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This Sustainable Life — Science & Medicine
This Sustainable Life

Do you care about the environment but feel “I want to act, but if no one else does, it won’t make a difference,” and “But if you don’t solve everything, it isn’t worth doing anything”?

We are the antidote! You’re not alone. Hearing role models overcome the same feelings to enjoy acting on their values creates meaning, purpose, community, and emotional reward.

Want to improve as a leader? Bestselling author, 3-time TEDx speaker, leadership speaker, coach, and professor Joshua Spodek, PhD, MBA, brings joy and inspiration to acting on the environment. You’ll learn to lead without relying on authority.

We bring you leaders from many areas — business, politics, sports, arts, education, and more — to share their expertise for you to learn from. We then ask them to share and act on their environmental values. That’s leadership without authority — so they act for their reasons, not out of guilt, blame, doom, gloom, or someone telling them what to do.

Guests include:

Dan Pink, 40+ million TED Talk views

Marshall Goldsmith, #1-ranked leadership guru and author

Frances Hesselbein, Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, former CEO of the Girl Scouts

Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done

Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager

Vincent Stanley, Director of Patagonia

Dorie Clark, bestselling author

Bryan Braman, Super Bowl champion, Philadelphia Eagle

John Lee Dumas, top entrepreneurial podcaster

Alisa Cohn, top 100 speaker and coach

David Biello, Science curator for TED

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

560: Geoff Colvin, part 1: How to Become an Expert Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

My first week's assignment to my leadership classes at NYU for years has been to watch Geoff's conversation with Charlie Rose. Geoff got his MBA at NYU, but somehow I took years to connect with him. He was delighted to be a guest.

I assign Geoff's work because he communicates a message that you can become an expert and how to do it better than anyone. He speaks simply, eloquently, citing research, telling stories, and encouraging. In our conversation he explains and clarifies the meaning of deliberate practice. It's exactly what I want my students to learn before my class since it shows what will help them learn to lead in practice (not just reading and writing).

In our conversation, Geoff shares his work, clarifying for me some parts I needed clarifying, motivating me more. He also sounded intrigued by the Spodek Method motivating sharing his environmental values and acting on them. You'll hear two people who act and write on leadership discussing the method and how it works. I can't wait to hear his results.

Geoff's home page, with links to his books, many videos, audio recordings, and written pieces

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559: The Silky Smooth Seduction of Addiction Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

I decided to avoid putting screens on while I ate for a month. I expected to enjoy my food more, to find the euphoria I often feel from fresh, healthy food. I was surprised to find more the feeling of wanting to open a screen: a silky, seductive feeling that said, "It's good to turn on the screen. It's bad not to watch. You'll waste time if you don't put the screen on." The feeling came from inside.

I've felt that feeling before, but I felt more conscious of it this time. I wasn't selling-family-heirlooms-to-fuel-the-habit level addicted, but I felt the feelings enough to explore them. I share them in this episode, and how we've built our society and culture around profiting from creating those feelings in doof, social media, travel, online shopping, and increasing parts of modern life. It's sickening.

The challenge arose in training Conrad Ruiz, the newest host of the This Sustainable Life podcast family. He hasn't posted his first episode yet. I'll announce it on my blog. He led me through the Spodek Method as part of his training. Normally the first time someone practices, we don't record, but this experience affected me to where I wanted to share my experience. Regular blog readers know my interest in understanding addiction since I see most of our continuing behaviors that pollute, that we know are killing others, is addiction most people would consciously say they aren't but they are.

It's hard enough to stop someone addicted from their habit when they don't want to or if they don't think they're addicted. How about 330 million people, or 7.9 billion, who don't even realize they're doing anything in the realm of addiction? Few people think their watching TV or flying is an addiction. Few see using the cell phone as something worth avoiding, even as they use it five hours or more a day.

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558: Michael Carlino, part 5: Which is the danger, lowering or raising the human population? Feb 06, 2022

Show notes

This conversation was one of the most fascinating I've had. I couldn't have had it when I was younger. Michael and I are learning each other's world view regarding population, our innate drives, how we create or deplete resources, and related topics.

