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PODCAST

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

society & culture nature

All Episodes

1:12:00

850: AJ Harper, part 1: Write to change lives,...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/04/24

Two core elements of leadership are effective communication and creating community. AJ has done both. I can attest from taking her writing workshop and participating in her author community since. I wrote the first draft ofSustainability Simplified in her workshop.I also valued the book she co-wrote with her writing partner and podcast guest Mike Michalowicz. As you'll hear in our conversation, their podcast is one of the only ones I've listened to every episode of.I've wanted to bring her on the

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48:35

849: Josh Bandoch, part 3: How to Get What You Want:...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/04/22

Josh Bandoch published a book on persuasion, influence, and leadership: How to Get What You Want: Mastering the Art and Science of Persuasion. I wish I'd had this book decades ago. It handles myths many people hold about persuasion that hold people back, then builds up the skills and theory to influence and persuade people effectively.It compiles many essential building blocks of persuasion and influence into one place.We talked about it at length in this episode. I recommend it, and would if I

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49:57

848: Peter Simek, part 1: EarthX's CEO

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/04/13

I met Peter in person at a local (Manhattan) event that EarthX hosted for media people. I was invited for hosting this podcast.We spoke about leadership and sustainability. We focused on crossing political boundaries. We shared about our successes in these efforts, how important we consider such tactics and strategies, and how much that success is missing in the US.He invited me to participate in this year's conference, as you'll hear in our conversation. I wrote back that I don't fly, so I'd like

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47:42

847: Tzeporah Berman: Ending Fossil Fuels by Treaty

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/02/28

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 fossil fuels. I had to bring her here.Our conversation grew more compelling and interesting as we spoke. The early parts about energy sources besides fossil fuels you may have heard before, but give context.After she shares the realizations that prompted her to lead are what I valued. In particular, she exposes and clarifies how people have simply

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1:00:13

846: Gail Eisnitz: The Inside Story of a Life...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/02/17

Gail shares her investigations into meat industry practices, exploring how exorbitant slaughterhouse production line speeds in a consolidated slaughter industry affect animals as they are being handled and killed, and how the proliferation of massive factory farms impacts animals being raised in intensive confinement.She spent decades in the field documenting violations against farm animals and in the office preparing cases and writing about her investigations in articles and books. Her efforts to

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1:26:50

845: Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon: The War on Cars...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/02/13

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 century’s worth of damage wrought by the automobile, approaching the topic from all angles, from politics to pop culture. They release two regular episodes and one Patreon bonus episode per month.Doug and Sarah's BookCars ruin everything. That’s why we need Life After Cars.When the very first cars rolled off production lines, they were a technological

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1:35:59

844: Maya Lilly, part 1: Effective Storytelling and...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/01/13

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 feel starstruck.Oh wait, she also worked with series creators Joel Bach and David Gelber (of 60 Minutes); chief science advisors podcast guest Joseph Romm and Heidi Cullen; and episode hosts including Cameron, Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Ian Somerhalder, America Ferrera, David Letterman, Gisele Bündchen, Jack Black, Matt Damon, Jessica Alba,

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28:43

843: Judith Enck, part 2: The Problem with Plastic...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/01/07

Judith just publishedThe Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.I've read a lot about plastic and hosted many authors. I won't lie. Before starting the book, I thought I should read it because I knew her, but didn't expect much.Instead, I learned a lot new. I found it engaging and compelling. I recommend it.Yes, you'll learn things that are sobering, but you'd rather know than not know, especially things that affect your health and safety and your

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39:44

842: Silvia Bellezza, part 1.5 and 2: When at first...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/12/26

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 1.5, which is my lingo for redoing episode 1 when the person wasn't able to fulfill his or her commitment. That's my responsibility as leader of the interaction.Silvia and I had a wonderful first conversation that led to a commitment that sounded like she'd enjoy it and doable, but in the end wasn't quite. Even if a quick hike north of the city would be

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41:57

841: Sandra Goldmark, part 1: Fixation: How to Have...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/11/03

