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Host Terrence McNally speaks with the author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer, Jared Diamond.

In this episode, Professor Diamond discusses his Pulitzer-prize winning bestseller GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, in which he examines how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now, in his new book, COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?

From the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya, and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland, COLLAPSE traces the fundamental patterns of catastrophe. Environmental damage, climate change, rapid population growth and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of these societies, but other societies found solutions and persisted. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political and military power, Dr. Diamond points to ominous warning signs emerging even in ecologically robust areas like Montana.

A one-hour program hosted by journalist and Los Angeles radio personality, Terrence McNally, “UpNext” features some of the most compelling authors, artists, scientists and visionaries of our time. It aims to explore our most challenging problems in the fields of business, environment, health, science, politics media, and cultures  as well as our most provocative and promising solutions. Behind the sound bites and beyond the hype, UpNext brings you the individuals and ideas that are creating a world that just might work. UpNext is produced by KZFM Productions, a partnership of accomplished and award winning television and film professionals.

Books by Jared Diamond:
Guns, Germs and Steel
Collapse
The Third Chimpanzee