Nate Hagens

The Blue Tsunami and the Superorganism | Frankly 165

20K views · 18h ago · 11:19

This week, Nate offers a reflection on the U.S. midterm elections, separating the relief of a clear outcome from the deeper questions that remain unsolved. He considers what has changed politically and what hasn’t through a transpartisan lens, highlighting a growing disconnect between political institutions and the biophysical reality shaping our future.

Topics: Somebody Won · What Didn't Change · An Anti-War Vote · Energy on the Ballot · A Clear Count · The Real Work Continues

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

How to Stop the Tragedy of the Commons with Iroro Tanshi | TGS 241

9.1K views · 2d ago · 54:10

Guest: Iroro Tanshi

(Conversation recorded on September 24th, 2026) One in five mammal species on Earth is a bat, yet they remain some of the most overlooked and misunderstood creatures in conservation. Bats pollinate crops, control pests, and spread seeds over large areas. But as climate change pushes temperatures and rainfall to new extremes, many forests are increasingly at risk of catching fire, threatening both the wildlife and communities that depend on them.

Topics: Communities Lead the Way · Iroro Tanshi · Falling for Bats · One in Five Mammals · What Bats Do for Us · A Lost Bat and a Wildfire

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

7 Ways Growth Ends | Frankly 164

44K views · 1w ago · 46:58

In this week’s Frankly, Nate examines the possibility that global economic growth is approaching its limits, reframing it as a historically unusual period in human history enabled by an extraordinary inheritance of fossil fuels.

Topics: Growth Is the Anomaly · The Wile E. Coyote Moment · Borrowed Growth · Risk 1: Biophysical Musical Chairs · Risk 2: A World War · Risk 3: Tearing It Down From Below

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

The Counterintuitive Story of the Hormuz Oil Crisis with Rory Johnston | TGS 240

49K views · 1w ago · 1:36:39

Guest: Rory Johnston

(Conversation recorded on October 22nd, 2026) With headlines reporting that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are recovering to pre-war levels, it seems that the oil supply chains have stabilized – yet prices and availability don’t tell the same story. Over two billion barrels of expected Middle East production have been lost this year, and even with crude exports increasing, refined products, LNG, and fertilizer still lag.

Topics: Fractal Complexity All the Way Down · Rory Johnston · Hormuz Flows Are Back, Sort Of · Who Pays for Shipping · Asia Running Short · A Balkanized Oil Market

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

Staying Grounded in an Unraveling World | Frankly 163

29K views · 2w ago · 16:59

In the face of increasing chaos in our world, Nate turns inward in this week’s Frankly to examine a more personal question: what allows an individual to remain grounded, authentic, and capable of contributing meaningfully in turbulent times? He draws on his own experience to identify five things that help him build personal resilience, taking care to not treat them as any sort of universal formula.

Topics: Most Chaotic Year Yet · What Do We Do? · Self-Care First · Spaciousness and Slack · Daily Time in Nature · Deep Friendship

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

We're Missing Nature's Biggest Lessons with Robin Wall Kimmerer | TGS 239

133K views · 2w ago · 1:24:42

Guest: Robin Wall Kimmerer

(Conversation recorded on September 24th, 2026) Many of us question the core principles of individualism, competition, and transaction our current civilization is founded on. But with an entire culture steeped in these ideals, we don’t know where to look for a different way forward. Thankfully, against all odds, there are pockets of cultures who have preserved their knowledge and are able to share both what they know and who their greatest teachers are.

Topics: Working Within the Laws of Nature · Robin Wall Kimmerer Intro · Plants as Teachers · The Three Sisters · Two Ways of Knowing · Monocrops vs. Polycultures

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

How Civilization Descended Into Crisis | Frankly 162

46K views · 3w ago · 29:48

In this week’s Frankly Nate unfurls a metaphorical “ladder” that traces the systems-oriented forces shaping the economic Superorganism. He outlines seven rungs that trickle down to affect the behaviors and events we witness in our daily lives, as well as reinforce humanity’s dependence on energy and material growth. These rungs – such as worldview, status symbols, and incentives – help to illustrate that destructive outcomes need not emerge from malicious intent.

Topics: A Six-Rung Behavioral Ladder · Rung 1: The Worldview Rung · Rung 2: The Values and Status Signals Rung · Rung 3: The Rules Rung · Rung 4: The Incentives Rung · Rung 5: The Information Rung

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

We're Investing in a Future That Won't Exist with Indy Johar | TGS 238

70K views · 3w ago · 1:28:24

Guest: Indy Johar

(Conversation recorded on September 23rd, 2026) Traditional financial management tells us that, if we invest right, we’ll be able to retire and sink into a future of comfort and stability – and even pass on your wealth to your children and grandchildren. But this vision is built on an anomalous period of stability in which climate, energy resources, and labor markets were all predictable.

