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2020

December

31: Conversazioni Sostenibili (the Italian This Sustainable Life) hosts me
30: Mastery illustrated
29: Did you make 2020 your finest hour?
28: 425: General William “Kip” Ward, part 1: Security, Stability, and Sustainability Start with People
27: A leadership lesson from Ronald Reagan I’ve taken to heart
26: Don’t Mess With Texas: a celebrity-packed anti-littering campaign
25: Update: Day 365 of current load of trash
24: What can you do?
23: 424: Brent Suter, part 3: We don’t have to steward. We get to.
22: Year 10, day 1 of daily burpees (about 163,000 and counting)
21: What “Educate women” means
20: Clear talk on the environment from a man at the forefront for fifty years
19: As I predicted, sadly, Trump: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
18: “Addicts lie” and they sound like people justifying polluting
17: 423: Kelly Allan, part 2: Restoring joy to work through Deming and stewardship
16: Working on Purpose radio with Dr. Alise Cortez hosted me
15: See me on MAGAMedia.org on the election
14: America’s bullsh*t stories about the environment
13: If we led other areas as we do sustainability
12: 422: Adam Hochschild, part 1: Abolition and Sustainability
11: Want to play Carnegie Hall?
10: See me on a MAGAMedia panel with five Trump supporters
9: 421: Behind the Mic: Race: Why I’ve talked about it so much
8: 420: Three Years of Leadership and the Environment!
7: 419: Balint Horvath, part 4: Fatherhood and sustainability
6: “When did I start acting sustainably?” “When did you stop?”
5: 418: Chester Elton, part 2: The world’s number 4 best leadership speaker, trainer, and thought leader
4: I’m not in great shape. I just spent nearly no time or money reaching the shape I want.
3: 417: Dan McPherson, part 2: Recovering from his heart attack, cutting out water bottles
2: What makes America great and our greatest vulnerability
1: 416: Rod Schoonover, part 1: Resigned in protest after White House tried to delete “basic science” from climate change report

November

30: American obesity: 42.4 percent
29: 415: Marion Nestle, conversation 2: Let’s Ask Marion
28: 414: Nir Eyal, part 2: He committed to avoiding flying before the pandemic
27: Watch Growthbusters free this weekend–tackling the taboo at the root of it all
27: Management Versus Leadership
26: Imagine the relief of 3.7 billion people
25: I spend less than the average American on food, buying almost nothing they do
24: 413: Michael Moss, part 1.5: Maybe that was the addiction speaking
23: ANNOUNCING: From Italy, a new offshoot of the Leadership and the Environment podcast!
22: I unplugged my fridge for the winter
21: 412: George Chmiel, part 2: Teamwork From Garbage
20: “The Mandela of the Environment”—profiled in Wildpreneurs
19: 411: Winston Churchill and the environment
18: Speak Like a Leader podcast features me today
17: 410: Race, part 2: How do you learn when people respond to questions with criticism and judgment?
16: The cause of our environmental problems, aka “the addiction speaking”
15: More on less stuff
14: 409: Kevin Cahill, part 2: Systems change, fast and effective
13: 408: Nancy Reagan and the Environment
12: 407: Eric Metaxas: William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace
11: Special invitation to sneak preview I Am Greta
10: 406: J. B. MacKinnon, part 1: The Once and Future World
9: 405: No, It’s Not Just a Piece of Cloth
8: The cruel misunderstanding of “poor today live like kings of yesterday”
7: Lower Manhattan Off the Hook
6: Parting with material things
5: 404: Michael Moss, part 1: Salt, Sugar, Fat, Convenience, Addiction, and the Environment
4: 403: Ashish Jha, part 2: Battling covid-19, leadership, and the environment
3: 402: Faith
2: Full lotus: 21 minutes meditating on a Sunday morning
1: Day 1,300 picking up at least one piece of litter daily