We both agree we want many humans prospering. Our world views differ in what creates the resources we need to live: more humans to create the resources or fewer humans to keep from depleting them. As a result, we each see the strategy the other promotes as grave threats to the mission we agree on: human flourishing.

What makes the conversation fascinating and one I couldn't have had before is that we aren't arguing or fighting. We're listening and learning.

We start by talking about habits, discipline, virtue, and aligning priorities. I think you'll like this fifth installment of our conversations.

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557: Rollie Williams, part 1: Comedy and climate change Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

I hope you know Climate Town. Watch a bunch of episodes if you haven't. This Sustainable Life listeners and hosts talk about the show. It's funny and fun, yet intelligent and informative. On top of the content, I watch the backgrounds, which often take place where I live in lower Manhattan and where I went to school, at Columbia, where Rollie went to.

So I contacted him and his team. We spoke. Within minutes I could tell why Climate Town is so funny. He and his team are funny. Immediately, I could tell I could learn from them.

Here he is. We talk about his and his shows' origins and goals. I always thought he was a scientist making humor. He's a humorist taking on science, but not just a little. Enough to go to graduate school for it. That's serious commitment to his craft. (I think he cares more about the environment than he says, but you can judge for yourself).

You'll hear commonalities and differences between us. For example, how to influence others and especially population. I describe the Spodek Method with him. You'll hear his commitment and some anticipation of conflict or synthesis in our next episode.

Plus, he's funny throughout. This episode isn't as funny and incisive as a typical Climate Town episode, but more of that than one of my normal episode, since Rollie brings it.

Climate Town
Sweatpants
James Burk's "The Greatest Shot in Television"

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556: Judith Enck: Beyond Plastic's Founder and President Jan 29, 2022

Show notes

Judith shares her work, motivation, and vision on a problem everyone sees killing people and wildlife, but shies from applying themselves to, maybe because we value our polyester clothes, bottled water, laptops, and such. Have we lost the ability to imagine the world before plastic was invented?

Her perspective, vision, and plans are common sense, sadly not common, yet, but she's working to bring us there. We do not need to use as much plastic as we do.

Beyond Plastic's mission, from its web site:

Launched in January 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of college students to build a vibrant and effective anti-plastics movement. Our mission is to end plastic pollution by being a catalyst for change at every level of our society. We use our deep policy and advocacy expertise to build a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet, and ourselves, from the plastic pollution crisis.

Their goals:

It will take changes at every level of our economy and civil life to stem the tide of plastic pollution. Individuals need to be moved to act in their personal lives and take action as part of a growing movement; corporations need to feel the pressure to initiate changes in their purchasing and packaging habits; governments need to impose bans and adopt laws that require extended producer responsibility; and new manufacturing of plastic has to be prevented from spreading. Beyond Plastics seeks to educate the media, policymakers, and the public on the plastic pollution crisis; encourage businesses to eliminate single-use plastics; train students to become leaders in the anti-plastics movement; and help block new plastic manufacturing and plastic burning facilities.

Judith's page
Beyond Plastic
The Story of Plastic
The New Coal report from Beyond Plastics

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555: EJ Perry, part 1: Brown's quarterback on clutch performance Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

Who doesn't love knowing about something big before everyone else?

EJ Perry is something big, a very talented quarterback being scouted by the NFL, coming from the Ivy League. Rarely do people reach pinnacles in multiple areas of life so young. (I'm posting early so you can know to see him play in the Shrine Bowl next week, February 3 at 8pm eastern on the NFL network.)

Regular listeners know I like bringing top athletes to the podcast because they've faced challenges, victories, losses, and adversity and had to return to the game and life. We didn't ask to be born into a polluted world, but we did. I believe we can learn from athletes and other leaders.

I indulge in asking EJ about playing in clutch situations. He describes preparation, teamwork, mindset, and the types of things we need to face our environmental problems beyond facts, numbers, and instruction. Then we talk about what the environment means to him. He responds with humility and evolves from a mainstream response of what can I do?? to I know what I can do, connecting him more to family, giving him energy.

Listen for more. Then watch the game and watch for EJ in the NFL.

