Episodes

343: Chad Pregracke: One River, One Piece of Garbage at a Time
June 3, 2020

343: Chad Pregracke: One River, One Piece of Garbage at a Time

Many people suggest people as guests who are doing "environmental things". They don't know my strategy with this podcast, which I describe in my solo episode Clarifying my strategy . The crux is that I focus on leadership and...
342: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, part 2: Sex
May 29, 2020

342: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, part 2: Sex

For background, first listen to my first Sex, Drug, and Rock and Roll episode, part 1: Rock and Roll , how Bruce Springsteen's Broadway show motivated me at last to share some episodes about me. Listeners have asked to know m...
341: NFL Tight End Chris Manhertz, part 1: Making your dreams happen
May 27, 2020

341: NFL Tight End Chris Manhertz, part 1: Making your dreams happen

I love talking to professional athletes. Today I talk with Chris Manhertz, a tight end in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. We cover three main things and partly a fourth. Making the NFL never having competed in football. H...
340: Michael Turner, DDS, MD: On the front line of Covid-19 in New York City
May 19, 2020

340: Michael Turner, DDS, MD: On the front line of Covid-19 in New York City

Want inside views of covid-19 in the epicenter of the epicenter? Michael has been working at the front line of Covid-19 in New York City. He's also my brother-in-law who has known me since the 80s. I started the pattern of br...
339: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams: Food Matters
May 19, 2020

339: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams: Food Matters

Brooklyn Borough President means Mayor of Brooklyn. If Brooklyn separated from New York City, Eric Adams would be the mayor of the third most populous city in the country. If it separated from New York State, he'd be Governor...
338: Abbey Ryan, part 1: Technique and Mastery Through Practice
May 14, 2020

338: Abbey Ryan, part 1: Technique and Mastery Through Practice

I consider leadership a performance art and the environment the most beautiful thing around. Abbey and I talked about beauty, art, performance, teaching, technique, craft, and everything that goes into mastery. She has little...
337: Why we feel miserable under lockdown
May 9, 2020

337: Why we feel miserable under lockdown

I discuss the connection between perceiving lack of variety in food made from scratch and feeling miserable and bored under lockdown, despite having access to all the world's art, music, literature, and culture ever recorded ...
336: Julian Guderley: GreenPlanet BluePlanet
May 8, 2020

336: Julian Guderley: GreenPlanet BluePlanet

If you measure an interaction with someone by how much it affects and improves your life, my conversation with Julian was profound. Why? His conversation led me to start meditating regularly---something I've considered for ye...
335: Rhonda Lamb, part 2: reversing food deserts
May 6, 2020

335: Rhonda Lamb, part 2: reversing food deserts

The quote you just heard was Rhonda's description how showing people how to cook the way I showed them could save time and money for people to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. After Rhonda and my first conversation, I recom...
334: Jethro Jones, part 2: Biking in -40 degrees. Why not?
May 1, 2020

334: Jethro Jones, part 2: Biking in -40 degrees. Why not?

This episode starts off strong with Jethro's matter-of-fact description of riding a bike in minus 40 degree weather. He's a principal going to school, but could be talking about radical mountain biking. I don't remember my pr...
333: A racist with a heart of gold is still a racist
April 30, 2020

333: A racist with a heart of gold is still a racist

This pandemic continues to reveal new aspects of relationships—or rather spending time with people does. I think we used to spend more time with people, not mediated by the internet or distracted by screens and other powered ...
332: How leaders choose better
April 27, 2020

332: How leaders choose better

Leadership means choosing and deciding for yourself and for others. To lead effectively, it helps to know how you choose and what happens in your heart and mind when you choose---that is, how your intellect and emotions inter...
331: Rob Harper, part 2: A Pro-Trump View
April 25, 2020

331: Rob Harper, part 2: A Pro-Trump View

Our second recorded conversation covered Rob's experience with separating his recycling. The first time we met we meant to record but ended up speaking for three hours, partly meeting as person-to-person and also talking abou...
330: Lockdown Inspiration from Nelson Mandela
April 23, 2020

330: Lockdown Inspiration from Nelson Mandela

Many of us are struggling living in lockdown. Nelson Mandela has inspired me in many ways. Going beyond subsisting in captivity, he emerged from 27 years imprisoned on Robben Island---South Africa's Alcatraz---to become Presi...
329: John Perkins: Touching the Jaguar
April 21, 2020

329: John Perkins: Touching the Jaguar

A great joy of podcast success is talking to people who changed your life. I read John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man about ten years ago. I couldn't put it down---as much from the writing as the stories and cont...
328: Tony Wagner, Learning by Heart
April 20, 2020

328: Tony Wagner, Learning by Heart

People often ask for advice on how to lead in a given situation, what leadership means, or one tip they can improve their leadership with. Nearly none of the questions help someone improve their leadership. The most useful qu...
327: Rhonda Lamb, part 1: The Bronx and farm-fresh vegetables
April 18, 2020

327: Rhonda Lamb, part 1: The Bronx and farm-fresh vegetables

You'll hear about Rhonda and how we met in the beginning of our conversation, but I brought her in for a different reason than most of my other guests. I invite a lot of people to my famous no-packaging vegetable stew. Though...
326: Why Should I Care About Oskar Schindler?
April 16, 2020

326: Why Should I Care About Oskar Schindler?

I used Oskar Schindler in my third TEDx talk along with a few others as examples of people who took risks to do what they considered right—and that I think nearly all of us do. People like Rosa Parks and those who operated th...
325: My Mom, Marie Spodek: All in the Family
April 13, 2020

325: My Mom, Marie Spodek: All in the Family

I thought about recording with parents for a while. Environmental action is personal and people keep asking me what motivates me. Well, now you'll get almost 50 years more background. Another issue with family and changing ha...
324: Marina McCoy, part 1: A Waste-Free Earth Through Music
April 10, 2020

324: Marina McCoy, part 1: A Waste-Free Earth Through Music

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to talk to someone who finds ways to do more, not to get credit for what she's already done. Overwhelmingly, conversations with people about acting on our environmental values seem to fin...
323: Steven Kotler: Future Is Faster Than You Think
April 9, 2020

323: Steven Kotler: Future Is Faster Than You Think

One of my goals of this podcast is to bring people with alternative views. I won't deny this motive being mainly selfish. I want to learn and grow from alternative view. I grew up viewing technology and efficiency as better w...
322: Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, part 1: Rock and Roll
April 8, 2020

322: Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, part 1: Rock and Roll

Growing up in Philadelphia in the 70s meant Bruce Springsteen was a part of my life. I’ll always remember a fan in a promotional radio b-roll clip from one of the classic rock stations saying excitedly, definitively, “He’s th...
321: Marni Kinrys, part 2: Making Stewardship Normal
April 7, 2020

321: Marni Kinrys, part 2: Making Stewardship Normal

Before we recorded, Marni humbly said what she did wasn't that big of a deal, just a bit more than she normally did. She wondered the point of sharing it. So this second conversation with Marni was short and we talked as much...
320: Confronting doof
April 4, 2020

320: Confronting doof

I got a taste of what I believe leads people to tell me they can't avoid packaging or buying fresh, local produce. Living in a semi-rural area led me to shop in a large supermarket for the first time in a year or two. They ca...