This Sustainable Life

Cassiano's first episode led to more listener comments than most. People loved his enthusiasm. I find guys who know martial arts tend to speak with a security. The opposite of insecure or desperate. So I think people found him accessible and engaging. I think you'll find him more so this episode. Of course, we talk a bit about his world record for burpees. As you can tell from this episode's title...

I see exactly two highest priorities for material goals to restore Earth's ability to sustain life. One is keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Down there it's safe. Above ground, it's poison and deadly. However clear and straightforward, almost no one focuses on this simple, effective, attainable goal. Katie does. Our first conversation was just starting when we had to stop. We mostly talked that...

I've meant to record this episode for a while, as the idea of saying "fuck it," not trying, forgetting about the future and my effect on others, and enjoying what our society offers seems everyone else's choice. So I'm going full snarky. A rare unedited episode, starting from these minimal notes: Reasons not to care Money Clothes Travel Understanding Disgust, can look away Disposability Kids: was...

Mike and I are in an online writing group together. For a while I knew him as the funny and diligent guy whose books have thousands of reviews online. Then I read his big one, Profit First . I know entrepreneurship from living it, so I expected to skim it, but two things. His writing is as funny and engaging as he is and what he wrote was new and valuable. Those who have read it know what I mean w...

This talk gets to the root of what I see destroying Earth's ability to sustain life and our health and happiness in the process. Here is the audio a recent talk I gave on doof , building up to what we can do to get rid of it, and improving our world in the process. I compare its effects with those of heroin, crack, and other addictions. I examine what makes something doof, like if it's advertised,...

Katie is the sort of role model I do this podcast to bring to the world. Her challenges are huge, but her passion and determination greater. I can find a million people who say they care about the environment. They probably do. I can find some who act on this caring. I can find a few who do things that sound great like starting companies to do well by doing good. Of them, many are helping restore...

James Rebanks' first massively bestselling book, The Shepherd's Life , and the images of that life he posts online, at first make you think he hails from another time. It describes a life both almost unimaginable to most city dwellers like myself and more than half the Earth and traditional, going back centuries or even millennia. He illustrates his relationships with his father and grandfather, t...

If I measure a book's quality by how much it changes my perspective and enables me to improve my life, Dr. Farrell's The Myth of Male Power (1993) is one of the best books I've read. He's written valuable book after valuable books since, up to and including The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It (2018). I grew up believing in equality between the sexes and believe...

A reader followed up on my conversations with religious figures and authorities from branches of Christianity and Judaism. He wrote You have presented religious people with «the book». That’s good, and I hope you will find space for a muslim person/scholar and relate it to your concern about the sustainability and climate. I can recommend one person. He is, I believe the leader of Cambridge Muslim...

I loved Blake and my conversation so much, I'm releasing our first two conversations back to back. Also, our first one didn't reach to The Spodek Method, so he hadn't taken on a commitment based on his environmental values, so we recorded a week later instead of having to wait for him to finish the commitment. He takes on a commitment in this episode, so he'll come back a third time at least. We t...

I learned of Blake through the mailing list of the maker of my rowing machine, Concept2. Their piece on him described him as a Paralympic bound athlete. I was impressed, but only thought of him as a potential guest on watching his TEDx talk . I think my message to his agent describes what I saw in him and when we talked about in this episode: In Blake's case, I heard a message I've never heard wit...

Should you prepare for a future of clean air travel, curb your flying, or other? I saw Terik speak on a panel on electric flight. As Chief Engineer at a company winning awards for battery-powered planes, he knew what he was talking about. He has to know about the cutting edge of various fields, including batteries, aeronautics, and materials. When the Wright Brothers first flew a heavier-than-air...

Don't outdoor restaurants sound nice? During the pandemic, New York City allowed restaurants that couldn't host people indoors to serve them outdoors. Many restaurant owners credit the rule for keeping them in business. We neighbors happily supported businesses in need. The landlords saw the huge profit in keeping this public space for their private property, started raising rents--- profiting fro...

Nearly everyone I talk to who works on conservation or would call themselves an environmentalist or something like it treats American conservatives and evangelicals as adversaries, lost causes, hurdles, or even the enemy. They love Katharine Hayhoe for being on their side while also practicing a Texas-friendly version of Christianity. They figure she'll fix them for them. (We're scheduling her app...

Here are the notes I read from, responding to this op-ed piece and this review for a book I've talked to the author about but haven't read. Geoengineering Prologue or Epilogue for Humanity? Introduction, context Geoengineering is becoming a more common topic as people feel more desperate. The common theme is that when things get serious, we have to put everything on the table, even things that may...

Our conversation in this episode starts by covering his commitment from last time. After a few minutes, it becomes apparent he picked a commitment based on feeling he had to fix the world---that is, extrinsic motivation disconnected from his heart. We revisited his intrinsic motivations and came up with a new commitment. Acting on intrinsic motivation is leadership. Your emotions create meaning or...

First, I'm so used to talking to people who don't act and try to convince themselves and others that individual actions don't matter, I loved talking to someone inspiring a movement to change international law, making progress, and enjoying the process. If you like meeting people improving the world, you'll love this episode. If lowering Earth's ability to sustain life is such a problem, why not j...

Jon and I start by talking about his book, You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence . Some of the celebrities he's met and researched come up. Then we started talking about this podcast and how I could apply his work to cultivate influence among my podcast guests, building community. You get to hear him coaching me on his expertise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

"Unearned suffering is redemptive," said Martin Luther King. In today's episode I share what I learned today recording with Blake Haxton, a guest whose episode will appear soon. He lost two legs to flesh-eating disease in 2009. Tragedy? Yes. Reason to give up? On the contrary, according to him, his one unlucky event in life. I contend that his outlook on life and message that we all face setbacks,...

Last time Joe committed to organizing and participating in a beach clean-up as part of his campaign. In today's episode he shares the state of the region, including the extent of homelessness, drugs, and violence, which made acting so far impossible. We revisit the commitment as well as personal thoughts on what's happening to America, at least in its major cities of New York City and Los Angeles....

Jonathan and I continue practicing the Spodek Method. Since last recording, he practiced it with his wife. This time he shares how it went. I picked up on a nuance, that she picked a commitment disconnected from her intrinsic motivation and ended up not finding the task meaningful. What we covered relates to leadership and relationships in general. The major theme we covered is uncovering people's...

Coming from a background in science but realizing that sharing numbers and data didn't influence, Joe had to unlearn a lifetime of mainstream science education. He recognized that the best known scientists, like Darwin and Einstein, were great writers. He followed in their footsteps to learn what works while maintaining scientific integrity, which he shares in this episode. In a world of storytell...

Since Eric's last time here, he formally declared he is running for office. Now he's reporting back months into his campaign. Did Trump not being in office slow him down? Or did our environmental problems motivate him even more? How about his commitment to avoid flying? Surely he gave it up to campaign, right? Or did he? Whichever way he went on that commitment, the decision must have been difficu...

Today's episode explores a subtle but potentially meaningful and large shift, considering focusing on sustainability teamwork more than sustainability leadership. The main difference is that I think people feel taking a leadership role makes them vulnerable and means lots of work. Joining a team is fun. If enough people join it feels natural and odd not to. You're hearing me develop an idea in rea...

Sorry for the slow pace of this episode, but just before recording I looked at the firehouse across the street from my apartment, the small plaque naming the firemen who died trying to help others, and the flowers people put there for them, which led me to lose it as I started recording. I've never considered the changes to my life meaningful in comparison, despite my losses being greater than any...