This Sustainable Life

847: Tzeporah Berman: Ending Fossil Fuels by Treaty

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

I met Tzeporah at an event called Climate Week NYC last fall. She was nearly the only person there who spoke about decreasing and stopping extracting ...

846: Gail Eisnitz: The Inside Story of a Life Investigating Factory Farms

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Gail shares her investigations into meat industry practices, exploring how exorbitant slaughterhouse production line speeds in a consolidated slaughte...

845: Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon: The War on Cars and Life After Cars

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Doug and Sarah's podcastThe War on Cars is a podcast that delivers news and commentary on the latest developments in the worldwide fight to undo a cen...

844: Maya Lilly, part 1: Effective Storytelling and Producing The Years Project

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Since I've seen Maya's work on the Years Project with people like executive producers James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was worried I might f...

843: Judith Enck, part 2: The Problem with Plastic (the Book)

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Judith just published The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.I've read a lot about plastic and...

842: Silvia Bellezza, part 1.5 and 2: When at first you don't succeed

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since Silvia teaches as a business school, I'll address a leadership aspect of our interaction. I skimped on a leadership step, so we did an episode 1...

841: Sandra Goldmark, part 1: Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How often does something break that you know could be fixed, but you don't know how and there are no places to fix it? I remember repair stores all ov...

840: Dr. Leonardo Trasande, part 1: Sicker, Fatter, Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future ... and What We Can Do About It

02 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I found Dr. Trasande quoted in a Washington Post article The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about: Phthalates, chemicals found in...

839: Saabira Chaudhuri: Consumed: Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Saabira's New York Times piece Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us told me she saw more about plastic and its effect on our culture than m...

838: Zach Rabinor, part 2: What if your business and values clash?

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zach and I got so into our first conversation that we had to take a second one to get to the Spodek Method.Listen for yourself, but I hear Zach workin...

837: Zach Rabinor, part 1: Getting serious about sustainable travel?

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I met Zach at an event I spoke at sponsored by the Young Presidents Organization, whose members tend to be successful in business. The criteria to joi...

836 Dr. Robert Fullilove, part 5: Unsustainability is upstream of imperialism, colonialism, slavery, and racism

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since our fourth recording, Dr. Bob and I spoke at length about what's driving me and keeping me going beyond where nearly anyone else does on sustain...

835: At last! I can access my roof to charge solar for the first time in 18 months.

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, I charged my solar panel and battery on my roof for the first time for over 18 months. My building had to do maintenance during which no re...

834: Do Americans Know How to Prepare Food From Scratch?

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Late summer means produce at peak ripeness, especially peaches and heirloom tomatoes. Regular readers of my blog and subscribers to my newsletter have...

833: Aaron Blaise: A Master Disney Director and Animator on Self Expression, Leadership, and Nature

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron and I met after I got to see a screening of his recent short animated film Snow Bear. I knew about Aaron's achievements from participating ...

832: Robert Fullilove, part 4: Action in the Center of Civil Rights in the 1960s

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Bob worked in the heart of the US Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He shares stories of his interactions with Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame T...

831: Glenn Hubbard: Dean of Columbia Business School on Adam Smith and Leadership

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I can't help but call Glenn "Dean Hubbard" since I met him as a student at Columbia Business School. That was 2005, making him one of the guests I've ...

830: Jo Nemeth, part 2: Nature improves time with loved ones

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We jumped in to talking about her Spodek Method commitment. She lives in a suburban area. There's a place near her that borders on bush, which I guess...

829: Adam Galinsky, part 1: Do you love being inspired? He wrote the book on it.

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Adam teaches leadership at Columbia Business School, where I learned there were classes in leadership, which changed the direction of my life. Regular...

828: Richard Reeves: For Boys and Men: support and love over misunderstanding

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When people talk about helping men, a lot of people think any and maybe every man might just have latent misogyny, so helping him risks augmenting mis...

