OH, is that why Ben didn't get his new noisemaker?
That is funny.

Anyway, the other thread was Orlov giving an interview to the news media.
This presentation is a bit more in depth.
I had almost forgotten about The Long Now. They get some very interesting speakers and not all of them are doom and gloom.

Edit.
I don't think the collapse is coming. I think it is already here.
A lot of people think disasters have to be instant catastrophes, but I think usually they are more like train wrecks is slow motion, where you watch the cars pile into each other as they leave the tracks.