Viable Underdogs

UPDATE (February, 2020): Check out the Viable Underdogs blog (www.viableunderdogs.com) for more books and material that cover our proposed solutions to the Sustainability Crisis, and other global (Type 1) concerns we have identified. It is recommended you start by reading the book, Renegades of Disruption, rather than the book outlined in this episode, Uncage Human Ingenuity. An outline of all the Viable Underdogs material, which includes free PDF download links to all the books (including a written version of the Podcast) is available here:  https://viableunderdogs.blogspot.com/2020/02/book-links-other-viable-underdogs.html Until more traction is gained with any of these ideas, there will be no new episodes. This 'Podcast-Audiobook-Unfreeze-Chain-Letter' requires your help to spread these ideas if you answer 'Yes' to the questions I continuously ask: Are you buying what I'm selling?  

Episode 42 (Technically Episode -5): Today, we chat briefly about the Vatican's Global Crisis Message. You can read more here: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-06/pope-declares-climate-emergency.html We also discuss how some of our media corespondents have been impeding the spreading of this Global Crisis Message by 'Unintentional Misdirection.' FYI, the Vatican has been publishing these stories for a long time. They are not late to this party. 

Episode 41 (Technically Episode -4): There are some updates in the episode. Here are the promised links. Our newest YouTube vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qscgIod-Iw There are more vids and 'Liked" videos on the YouTube channel: "Viable Underdogs." Here is The Guardian's article we mentioned: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/17/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment

Episode 40 (or -3 seeing as how we are now spinning our tires): In Sept, 2018 (Almost exactly one year ago), the United Nations announced a global CRISIS MESSAGE. Seven months later, in May 2019, the news outlet, The Guardian, followed suit and has since been calling it a crisis.  Here is the United Nation's Crisis Message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsi5Vp_6tdE Here is The Guardian's Crisis Message: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/17/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment It is currently Sept, 2019. A FULL YEAR after the crisis message was sent from the U.N. How many more months, or worse, years, will we have to wait until all news outlets also follow suit!?  WE HAVE A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM! Please, please, please, please, forward this episode, podcast, and crisis message on.  We desperately want to start working on fixing this problem.  

Episode 39: This episode is a ten minute short explanation that outlines what the entire podcast is about. This is the last episode I plan on posting if this gains zero traction.  Here is a guide to navigate this podcast (also known as my Research Paper): Episode 38: Explains the reason for this podcast and covers the $5000 Sustainability Challenge details.  Episode 36: Is the Executive Summary and Table of Contents indicating which episode pertains to which points I am making. OR you can listen to the episodes starting from Episode 1 in sequential order.  Here is a link to the video that also explains the general idea of this Podcast / Research Paper:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4OWWHNDcow  

Episode 38:  Apologies for the noise distortion in this episode. It gets better as the episode progresses. It is the ONLY episode that has this problem. We explained in Episode 39 (which we strongly recommend listening to first) why the distortion was not corrected.  As well, around the one-hour mark, I incorrectly quoted the United Nations. It should say "defining issue" instead of "defining moment" twice. My bad. Here is a link to the actual quote:  https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/ If you're new here, feel free to skip from the 7 min to 30 min in the episode. Afterward, you can check out Episode 36 (Summary of the Podcast) or start with Episode 1.  Here is the link to our 3 minute pitch on what this podcast is about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4OWWHNDcow And here is more info on sustainability from NASA: https://climate.nasa.gov/

Episode 36: Or, we guess, technically Episode 0, since it’s our Summary Episode. Today, we wrap together our entire sustainability diagnostic which comprised all of the first 34 episodes. And, most importantly, we ask our new listeners, as well as those who have been here from the start, a question. FYI: Episode 37, our 'Proposal' episode will not be uploaded. We have forwarded these strategies, all of our info, and the transcript for the episode onto others. We've done everything we can. This is now their story.  EDIT: The Question we ask you is just after the 35 minute mark. 