827: Chris Berdik: Scientific American loved his book Clamor (so did I)

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sound pollution is pollution. You know it's been growing for your whole life with little sign of decreasing.I wish I lived in a world with less sound ...

826: Jo Nemeth, part 1: Living without money frees her to do what she loves

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can you imagine living without money? Humans lived without money for 250,000 years, so it's not necessary for life. Money seems like an invention on p...

825: Ryan Mandelbaum, part 2: Rising to the challenge of random acts of friendliness

06 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan shares his experience approaching people to share in his joy. The task is not easy anywhere, least of all the Bronx, where he doesn't live but wa...

824: Dr. Rob Reed, part 2: Learning to love leading effectively

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rob starts by sharing his experience from leadership coaching in the context of a hospital with people in intensive care as well as their families. Si...

823: Mark Mills, part 5: We’ll Never Have an Energy Transition

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Mark's recent piece We’ll Never Have an Energy Transition in Manhattan Institute's City Journal prompted me to write my recent pos...

822: Ryan Mandelbaum, part 1: Wildlife Is Everywhere, Including (especially) NYC (and where you live)

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This recording went far beyond my usual preference for recording with guests in person when I can.We met in Prospect Park on one of the peak birding d...

821: Rob Reed MD, part 1: Learning leadership transforms your life and work

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rob is one of my coaching clients. I asked him to be a guest here since many people perceive leadership and learning it as different than I mean. His ...

820: Andy Samuel CBE: From worry before the workshop to Fun and Community during and after

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you thinking about acting more but concerned about feeling guilty or judged that you aren't doing enough? If so, you'll love this conversation.&nb...

819: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 6: Our Brighter Future

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This last recording in the series brings together the opportunities. We can't fix all the world's problems or to go back in time and change history. W...

818: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 5: The Celebrity Opportunities

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Look up "Greatest of All Time" on Wikipedia and you'll find Muhammad Ali. This lesson shares how he went from being just the heavyweight champion...

817: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 4: The Political Opportunities

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sustainability has become a polarized partisan political issue, despite everyone wanting clean air, land, water, and food. In the US, neither the Demo...

816: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 3: Business/Entrepreneurial Opportunities

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The solution in video 3---the Spodek Method---creates a new, more effective situation than anything I know of in sustainability.People act on their ow...

815: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 2: The Solution

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Now that we understand our environmental problems as cultural, proposals based in technology, market incentives, and legislation don't address the pro...

814: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: 1: The Actual Problem

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you think our environmental problems are rooted in greenhouse gas levels or emissions? Or biodiversity loss? Or any of what makes the headlines?The...

813: A Course in Sustainability Leadership: Quick Introduction: Welcome to the Sustainability Simplified community

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many people see whatever part of what I do, think that's everything, and conclude I'm just doing some personal action or other form of spitting into t...

812: Robert Fullilove, part 3: Politics, family, race, and sustainability

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our third conversation matches the first two in intrigue and quality. We talk about the things that came up for Dr. Bob that got in the way of his com...

811: Tina Tombstone: A friend I volunteer delivering food to the needy with

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tina is one of the central characters in that group that everyone knows (another is Kevin Fucillo, also a podcast guest). We go back a few years. She ...

810: Giora Netzer, part 2: Leadership coaching leads to far more than "just" the C-Suite

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In our second conversation, Giora reveals more about his developing as a leader. If you listen for it, you can hear the vision he had for himself and ...

809: Alexander Clapp: Waste Wars, how we profit off polluting the world claiming to help them

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I found Alex when listeners sent me an opinion piece in the New York Times he wrote, The Story You’ve Been Told About Recycling Is a Lie.Getting to ...

808: Silvia Bellezza: Sustainable Marketing at Columbia Business School

21 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Silvia created the course Sustainable Marketing at Columbia. It's an elective and has become the class at the business school with the most students f...

807: Giora Netzer MD MSCE, part 1: A leader I coached to the C-suite

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you reaching your potential, professionally or personally? Have you wondered what would happen if you got coaching?Giora did. A friend of his who ...