October

31: Two touching new episodes from our UK offshoot: This Sustainable Life Untethered
30: The Story of Plastic panel video
29: 401: Defund the police? A proposal.
28: 400: Race, part 1: Should whites shut up and listen?
27: 399: Mark Tercek: Former CEO, The Nature Conservancy; Former Partner, Goldman Sachs
26: How about helping polluters reduce pollution this way?
25: What comes next: mind, body, ?
24: What do you think, feel, and do when you see an addicted person?
23: Allegory: the source of our environmental problems
22: Doof: most fruit yogurt and chocolates are misnamed
21: 398: Lt. General Paul Van Riper USMC, part 2: A Marine Versus Coffee
20: A solution to social media messing up elections
19: The Story of Plastic panelists
18: My keynote and panel at Swedish Food Tech’s Big Meet
17: My famous no-packaging vegan stew webinar with Plant Powered Metro New York (plagued by technical problems)
16: 397: Eric Orts, part 1: Exploring a Senate Race
15: Beth Comstock on The Story of Plastic
14: 396: Margaret Klein Salamon, part 2: Political or Personal or Political and Personal
13: Your new plans for October 22: Join the screening and panel of experts I’m hosting on The Story of Plastic.
12: ANNOUNCING: A new offshoot of the Leadership and the Environment podcast!
11: On pledges to lower emissions by 2030 and 2050
10: 395: A Time I Gave Up
9: What future generations won’t believe we lacked
8: Ask not “how bad does it have to get before people act?”
7: 394: Joe De Sena, part 2: The Sustainable Spartan starts here
6: 393: Jaime Casap, part 2: If a global pandemic isn’t the end, what is?
5: Sustainability Leadership Slogans
4: Litter or Thrones?
3: 392: The doomsayers aren’t who you think
2: Three oddly accurate rules of communications in 2020
1: Used syringes littering my neighborhood

September

30: 391: Bob Inglis, part 2: Is Biden better for conservatives on climate legislation?
29: 390: George Chmiel 1.5: Sustainability, hard even for an ultramarathoner, but he doesn’t give up
28: 389: Why environmentalists can be so annoying
27: Our peeled grapes
26: The joy of my phone breaking
25: Thoughts on yesterday’s 100-mile bike ride
24: My first time biking 100 miles in a day since the 80s (then 51 burpees)
23: 388: Nir Eyal, part 2: Another role model avoiding flying pre-pandemic
22: Kids you can’t afford?
21: 387: Maja Rosén: Leading not flying
20: What I buy used versus new
19: When I saw Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak at West Point
18: 386: Bob Inglis, part 1: the EcoRight, a balance to the Environmental Left
17: 385: Coleman Hughes: Race and social media mobs
16: 384: They would rather switch than fight
15: Attend my online workshop: Make my famous no-packaging vegetable stew. Free, October 1 online
14: 383: Sports, competition, and beating pandemics
13: My Washington Square Park drug dealer dream
12: I confess I don’t get a lot of poetry
11: More disposable cars: Ignoring unintended side-effects
10: Prediction: cars will become disposable
9: 382: Kelly Allan, part 1: Deming 101, community, and beyond
8: Mutual Aid During the Pandemic
7: 381: Kevin Edwards Cahill, part 1: The Deming Legacy
6: The virus does nothing
5: I don’t have to steward. I get to.
4: The Book: Food and Climate Change–Without the Hot Air
3: 380: Matthew Stevenson, part 1: Why Befriend a White Nationalist?
2: Would you describe these abs as chiseled?
1: Watering my tomato plants means climbing 11 flights every day

August

31: 379: Dan McPherson, part 1: A Heart Attack Last Week at Age 46
30: I used to think I lived in the best time and place for food
29: I’m not leading by example. If you think I am, you’re probably promoting pollution.
28: It seems I eat food homeless people throw away
27: In a world calling for leadership, where are the leadership authors and gurus?
26: 378: Libba and Gifford Pinchot III, part 1: Redefining business education
25: The rare taste of blood
24: 377: Chris Manhertz, part 2: Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.
23: 376: Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Stewardship
22: 375: Vertical farms belie the false hope of fusion
21: 374: Andreas Larsson, part 1: Leadership and the Environment Sweden
20: Polluting students’ bodies: did NYU go back on its word?
19: Hear me on No Backing Down
18: What we can learn from elk hunters
17: 373: Jaeden Graham, Atlanta Falcon: Reaching beyond your potential
16: Is Psychology Today Biased Against Men and People of Color?
15: Rowing by the Empire State Building
14: A reader asks: “What makes a leader effective during a crisis? E.g. Covid19”
13: Everything I’ve eaten since returning home
12: 372: JFK, the moon, and missing leadership today
11: 371: Margaret Klein Salamon, part 1: Become the Hero Humanity Needs
10: 370: Viktor Frankl on the pandemic
9: Full Lotus Position
8: Let’s talk about Race and White Privilege, Parts 1 and 2
7: 369: Another Decision From My Past I Feel Ashamed Of
6: 75 years since Hiroshima
5: Left mouse button broke. Still posting, not missing my sidcha.
4: “One-Third of New York’s Small Businesses May Be Gone Forever” Another problem with efficiency
3: 368: Chester Elton, part 1: Asking and listening across color lines
2: 367: The Surprising Mantle of Leadership
1: 366: The Cops, Jocko Willink, and Joe Rogan

