LATEST BLOG POSTS

I started this podcast with the goal of creating a Mandela of the environment—a role I considered essential but saw no one remotely approaching it. Lately I’ve seen the opening for an easier but more effective role—a Muhammad Ali of the environment.

After resetting during conversation 1.5, Caspar returns with his son and wife—Columbus and Nicola—for a touching proper second episode. The three of them approached the challenge as a family, though you’ll hear how Columbus led his parents in many ways. It sounds like he had tried for some time to guide his parents. Now that they committed to act, they heard him more. I see this trend a lot when[…] Keep reading →

After recording three episodes (248, 250, and 251) on Alan Weisman’s Countdown, I read his earlier book, The World Without Us, which I found equally tremendous. In it, he considers what would happen to the Earth if humans suddenly disappeared. How isn’t the point, but what the difference between a world without us from that world with us tells us about ourselves. The book and author won many awards and[…] Keep reading →

Following up yesterday’s post, Universities don’t teach as well as they think they do, I’ll offer a big way they could improve. Learning social and emotional skills requires facing and overcoming social and emotional challenges, at least in my experience. Most active, social, emotional, expressive, performance-based (ASEEP) fields train people through practicing the basics—footwork in dance, groundstrokes in tennis, and scales with musical instruments. Universities teach wonderful facts but regarding[…] Keep reading →

A friend once asked why I wanted a PhD in physics, or to become a professor. I told him I wanted to stay in academia because I wanted to keep learning. He responded, “I learn something new every day!” He worked at a bank. I presumed banks didn’t care about employees except that the did their work. My dad taught as a tenured professor since I was born. I grew[…] Keep reading →

The Problem: restaurants, stores, and hotels give away a lot disposable stuff that ends up in landfills—napkins, plastic cutlery, shampoo, ketchup packets, plastic bags etc. They feel they can’t stop giving these things away out of fear they’ll look cheap. The Solution: an independent nonprofit led by people who don’t support those industries that creates signs to put in each place suggesting customers use no more than they need. The[…] Keep reading →

Do you want to reach your potential? Do you want to get past seeing your properties as limitations? Larry shares going from being what he is and we all are — regular people — to living his dream. An elite dream. My biggest takeaway from the conversation you’re about to hear is accessibility and desire to help. That is, Larry Yatch wants us to get that what he did, we[…] Keep reading →