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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

1:34:27

860: Christopher Ryan, part 1: Civilized to Death

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/09/25

The predominant responses to the idea of polluting and depleting less include fears of reverting to the Stone Age, losing civilization, being invaded by aggressive opponents, dying at 30, dying from small cuts, and reverting to a past viewed as worse than today.My upcoming book describes why we feel those fears and why what we fear losing is exactly what we can expect to get more of. A key part of that pattern is that all those fears are false, based on misunderstanding humanity's

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55:04

859: Jack El-Hai: The Nazi, the Psychiatrist,...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/09/08

How do you make sense of an entire society or nation violating its values? Consider Germany in the 1930s, in which a whole nation seemed to embrace Nazism.It's tempting to say they're all monsters, but how could over 50 million people change in a few years? Not genetics. They must have been no more or less human in 1940 as 1920.It's tempting to say that monsters took over and changed them. Many people thought so. At the end of World War II, a psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley, was sent to evaluate the

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1:00:57

858: Beth Bailey, the great-grandmother influencer...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/08/15

As a great-grandmother, Beth probably wouldn't describe herself as an influencer, but what else do you call it when videos of her go viral and prompt people to follow her?Longtime podcast listeners may remember episode 754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back. We mentioned Beth, Evelyn’s mom and Trish’s sister. All three of them took the workshop. Beth and Evelyn also took my leadership and initiative courses that I offered to workshop alumni.Beth's

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51:23

857: Kim Stanley Robinson: Science fiction writing...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/08/04

I met Stan in person at an event in Brooklyn. I had readMinistry for the Future a few years ago. He pointed out something I hadn't noticed since most people identify him as a science fiction writer.Ministry for the Future isn't exactly science fiction. He projects into the future, but he only includes plausible things---no flying cars or time travel.This practice invigorated my interest in his work. I also asked him how he handled water inNew York 2140, since I knew it would have to be heavily

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1:03:05

856: David Jenkins, President of Conservatives for...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/07/29

Most environmentalists that I know of consider themselves progressive or liberal. They propose solutions that increase regulation and grow government, often in the style of the New Deal. Their role models are generally also progressive and liberal. They present conservatives as opponents, even enemies, sometimes evil. They consider them interested in themselves and profit, not caring who suffers for it.Over and over, they say about conservatives, "They don't care." Meanwhile, they pollute as much as

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1:05:37

855: Peter DeCarlo PhD: Shocking Cancer Alley...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/07/10

That this country has a region called Cancer Alley is beyond tragic. We know we're causing it, not just the companies operating the polluting refineries and other industrial plants. All of us who buy their products are funding them.I wondered if it was fair to call the region Cancer Alley. Is the evidence clear enough, even if not for a court to award damages?Peter DeCarlo is a researcher at Johns Hopkins who did original research and answered definitively: Yes. In our conversation, he described

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44:06

854: John Perkins, part 2: New Book Preview: The Art...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/07/03

John returns to describe his upcoming bookThe Art of the Steal: Trump and the Economic Hit Man Presidency, described as his best book of theEconomic Hit Man series. I'm honored that he came to this podcast first.Longtime listeners and readers know how much of an impressionConfessions of an Economic Hit Man made on me. Regular blog readers know from my descriptions of my upcoming book how much imperialism factors into it. John's book couldn't have come at a better time.Listen to this whole

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1:20:54

853: Kate Williams: CEO, 1% for the Planet

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/06/11

I'd seen the "1% for the Planet" logo many times and figured it was an organization that helped, but I didn't think of how. The businessman in me wondered, shouldn't companies just lower prices 1% and let people donate what they want? Does one percent make much difference?Kate was passing through New York so we got to meet in person. In this recording, she answers these questions and more. She describes the organization more comprehensively, but briefly, 1% for the Planet organizes other

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58:17

852: Steven Pressfield, conversation 2: His new book,...

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/05/29

It turns out Steven's readers split into two camps with little overlap. I figure most listeners belong to theWar of Art camp. If you haven't read the book and want to live a better life, I recommend it, in the top few percent of recommendations. It's powerful, engaging, memorable, and short.The other camp reads his fiction books. His latest isThe Arcadian, which stands alone but connects with his last bookA Man at Arms. I read both and now belong to both camps, proudly. One goal of this conversation

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1:09:02

851: J. Eric Oliver: How to Know Yourself

This Sustainable Life ·

2026/05/18

This podcast is about leadership first and foremost, applied to sustainability. Most of the time when people hear or read "sustainability," that concept overrides everything else. They forget or don't notice else, but here, in this podcast it comes second. If you haven't developed the social and emotional skills to lead based on intrinsic motivation, if you try to convince, cajole, coerce, or seek compliance, you'll probably influence people to resist and oppose you and what you're promoting.I see

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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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868 results

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