July

31: A million-dollar business idea in sustainability
30: Superman and picking up garbage
29: 365: Assaulted again and scammed
28: 364: Joe De Sena, part 1: The Spartan Race: Resilience from effort
27: I finish paying for the MBA I earned in 2005-06 tomorrow
26: 363: General George Patton’s Speech to the Third Army
25: Looking for work? See me on Columbia Alumni’s panel: Navigating a Job Search in a Difficult Market
24: 362: Nelson Mandela: “it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
23: 2020 in 9 words: “Everybody wants to be heard and nobody is listening.”
22: The Packaged Food Challenge: See me with Joe De Sena on Spartan Up!
21: 361: George Chmiel, part 1: Why run 3,000 miles? Why challenge yourself?
20: 360: Sparta could make history
19: More tired than in years
18: “Do men have emotions?”, she asked.
17: Greetings from Sparta
16: A reader asks: how much money is enough to spend?
15: Should NYU-Tisch change its name?
14: See my webinars on Initiative to Wharton and U. of Chicago Business School alumni.
13: When facts influence, when they make people dig in.
12: 359: Jaime Casap, part 1: Google’s Global Education Evangelist
11: What “recyclable,” “recycled,” and “compostable” mean
10: What “net zero” and “closed loop” mean.
9: 358: Bald Versus Plastic
8: Reader questions
7: The 21st Century: dozens of ways to communicate . . . and all of them break.
6: 357: Steven Pressfield: The War of Art and Nature
5: 356: I was assaulted again this morning. Can I talk about it?
4: Frederick Douglass: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
3: 355: I balance values the same as anyone
2: 354: Harvard Global Health Institute Director Ashish Jha, part 1: Front Line Pandemic Leadership
1: 353: I don’t want to act on the environment

June

30: 352: The War of Art and Nature
30: Frances Hesselbein quoted me for today’s Tip of the Day
29: Any Given Runway features me (who avoids runways)
28: 351: A Rough Day in New York City
27: Who is responsible for pollution?
26: Have any President’s decisions and actions led to more American civilian deaths than Trump’s?
25: Signs of hope
24: Specious, fatuous, self-serving beliefs
23: 350: Jonathan Herzog, part 1: A candidate acts with genuineness and authenticity
22: I don’t mind if the restaurant industry shifts to home cooking and eating
21: “Our Finest Hour, If We Choose”, in Kosmos Quarterly
20: Kings of sidchas
19: 349: The State of the Environment Is The External Manifestation of Our Beliefs
18: 348: Dave Chappelle’s Line
17: Adults “praising” youth on environmental action
16: Heroes of New York, episode 2: Doing meaningful things, a conversation on change
15: My new challenge to help people pollute less
14: Roots of my environmental action video
13: More inspiration from Nelson Mandela
12: 347: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, part 4: More sex
11: Surprises returning home
10: 346: Julie Margretta Wilson: Covid-19 devastating education
9: Habits create a lifestyle: Hear me on the Style Your Life podcast
8: Watch UNICEF’s 2020 World Environment Day Panel Discussion, which included me
7: The advice I shouldn’t have taken from a black friend on talking about race
6: The habit myths that lead you to quit
5: A video about the idiocy of perpetual growth
4: 345: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, part 3: Drugs
3: 344: My Race Background
2: 343: Chad Pregracke: One River, One Piece of Garbage at a Time
1: Psychology Today: Introversion is not the opposite of extroversion, part 2

