Joe Tankersley
@joetankersley.bsky.social
Futurist, storyteller, old guy. Committed to reimagining our futures. Co-conspirators always welcome.
"Anaquashatanik, on the banks of the Potomac, is the largest and most diverse intentional climate refugee community in the former United States."
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-92...
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-92...
Episode 9.2: Ancient Dreams Reborn
Searching for Hoper AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:04 PM
"Anaquashatanik, on the banks of the Potomac, is the largest and most diverse intentional climate refugee community in the former United States."
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-92...
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-92...
The National Mall, once a two-mile-long strip of manicured grass, is now the largest urban farm on the East Coast. Crammed full of ground-hugging vegetables, berry-covered bushes, and trees filled with ripening fruit.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-91...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-91...
Episode 9.1: City Formerly Known as...
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:54 PM
The National Mall, once a two-mile-long strip of manicured grass, is now the largest urban farm on the East Coast. Crammed full of ground-hugging vegetables, berry-covered bushes, and trees filled with ripening fruit.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-91...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-91...
“That sounds like the same techno-optimism that helped Tesla our democracy. Pretty sure the unpurposed would happily trade the promise of a techno utopia for a little old-fashioned drudgery. If it came with a paycheck and ice-cold AC.”
Johnny Darlin, 8.23.2042
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
Johnny Darlin, 8.23.2042
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
Episode 8.2: Ramblin' Tech
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
open.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 9:02 PM
“That sounds like the same techno-optimism that helped Tesla our democracy. Pretty sure the unpurposed would happily trade the promise of a techno utopia for a little old-fashioned drudgery. If it came with a paycheck and ice-cold AC.”
Johnny Darlin, 8.23.2042
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
Johnny Darlin, 8.23.2042
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
"Whatever comes next for this complicated mass of humanity, it def won’t be the instantaneous fulfillment of all their consumer dreams.”
Johnny Darlin reporting from a former MARTA station turned refugee camp, Atlanta, Ga.
8.23.2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-81...
Johnny Darlin reporting from a former MARTA station turned refugee camp, Atlanta, Ga.
8.23.2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-81...
Episode 8.1: In da A
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:49 PM
"Whatever comes next for this complicated mass of humanity, it def won’t be the instantaneous fulfillment of all their consumer dreams.”
Johnny Darlin reporting from a former MARTA station turned refugee camp, Atlanta, Ga.
8.23.2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-81...
Johnny Darlin reporting from a former MARTA station turned refugee camp, Atlanta, Ga.
8.23.2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-81...
“Beneath the air of detached bohemianism is a serious commitment to existing in sync with the environment. An understanding that they are the ones who must adapt instead of trying to force nature to bend to human whims."
Johnny Darlin,
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-72...
Johnny Darlin,
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-72...
Episode 7.2 Stormsurfers Collective of Cocoa Beach
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:30 PM
“Beneath the air of detached bohemianism is a serious commitment to existing in sync with the environment. An understanding that they are the ones who must adapt instead of trying to force nature to bend to human whims."
Johnny Darlin,
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-72...
Johnny Darlin,
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-72...
"Like so many other multi-billion-dollar resilience projects, the pumping station did nothing to slow the inevitable tide of climate change. A dry landing spot in the middle of a steadily rising swamp is no match for angry mother earth."
Johnny Darlin
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-71...
Johnny Darlin
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-71...
Episode 7.1 Free State of Denial
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM
"Like so many other multi-billion-dollar resilience projects, the pumping station did nothing to slow the inevitable tide of climate change. A dry landing spot in the middle of a steadily rising swamp is no match for angry mother earth."
Johnny Darlin
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-71...
Johnny Darlin
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-71...
"What’s the point of collecting a bunch of stories of hope for better futures? Today sucks. Tomorrow likely to be even worse."
Despite his misgivings, Johnny Darlin is back on his search for Hope AfterAmerica. Hope you'll come along for the ride.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-61...
Despite his misgivings, Johnny Darlin is back on his search for Hope AfterAmerica. Hope you'll come along for the ride.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-61...
Episode 6.1 It's Uphill From Here
Trading a barstool for a bike.
joetankersley.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:08 PM
"What’s the point of collecting a bunch of stories of hope for better futures? Today sucks. Tomorrow likely to be even worse."
