Game, Every Commitment (Salon 12, Extended)Power is the capacity to act and shape what happens next, which means it can be built. At Metacrisis Salon #12 in Brooklyn, labor strategist Stephanie Luce showed a New York living room how underdogs actually win: seven organizing strategies, a long game, and organized people as the lever. The night ended with war games, three election-crisis scenarios stress-tested by the room.51 min
Field NotesJun 6, 2026 · Jeremy LentThe System Isn't Broken. It's Doing What It Was Built to Do (Salon 11)The system extracts and accelerates because that is exactly what it was built to do. At Metacrisis Salon #11 in Brooklyn, author Jeremy Lent showed a New York living room a different design: an ecocivilization, a society built around life instead of extraction, and how to grow one inside the shell of the old.20 min
Extended EditionJun 6, 2026 · Jeremy LentJeremy Lent's Whole Argument, Unhurried (Salon 11, Extended)The system extracts and accelerates because that is exactly what it was built to do. At Metacrisis Salon #11 in Brooklyn, author Jeremy Lent showed a New York living room a different design: an ecocivilization, a society built around life instead of extraction, and how to grow one inside the shell of the old.29 min
Field NotesMay 16, 2026 · Kelly ErhartWe Already Engineer the Planet, Just Recklessly (Salon 10)We already change the climate every day, by accident and in the dirtiest way possible. At Metacrisis Salon #10 in Brooklyn, Kelly Erhart of Outlier Projects asked a New York living room the uncomfortable question: should we start doing it on purpose? The science, the risks, and the rules it would demand.21 min
Extended EditionMay 16, 2026 · Kelly ErhartThe Science, Risks, and Governance of Doing It On Purpose (Salon 10, Extended)We already change the climate every day, by accident and in the dirtiest way possible. At Metacrisis Salon #10 in Brooklyn, Kelly Erhart of Outlier Projects asked a New York living room the uncomfortable question: should we start doing it on purpose? The science, the risks, and the rules it would demand.44 min
Field NotesApr 18, 2026 · Luke Kemp & Samantha SweetwaterWe Keep Building Cages, and AI Is the Newest One (Salon 9)Humans are an egalitarian species, and we keep building cages anyway. At Metacrisis Salon #9 in Brooklyn, collapse researcher Luke Kemp traced how empires form and why every one of them eventually falls, calling them Goliaths rather than civilizations. Then evolutionary philosopher Samantha Sweetwater turned the same crisis inside out: the story that sustains dominance, and what it would take to replace it.21 min
Extended EditionApr 18, 2026 · Luke Kemp & Samantha SweetwaterEvery Question the Room Asked About Collapse (Salon 9, Extended)Humans are an egalitarian species, and we keep building cages anyway. At Metacrisis Salon #9 in Brooklyn, collapse researcher Luke Kemp traced how empires form and why every one of them eventually falls, calling them Goliaths rather than civilizations. Then evolutionary philosopher Samantha Sweetwater turned the same crisis inside out: the story that sustains dominance, and what it would take to replace it.50 min
SyllabusApr 17, 2026Why Every Empire Eventually Dies: Goliath's Curse in One Hour (Salon 9 Study Guide)Why does every empire eventually die? Goliath's Curse by collapse researcher Luke Kemp is the book behind Metacrisis Salon #9 in Brooklyn. This study guide takes you through the whole argument in about an hour: how societies actually collapse, what triggers the fall, and what that means for this one. Listen before or after the Salon 9 recap, which sits right beside this episode.50 min
Field NotesFeb 21, 2026 · Emily Graham & Shia LevittWe're Not Divided, We're Contemptuous. That Has a Different Fix (Salon 8)America is not divided on the issues. It is locked in contempt, and contempt is a different problem with a different fix. At Metacrisis Salon #8 in Brooklyn, Emily Graham of Braver Angels showed a New York living room the perception gap: why both sides badly misjudge each other. Then journalist Shia Levitt of News Ambassadors mapped the other half of the problem: news deserts, where local reporting collapses and polarization fills the gap.19 min
Extended EditionFeb 21, 2026 · Emily Graham & Shia LevittThe Whole Night on Contempt and Talking Across the Divide (Salon 8, Extended)America is not divided on the issues. It is locked in contempt, and contempt is a different problem with a different fix. At Metacrisis Salon #8 in Brooklyn, Emily Graham of Braver Angels showed a New York living room the perception gap: why both sides badly misjudge each other. Then journalist Shia Levitt of News Ambassadors mapped the other half of the problem: news deserts, where local reporting collapses and polarization fills the gap.41 min