May

31: Psychology Today: Introversion Is Not the Opposite of Extroversion
30: Introducing Miko Lau’s 26 Days to Greatness Challenge
29: Should we make stupid shit illegal?
28: 342: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, part 2: Sex
27: The New Right Network hosted me for its Environment Town Hall. Watch the Video.
27: Why are we blind to sexism hurting men, take 4: Central Park false accusation
26: 341: NFL Tight End Chris Manhertz, part 1: Making your dreams happen
25: The Heroes of New York podcast hosted me
24: Elon Musk isn’t helping nature
23: My reflection on an exercise assigned me: Drinking a Hot Beverage Without Judgment
22: Americans mistake
21: An attendee’s stellar review of my webinar: Life-Changing Habits Even (Especially) Under Lock-Down
20: Habits aren’t my thing, despite what you might think
19: 340: Michael Turner, DDS, MD: On the front line of Covid-19 in New York City
18: 339: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams: Food Matters
17: I planted my first tree!
17: The Market and the Good podcast hosts me for two episodes
16: Three Latest Videos on New York City’s lockdown with Me and Magamedia.org’s Rob Harper
15: Recovering from running a marathon versus rowing a 2k
14: Learning to walk barefoot again
13: 338: Abbey Ryan, part 1: Technique and Mastery Through Practice
12: Leadership and the Environment Sweden launches!
11: “The Value and Joy of Individual Action”: Hear me on the Growthbusters podcast
10: How Bill Gates and the 1% can help the environment
9: 337: Why we feel miserable under lockdown
9: 337: Why we feel miserable under lockdown
8: Science discovering “tastes good” versus “wanting more”
7: 336: Julian Guderley: GreenPlanet BluePlanet
6: 335: Rhonda Lamb, part 2: reversing food deserts
6: This Sustainable Life popular guests
5: Life-Changing Habits Even (Especially) Under Lock-Down
4: My third TEDx talk: People Don’t Want to Do Small Things. They Want to Do Meaningful Things
3: Beautiful, modern life before plastic, corn syrup, and Walmart
2: Keeping your habits and sidchas
1: The Great Isolation Part 3

April

30: 334: Jethro Jones, part 2: Biking in -40 degrees. Why not?
29: 333: A racist with a heart of gold is still a racist
28: Join my webinar THIS FRIDAY: Creating meaning, purpose, and structure under lock down (and the rest of your life)
28: My keynote at My Green Lab’s Sustainability Summit (Sneak preview of my third TEDx talk)
27: My thoughts on Planet of the Humans, which I recommend
26: 332: How leaders choose better
25: When you hear “Green Growth,” “Closed-loop Economy,” or “Net zero”, watch your wallet.
24: 331: Rob Harper, part 2: A Pro-Trump View
24: Our greatest taboo is the greatest issue of our time: Watch Growthbusters free (for limited time)
23: Lockdown reflections, locked down with family for the first time since the 70s (with Robjh from Magamedia)
23: 330: Lockdown Inspiration from Nelson Mandela
21: 329: John Perkins: Touching the Jaguar
20: My Question Journal
19: 328: Tony Wagner, Learning by Heart
18: 327: Rhonda Lamb, part 1: The Bronx and farm-fresh vegetables
17: How much is COVID-19 affecting the environment?
16: The most valuable no-nonsense covid-19 information I’ve seen (from Nutritionfacts.org’s Dr. Michael Greger)
15: 326: Why Should I Care About Oskar Schindler?
14: See my second appearance on Magamedia.org
13: 325: My Mom, Marie Spodek: All in the Family
12: Video on New York City’s lockdown with Magamedia.org’s Rob Harper
11: Split infinitives
10: This bookmark illustrates what’s wrong with our world
9: 324: Marina McCoy, part 1: A Waste-Free Earth Through Music
8: 323: Steven Kotler: The Future Is Faster Than You Think
7: 322: Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, part 1: Rock and Roll
6: 321: Marni Kinrys, part 2: Making Stewardship Normal
5: 150,000 burpees
4: 320: Confronting doof
3: 319: Avoid doof
2: 318: Why pandemics will keep increasing and how we can reverse the trend
1: 317: My UN and UNICEF talk on COVID-19 and leadership

