Episodes

847: Tzeporah Berman: Ending Fossil Fuels by Treaty
Feb. 27, 2026

847: Tzeporah Berman: Ending Fossil Fuels by Treaty

I met Tzeporah at an event called Climate Week NYC last fall. She was nearly the only person there who spoke about decreasing and stopping extracting fossil fuels. I had to bring her here. Our conversation grew more compellin...
846: Gail Eisnitz: The Inside Story of a Life Investigating Factory Farms
Feb. 17, 2026

846: Gail Eisnitz: The Inside Story of a Life Investigating Factory Farms

Gail shares her investigations into meat industry practices, exploring how exorbitant slaughterhouse production line speeds in a consolidated slaughter industry affect animals as they are being handled and killed, and how the...
845: Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon: The War on Cars and Life After Cars
Feb. 13, 2026

845: Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon: The War on Cars and Life After Cars

Doug and Sarah's podcast The War on Cars is a podcast that delivers news and commentary on the latest developments in the worldwide fight to undo a century’s worth of damage wrought by the automobile, approaching the topic fr...
844: Maya Lilly, part 1: Effective Storytelling and Producing The Years Project
Jan. 12, 2026

844: Maya Lilly, part 1: Effective Storytelling and Producing The Years Project

Since I've seen Maya's work on the Years Project with people like executive producers James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was worried I might feel starstruck. Oh wait, she also worked with series creators Joel Bach and...
843: Judith Enck, part 2: The Problem with Plastic (the Book)
Jan. 6, 2026

843: Judith Enck, part 2: The Problem with Plastic (the Book)

Judith just published The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late . I've read a lot about plastic and hosted many authors. I won't lie. Before starting the book, I thought I should ...
842: Silvia Bellezza, part 1.5 and 2: When at first you don't succeed
Dec. 26, 2025

842: Silvia Bellezza, part 1.5 and 2: When at first you don't succeed

Since Silvia teaches as a business school, I'll address a leadership aspect of our interaction. I skimped on a leadership step, so we did an episode 1.5, which is my lingo for redoing episode 1 when the person wasn't able to ...
841: Sandra Goldmark, part 1: Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet
Nov. 3, 2025

841: Sandra Goldmark, part 1: Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet

How often does something break that you know could be fixed, but you don't know how and there are no places to fix it? I remember repair stores all over the place, but the field doesn't exist any more. We all know about plann...
840: Dr. Leonardo Trasande, part 1: Sicker, Fatter, Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future ... and What We Can Do About It
Nov. 1, 2025

840: Dr. Leonardo Trasande, part 1: Sicker, Fatter, Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future ... and What We Can Do About It

I found Dr. Trasande quoted in a Washington Post article The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about: Phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, are linked to an array of problems, especially in pregnancy . He said...
839: Saabira Chaudhuri: Consumed: Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us
Oct. 7, 2025

839: Saabira Chaudhuri: Consumed: Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us

Reading Saabira's New York Times piece Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us told me she saw more about plastic and its effect on our culture than most. A quote from it: "The social costs of our addiction to disposable plastics ...
837: Zach Rabinor, part 1: Getting serious about sustainable travel?
Sept. 26, 2025

837: Zach Rabinor, part 1: Getting serious about sustainable travel?

I met Zach at an event I spoke at sponsored by the Young Presidents Organization, whose members tend to be successful in business. The criteria to join require it. I knew the people would be friendly, but suspected they would...
837: Zach Rabinor, part 2: What if your business and values clash?
Sept. 26, 2025

837: Zach Rabinor, part 2: What if your business and values clash?

Zach and I got so into our first conversation that we had to take a second one to get to the Spodek Method. Listen for yourself, but I hear Zach working with three motivations: His surfer, outdoors self wants to conserve, pro...
836 Dr. Robert Fullilove, part 5: Unsustainability is upstream of imperialism, colonialism, slavery, and racism
Sept. 23, 2025

836 Dr. Robert Fullilove, part 5: Unsustainability is upstream of imperialism, colonialism, slavery, and racism

Since our fourth recording, Dr. Bob and I spoke at length about what's driving me and keeping me going beyond where nearly anyone else does on sustainability leadership. We cover in this recording most of that conversation, p...
835: At last! I can access my roof to charge solar for the first time in 18 months.
Sept. 11, 2025

835: At last! I can access my roof to charge solar for the first time in 18 months.

