November 18, 2016· 29 min

55: Here Are The Signs That A Civilization Is About To Collapse

Orality
Model
85%
Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostJoe Weisenthal(638 words)
M:94%
HostTracy Alloway(679 words)
M:94%
GuestArthur Demarest(3,063 words)
M:94%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic23%
very, huge, obviously
Engagement80%
you, our, your
Memory Aids100%
listen, now, so
Repetition100%
know (74x), it's (47x), like (39x)
Parallelism81%
And I'm Jill Weisenthal, manag..., So, Joe, how do you feel, abou..., So I thought today we could ta...
Sound Patterns53%
26 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"
Formulaic Phrases8%
you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging8%
could, maybe, probably
Passive Voice5%
been dubbed, are often, were structured
Abstract Nouns22%
investment, business, transportation
Subordination8%
because, though, since
Sentence Length33%
Avg: 13.3 words/sentence
Word Complexity47%
investment, analyze, anticipate
Academic Markers0%
Impersonal Style20%
389 personal pronouns found
Descriptive Style90%
actually, potentially, really

Description

All great civilizations eventually collapse. It's inevitable. So what are the signs of their demise? On the latest edition of Odd Lots, we speak with Arthur Demarest, a professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in the end of civilization. Demarest is an anthropologist and archaeologist who's most well known for his work on the Mayans. He tells us about his work, what he's learned -- and what we should be watching out for today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.