A New ‘Devil’ of a Problem for Planet Earth: Vanishing Humans

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By: Glenn H. Reynolds
In: New York Post

When I was a kid, everyone was worried about the “population explosion.” Paul Ehrlich’s book, “The Population Bomb,” was a runaway bestseller.

This led to a lot of dystopian science fiction, like Harry Harrison’s novel, “Make Room, Make Room,” which became the famous movie “Soylent Green.” It also led to a lot of policy changes, from China’s disastrous one-child policy to many policies in industrialized nations aimed at people having fewer children later in life.

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Leighton Smith Podcast: Joel Kotkin on What is Brewing in Silicon Valley

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On: Leighton Smith Podcast
By: Host, Leighton Smith

Joel Kotkin, described according to The New York Times, is America’s uber-geographer. Kotkin is an internationally recognised authority on global, economic, political and social trends.

We talk to him about what is now brewing in Silicon Valley, proposed in Toronto and implemented in China, that could be the role model for our future urban civilization.

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After an introduction, Joel’s interview starts at about 7:57

Google’s Most Ambitious Project to Date: Reshaping Your Thinking

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By: News
On: Mind Matters

In a column yesterday at Spiked, urban studies specialist Joel Kotkin, author of The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class (2020), provided depressing evidence that the power of Big Tech is beginning to genuinely resemble the power medieval lords had over their serfs. It’s not just an office joke any more.

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Are Big Cities Past Their Prime?

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By: Tim Hains
On: Real Clear Politics

New York. Los Angeles. Boston. San Francisco. Call them America’s “superstars.” With mega populations, these urban hubs have long reigned as the nation’s economic, social, and cultural capitals. But big cities have also been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Read more

California’s Energy War on the Poor

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By: Robert Bryce
At: Quillette

A few years ago, author and demographer Joel Kotkin declared that “California is a great state in which to be rich.”

Of course, it’s good to be rich anywhere. But California—the province that for decades has led the United States in cultural issues like fashion, gay rights, and entertainment—has devolved into a state where the American dream is being strangled by a phalanx of energy and climate regulations that are imposing huge regressive taxes on the poor and middle class. And worse yet, the state’s vast bureaucracy is imposing yet more regulations that will further tighten the financial noose on Californians.

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Connecting Suburbia: A Conversation with Joel Kotkin and June Williamson

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By: June Williamson
At: Three Sixty City

Two of the world’s sharpest thinkers in design and demography discuss ways to make suburbs better: Joel Kotkin joins June Williamson to discuss some of the challenges of the sprawling suburbs, and how the thoughtful design and retrofit of low density neighborhoods could lead to more connected, equitable and environmentally sustainable futures.

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Dire Effects of Tech-fueled Inequality Seen in Schools Across Nation

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By: Louise Perry
At: The New Statesman

The final report from the Times Education Commission, set up in 2021 to examine the future of education in Britain, makes for very grim reading indeed. It states clearly that the government wittering on about literacy and numeracy has little relevance for schools in the most deprived parts of the UK. Not when some four- and five-year-old children are unable to say their own names, and others are still using baby bottles and asking for “bot-bot” when thirsty, incapable of forming a sentence as complex as, “Can I have a drink?”

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The Purple Principle Podcast: Joel Kotkin on Polarization of California Politics

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On: The Purple Principle Podcast
By: Barbara Bogaev and Rob Pease

“In the past, middle class and working class people trying to improve their lives came to California,” says Kotkin, who feels Texas now offers some of that upward mobility.  “I don’t think they come anymore for that.”

Has the California dream given way to a cost of living nightmare? NPR veteran and LA resident Barbara Bogaev co-hosts with Rob Pease for an in-depth discussion on the challenges faced by vast and diverse California as primary voters head to the polls.

One Golden State, one great co-host; two Democratic parties, two insightful guests, Dan Schnur and Joel Kotkin, on this episode of The Purple Principle.

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Joel Kotkin on America’s Neo-Feudalism

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On: The Pacific Century
By: Michael Auslin

Michael Auslin talks with Joel Kotkin, uber-geographer, about the coming neo-feudalism and “zaibatsuization” of America’s economy, how Chinese and American economic models are converging, and how to preserve liberty in an age of oligarchic tech dominance.

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