Topics: Not Kind, Just Smart · Indy Johar · Humans as Units of Labor · Touching the Mirror of God · Era of the Standard Deviation · Food Shock Ahead

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

20 Risks of AI | Frankly 161

53K views · 4w ago · 59:26

(Recorded September 27th, 2026) This week Nate examines artificial intelligence through the metaphor of Icarus, asking what risks arise when we inject trillions of cognitive workers into a civilization that’s already in resource overshoot. Emphasizing that our society already largely ignores the depleting fossil energy that powers our lives, Nate traces how AI could amplify our economic growth imperative rather than help us escape it.

Topics: Humanity's Icarus Moment · The Superorganism's Two Armies · Why Daedalus Built the Wings · Risk 20: The Fossil Lock-In · Risk 19: The Appetite · Risk 18: The Rebound

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

We're Not Going Back to January 2026 with Art Berman | TGS 237

181K views · 1mo ago · 1:14:32

Guest: Art Berman

(Conversation recorded on September 19th, 2026) Almost eight months after the Iran war first rattled global energy markets, the global system has proven surprisingly adaptable, even as prices continue to rise and product shortages become more common. But as those buffers run dry and diesel prices climb to the equivalent of over $200 a barrel, the slack in our system is starting to disappear.

Topics: A World-Changing Event · Art Berman · What the Iran War Reveals · Why It Hasn't Been Worse · The SPR at Multi-Decade Lows · Buffers Burned Through

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

The Coolest Year for the Rest of Our Lives? with Zeke Hausfather | TGS 236

52K views · 1mo ago · 1:31:37

Guest: Zeke Hausfather

(Conversation recorded on September 16th, 2026) The El Niño now building in the tropical Pacific is unlike anything in the historical record, and it's arriving on top of decades of warming. Together, they could push global temperatures to roughly 1.8°C (3.2oF) above pre-industrial levels next year, offering a preview of what may become the new normal within a decade.

Topics: A Permanent Super El Niño · Taking Earth's Temperature · Inside the IPCC · Decoding Climate Scenarios · Feedbacks & Climate Sensitivity · Why 2027 Will Be Hotter

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

The Climate Speech We’ll Probably Never Hear | Frankly 160

79K views · 1mo ago · 15:03

(Recorded September 17th, 2026) On the heels of Climate Week, Nate poses a thought experiment: What would a world leader’s speech sound like if the difficult truths underpinning global heating – which are politically unsayable due to donors, borders, electoral campaigns, and other incentives – were laid bare to the public?

Topics: An Honest World Leader · Two Stories We're Told · Ancient Sunlight · The Sky and the Sea · Energy Returns to the Foreground · Why No Nation Acts

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

Is America’s Strategy in Iran Backfiring? with Robert Pape | TGS 235

129K views · 1mo ago · 1:06:28

Guest: Robert Pape

(Conversation recorded on September 15th, 2026) The United States, a global superpower for the last several decades, is now locked into a battle for control over the region with the bulk of the world’s remaining fossil fuel reserves. Despite U.S. military strength, Iran is not backing down, equipped with a new era of military technology. What happens if the U.S.

Topics: Worse Before It Gets Better · The Pipeline Attack · The Cushions Are Gone · Bombing Pipelines, Bombing Railroads · A Pig in the Python · The Escalation Trap Explained

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

Four Things We Can't Afford to Get Wrong | Frankly 159

56K views · 1mo ago · 33:12

(Recorded September 14th, 2026) This week, Nate zooms out from recent headlines about climbing diesel prices, a thinning U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and inflationary bond markets to ask the deeper question: what is the real work that’s required of us as the systems that underpin modern life begin to buckle?

Topics: A Predicament, Not a Problem · The Financial Cul-De-Sac · 1. Bend, Don't Break · 2. No Nuclear War · 3. Midwife the Biosphere · 4. Rekindle the Sacred

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com

The Opportunities of a World in Collapse with Sarah Wilson | TGS 234

85K views · 1mo ago · 1:38:21

Guest: Sarah Wilson

(Conversation recorded on September 10th, 2026) In this episode, Nate is joined by philosopher and author Sarah Wilson for an exploration of the emotions that come from learning about, processing, and then embodying the full extent of the metacrisis.

Topics: The Metacrisis in Five Minutes · Facts Aren't Enough · Sarah's Collapse Journey · The Loss of Certainty · Death, Grief, and Homecoming · Hopium and the Tech Fix

▶️ Mentioned videos: Video on youtube.com

📰 Mentioned news: Article on natehagens.substack.com