Episodes
Aug. 1, 2023
707: Arnold Leitner, part 1: The founder of YouSolar, more than off-grid living
Do you like my work because of my nearly unique background of a PhD in physics, having cofounded a couple companies, and having an MBA? You're in luck with Arnold, who has done the same. We got our MBAs together at Columbia …
July 30, 2023
706: What I sound like talking sustainability when I forgot I was being recorded
You've heard me talk sustainability leadership on this podcast and probably others. Have you wondered what I sound like talking to friends unrecorded? A friend who also teaches leadership at NYU knew my background and had ta…
July 27, 2023
705: Greg Bertelsen: A bipartisan climate roadmap including a carbon tax
Recent guest Bob Litterman spoke highly of Greg and his work at the Climate Leadership Council, a rare bipartisan effort on climate. He put us in touch. In the meantime, I was curious about a climate group started by Secreta…
July 25, 2023
704: Gernot Wagner, part 1: Guiding Misguided Economic Forces in the Right Direction
Gernot and I go back a few years from meeting online over sustainability issues, finding out that we lived about a mile from each other, then meeting in person. Our first meeting, we got annoyed at each other, but our second…
July 22, 2023
703: David Gessner, part 1: A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World
What does the world look like today with regard to our environmental situation? Not the latest news about a disaster we can write off as a one-time event, even if yet another once a once-in-a-century event now common, but wh…
July 18, 2023
702: Peter Singer, part 1: Calm, reflective talk considering not flying
With Peter Singer, I could have picked several topics relevant to sustainability leadership: veganism, vegetarianism, and charity come to mind, as does my post about him six months ago, Fixing Peter Singer’s drowning child a…
July 16, 2023
701: Robert Litterman, part 2: "We need legislation, we need a price on carbon."
You won't hear many finance people promoting more taxes, though it's increasing. Bob talks beyond our conversation a few weeks before about a carbon tax, integrity, permanence, standards, measurement, and many different angl…
July 13, 2023
700: Matt Matern, part 2: Plant a Tree
Matt shared last time about the redwoods I keep hearing about in California that I've never seen but find they transform people. His goal was to plant a tree. He ended up with a new tree, plus he planted other plants. Listen…
July 12, 2023
699: Robert Litterman, part 1: A Carbon Tax and Managing Risk
I met Bob at a conference on climate at my old school, Columbia Business School. He knew another participant, Gernot Wagner, with whom I recorded an episode I'll post soon, and was a peer with past guest Mark Tercek . I didn…
July 6, 2023
698: Chris Bystroff, part 1: Population Growth and Overpopulation
Population modeling can be hard, as is figuring out a prediction's accuracy, therefore how much confidence to give your conclusions. Many people can't hear talk about population without hearing things like eugenics and racis…
July 4, 2023
697: Dan Walsh, part 2: He sold his motorcycle and Playstation to gain freedom
In what looks to me like one of the biggest overcommitments of guests on this podcast and participants in the Spodek Method, Dan shares that to free his mind for meditation, he ended up selling his motorcycle and Playstation…
June 29, 2023
696: Oliver Burkeman, part 1.5: Removing Obstacles, not Making Arguments
How do you feel when you mean to do something but don't do it. Do you tell people about it? Do you hide it? Nearly no one is acting as much on sustainability as we need to to avoid disaster. Beyond not acting, we aren't faci…
June 23, 2023
695: Dan Walsh, part 1: Two-time Olympian and Bronze medalist in rowing
If learning what it's like to watch your team win an Olympic gold medal from the sidelines isn't enough, and if learning what it's like to grow up in a family beset with poverty and addiction before reaching Olympic level co…
June 21, 2023
694: Matthew Matern, part 1: Running for President on Sustainability
Matt invited me to his podcast, A Climate Change . We stayed in touch after recording. He shared that he ran for President, including supporting sustainability. A goal of this podcast is to bring elected officials of all str…
June 17, 2023
693: Christopher Ketcham, part 2: The Green Growth Delusion
Christopher may be the most direct, accurate reporter on sustainability. Our last conversation treated his helpful and accurate reporting on the book Limits to Growth . Today we start from his (in my opinion) excellent artic…
June 13, 2023
692: Daniel, host of the "What Is Politics?" videocast, part 2: Is Changing CEOs Possible
The spiciest parts of this conversation come at the end. It's possible listeners may think we were annoying each other, but I think I can speak for both of us that we enjoyed the repartee. Anyone who has talked to me about m…
June 7, 2023
691: Oliver Burkeman, part 1.5: Embracing Our Inevitable Limitations on Time and Energy
I've been recommending Oliver's book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals a lot. When people ask about it, I have a hard time explaining what it says, only that it's valuable. He has a way of communicating import…
June 1, 2023
690: Leah Rothstein: Just Action, a blueprint for concerned citizens and community leaders
This podcast and my mission are about changing culture. The Color of Law compiled our culture's practices that I can only see as cruel and unfair. As long as they're hidden, we can't do much about them. Listen to my episode …
June 1, 2023
689: Workshop results: Can Learning to Lead Sustainability be fun, inspiring, and effective? Yes!
[Click to watch the video of this post.] Can Learning to Lead Sustainability be fun, inspiring, and effective? Yes! I just finished leading my first workshop in leading oneself and others effectively to act more sustainably:…
May 28, 2023
688: Maya K. van Rossum, part 1: Green Amendments for the Environment (State and Federal)
Some context leading to my conversation with Maya : When I first thought of a constitutional amendment to protect us from pollution, I thought the idea was crazy, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. The more I did, the mo…
May 28, 2023
687: Should We Amend the Constitution for the Environment?: A constitutional scholar (Michael Herz) and American abolition historian (James Oakes)
See the video for this episode here . I speak about the concept of a constitutional amendment on the environment with former guests on the This Sustainable Life podcast: Michael Herz: Constitutional scholar and former lawyer…
May 19, 2023
686: Gautam Mukunda, part 1.5: Is Technology Necessarily Good?
In the first part of our conversation, we start by reviewing Gautam's commitment to sailing, which seemed and still seems a good idea to him. but maybe too much for now. We revisit what motivated him and come up with a new c…
May 16, 2023
685: Chris Bailey, part 3: How to Calm Your Mind: Dropping the latest iPhone for a flip phone and loving it
Chris returns to share his experience with the Spodek Method. He did something different than he committed to: he stopped using his smart phone---the latest Apple iPhone---in favor of a simple flip phone hearkening almost ba…
May 12, 2023
684, Simon Michaux: Do Governments Understand Energy? How Unprepared Are We?
Simon is a mining engineer who both researches the minerals and mining necessary if we were to try powering our culture with various sources. His work has brought him to work with government teams, especially economists and …