This Sustainable Life
Joshua Spodek: Author, Speaker, Professor
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.Click for a list of popular downloadsClick for a list of all episodesGuests includeDan Pink, 40+ million Ted talk viewsMarshall Goldsmith, #1 ranked leadership guru and authorFrances Hesselbein, Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, former CEO of the Girl ScoutsElizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize winning authorDavid Allen, author of Getting Things DoneKen Blanchard, author, The One Minute ManagerVincent Stanley, Director of PatagoniaDorie Clark, bestselling authorBryan Braman, Super Bowl champion Philadelphia EagleJohn Lee Dumas, top entrepreneurial podcasterAlisa Cohn, top 100 speaker and coachDavid Biello, Science curator for TED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 18, 2023 • 14min
671: How Pulling Off a Challenging Day Off Grid Feels
Last night I had trouble falling asleep because before getting in bed, I noticed I had to record two podcast episodes first thing in the morning but I wanted to cook some stew, the forecast was for rain all day, and didn't think my battery had enough charge to pull everything off. Plus I had lots of computer work to do, which would use more energy from the battery. I could always rely on my "cheat" to charge my computer and phone at NYU, but I prefer not to. I'm trying to avoid polluting. I also didn't have enough time between calls and obligations to walk to NYU without possibly missing the beginnings of calls.I found more and more ways to avoid needing battery energy. Toward the end of the day, I realized I not only would I achieve everything, I wouldn't need to go to NYU and use any grid power.I happened to have a call just when some sun shone before sunset; not enough to charge from but enough to make me feel great. I commandeered the beginning of the call to share how I felt, recorded it, edited his parts out, and here it is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 15, 2023 • 52min
670: Jeffrey Shaw: Self-employment and Sustainability
Do you want a job working in sustainability? If you want to wait for a job in the field, you're going to wait for a long time. Most businesses' models depend on growth, extraction, and exploiting resources. Many of the biggest and most profitable are built on exploiting people too. I hope I didn't surprise you with news you didn't know.Most places with positions like Chief Sustainability Officers or groups like Sustainability Committees are greenwashing at best, judging by how we're extracting ever faster, nearly all ways places claim reductions are scams like carbon offsets or net zero claims that are the equivalent of creative accounting, and most targets are so far off as to be unaccountable.Yet billions of people want leadership. They want to change. They want justified hope in a brighter future. Nothing says entrepreneurial opportunity like global unmet demand. To serve people wanting to live more sustainably looks like one of the greatest entrepreneurial opportunities ever. I'm working on meeting it and expect to break the market open. Maybe you'll beat me to it. I hope you do.Jeff's latest book covers starting your project. Why would you do it? What will you expect? How does it feel?We talk about the move to self-employment, what's in his book, his personal history, and more. If you want to help humanity reach sustainability, nearly the only path to you impacting us in a big way it self-employment, what Jeff focuses on.Jeff's home page Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 11, 2023 • 1h 7min
669: David Loy: Ecodharma: Zen Buddhism and Sustainability
What can we learn from Buddhism to understand and respond to our ecological crisis? This question is the heart of David's focus, as I understand it.We started by describing his journey from a more mainstream American childhood to Zen Buddhism and forming the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center near Boulder, Colorado. Then we talk about humanity's disconnect from nature and his work to restore it, in the context of his Buddhist path. We also talk about reconnecting with nature, letting go of the cultural forces to disconnect.He shares his work to help people handle these problems and their grief. We talked about how we handle what we humans are doing to our world and what we're doing about it, including from a Buddhist perspective, using Buddhist practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 9, 2023 • 1h 8min
668: Christopher Ketcham: Growthism Versus Sustainability
Reading Christopher's story in the Pacific Standard, The Fallacy of Endless Economic Growth What economists around the world get wrong about the future, made me contact him. It was one of the only reviews of criticism of our culture's attempting to grow the economy and population forever that didn't prioritize growth dogma over understanding. The article centered on the book Limits to Growth, its analysis, and the unhinged criticism of it.I had to look up his other work too. I recommend following up at his page, which links to his writing and Denatured, his journalism nonprofit.From the moment he starts talking in this conversation, he lays down basic, common sense understanding of our culture's fundamental tenets, which he calls growthism. To my ears, it sounds like what we see in front of our noses all the time, yet few to no one with prominent voices will say it.He talks about how we got this way, how things could be different, how he came to write for such prominent magazines, and more. He is at times serious, funny, calm, exasperated, and always authentic, genuine, and honest.I hope you know people who understand things as Christopher does and is as outspoken with what they've learned. I believe everyone should hear messages like his periodically. Our culture tries to drown such voices out, but what he says is too clear and makes too much sense to remain silenced.Chris's journalism nonprofit: DenaturedHis site Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 6, 2023 • 1h
667: James Oakes, part 1: Sustainability and Abolition in the United States