806: Robert Fullilove, part 2: the spirit of the Civil Rights movement

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Bob shares more about his experience acting during the 1960s, as well as today on helping prisoners and more. I hope you can hear the electricity ...

805: Osprey Orielle Lake: Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I was pleasantly surprised in reading Osprey's book The Story is in Our Bones that she also sees the need to change culture, including elements like o...

804: Robert Fullilove EdD, part 1: Lessons from America's Civil Rights era and effective action today

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People call my behavior extreme, though I'm just acting in service of others. To be more precise, I'm acting in love for others. When people suggest w...

803: Nick Loris, part 3: Liberty, freedom, sustainability, and Rock Creek Park

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You probably came to hear Nick's experience exploring Rock Creek Park in Washington DC based on his childhood experiences in nature with his father. S...

802: Lorraine Smith, part 2: The hidden, dirty secrets of corporate "sustainability" work

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I start by sharing how much value I get from participating in Lorraine's weekly coaching group.Then she shares her path to coaching on sustainability....

801: Travis Fisher, part 3: Restoring time with family

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Meaningful interactions don't have to be complex. Travis simply shares his experiences in nature in childhood and finds ways to recreate the emotional...

800: Lorna Davis, part 4: After the Sustainability Leadership Workshop

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you haven't listened to my conversation with Lorna before taking the sustainability leadership workshop, I recommend listening to it first: 794: Lo...

799: Josh Bandoch, part 2: Leadership: Humans feel first, then reason

28 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Josh and I talked about a few aspects of his acting on his commitment from the Spodek Method. For one thing, since he and I both study, practice, and ...

798: Nick Romeo: The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy

25 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Regular listeners and readers of my podcast and blog know I grew up with parents who helped form a grocery buying group which folded into a food co-op...

797: Alden Wicker, part 2: Try and Try Again: E-biking in Vermont

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many people think sustainability requires fixing everything or else we'll collapse. The Spodek Method creates a mindset shift followed by continual im...

796: Jack Spencer, part 3: Authenticity on Acting on Sustainability (also Project 2025)

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We start by talking about the internal challenges Jack felt about acting to do something he wouldn't have otherwise. He cares about the environment an...

795: Lorraine Smith, part 1: Leaving mainstream "sustainability" to pursue actual sustainability

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lorraine is one of the few people I know who saw mainstream sustainability efforts for what they are: ineffective and often counterproductive but self...

794: Lorna Davis, part 3: Before taking the sustainability leadership workshop

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lorna first appeared on this podcast in 2021. We became friends and remained so, though we challenge each other, as you'll hear in this conversation. ...

793: Nick Loris, part 1.5: Heartwarming nature, family, and fatherhood

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People I talk to on the political left who care about the environment see people on the political right as opponents to defeat. When I share that I ta...

792: Travis Fisher, part 2: The spirit that America was founded on, Cato, and sustainability

07 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We recorded this conversation just after the election. We talked about it, especially Travis's and the Cato Institute's views. One of his main views i...

791: Sustainability Leadership Is a Performance Art

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I'm following up my recent solo post, 790: Talking to a guy injecting on the sidewalk, with another extemporaneous one. This one is also with a former...

790: Talking to a guy injecting on the sidewalk

16 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On a beautiful sunny Saturday, 9:50am, I was walking to Washington Square Park to charge my battery and talk at 10am to my friend Dan McPherson (he's ...

789: Solomon Schmidt: Author of Legal Gladiator, on Alan Dershowitz

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a podcast host, I get pitched a lot of authors, books, and more. Most aren't relevant or are counterproductive to sustainability. I received an ema...

788: Susan Liebell: John Locke, Stewardship, and the US Constitution

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I quote Susan in my book, Sustainability Simplified. In it you'll see how much John Locke influenced my long-term vision for the US to understand and ...

