Leadership And The Environment

The notes I read from for this episode:“Lead by example”. I’m not leading by example.“Extreme” implies values, as does “middle ground” and “balance.” Everyone is extreme by someone else’s views.Everyone I talk to says they are balancing, that extreme is too much. What are you balancing with if one side is sustainability? How can the answer be anything but growth and unsustainability? People will say family, work, making money, but it doesn’t change that they are fueling growth and driving a system we are trying to change. Nobody said changing systems is easy, but systemic change begins with personal change.Our greatest challenge is not finding theoretical solutions on degrowth.If we want others to live by values like sustainability and stewardship, how can we influence them if we live by the excuses they do? If they hear us live by growth, why shouldn’t they? What’s the difference?Every person who resist degrowth agrees they prefer clean air, land, food, and water to polluted and nearly all say they have to b

Gaya gets systems, how to change them, and not fall prey to rationalizations that sound tempting but are self-serving excuses like "individual actions don't matter" or "only governments and corporations can act on the scale we need." I loved this conversation for her knowledge and experience in what will reverse humanity's pattern of lowering Earth's ability to sustain life.She shares and elaborates on major points like that technology is just a tool that serves our goals and values. While we value growth over sustainability, technology will accelerate our pattern of lowering Earth's ability to sustain life, not decrease it. We share our frustration with technology fans who misunderstand how technology affects our systems, thinking making it more efficient will lead to less pollution despite centuries of increased efficiency increasing pollution.She shares about the value of individual actions to change culture and oneself, including her picking up litter with her family. She shares how sustainability creates

 Ambrose and I start by reviewing his commitment. After a bit, as best I can tell, we talked past each other. Every now and then, the Spodek Method doesn't resonate and this conversation looks like one of them. His description of how he sees the world and my read don't seem to overlap.I suspect he felt I didn't understand him or his world. I read him as guarded, not sharing his personal views and feelings. I think it might be interesting and possibly fun to hear it as a third person. I tried to understand what he was saying and tried to clarify. He sounds like he was doing his best to speak to be understood. It just didn't reach me. He described how the black community operated, but I felt like he viewed me as unable to understand, being empowered and entitled, whereas people in that community were traumatized and not taught what they could do.His main point, as I understood, is that they "need more steps." I just couldn't get what he meant. I felt like he was trying to explain while keeping me separate

Aren't we living in the best time in history? Don't we have to keep pressing forward to avoid returning to medieval serfdom or the Stone Age and everyone dying young?No. History, anthropology, and archaeology show these beliefs wrong. Humans weren't living on the verge of starvation or nonstop working all day long. Other cultures than the one we descended from enjoyed more health, longevity, abundance, resilience, and freedom than we do, but we keep telling ourselves stories to make ourselves feel better.This post contains the quotes I read from: Health and longevity of other culturesI read Kandiaronks' quote from the Kandiaronk Wikipedia page.The Wikipedia page on sloths. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You've heard every politician pay lip service on the environment. They talk abstractly about carbon dioxide levels, solutions to spend more money, and something about a future improved by electric cars and solar panels (conveniently missing how these "solutions" pollute). How many share their personal experiences? How many share their vulnerabilities we know they have?Derek shares his personal experience honestly facing environmental challenges himself. What does it feel like to see a plastic bag roll by in the wind like a tumbleweed in what was supposed to be in the middle of nowhere, untouched by people? How does it feel when humans' predominant effect on once-beautiful nature is poison? Do we face our feelings of helplessness, thereby enabling ourselves to do something about it, or deny and suppress them, claiming "solutions" that pollute actually clean, not because they do but because claiming they do mollifies our feelings?How do you run a campaign polluting less? What if your volunteers want pizza, but

This episode is available on video.Before our conversations, I tended to see Warren as mainly focused on issues where men and boys suffer that society doesn't see, downplays, or ignores. I still see him as a rare luminary on such issues. As he mentions, many people, up to the White House, seem unable or unwilling to consider the possibility.But I'm seeing him focusing on solutions, both systemic and individual. We start this conversation on communication, especially about listening, especially in conflict. We transition to communication tips, especially for men and boys, using ourselves and our challenges as examples. I hear passion in him for helping couples, especially from a man's perspective. Not just passion, effectiveness.He shares about the origins of the Boy Crisis in society and the importance of effective communication, often lacking. We focus on suicide and rates between males and females versus between people of different races, children raised deprived of fathers, fathers whose responsibilities i