Despite his misgivings, Johnny Darlin is back on his search for Hope AfterAmerica. Hope you'll come along for the ride.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-61...
Despite his misgivings, Johnny Darlin is back on his search for Hope AfterAmerica. Hope you'll come along for the ride.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-61...
We seem to have misplaced our roaming podcaster. Has anybody seen Johnny Darlin? open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
Johnny, are you there?
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:59 PM
We seem to have misplaced our roaming podcaster. Has anybody seen Johnny Darlin? open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
"Walked a couple of miles before finding a Nayara Chargepoint and Kirana. Went inside and bought a couple bags of stale buffalo chickpea chips and a warm nimbu soda. Sat on the curb out front to “enjoy” my breakfast and wait for karma to deliver a ride."
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
Episode 5.2: Hope is a Cruel Hoax
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: the Practopia Project
open.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
"Walked a couple of miles before finding a Nayara Chargepoint and Kirana. Went inside and bought a couple bags of stale buffalo chickpea chips and a warm nimbu soda. Sat on the curb out front to “enjoy” my breakfast and wait for karma to deliver a ride."
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
open.substack.com/pub/joetanke...
“just in case any of you listening are imagining this as some kind of romantic streamer of the vagabond life, time to share the real sitch about life on the road AfterAmerica."
Johnny Darlin 7/25/2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-51...
Johnny Darlin 7/25/2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-51...
Episode 5.1: Racing Mother Nature
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
“just in case any of you listening are imagining this as some kind of romantic streamer of the vagabond life, time to share the real sitch about life on the road AfterAmerica."
Johnny Darlin 7/25/2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-51...
Johnny Darlin 7/25/2042
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-51...
Latest from Welcome to Thrutopia. A wonderfully imagined world from Amy Johnson. thrutopia.substack.com/p/two-eyed-s...
Two-Eyed Seeing
A short story by Amy Johnson
thrutopia.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Latest from Welcome to Thrutopia. A wonderfully imagined world from Amy Johnson. thrutopia.substack.com/p/two-eyed-s...
7/18/2042 Johnny Darlin's search for Hope After America takes him to Cheyenne Wy where trad values and community collaboration offer one vision for the new west. joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
Episode 4.1: Cheyenne United
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:19 PM
7/18/2042 Johnny Darlin's search for Hope After America takes him to Cheyenne Wy where trad values and community collaboration offer one vision for the new west. joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
SolarPunk Stories. Great source for the latest in solarpunk creativity. solarpunkstories.substack.com?r=1177&utm_c...
SolarPunk Stories | Substack
Let's make a deliciously sustainable future together. Click to read SolarPunk Stories, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
solarpunkstories.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:01 PM
SolarPunk Stories. Great source for the latest in solarpunk creativity. solarpunkstories.substack.com?r=1177&utm_c...
"A bloody week of violence between climate refugees and locals threatened to burn down Cheyenne.. All too common a story in communities where the failing federal government dumped and then abandoned thousands of climate refugees."
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
Episode 4.1: Cheyenne United
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica
joetankersley.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
"A bloody week of violence between climate refugees and locals threatened to burn down Cheyenne.. All too common a story in communities where the failing federal government dumped and then abandoned thousands of climate refugees."
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-41...
Thanks to Alex Holland for this kind shout out for Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project. His newsletter is a great source for fans of bright futures.
open.substack.com/pub/solarpun...
open.substack.com/pub/solarpun...
New solarpunk art, analysis and more
Practopian stories, Namibian solarpunk and other stuff in our latest round-up
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Thanks to Alex Holland for this kind shout out for Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project. His newsletter is a great source for fans of bright futures.
open.substack.com/pub/solarpun...
open.substack.com/pub/solarpun...
7/15/2042 We leave Deseret behind and enter the former state of Colorado, now part of the Three Corners Consortium. Traffic picks up. We pass through small towns where people are on the streets, businesses open. Almost like life goes on the way it used to.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-31...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-31...
November 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
7/15/2042 We leave Deseret behind and enter the former state of Colorado, now part of the Three Corners Consortium. Traffic picks up. We pass through small towns where people are on the streets, businesses open. Almost like life goes on the way it used to.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-31...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-31...
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
According to the landfill miners, living on top of a toxic mountain of garbage beats being a wage chaser in the old economy. Work matters and plenty to eat. Long as you like crispy cricket patties.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/creating-h...