787: Travis Fisher, part 1: A nonpartisan, libertarian view on the environment from the Cato Institute

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I've been curious in what ways libertarian views on the environment and sustainability differ from conservative views. Travis worked at the Heritage F...

786: Jan Mulder, part 2: The joy of finding and leading community

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Usually when someone does their commitment with the Spodek Method, they enjoy it. Nearly always they do more than they commit to. Sometimes someone re...

785: Josh Bandoch, part 1: Teaching persuasion and leadership

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I participated in an online workshop in influence and persuasion that Josh led. We got in touch afterward and found our approaches to the practices an...

784: Serving in Uniform on September 11, 2024

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you haven't listened to episode 781: My New Major Life Volunteering Community Project, four years in the making, listen to it first for context.Tha...

783: Jan Mulder, part 1: Listening to every episode of this podcast, starting from episode 000

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jan is a listener of this podcast who contacted me about how it changed his life. He is listening to each episode, starting from the beginning. I invi...

782: Jane Muncke PhD MSc: Toxins in your food from plastic packaging. You'd rather know.

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Toxic chemicals leach from food packaging into your food. Some of these chemicals disrupt your hormones. Some cause cancer. Some affect your children ...

781: My New Major Life Volunteering Community Project, four years in the making

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I started a new project volunteering in my community that is also a big life change I wouldn't believe I'm doing except that I am. In a sense I starte...

780: Jack Spencer, part 2: Policy and the Individual Choosing

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jack shares his love for nature and passion to care for it, how central it is to his life, how much of his time and focus he devotes to it. He shares ...

779: Nick Loris, part 2: Freedom to Explore, Freedom to Choose

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nick and I talk about freedom, liberty, personal action and, however paradoxical to most people, how important personal behavior is in changing system...

778: The Entrepreneurial Strategy to Restore Sustainability Globally Without Waiting for Governments and Corporations

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode follows up the last one, on how you can learn sustainability leadership through our workshops, so you can practice sustainability joyfull...

777: How the Spodek Method Workshop Differs From Other Sustainability Work

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you've listened to a lot of this podcast, you've heard me walk guests through sharing their values on sustainability and acting on them.Why do they...

776: Chuck Marohn, part 1: Strong Towns and Sustainability Leadership

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I'd heard of Strong Towns for years, mainly through guest Jason Slaughter's Not Just Bikes video series, and finally joined the community by taking a ...

775: Bruce Alexander, part 4: The Spodek Method clicks at last!

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You've probably listened to Bruce's past three episodes, so you probably know he wants a path to exist that leads people to want to live more sustaina...

774: Alden Wicker, part 1.5: Foraging Is Fun

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I ask guests to do episodes 1.5 when they tell me they couldn't do their Spodek Method commitment or keep postponing. Sometimes they say they don't wa...

773: Frederic Laloux, part 1: His program, "The Week," creates space for conversations on the environment

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Frederic describes his program The Week in our conversation. I did it last year, invited by a friend (whom I misname in our conversation, sorry) and r...

772: Bruce Alexander, part 3: Advanced Spodek Method

03 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I find this series of conversations with Bruce to be ending up excellent examples to learn advanced Spodek Method from. I think they're also engaging....

771: Jack Spencer, part 1: The Heritage Foundation, limited government, free markets and the environment

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Regular readers of my blog know I took a course, Conservatism 101, from the Leadership Institute, which led me to read conservative literature I hadn'...

770: Nick Loris, part 1: A limited government free market approach to our environmental problems

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Regular readers of my blog know I took a course, Conservatism 101, from the Leadership Institute, which led me to read conservative literature I hadn'...

769: Kevin Fucillo, part 1: An inside view of our community fridge and its volunteers

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin and I talk about volunteering at the Chelsea Community Fridge, how it formed, how it's evolved, and our roles.You'll hear he's involved with it ...

768: Trish and Evelyn, part 2: The birth of sustainability awards

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trish and Evelyn took the workshop, and neither seriously acted on sustainability before it, so one thing to listen for in this conversation is what p...