If you've been following Michael and my conversations so far, you know to expect thoughtful, considerate conversation coming from different perspectives. Each time we find deeper understanding, share more, and listen more. You won't be disappointed this time.In this episode we talk about concepts from the book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and the philosophy behind it. Since I've started reading the Christian Bible, we talk about Romans and Philippians a bit too. Despite our different backgrounds and views about the universe, we agree on many ways we believe we can improve the world.Alan Mulally videoThe Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and similar readings See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nakisa talks about her community in Charlotte, North Carolina, the environmental and social challenges it faces, the level of engagement, the biases in difficulties in engaging for people who work long or unusual hours, advantages to big businesses, and other challenges. She also talks about her work facing these challenges, organizing and enabling people to solve them.We talk about civic engagement beyond voting, acting beyond in election years, and running for office. In this episode, you'll hear from her experience and perspective what you face motivating and leading communities on the receiving end of polluting industries, historically locked out of politics, not knowing how to start, but needing to start if they hope to reverse those historical trends.You'll hear her enthusiasm, which I see increasing since her being discovered to attend the conference she described in her first episode.I think you'll like the commitment she chooses. I can't wait to hear her results.Hip Hop Caucus See acast.com/privacy f

Doug is the opposite of the catastrophe we've made of the food industry. He created a restaurant with no trash cans; not for the customers, not for the staff, nor for suppliers. Talk about a role model.You can do it too. He can't do it for you. Neither can I. Only you can do it for yourself, but now you know you can. Step one: try. Step two: don't stop.Regular listeners know my disgust and disdain for how much garbage comes from food and doof industries. The streets of my once beautiful neighborhood and city are covered with litter, the overwhelming majority of it coming from places profiting from producing more garbage and doof than food. Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Frito-Lay, Dunkin' Donuts, every takeout place, and nearly every coffee shop, plus more. Millennia from now, our descendants, if any survive, will continue suffering from the poisons we create.Beyond sharing how he did it, Doug shares his passion motivating him and satisfaction rewarding him. You can hear the cama

We spend most of our time talking about Frances's latest book, Daring Democracy. I couldn't help sharing how, decades after reading Diet for a Small Planet, I realized it was the first source that started me on the path to embracing and loving sustainability. I started by describing that path and my gratitude.If you haven't read the book, if you wonder why I'm so impassioned and feel so much joy where others are bogged down in shame, guilt, helplessness, facts, burden, and such, I recommend reading Diet for a Small Planet's fiftieth anniversary edition. You will connect deliciousness with sustainability, and fun, freedom, community, and other rewarding emotions. Regular listeners will also understand my origins better.Then we speak about democracy, especially in the US, and restoring it. We talk about Milton Friedman, the Kochs, Donald Trump, their peers, and their motivations; polarization; what to do about our situation. Underlying the facts, economics, and history are her optimism based in knowledge and hi

Scott went above and beyond acting on his sustainability commitment to run. He battled covid during training. Did the extra effort bring him down? On the contrary, since he did it for personal, intrinsic motivation based in his connection to the environment, he valued it more.I read curiosity on his part so shared my personal actions and systemic strategy different than the typical ones to switch from fossil fuels to so-called renewables. I say "so-called" because they require fossil fuels at every stage plus we have to handle their end-of-life pollution. As I see it, polluting less than the most polluting energy sources but still polluting isn't sustainable, it only buys us more time to become sustainable.He seemed genuinely interested in my experience improving my life in ways accessible to everyone, especially all Americans, by reducing my polluting behavior. This pattern shocks many so it requires leadership to stick. Listen for yourself, but I hear him considering that leadership role. Why not when it's

Geoff's story of his commitment to act on his childhood memories of playing along the Missouri River in South Dakota starts off interesting, then turns exciting, thrilling, and ultimately life-changing. One of the things we most fear happened to him and he loved it.I think our conversation then grew more interesting. He's a storyteller and educator. He learned from the experience beyond what reading a book or reading a graph on carbon levels could reveal. We explored what nature brings to us, and what its absence deprives us of.Geoff is an experienced and brilliant thinker and speaker. He explores and shares the interplay between nature and humanity, its loss, and what that loss means to us.This episode will make you think. I bet it will make you want to go outside too. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan Barber is helping revitalize our food system. We start by going over his background, how fear drove him maybe most of all.Then we get into what drives food: farms and soil combined with creativity. His goal is supporting farming from the most basic level. He doesn't oppose people shopping farmers markets. He comes alive describing discovering what farmers who know the land learned to practice: diversity, rotation, and all what it takes to grow wheat, for starters. The whole ecosystem.I hear him sharing joy, passion, fun, curiosity, discovery, health, and deliciousness. It comes through community, practice, honoring nature and tradition.Prepare to be fascinated.Dan Barber's presentation, The Taste of WheatBlue Hill at Stone BarnsFamily Meal in Manhattan See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you agree innovation and technology has its drawbacks, you may still worry: if we don't press onward, aren't we risking reverting to the stone age with thirty becoming old age and mothers and children dying in childbirth. Don't we store fat so well because our ancestors never knew when their next meal would come?I used to think that way. Learning about cultures that haven't adopted our technology-based culture relieved me of my ignorance. You've heard episodes with authors of books on Hawaiians before Captain Cook and the San bushmen in the Kalahari Desert. These cultures didn't barely eke out survival. They thrived. The San lived for hundreds of thousands of years. They show higher signs of resilience, health, longevity, abundance, equality, and stability than we do. Of course they do. You can't barely eke out 250,000 years.Bill Benenson produced a documentary (free online, click below) on the Hadza in modern Tanzania, who seem to have lived as they do now for about 50,000 years. Watch it to see how they