According to the landfill miners, living on top of a toxic mountain of garbage beats being a wage chaser in the old economy. Work matters and plenty to eat. Long as you like crispy cricket patties.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/creating-h...
Creating Hope from Garbage
Episode Two Continued
joetankersley.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
According to the landfill miners, living on top of a toxic mountain of garbage beats being a wage chaser in the old economy. Work matters and plenty to eat. Long as you like crispy cricket patties.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/creating-h...
According to the landfill miners, living on top of a toxic mountain of garbage beats being a wage chaser in the old economy. Work matters and plenty to eat. Long as you like crispy cricket patties.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/creating-h...
The mountain of garbage is covered in a riot of living color, reds, yellows, even green. Apparently, these plants didn’t get the memo about global warming. Or like the people who refuse to leave, are just too stubborn to give up.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
Episode 2 - Mount Trashmore
Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project
joetankersley.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The mountain of garbage is covered in a riot of living color, reds, yellows, even green. Apparently, these plants didn’t get the memo about global warming. Or like the people who refuse to leave, are just too stubborn to give up.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
My latest experiment in using narrative to inspire better tomorrows, Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project is live on Substack.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-on...
I hope it will inspire you to create and share your own stories of positive futures
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-on...
I hope it will inspire you to create and share your own stories of positive futures
Episode One - Leaving LA
July 10, 2042
joetankersley.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
My latest experiment in using narrative to inspire better tomorrows, Searching for Hope AfterAmerica: The Practopia Project is live on Substack.
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-on...
I hope it will inspire you to create and share your own stories of positive futures
joetankersley.substack.com/p/episode-on...
I hope it will inspire you to create and share your own stories of positive futures
This is the kind of positivefuture stories we need to be creating
One-sentence Future: Agentic Legos
open.substack.com/pub/davidjst...
One-sentence Future: Agentic Legos
open.substack.com/pub/davidjst...
One-sentence Future: Agentic Legos
An agentic AI Lego named Milo forms a deep bond with a quiet preschooler named Juniper, gently encouraging her creativity and confidence through collaborative play, becoming her trusted companion and ...
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This is the kind of positivefuture stories we need to be creating
One-sentence Future: Agentic Legos
open.substack.com/pub/davidjst...
One-sentence Future: Agentic Legos
open.substack.com/pub/davidjst...
the capacity to imagine the future –
imagination as resistance
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Increasingly we need voices that recognize the severity of our situation but can also offer us an option other than dystopian despair. Elisa Rahje's meditations on "active hope" is one of the best.
having awoken –
open.substack.com/pub/appletur...
having awoken –
open.substack.com/pub/appletur...
having awoken –
on reviving the root patterns of healing
open.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Increasingly we need voices that recognize the severity of our situation but can also offer us an option other than dystopian despair. Elisa Rahje's meditations on "active hope" is one of the best.
having awoken –
open.substack.com/pub/appletur...
having awoken –
open.substack.com/pub/appletur...
This month's post on Welcome to Thrutopia is a wonderful glimpse at one possible future, Exmouth 2034. open.substack.com/pub/thrutopi...
Exmouth 2034
by Sarah Allen
open.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM
This month's post on Welcome to Thrutopia is a wonderful glimpse at one possible future, Exmouth 2034. open.substack.com/pub/thrutopi...
Welcome to Thrutopia is a substack anthology created by writers exploring possible ways forward through the current metacrisis. The latest offering from Ana Salote proves its possible to have fun while fighting against toxic consumerism. Enjoy. open.substack.com/pub/thrutopi...
To all my Fans
A short story by Ana Salote
open.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Welcome to Thrutopia is a substack anthology created by writers exploring possible ways forward through the current metacrisis. The latest offering from Ana Salote proves its possible to have fun while fighting against toxic consumerism. Enjoy. open.substack.com/pub/thrutopi...
What do you write? I was asked this question recently and fumbled the answer. I'm part of a group of writers exploring Thruopia- ways forward toward a future we would be proud to leave our children. To me that always feels clunky. Curious if others writing in related genres have compelling pitches.
April 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
What do you write? I was asked this question recently and fumbled the answer. I'm part of a group of writers exploring Thruopia- ways forward toward a future we would be proud to leave our children. To me that always feels clunky. Curious if others writing in related genres have compelling pitches.