The only was I can see how we can avoid environmental disaster leading to human population collapse is by changing our culture---every unsustainable culture but America most, as the most polluting per capita large nation.Can we do it in time? Humanity has changed on a global level within a few generations at least once before. Slavery was legal, normal, and seen as good around the globe since before written history. Then in the late 1700s, abolition increased until within a century people widely viewed it as wrong. Not long after, nations made it illegal nearly everywhere.Jim Oakes is one of America's leading historians of America's abolition movement. I met him at his office, where we spoke about American abolition, Abraham Lincoln, the Thirteenth Amendment, and how it happened. The history is fascinating on its own, all the more since I didn't learn it enough growing up, and more so for seeing its application to sustainability.I see a constitutional amendment as increasingly necessary, however inconceivable it seems to pass. The more I learn of the Thirteenth Amendment, the more it seemed impossible to pass, yet I doubt I've met anyone who would promote repealing it today.This conversation was a pleasure; informative and inspirational for someone looking to learn from history to apply it today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 3, 2023 • 54min
666: Mark Plotkin: Learning From Indigenous Cultures, the People Not Just Our Projections
Every step I take toward sustainability leads me to learn how much humans have figured out how to live sustainably. I'm far from living sustainably, though I've come a long way. We are wiping out the cultures living sustainably these cultures, now hanging on by threads. Besides practices and viewpoints, I'm learning humility. We don't have all the answers. Far from it. They may not either, but at least they can help us restore lost values of community we're jettisoning in favor of isolation and humility to nature we're jettisoning in favor of ignoring that our attempts to dominate nature are accumulating unintended side effects hurting us more than helping.Such are my views. I haven't lived among indigenous cultures and don't expect to. Mark has, among several for long times. He can speak more knowledgeably, compassionately, and helpfully than many can.In this conversation he shares his decades of learning from experience and research. He describes actual people and cultures, not projections or hopes. I share some views I've developed, which he helps me refine and extend based on that experience. We talk about how life benefits from learning from them, contrary to what our culture tells us, that without what fossil fuels and other tamed energy bring we would suffer.On the contrary, on what means the most to us, we would thrive. And we'd stop wiping them out.Mark's home pageMark's TED talk: What the people of the Amazon know that you don’tMark's podcast: The Plants of the Gods Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 2, 2023 • 57min
665: Tony Hiss: Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth
Tony turns out to live a few blocks from me. I met him at his home, where we recorded. He shared his experience knowing E. O. Wilson, who, as Tony described, conceived of the plan to protect half the Earth's land to protect biodiversity and more to sustain Earth's ability to sustain life.I'd heard Wilson describe the plan many years ago and had seen some analysis that it could protect up to ninety percent of biodiversity if implemented effectively, whereas saving less land or implementing ineffectively might save markedly less, which could put humanity at risk, not to discount the value of other species' existence independent of humans (I confess to valuing humans more than others, but still value other life).I hadn't heard the stories of people discovering the problems and finding solutions. His book, Rescuing the Planet, tells their stories and the project's history and chance for success. Some of the stories give remarkable hope. Our conversation tells the stories behind the stories of some of the people in the book as well as his motivations and history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 31, 2023 • 58min
664: Rodrigo Cámara-Leret: Learning how the Kogi heal the land
Ethno-botonist Rodrigo Cámara-Leret first describes how podcast guest Alan Ereira chose him to live and work with the Kogi, who want to share, in my language, how to stop wrecking the biosphere.He has visited them and seen behind what they show of themselves in the documentaries. Unlike typical scientific research, he will bring his family and learn beyond what they plant. The condition of their environment is the physical manifestation of their culture, as is ours to ours. They aren't living in the Stone Age or as noble savages. They are living appropriate to their environment, sophisticated in their understanding of nature.Rodrigo and the organizations supporting him are approaching the Kogi with humility, as I understand, not trying to teach them or assimilate them. He shares some of the challenges to overcome as well as what he looks forward to.We all can learn from cultures living sustainably, like how to restore the values we've jettisoned of Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You, Leave It Better Than You Found It, and Live and Let Live.The Tairona Heritage TrustTo donate and support Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 28, 2023 • 51min
663: Nadeem Akhtar, part 2: Breaking a Doof Addiction Can Be Harder Than Expected
Nadeem committed to reducing his doof. He bravely shares the challenge.Even in Norway, he's surrounded by messages to keep consuming it. Imagine any other unhealthy addictive substance---cocaine, heroin, etc---was advertised and sold everywhere. On top of extra availability, imagine it was portrayed as like food, which it isn't. Nadeem stopped drinking alcohol long ago despite its prevalence in Norwegian culture, and compares how avoiding doof was harder.If you're struggling with getting clean from doof, you'll appreciate hearing what it's like.He also shares more about living as a Muslim in Norway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 25, 2023 • 37min
662: Mark Mills, part 4: What to Do Next
I've said before and I'll say again that conversations like mine with Mark Mills are what I value and wish we had more of. We do our research, we have strong opinions, we agree on many things, we disagree on some things we care about.Most of all, I believe we learn from each other, respect different opinions, and try to understand the other's view and goals.In this conversation we talk about his book and the challenges of predictions at first, The most interesting parts are challenging each other on our understandings of our environmental problems and what we can do about them. We agree most proposed solutions that humanity is pursuing don't work and people are misguided. We differ on our expectations in what can work between technology and people. He has me opening my mind to some things I'd be closed off to otherwise, in part because he's not just spouting opinion or blind hope. He's done the research. I believe I have too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
