Richard Heinberg is a journalist, educator, editor, lecturer, and musician. He has lectured widely, appearing on national radio and television in five countries. His essays have appeared in The Futurist, Intuition, The Sun, Brain/Mind Bulletin, Magical Blend, New Dawn, and elsewhere.

His monthly, MuseLetter, was nominated in 1994 by Utne Reader for an Alternative Press Award and has been included in Utne's annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters. He is the author of Memories and Visions of Paradise: Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age; Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth's Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony; A New Covenant with Nature: Notes on the End of Civilization and the Renewal of Culture; and Cloning the Buddha: The Moral Impact of Biotechnology. (A New Covenant with Nature was a recipient of the 1997 Books to Live By Award of Excellence from Body/Mind/Spirit magazine.) Heinberg is a core faculty member of New College of California, where he teaches courses on Energy and Society, and Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. He is an Honored Member of Strathmore's Who's Who Registry, is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in the World, and is a member of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations. He is also an accomplished violinist and illustrator / book designer.

Richard Heinberg discussing 'The Party's Over - Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies'
(Telephone interview to Santa Rosa, CA on 28th February 2003 )

1.   What is oil peak?  [5:40] 2.   What do the critics of oil peak say?  [5:41] 3.   What is 'net energy' & why is it important to the consequences of oil peak?  [5:38] 4.   Why do you talk about the 'fate' of industrial societies - why is it rather bleak?  [5:51] 5.   Is it possible for an 'advanced' industrial society to survive a large energy decline?  [4:21] 6.   What is your view of hydrogen & other substitutes for hydrocarbons?  [11:41]