Episodes
July 16, 2024
767: Andrew Bennett, part 2: Behind the scenes with a New York City chef
If you like food, you'll love this episode. I shared before how unbelievably delicious Andrew's food was, even if it were at a top restaurant. But he works at a hospital, so it was healthy too. I almost don't go to restauran…
July 13, 2024
766: Chip Conley, part 1: Learning to Love Midlife
I'd heard about Chip long ago but only met him recently at a launch event for his book Learning to Love Midlife . It resonated since at 52 years old, I was smack in the middle of the part of life he was talking about, after …
July 10, 2024
765: Bruce Alexander, part 2: Can the Spodek Method scale from the individual to the world?
I think I can safely say Bruce and I have formed a friendship, both professional and from similar interests, even though he's retired and I'm not a psychologist. I learn psychology to help lead. We're both intrigued by addic…
July 6, 2024
764: Erica Frank, part 2: "No Hairshirt At All." Instead: Abundance
I rarely get to talk to people who expect living more sustainably to be joyful and rewarding from personal experience, not just hoping for the best. I enjoyed sharing that perspective with Erica last time, I invited her back…
June 28, 2024
763: Guy Spier, part 2: Limited government, free market, low tax sustainability solutions
I loved where this conversation led. We began by talking about recent news: Greta Thunberg taking a political stand and acting publicly on it on an issue unrelated to the environment. Guy described how he saw this action dis…
June 22, 2024
762: Chef Andrew Bennett: Changing the Culture of Hospital Food
I start my conversation with Andy with what brought me to him: the meal after recording with the guy who hired him, podcast guest Sven Gierlinger , and the Washington Post article that read like a paid ad for their food, Hos…
June 19, 2024
761: Dave Kerpen, part 2: Joyfully Skipping Donuts
This conversation was brief, but covered the important points, particularly the challenges of changing habits. Dave didn't do everything he intended, though I thought he succeeded more than he did. The goal of the Spodek Met…
June 11, 2024
760: Adam Alter: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked
Adam treats dependence and addiction in some ways different and unique than past guests who have covered addiction. One way is the business side. For example, early in this conversation, he talks about how people at companie…
June 8, 2024
759: Bruce Alexander, part 1: Rat Park, Addiction, and Sustainability
I start by describing how podcast guest Carl Erik Fisher , author of bestseller The Urge , reviewed my upcoming book Sustainability Simplified as a subject matter expert on addiction. Carl mentioned how my book suffered from…
June 6, 2024
758: Peter Singer, part 2: A philosopher approaches sustainability
I started by sharing my experience giving after reading Peter's book The Life You Can Save . I confess I only read it after our first conversation, but loved it. I feared reading a book by an academic philosopher arguing a p…
May 25, 2024
757: Dr. Anna Lembke, part 1: Dopamine Nation
Regular listeners know I see our relationships with many activities that are enabled by pollution as behavioral addictions like gambling or playing video games. Thus, I bring experts in addiction. Anna's book Dopamine Nation…
May 23, 2024
756: Kimberly Nicholas: How Fly Less? Fly less.
Kimberly has, by dramatically reducing her flying, improved her life, living more deliberately and consistent with her values. I met her when she was a panelist at an event on promoting hurting people less by flying less. I …
May 18, 2024
755: Stefan Gössling: Busting self-serving myths about flying
People who fly think most people fly, but it's more like a few percent. A small fraction of people fly, let alone across oceans or multiple times per year. If you fly, it's probably your action that hurts people most through…
May 7, 2024
754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back
"What I do doesn't matter" is one of the more common sentiments of our time. We use it to avoid acting when we see problems. A similar rationalization not to act: "I have faith that younger people will solve our environmenta…
April 18, 2024
753: Martin Doblmeier, part 2: Sabbath and Sustainablity
A blackout struck New York City and a large part of the U.S. northeast in 2003. It happened only two years after 9/11. How could we not first wonder if it was terrorism. I had been at work at the time. After waiting maybe an…
April 16, 2024
752: Dave Kerpen, part 1: Delegation for leaders and entrepreneurs
Dave and I go back years, to when we both wrote columns at Inc. I'm surprised I didn't bring him on before. He helps entrepreneurs, leaders, and aspiring leaders develop social and emotional skills, as well as college studen…
April 11, 2024
751: Erica Frank, part 1: Living More Joyfully Sustainably for Decades
I met Erica in a online meeting of academics who promote avoiding flying. A major perk for many academics is that universities pay for flying to academic conferences, for research, and for other academic reasons, of where th…
March 21, 2024
750: Alden Wicker: To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Poisoning Us. You'll Be Shocked
Since recording this conversation, I've mentioned to a lot of people, "you wouldn't believe the situation with dyes and poisons in our clothes." The most common response has been something like, "Oh yeah, I've heard. It's te…
March 15, 2024
749: Sven Gierlinger, part 1: Transforming the Culture of a New York Hospital Chain as a Chief Experience Officer
I heard about Sven through the articles below about the cultural change at Northwell, a chain of hospitals around New York City. I recommend reading the Post article before listening to this episode. It may read overly posit…
March 13, 2024
748: Stephen Broyles, part 2: A Calming, Life Change From One Small Commitment
About fifteen minutes into this conversation, it hit me how powerfully Stephen's commitment affected him. (Sorry I took so long to catch on, Stephen!) All he had to do was volunteer around a body of water. His experience sho…
Feb. 17, 2024
747: Go Alan Go!, part 1: The drummer rocking Washington Square Park
Regular listeners and blog readers know I talk about litter and how much we wreck nature, especially my neighborhood's back yard, Washington Square Park. Click the links below to see some of the worst litter you've seen, in …
Feb. 15, 2024
746: Martin Doblmeier, part 1: What We Can Learn from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I'm searching for role models including people who changed cultures and undid dominance hierarchies, particularly people who came from status. I can think of many who came from subjugated classes, but not many who could have…
Feb. 4, 2024
745: Mattan Griffel, part 2: Is our dependence on polluting behavior "addiction"?
I have spoken and written at length how I see our relationship with polluting behavior as qualifying as addiction, a view that I think helps frame the challenge of sustainability. Overcoming addiction is harder than creating…
Jan. 25, 2024
744: Stephen Broyles, part 1: What Is Social Work and How Does It Relate to Leadership and Action?
Regular listeners and readers of my blog will know my sustainability leadership workshops and one of the participants of the first, Evelyn (she's in the video on that link). After being the teaching assistant for a couple co…