Can the West Coast outgrow America? Greg explores Ecotopia, sovereignty, and the future of freedom—solo.
In this episode of
Pacific Time, host Greg Amrofell trades guests for green tea, a dog-eared novel, and a mic, inviting listeners on a hike through political despair, ecological design, and West Coast sovereignty. The guidebook? A 1975 cult classic:
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach.
This isn’t just a book review. It’s a reframing of what independence really means. Greg weaves personal reflection with insights from past guests—exploring the paradox of building a region that’s both more self-directed and more interconnected.
Is Ecotopia just a retro fantasy? Or a prophetic prototype for a West Coast that’s already halfway out the door?
🔍 Episode Highlights
✅ Why
Ecotopia still resonates 50 years later
✅ The difference between freedom and isolation
✅ A fictional interview between Greg and William Weston
✅ Callbacks to insights from
recent guests
✅ What West Coast sovereignty might actually look like
✅ Independence
and interdependence: Why we need both
✅ What we can learn from fiction—and how to turn it into policy
✅ A closing invitation: What if we stopped asking permission from DC?
📚 Related Resources
🎧 Related Episodes
👤 About the Host
Greg Amrofell is the host of
Pacific Time, a podcast exploring the big 'what if' questions about the future of the West Coast. Greg is also an entrepreneur, writer and untrained thespian who believes we can challenge the broken systems around us without losing our curiosity, community, or sense of humor. Based in Seattle, Greg's work explores the intersection between personal and political sovereignty in the best places on Earth. Listener feedback and ideas welcome:
greg@pacifictimepodcast.com
Join the movement:
💬 Participate in active, civil conversations with your neighbors on the West Coast who are asking ‘What if…?’ Come to the community center for Pacific Time at
Substack.
Follow:
📲 Pacific Time is making good trouble asking questions about the future of the West Coast on
BlueSky,
Instagram, and
Facebook
Listen:
🎧 Pacific Time Podcast is on
Spotify,
Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms. Please follow, share, and leave a review.
What is Pacific Time: The "What if...?" of West Coast Independence?
What if the West Coast could chart its own course? What if our innovations, values, and creative energy weren’t diluted by national politics? What if West Coast sovereignty was a dream and a strategy?
Welcome to Pacific Time, where host Greg Amrofell—a relentless provocateur who has lived his whole life up and down the West Coast—invites you to imagine bold solutions. We explore how to make the West Coast better if it's undistilled by the faltering American experiment..
Each episode features meaningful conversations with thought leaders, innovators, policymakers, and visionaries. We’ll tackle the big questions of sovereignty, and self-determination, imagining and sharpening the West Coast’s cultural identity, economic potential, and environmental leadership.
Pacific Time is for the intellectually curious, the disillusioned optimists, and the dreamers who refuse to accept that status quo in America is the best we can do on the West Coast. Here, we cut through the partisan noise and welcome transformative ideas from a broad spectrum of iconoclasts. We ask how we can work together to elevate the West Coast and get past the narratives that marginalize us “Out West” on the “Left Coast.”
It’s time to reimagine what’s possible. Let’s ask, “What if…” and find out.