The Boston Globe: Why were NFL scouts flocking to Brown University football games this fall?
The Boston Herald: Brown quarterback EJ Perry chasing NFL dreams

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554: Sea walls won't protect us from our garbage. Stopping polluting gives us our best chance. Jan 24, 2022

Show notes

My notes that I read from for this episode:

Sea wall for Manhattan, like Holland: expensive, huge, likely won't work
Controversial already. Natural solutions might work better.
Let's say they worked.
On Staten Island, Fresh Kills
Also everywhere, all coasts unprotected
Now think of Cancer Alley Gulf coast, oil refineries and global toxic dumps
All that pollution will be dispersed to seas and biosphere
I'd guess hundreds of thousands of years
Think of the suffering
Challenge is more than energy. Also thermodynamics. Everything will disperse.
Best solution: stop using fossil fuels now.
Yes, we'll face problems, but we'll solve switching problems more easily than global garbage.
Not an option: keep going as we are and maybe the problems won't happen.

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553: Gaya Herrington, part 1: How far have we passed our limits to growth? What does that mean? Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

Five months ago, Gaya's work led to headlines like Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction. The 1970s predictions weren't exactly predictions, but the headline refers to the book Limits to Growth. If you're not familiar with it, we start by talking about it. We both consider its views and analysis among the most important.

The book simulated possible outcomes for humans on Earth. Those outcomes varied from lots of happy people to billions dying. The authors' goals were to show what patterns we might expect.

Still, people since have wondered if we and Earth have tracked any of those outcomes. Gaya's work does just that and shows that we have a slim chance of avoiding collapse, but a good chance of hitting it. I am amazed at how well those models track so many measurable outcomes in disparate areas.

Our conversation covers her research, what it means, how to understand it, her work with companies, systems, solutions, and how these things affect our personal lives. Limits to Growth, Gaya's work, and what to do about them are among the most important things we can understand.

Beyond Growth, Gaya's summary of her work
MIT Predicted in 1972 That Society Will Collapse This Century. New Research Shows We’re on Schedule., a Vice article on her work
Update to Limits to Growth: Comparing the World3 Model with Empirical Data, Gaya's original results

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552: Hilary Link, part 2: colleges and universities talk sustainability but rarely act. This college president does. Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

Hilary describes her commitments as achieving some success and some failure, but learned from both.

We start with her personal experiences and memories of ice skating and cross country skiing as a child leading to her sometimes painful lessons today. More than just ice skating again, she took lessons with her child. Listen to her for the lesson and why it was painful, but I'll share that she learned to wear a helmet.

She also talked about driving less, which led to what she could do with her community not to accept that not driving has to be hard, but how to improve the situation. She talked about eating less meat, which I heard creating more connection within family.

From the personal, we moved to the systemic. As the president of an august institution and connected to peers at peer organizations, she can influence within Allegheny and among university presidents and across academia. It's nice to talk about change and sustainability. It's nice to change institutions. But she points out, everyone sees what you do and your personal behavior affects others.

I don't think this episode is the last we'll hear of Dr. Link. I believe she'll implement some of the ideas that came up during her actions and this conversation. Stay tuned.

The Game Changers documentary on elite athletes and not eating meat.
Bea Johnson's episode on this podcast with links to her TEDx talks and books. Her family of four produces less garbage than I do alone.

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551: Chad Foster, part 4: Flying to skiing, but not camping in the back yard Jan 16, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we talk about how to lead people, but I can't help notice on listening afterward how quick and easy it is for him to fly his whole family across the country several times a season, but impossible to pitch a tent in his back yard. Whatever effect I've had on other guests, it's not happening with Chad.

What he shares about leadership, I agree with and his life transformation to adjust to circumstances he couldn't have predicted, we can all learn from, so I recommend listening (sorry about the sound quality on my microphone). He lost his sight, which hasn't led to a worse life, as best I can tell. We're losing our ability to eat meat, have as many babies as we want, and fly without these actions causing others to suffer and die. But unlike losing an ability most people would not want to lose, eating more vegetables and living more sustainably benefits everyone, especially people with lungs.

No meaningful change has happened with this guest. I haven't connected with what the environment means to him.

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