People and nations are funding Russia's invading Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died and millions have become refugees. The laws of supply and demand dictate that any use drives up price, so any use helps fund Russia, being such a big supplier.Everyone acts like the only alternative to burning fossil fuels is burning different fossil fuels, as if humans haven't thrived for hundreds of thousands of years without them, generally showing higher signs of health, longevity, abundance, equality, and stability than recent times.In this episode, I view this bullshit view from the perspective of having improved my life by dropping my pollution over ninety percent in under three years in ways you can too (even if you believe you can), also improving your life.Here's the article I read and commented on: Germany is Dependent on Russian Gas, Oil and Coal: Here’s Why | Why Germany Can’t Just Pull the Plug on Russian Energy. Here's the graph I described:(If it doesn't show, click here) See acast.com/privacy for priva

Etienne starts by sharing how his government in England is beginning to increase how much it threatens punishment for people protesting, including what he does as an MBE working with Extinction Rebellion. He sees that reaction as showing they are making a difference. I hear it is similar to what is happening in my nation, the U.S.In our first conversation, Etienne was already acting and protesting. Sustainability is among his highest priorities. He isn't just talking about it. He's on of the most active people I've spoken to, by no means backing down. On the contrary, increasing his activities, as determined as ever.This episode features two people who have done what everyone can: making changing culture to increase human flourishing our top priorities, including leading others. For my part, I relished being able to talk about achieving the clean air, water, and land we all want without defensiveness. On the contrary, we explore each other's interests, actions, motivations, and results.We're talking about glo

Nakisa describes herself as naturally loving science, born into a hip hop world, combining these starting points. She starts by describing her journey growing up not learning that much about our environmental situation, seeing it as abstract and unrelated to her world, to being discovered for her ability to communicate, organize, and influence.The more she learned, the more she saw it as more than just affecting her life and community, it was critically damaging it. She saw the environmental problems as intertwined with social issues that were already priorities. The polluting cement factory in her neighborhood that fouled the air wasn't just an eyesore that illustrated a failure of democracy for being an eyesore never considered to be built in a rich neighborhood. It made people sick.She acted. She organized, and the more she got results, the more she committed.Nakisa's home pageNakisa at Hip Hop CaucusNakisa at Sol Nation See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"What I do doesn't matter," say many environmentalists as they order steak or buy tickets to fly some place. That's the addiction speaking.I recently heard Alan Mulally speak on how he led turning Ford around from losing tens of billions of dollars to number one in many categories creating joy, teamwork, and fun despite challenging work.Before being CEO of Ford, he led Boeing, among the two greatest promoters of pollution in the world. Nonetheless, because he leads, which I distinguish from telling people facts and numbers, protesting, or cajoling, coercing, or convincing, I contend that he would be more effective than nearly any environmentalist I know of.I consider him one of my top role models because I see his methods among the most effective in results.In this episode I highlight a passage from a recent talk he gave that addresses "what I do doesn't matter" from a leadership perspective. Though he's talking about Ford executives running the company into near bankruptcy, it applies to all of us lowering E

In one of the highlights (lowlights?) of our second conversation, Sam shares that fentanyl users don't like its experience as much as heroin's. On the contrary, it's worse. It pops them out faster from the euphoria, which makes them want to take more. It's a worse experience that addicts them more.Their suppliers don't care about the experience. They care that it sells more, which makes them more money. It's cheap to make, so they make huge amounts and flood the market, not caring about the waste that they consider someone else's problem (as if a crumbling society didn't hurt them too) nor the health of their customers, as long as they keep returning. They will, doing whatever it takes to get the money, laying waste to society and their lives.I could have just described any number of addictions: sugar, fat, doof in general, gambling, social media, flying, etc. I would have also described our society, increasingly built around supplying products and services that addict, resulting from our valuing innovation,

Lauren's unusual knack for attracting a refined mix of brilliance and emotional unavailability created a storied dating life from 2010-2019 which included actors, pick-up artists, doctors without borders (or was it boundaries?), CIA agents (who shouldn't have confessed that), astrophysicists, and Daniel J. Jones, author of the 2014 CIA Torture Report, who was portrayed by Adam Driver in The Report (2019), among others.Approaching 600 episodes and a few years into a personal podcast, I'm bringing Lauren on partly as a fascinating person, partly to share more about my past, like my episodes with my mom, whom Lauren met, or the Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll series. Lauren and I dated during the time I was coaching (mostly) men dating and attraction skills. Lauren knew all about that. We learned and grew together. We've kept in touch in the decade since. In this episode we share about the experience.You can hear both Lauren's fascinating experience in psychology, philosophy, and more as well as a view of my growt