This week, I charged my solar panel and battery on my roof for the first time for over 18 months. My building had to do maintenance during which no residents could access the roof. They told us the job would take 5 months, bu...
834: Do Americans Know How to Prepare Food From Scratch?
Aug. 25, 2025

834: Do Americans Know How to Prepare Food From Scratch?

Late summer means produce at peak ripeness, especially peaches and heirloom tomatoes. Regular readers of my blog and subscribers to my newsletter have read of how my volunteering to bring overstock food from stores to places ...
833: Aaron Blaise: A Master Disney Director and Animator on Self Expression, Leadership, and Nature
Aug. 15, 2025

833: Aaron Blaise: A Master Disney Director and Animator on Self Expression, Leadership, and Nature

Aaron and I met after I got to see a screening of his recent short animated film Snow Bear . I knew about Aaron's achievements from participating in some of the biggest animated movies of all time. I expected to talk about ar...
832: Robert Fullilove, part 4: Action in the Center of Civil Rights in the 1960s
Aug. 6, 2025

832: Robert Fullilove, part 4: Action in the Center of Civil Rights in the 1960s

Dr. Bob worked in the heart of the US Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He shares stories of his interactions with Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture), John Lewis, and more. In earlier conversations with him, I shared wha...
831: Glenn Hubbard: Dean of Columbia Business School on Adam Smith and Leadership
Aug. 4, 2025

831: Glenn Hubbard: Dean of Columbia Business School on Adam Smith and Leadership

I can't help but call Glenn "Dean Hubbard" since I met him as a student at Columbia Business School. That was 2005, making him one of the guests I've known the longest. I invited him to the podcast after seeing a talk he gave...
830: Jo Nemeth, part 2: Nature improves time with loved ones
July 29, 2025

830: Jo Nemeth, part 2: Nature improves time with loved ones

We jumped in to talking about her Spodek Method commitment. She lives in a suburban area. There's a place near her that borders on bush, which I guess is Australian for undeveloped land. This spot with a bench designed for ex...
829: Adam Galinsky, part 1: I love that he wrote the book: Inspire
July 22, 2025

829: Adam Galinsky, part 1: I love that he wrote the book: Inspire

Adam teaches leadership at Columbia Business School, where I learned there were classes in leadership, which changed the direction of my life. Regular listeners know I consider leadership the most important missing element in...
828: Richard Reeves: For Boys and Men: support and love over misunderstanding
July 18, 2025

828: Richard Reeves: For Boys and Men: support and love over misunderstanding

When people talk about helping men, a lot of people think any and maybe every man might just have latent misogyny, so helping him risks augmenting misogyny. Richard Reeves has researched the situation extensively and for what...
827: Chris Berdik: Scientific American loved his book Clamor (so did I)
July 17, 2025

827: Chris Berdik: Scientific American loved his book Clamor (so did I)

Sound pollution is pollution. You know it's been growing for your whole life with little sign of decreasing. I wish I lived in a world with less sound pollution, but given that I do, I'd rather be aware and conscious of it th...
826: Jo Nemeth, part 1: Living without money frees her to do what she loves
July 8, 2025

826: Jo Nemeth, part 1: Living without money frees her to do what she loves

Can you imagine living without money? Humans lived without money for 250,000 years, so it's not necessary for life. Money seems like an invention on par with the big ones, like fire, the wheel, writing, and language. Right of...
825: Ryan Mandelbaum, part 2: Rising to the challenge of random acts of friendliness
July 5, 2025

825: Ryan Mandelbaum, part 2: Rising to the challenge of random acts of friendliness

Ryan shares his experience approaching people to share in his joy. The task is not easy anywhere, least of all the Bronx, where he doesn't live but was visiting. Do people in the big city want to hear why some guy is walking ...
824: Dr. Rob Reed, part 2: Learning to love leading effectively
July 1, 2025

824: Dr. Rob Reed, part 2: Learning to love leading effectively

Rob starts by sharing his experience from leadership coaching in the context of a hospital with people in intensive care as well as their families. Situations are often emotionally intense. Treating just facts doesn't work, o...