March

31: Do you research how much water certain produce requires to grow?
30: Would you take piano lessons from someone who breaks pianos with a sledgehammer but doesn’t play?
29: 316: Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD, part 2: Eat for Life
28: The Joshua Spodek Show
27: 315: Diversity: Where are female deliverypeople? Or research on them?
26: My Bronx cooking demonstration video
25: 314: Brent Suter part 2: A Major League pitcher and his farmers markets
24: 313: Jeff Kirschner, part 2: Still Working On It, Still Learning
23: 312: Jeff Kirschner, part 1.5: Leaders Fail, and Bounce Back
22: 311: Jeff Kirschner, part 1: Building Community Around Cleaning Litter
21: Covid-19: Addiction to flying and other polluting behavior was a lack of motivation and imagination
20: 310: The Start and End of Any Serious Conversation on the Environment
19: 309: Roberta Baskin: Covid-19 Social Connection Amid Physical Distancing
18: See me on Rise to the Occasion with Chelsea Behrens
17: 308: Marni Kinrys, part 1: The Ultimate Wing Girl
16: 307: Covid-19, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and leading through crises
15: 306: Covid-19, avoiding people, and family
14: Covid advice applies to the environment. What we can do here we can do everywhere.
13: 305: The greatest danger from covid-19 would be not learning from it
12: 304: How ecotourism can work
11: The fashion world is noticing buying less
10: 303: The environmental results I predict versus what I work for
9: 302: Nir Eyal, part 1: Make yourself Indistractable
8: 301: Does It Scale? My Modified Tesla Strategy
7: Would you take a free course in sustainability leadership?
6: 300: Larry Yatch, part 3: Discovering New Emotions With His Sons and Wife
5: 299: Dr. Joel Fuhrman, part 1: Eat to Live
4: 298: Is polluting child abuse?
4: 297: RIP James Lipton, a huge influence and inspiration
2: Hear my second appearance on 12 Minute Conversations with Engel Jones
1: Beat my 2k record by 4 seconds

February

29: TEDx done, on to rowing in the morning, Harvard the next day
28: Is theory just reflection?
27: 296: Solutions have to work for everyone
26: Exercise friends
25: 295: Brent Suter, part 1: Major league baseball pitcher and steward
24: See my interview in the Let’s Reach Success blog
24: 294: Population: How Much Is Too Much?
23: One way to lower white supremacists’ appeal
22: The project I assigned myself following up my posts on white men
21: Update on automatic thoughts people connect with straight white men
20: 293: Alan Weisman: My Greatest Source of Environmental Hope
19: See me speak at TEDxConnecticutCollege, February 29th
18: 292: The environment is the outward manifestation of our beliefs
17: Psychology Today: White Men and Preconceived Notions
16: 291: Lorna Davis, part 2: Can an Executive Buy No Clothes for a Year?
15: Forbes, Faherty, a blog award, and other media mentions
14: Hear me on the Ask Women podcast
13: 290: On Excessive Self Interest, from Thomas Kolditz
12: Hear me on the GreenPlanet BluePlanet podcast
11: 289: Rob J. Harper, part 1: The Conservative Black Cowboy I met at Google
10: 288: Vince Lombardi: What It Takes
9: My electric bill after a month with the fridge off
8: Book launch: The War on the EPA
7: Sexism in magazine covers?
6: Psychology Today: The Environment: What Do One Person’s Actions Matter?
5: 287: David Katz, part 1: Stopping ocean plastic
4: 286: Paul Smith, part 2: At the edge of my seat
3: 285: How to take initiative
2: 284: Why not escape to nature?
1: A simple, genius way media can lead on the environment

January

31: 283: Nadya Zhexembayeva, part 2: The Reinvention Guru
30: 282: Vanessa Hering, part 2: Food, fitness, fun, and winning
29: 281: People don’t want to do small things. They want to do meaningful things.
28: 280: Paul Smith, part 1: How to tell stories to lead
27: What automatic thoughts come to you when you think of straight white men?
26: Why record temperatures matter
25: 279: Role model and global leader Mechai Viravaidya
24: More (d)evolving views on universities
23: Year 10, day 1, number 3,764
22: How Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s look when you avoid packaging
21: Do you postpone or get postponed on more?
20: 278: I have an environmental dream
19: 277: The joys and challenges of leaving addiction
18: 276: Service. stewardship, and the huge rewards they create
17: My thoughts from when the alarm goes off
16: My keynote at Sustainology 2019 (video)
15: TOMORROW: My webinar on Initiative with Columbia Business School
14: 275: Go Big
13: Psychology Today: Food, Sustainability, and Joy
12: Make exercises and activities easier by combining complementing ones
11: Avoid Eating “Doof”. What’s doof?
10: 274: Applying Leadership and the Environment in corporations
9: 273: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
8: Why do people ask about energy levels?
7: What rowing 2,000 meters for time feels like
6: 272: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, pumping iron, and the environment
5: 271: Vanessa Hering, part 1: Champion body builder, vegan, Ivy MBA
4: Hear me on The Professional podcast with Gary Roth
3: How long can I keep my fridge unplugged?
2: We’ve made thrills boring. We can do the opposite.
1: 270: Extinctions: Agriculture isn’t so peaceful
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