Cheerful Pessimist: The Life and Legacy of Richard Heinberg

On July 19, 2026 the world lost a 5’11”, 150 pound giant of intellect and compassion… Richard Heinberg. Richard was a prolific writer, speaker, educator, musician, and a gentle soul – none of which applies to your Crazy Town hosts. Jason, Rob, and Asher gather in the studio for the first time since Richard’s passing to commiserate, reflect on his legacy, and talk about how to keep his work and ethos alive. There’s no way to replace Richard, but we can all aspire to be a little more like him and steer things toward kindness, intelligence, justice, and simple living.

Originally recorded on 10/1/26 with archival episodes.

• RichardHeinberg.com
• Asher’s post announcing the news
• Legacy page, with info on how to add live Celebration of Life to calendar
• EverLoved website, where listeners can read tributes and share their own
• Richard’s widow, Janet’s, GoFundMe
• Richard’s articles on what he learned from chickens, why the blues should be our national anthem; and fountain pen as bellweathers
• 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds
• Richard’s free online course, Think Resilience
• Post-Carbon Music, Richard’s speech and musical performance at the New England Conservatory of Music

Production and editing by Alex Leff. Editorial assistance and transcripts by Taylor Antal.

Theme music is “Way Huge” and “Don’t Give Up” byMidnight Shipwrecks, used with permission.

Thanks to all the Crazy Townies, our listeners who are trying to understand humanity's overshoot predicament and do something about it.