767: Andrew Bennett, part 2: Behind the scenes with a New York City chef

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you like food, you'll love this episode.I shared before how unbelievably delicious Andrew's food was, even if it were at a top restaurant. But he w...

766: Chip Conley, part 1: Learning to Love Midlife

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I'd heard about Chip long ago but only met him recently at a launch event for his book Learning to Love Midlife. It resonated since at 52 years old, I...

765: Bruce Alexander, part 2: Can the Spodek Method scale from the individual to the world?

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I think I can safely say Bruce and I have formed a friendship, both professional and from similar interests, even though he's retired and I'm not a ps...

764: Erica Frank, part 2: "No Hairshirt At All." Instead: Abundance

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I rarely get to talk to people who expect living more sustainably to be joyful and rewarding from personal experience, not just hoping for the best. I...

763: Guy Spier, part 2: Limited government, free market, low tax sustainability solutions

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I loved where this conversation led.We began by talking about recent news: Greta Thunberg taking a political stand and acting publicly on it on an iss...

762: Chef Andrew Bennett: Changing the Culture of Hospital Food

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I start my conversation with Andy with what brought me to him: the meal after recording with the guy who hired him, podcast guest Sven Gierlinger, and...

761: Dave Kerpen, part 2: Joyfully Skipping Donuts

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This conversation was brief, but covered the important points, particularly the challenges of changing habits. Dave didn't do everything he intended, ...

760: Adam Alter: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Adam treats dependence and addiction in some ways different and unique than past guests who have covered addiction. One way is the business side. For ...

759: Bruce Alexander, part 1: Rat Park, Addiction, and Sustainability

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I start by describing how podcast guest Carl Erik Fisher, author of bestseller The Urge, reviewed my upcoming book Sustainability Simplified as a subj...

758: Peter Singer, part 2: A philosopher approaches sustainability

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I started by sharing my experience giving after reading Peter's book The Life You Can Save. I confess I only read it after our first conversation, but...

757: Dr. Anna Lembke, part 1: Dopamine Nation

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Regular listeners know I see our relationships with many activities that are enabled by pollution as behavioral addictions like gambling or playing vi...

756: Kimberly Nicholas: How Fly Less? Fly less.

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kimberly has, by dramatically reducing her flying, improved her life, living more deliberately and consistent with her values.I met her when she was a...

755: Stefan Gössling: Busting self-serving myths about flying

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People who fly think most people fly, but it's more like a few percent. A small fraction of people fly, let alone across oceans or multiple times per ...

754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"What I do doesn't matter" is one of the more common sentiments of our time. We use it to avoid acting when we see problems. A similar rationalization...

753: Martin Doblmeier, part 2: Sabbath and Sustainablity

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A blackout struck New York City and a large part of the U.S. northeast in 2003. It happened only two years after 9/11. How could we not first wonder i...

752: Dave Kerpen, part 1: Delegation for leaders and entrepreneurs

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dave and I go back years, to when we both wrote columns at Inc. I'm surprised I didn't bring him on before. He helps entrepreneurs, leaders, and aspir...

751: Erica Frank, part 1: Living More Joyfully Sustainably for Decades

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I met Erica in a online meeting of academics who promote avoiding flying. A major perk for many academics is that universities pay for flying to acade...

750: Alden Wicker: To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Poisoning Us. You'll Be Shocked

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since recording this conversation, I've mentioned to a lot of people, "you wouldn't believe the situation with dyes and poisons in our clothes."The mo...

749: Sven Gierlinger, part 1: Transforming the Culture of a New York Hospital Chain as a Chief Experience Officer

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I heard about Sven through the articles below about the cultural change at Northwell, a chain of hospitals around New York City.I recommend reading th...

748: Stephen Broyles, part 2: A Calming, Life Change From One Small Commitment

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

About fifteen minutes into this conversation, it hit me how powerfully Stephen's commitment affected him. (Sorry I took so long to catch on, Stephen!)...