I’ve had a little burst of interviews lately that have been very cool. The neatest one was a couple of weeks ago with Peter Schiff. Peter is the author of the book “Crash Proof” and a well-known economic commentator. He called the economic collapse long before it happened and I’ve followed his unique perspective on the economic challenges that still face the American economy.
It’s kind of intimidating to be interviewed by someone you’ve followed and respected for a while. Plus anytime I see Peter interviewed on national TV he is very sharp and can be very contrarian, not taking any guff from anyone. I get a little nervous around those “take no prisoners” kind of interviewers.
(You might need to subscribe to Peter’s website to listen to this podcast.)
As it was he seemed pretty interested in the off-grid thing and wasn’t too into tripping me up on anything. Well that was until he got into the guns and precious metals questions. I think the assumption is we live off-grid because we’re some kind of survivalists.
I can remember shortly after we bought this place in 1998 someone asked us if we’d moved here because of fears around the Y2K millennium problem. In fact it hadn’t even occurred to us. It was interesting to learn afterwards though, from some people involved, that not all things ran smoothly on New Years Eve 1999.
I don’t think it was until I read “Twilight in the Desert” in about 2005 that I started clueing into the depths of our challenges in terms of resource depletion and peak oil.
In June I did an interview with ” Radio Eco-Shock” http://www.ecoshock.org/
http://www.energybulletin.net/media/2011-06-13/your-renewable-energy-path
I was glad to have the opportunity to be interviewed on this show because they had recently interviewed Richard Heinberg and David Hughes, the Canadian geologist who has a very scary perspective on where we’re at in terms of resource depletion in North America and the world. I always appreciate these opportunities because I find many of these types of radio shows tend to dwell on the problems. I can get on and discuss solutions that work, and work very well. If it’s an environmental show then that’s the benefit of living with solar and wind power. If it’s concern about financial stability or resource depletion, it’s just another benefit of powering your home independently. Sure I’m a chameleon when it comes to this topic, but it just works on so many levels.
The other interview that was kind of cool was “Steppin’ off the Edge.”
http://steppinofftheedge.com/podcast/thriving-during-challenging-times/
It’s a very interesting site with a unique perspective on our current reality. I liked the interview but especially liked the music he added and the artwork they created for it. It looks like some 1970’s album artwork for “Thriving During Challenging Times.” Kind of like “Yes” meets “Star Wars” meets “Dune.”
Anyway, the radio interviews are always fun and challenging. I’m used to doing 3 to 6 hour-long workshops on my topics, or writing books about them. Having the producer from Peter Schiff’s radio show tell me I’d be on for two – eight minute segments really forced me to try to get to the essence of my message without any fluff. And there are many people who’ll happily confirm I am most adept at rambling.
In the meantime I’ll go about life like Hugh Grant in the movie “About a Boy” who lives his life in 30 minutes increments. But I’ll live mine in 8 minute segments and be short and concise and to the point always. Well … most of the time.
For more information about Cam Mather or his books please visit www.motherearthnews.com/contributors/Cam+Mather or www.aztext.com
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Note from Michelle – I’d like to apologize to our readers for the long delay between the last post and this one. Cam and I are pretty busy this time of year…. weeding, watering, processing garlic, etc. etc. etc. It’s been 4 years since we took a one week holiday and so we often find ourselves getting a little worn out. As they say “a change is as good as a rest” and so we took a break from the blog for a few days….