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 over the place, but the field doesn't exist any more. We all know about planned obsolescence and how products are designed to break. Now we feel we have to throw things away and replace them (after avoiding buying things when possible, which is far more than most of us practice).Enter Sandra Goldmark, as a member of a growing movement to fix things and

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1:10:11

840: Dr. Leonardo Trasande, part 1: Sicker, Fatter,...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/11/02

I found Dr. Trasande quoted in aWashington Post article The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about: Phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, are linked to an array of problems, especially in pregnancy. He said, "Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are one of the biggest global health threats of our time ... And 2 percent of us know about it---but 99 percent of us are affected by it.”The article said that he said that "at the population level, scientists can see telltale signs that those

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48:34

839: Saabira Chaudhuri: Consumed: Throwaway Plastic...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/10/07

Reading Saabira'sNew York Times piece Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us told me she saw more about plastic and its effect on our culture than most. A quote from it: "The social costs of our addiction to disposable plastics are more subtle but significant. Cooking skills have declined. Sit-down family meals are less common. Fast fashion, enabled by synthetic plastic fibers, is encouraging compulsive consumption and waste."Her tenure at the Wall Street Journal told me she would communicate it

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1:03:40

837: Zach Rabinor, part 1: Getting serious about...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/09/26

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 join require it. I knew the people would be friendly, but suspected they would pollute and deplete more than most without realizing it.Zach plays a leadership role in the local chapter and was one of the organizers for this event so we interacted more. He was open and sincere about learning about my work and sustainability leadership. As you'll hear, he

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1:01:27

837: Zach Rabinor, part 2: What if your business and...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/09/26

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 working with three motivations:His surfer, outdoors self wants to conserve, protect, and enjoy nature and enable others to do the same by experiencing it.His CEO self wants to deliver what his customers want, despite what they want including polluting and depleting---that is, hurting people and wildlife---beyond what nearly anyone who ever lived has. They

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1:34:47

836 Dr. Robert Fullilove, part 5: Unsustainability is...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/09/24

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 sustainability leadership. We cover in this recording most of that conversation, plus we go in other directions.He shares the commonalities of what he sees in me and my work with the people he's known and worked with who are also working or worked to change the world, including Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, John Lewis, and his wife, Mindy Fullilove

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30:21

835: At last! I can access my roof to charge solar...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/09/12

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 residents could access the roof. They told us the job would take 5 months, but it took over 18. They also didn't say exactly when it would start until one day I got an email that said I couldn't access the roof until they finished the job.What a relief! This episode shares some of my experiences. Some I liked, like that it helped me develop resilience,

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14:10

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

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/08/25

Late summer means produce at peak ripeness, especially peaches and heirloom tomatoes. Regular readers of my blog and subscribers to my newsletter have read of how my volunteering to bring overstock food from stores to places that give it to anyone for free has led to my getting for free amounts I can barely keep up eatingthat people turn down.This episode shares a saga of my confusion and exasperation at people throwing away and not accepting perfectly good food. I don't want to take it but the

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1:06:47

833: Aaron Blaise: A Master Disney Director and...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/08/15

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 in some of the biggest animated movies of all time. I expected to talk about art, creativity, and expression, topics I love. We did, after first hitting on leadership, especially empathy.He started by sharing his growth as an animator and director at Disney. Soon enough we dove into talking about the overlap between leadership and things he loved about his

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1:06:21

832: Robert Fullilove, part 4: Action in the Center...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/08/07

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 Ture), John Lewis, and more.In earlier conversations with him, I shared what brought me to him. I had been telling people who acted as if acting on sustainability was a burden. I pointed out that people who acted in the Civil Rights movement took greater risks and undertook more challenging work, risking jail, risking physical injury, going to jail,

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36:31

831: Glenn Hubbard: Dean of Columbia Business School...

This Sustainable Life ·

2025/08/05

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 known the longest.I invited him to the podcast after seeing a talk he gave on the 300th birthday of Adam Smith. My recent learning more about Smith and other Enlightenment thinkers led me to find relevance between their thinking about how to live together without hurting each other and how we handle polluting and depleting today. I knew Glenn studied

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