Social critic and Peak Oil provocateur James Howard Kunstler is here to discuss his new book Too Much Magic: Technology, Wishful Thinking and the Fate of the Nation. Kunstler believes that the end of cheap, readily available oil is very near, and with it the collapse of the industrial society as we know it. According to Kunstler, alternative energy sources and other technological solutions are just wishful thinking, and the future that awaits us may very well resemble our past.

Mixed martial artist, professor of religion and international raconteur Daniele Bolelli joins me for the DisinfoCast. Daniele is the author of 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Religion, a slim tome chock full of fun (and true!) stories: Mass Murderin' Moses, The Zombie Pope, and more. Daniele schools me on Zen, tells me which religious figure he'd most like to fight MMA-style, and ponders whether there's a such thing as an "enlightened asshole". Get a blasphemous beatdown in in this episode  of the DisinfoCast.

Andy Behrman is the author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania.

At first, Andy Behrman's manic episodes gave him an edge among the young professional elite of 1980s New York City: thousands of ideas tumbled out of his super-charged brain and he slept only a couple of hours a night, leaving him plenty of time to pursue them all. Soon, though, the dizzying highs and crushing lows of his undiagnosed bipolar disorder grew too strong, and Andy's life spun out of control. He developed a taste for drugs, quick money and risky sex. He grew delusional and grandiose, spending thousands of dollars on impulsive trips around the world and luxury goods. His mania-fueled joyride ended in a federal court, an accused embezzler and forger of modern art.

It took almost 20 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy to bring some degree of normalcy to Andy's life, but his story doesn't end there. He became a spokesperson for a powerful pharmaceutical company, ultimately betraying his corporate paymasters to become one of their harshest critics.

Big pharma critic, author and mental health advocate Andy Behrman is my guest on this episode of the DisinfoCast. Enjoy.

The late John Alva Keel is best remembered as the author of The Mothman Prophecies, a classic work of Fortean reportage. The book painted an eery portrait of a tiny town besieged by inexplicable incidents: sightings of a moth-like creature with glowing red eyes, strange lights in the sky and midnight visits from men in black. Keel began his investigation as an outsider, but was soon drawn into the dark orbit of the mothman.

Keel achieved some amount of public recognition when his book became the basis of a 2002 movie of the same name starring Richard Gere, but the public at large had no idea that Keel’s encounter with the mothman was only one small part of an incredibly strange, adventurous life. Keel, a veteran writer of the weird, was well-known within the  ranks of forteana for his writings on UFOs, conspiracies and strange mysteries discovered in the furthest corners of the globe.

Keel’s later years were tough ones. As he grew older, his career suffered. So did his health. Thankfully, he was not completely alone. A small circle of friends and admirers stood by his side. One of them was Fortean writer and professional composer Doug Skinner. Skinner, a close friend of Keel’s, is here to talk with us today.