Episode 35: The diagnostic phase of our podcast is complete. In this episode, we instruct you on how to solve a good portion of the communication problem we have identified in previous episodes. Once the lines of communication have been repaired, real change can begin.

Episode 34:  Today, we’re telling you the story of 'Viable Underdogs.' Well, this consultancy firm, not when we use the term to refer to humanity. We hope that if you learn where this idea came from, then it may artificially accelerate the adoption curve. It’s completely understandable for some to be skeptical.    FYI: We're eager to be completed, so we will be uploading Episodes 35 and 36 shortly as well.

Episode 33: Today we’re exploring our world’s organizational framework in order to explain how it could be possible that nations at government level are in agreement on matters like climate change, while it appears for a large part that individuals within these nations are not.  Apologies that the episode picture looks a bit like a pentagram. This was not intentional, but it is the best visual representation we could come up with. Special thanks to ZapSplat for the sound effects in this episode. You can check out their royalty-free music & sound effects at https://www.zapsplat.com/

Episode 32: Today, we explore the 'silo effect' from the business field and apply it to human-acquired knowledge. This is the reason no one has though to combine management concepts with sustainability. We propose a new field of generalists who specialize in lateral thinking be created. We featured the music of Bjorn Lynne and forgot to mention it in the end credits. Also, here's the link for the sound we used in the episode:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0

Episode 31 Today, we’re trying to change public perception on sustainability, and we are concluding the communications component of our global sustainability diagnosis. Also, we forgot to add an article source at the end of the episode for Stanislav Petrov, but this was corrected in Episode 33. Apologies for the error.

Episode 30: Special thanks to Louise for providing the incredible episode picture! Today we’re exploring how concepts from the business field, frameworks, can be used to increase the speed of the solutions currently being applied to sustainability.  Also, thanks to Zapsplat.com for the sound effect that we hope most listeners won’t realize is not the Veyron. And if you want to see something cute, google the sounds that cheetahs make.

Episode 29.5: This is a quick update on our remaining episodes, since we will be altering our format of posting once a week. Starting Sunday, August 11, there will be a new episode each day for the entire week. Then our sustainability diagnosis, Phase 1, is complete, meaning there will be no new episodes until Phase 2.  However, getting to Phase 2 can only happen with the help of our global listeners. We believe in you!

Episode 29: Today, we answer the question once and for all: Is Science Dumb? One of our listeners from Australia sent us the awesome episode picture (see episode 26 for the reference). Thanks, Mate! Also, we posted on-time for Sunday in our time zone last week, even though it says Monday. Our bad. So to balance that out, we’re posting this episode a bit earlier than usual.

Episode 28:  Today, we explore the idea that our planet is a large engine, subject to engine-like concerns like tolerances, feedback loops, and the eventual global catastrophic failure that may occur sooner than many people think... Special thanks to ZapSplat for the sound effects in this episode. You can check out their royalty-free music & sound effects at https://www.zapsplat.com/  

Episode 27:  The tone of this episode might come off as slightly irritated. This irritation is not directed at our listeners, but at the media outlets who are not properly covering these sustainability topics, and we highlight this with a common climate change misconception.

Episode 26: Today, we’re discussing the differences between top-down and bottom-up change, and which ones are ideal to address the many different and unique sustainability problems. Also, we encourage you to see if you can spot an audio edit we had to do, since John reads typos from scripts just like Ron Burgundy reads anything on the teleprompter. . . You Stay Classy, Planet Earth.

Episode 25: WARNING: This episode contains graphic content & language that may be offensive to some listeners. Special thanks to Louise for helping to write the episode – not the vulgar language - that part was all John's doing. Today, we’re discussing the impacts of global apathy and inaction when it comes to sustainability.

Episode 24: Today, we’re applying a popular concept, Pareto’s principle, to factors such as human cooperation. Then we’re exploring adoption curves to try and determine how many people we’d have to convince for global traction in sustainability. We did our best to make this episode shorter, but we don’t want to get so concise the point is lost on some listeners. This is intended for everyone, and everyone learns and understands at different speeds.

