Before we spoke, Seth implied he didn't do as much on his challenge as I expected so I expected a short conversation. I think it's important for listeners to hear that even people who win Nobel Prizes taking on global thermonuclear war have a hard time taking on new habits, even ones they want, like reducing their waste. I'm not claiming changing habits with environmental consequences are easy, though I believe nearly everyone will find doing so, when acting on internal values, rewarding. I think they'll be glad they did. But few will find starting trivial. So if you've identified a value you haven't acted on but want to---environmental or otherwise---I hope you forgive yourself if starting is hard. Or if keeping it up is…

My notes I read from for this post: Yesterday I posted my interview on a site that strongly supports Donald Trump. I do not. Yet I described it as one of my favorite interviews. What gives? The conversation prompted thoughts on environment and politics. Read my post on the conversation and listen to the conversation for context. For more context, the guy who hosted, Rob, his profile says "Vote Red To Save America!" on Twitter, where he describes himself as "The Conservative Black Cowboy." In videos, he wears a Make America Great Again hat. Doing these things openly in New York City may only mean you're looking for a response, but I think it also means genuine, strong feelings. I read that he genuinely and…

Here are the notes I read from for this episode: Ways I was wrong I usually start my story about acting more sustainably with my personal challenge to buy no packaged food for a week. In my second TEDx talk I describe how that challenge emerged from stopping eating meat, then hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, and foods where fiber had been removed, which was my proxy for overly processed food. I talk about my love for the beauty of nature, which I describe when people ask me what I ask guests, "What I think about when I think about the environment." But I hadn't shared some longstanding thoughts that didn't fit the narrative. Not that I hid them, I had just grown out of them.…

This episode brings you a trainer who has reached top levels of leadership and teaching leadership break down how to learn. How to learn to learn. Let that sink in. To me this episode felt like a master class by a practitioner and educator. Note his precision in language. At first I found it pedantic, but then realized it's not annoying, it's liberating. When you speak English, you don't sometimes switch letters around in words. So why switch concepts in higher level communication? He lives by his values. Protecting our environment will require billions of people living by new values. Larry lives by his and is driven to help others follow. Whether you want to live as simply as Larry does is not the relevant…

I posted a few Clips from my speaking at Google to my blog. They didn't video record the whole event, but I did get the audio, so today's episode is my talk there on how to start a podcast on the environment. My first goal was for attendees: How to start a podcast---in particular, how to create your first episode. The difference between zero and one episodes is huge, so I designed my talk to minimize the barriers to that first step. Behind-the-scenes stories of Seth Godin, James Altucher, Nobel laureate Seth Shelden, McKinsey's Global Managing Director, and other guests intersperse. I share my podcast and overall environmental leadership strategy, explaining why I go for the guests I do. I share lots of anecdotes of…

People talk about leadership causing ripple effects and hope that environmental action may lead to ripples. I see the potential for more. People like acting on their environmental values when they do. They just don't like being coerced or being made to feel shame or guilt. Few like going first. If most people like acting by their environmental values, someone going first may cause everyone else to crystallize into the new behavior. By crystallize, I mean that many people will change their behavior fast and across a wide scale. I can't guarantee society will change that way that fast, but I believe I see signs suggesting it will. I start today's episode with an example of podcast guest Navy SEAL officer Larry Yatch, his wife,…

My perspective on personal action continues to evolve. In conversation with someone at an event this evening, I started realizing the meaning in asking what each of us can do and the meaninglessness of asking hypothetical questions, which make up a lot environmental talk. It this episode I talk about meaningful questions to ask instead of theoretical ones about things you can't do anything about.

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 people commit---that they realize they could have acted earlier and that acting brings them closer to relatives and others in their communities. Columbus steals the show, having studied, cared, and acted on the environment, patiently bringing his parents along. I hope all the parents who tell me that kids make acting environmentally harder. In the…

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 became a New York Times bestseller about a decade ago when it came out. I remember when it came out but not why I took so long to read it. His writing I found a joy to read. He researched people, animals, plants, places, and so on beyond what you'd expect. You can tell he…

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 can all do. You may not want to become a SEAL, but to become your version -- that is, what you dream for yourself. And he wants to help enable you to do it. Whatever your doubts or insecurities, you have something you will love as much as he loved what he did and loves…