Episode 23: Today, we’ll do our best not to alienate any listeners when we discuss logical fallacies, and other similar factors that make it difficult for us to reach a global consensus on issues like sustainability. We’ll also try to make next week’s episode shorter. We know there is only so much of John’s voice anyone can tolerate in one sitting.

Episode 22: Today, we’re chatting about how the collective knowledge of our species is acquired, and how it is currently in great danger of corruption. We’ll also make sure to teach John exactly what 'inconsequential' means. Apologies for any confusion this made in the episode.

Episode 21: Today, we’re discussing how the business sector can be a powerful asset during the transition to a more sustainable planet. There’s also a brief update of things to come after the episode.

Episode 20: Today, we're continuing our exploration of the political process and sustainability, as we try to clarify exactly how much impact governments can have without help.

Episode 19: Today, we're starting our discussion about the success of previous attempts at addressing sustainability, and we try to clarify just how much impact governments will have without help.   

Episode 18:  Today, we're chatting about the communication errors present between the scientific community and the rest of the world. Special thanks to ZapSplat for the sound effects in this episode. You can check out their royalty-free music & sound effects at https://www.zapsplat.com/

Episode 17:  The Jaded Truth series is different from our other episodes, since we need to explore unpleasant realities. Today, we introduce one group of victims already being severely impacted by climate change. EDIT: Here's the article from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/26/climate-change-creating-generation-of-child-brides-in-africa

Episode 16:  Today, we're exploring the challenge of getting the average person more invested in the idea of sustainability, and how this process is currently moving too slowly. The tortoise isn't going to win this race...

Episode 15: Today, we're doing a motivational speech for our species in order to reassure everyone that sustainability is certainly not a hopeless endeavour. 

Episode 14: Today, we're chatting about how the world is nowhere near achieving the targets for global emissions it has set for itself. Since it's a tad depressing, we promise next week's episode will be slightly more upbeat. EDIT: Our apologies. John mentioned the website of the climate action tracker wrong in the episode. Here's the correct website: https://climateactiontracker.org/  

Episode 13: Today, we're exploring the idea of 'one-size-fits-all' solutions to sustainability. Can we really solve the problem by implementing just one solution?

Episode 12: Today, we're continuing to discuss a topic we introduced last week: "Greenwashing," and how this relates to ethical business decisions. 

Episode 11:  Today, we're chatting about deforestation, and explore an example of one product often associated with it: Palm Oil. We also giggle at John's attempt to pronounce words like "Tigress and Euphrates."

Episode 10: Today, we're chatting about how economic principles like 'Game Theory' & 'The Prisoner's Dilemma' cause additional challenges to global sustainability. 

Episode 9: The Jaded Truth series is different from our other episodes, since we need to explore unpleasant realities. Today, we're chatting about just how bad the problem of sustainability is. SPOILER: It's bad. 

Episode 8: Today, we're chatting about how A.I. almost took over the world in 2017. This is the second episode in our "Is Science Dumb?" series. 

Episode 7: Today, we’re chatting about statistics and how they can often be misleading. We explore an example of this with the world’s problem with plastic pollution in the oceans. Apologies for the delay on this post. We're busy working away to get this show uploaded on other media and promoted. 

Episode 6: Today, we’re chatting about one of the sustainability issues the planet faced in the 20th century that has mostly seen a fair bit of improvement.  .

Episode 5: Today, we used studio magic to try and make John sound like he wasn't sick while he talks about nuclear power, and whether it's a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.

Episode 4:  Today, we’re chatting about a fairly known suggestion to sustainability – the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, and whether this is a realistic solution. 

Episode 3: Today, we’re going to start exploring the possible underlying reasons for why some groups are challenging the legitimacy of established science.

Episode 2: Today, we’re chatting about a brief overview on greenhouse gas emissions, and we’ll also try to clear up one or two points that are often misunderstood.

Episode 1: Today we’re chatting about some of the various impacts our species has on the planet. This is an introduction into future topics that will explore the issues in greater detail.