This episode is about doing what others don't, but want to. We recorded it nearly 2 years ago when I was still getting into my groove.  We start talking what sounds like about oranges but we're talking about leadership -- doing what others want to but don't. It may sound weird at first, but turning one healthy food into two unhealthy foods looks pretty weird to me. Everyone I know says "You shouldn't care so much what other people think," usually in a condescending voice, but they succumb to social pressure too to keep doing what everyone else does. Leaders find ways to do what they value. Jeremy shares his journey of addressing what others think and learning to manage it. Look at the guests…

The U.S. is ramping up its Presidential campaigns. The environment is an issue for many reasons. At first you'd think because of global warming, plastic, mercury in fish, extinctions, bees are mysteriously dying, and so on. But any candidate knows it's important because people care about it. Any leader knows that when people care, a leader can tap into that emotion and motivation. One of my definitions of leadership is helping people do things they wanted to but haven't figured out how. I'm going to help you, political candidate, help voters achieve what they want but haven't figured out how. Because an overwhelming majority of people can see the litter on their ground, probably on their property, to know our environmental problems are out of…

I've known Michelle longer than almost any guest. I met her in business school, which would mean 2005 or 6. She may be the friendliest guest of the show, partly from our being friends. But I've seen her in a room of unknown people where she attracts people. They like her. It happens from skills she learned through practice. She's devoted herself to teach and develop them in others. I know because she wasn't always that way, nor did becoming that way come naturally, as she shares. She approaches connecting to help you develop your skills and to enjoy your results. To make the work feel good and for you to feel good working. I have little patience for people whose idea of connecting and…

A friend introduced me to Hunter and I met her in person a day she was teaching in Bard's MBA program. We start with Limits to Growth, the 30-year update (the book, a synopsis), preparing to talk about her new book, A Finer Future, which follows its tradition. I felt the root of our conversation was responsibility. We know what to do. We don't need more technology. We lack political will -- leadership. I hear it over and over. We cover her history, experience working on sustainability, and the people she's worked with. She works with organizations, in contrast with many environmental groups, though she works to replace them, when appropriate. The big view that got me thinking was the inevitability of the energy transition…

I hear a lot of people's reasons for not flying, for using single-use plastic, for leaving the air conditioner on when they're not home. I know them not just because people told them to me. I know them because I'm human and we all think similarly. When I want something that pollutes, I feel my mind justifying why getting it should be okay. It took years of training my mind to resist that knee-jerk thinking and to consider not just what I get from, say, flying or using the air conditioner, but how my actions affect others—also known as the golden rule. We believe we use logic to come up with reasons for doing things. We don't. Our ancestors made choices before we evolved reason.…

James is fascinating and, I believe, fascinated. He interviewed me as much as I did him. The recording starts mid-conversation since we were just talking but his engineer started the recording. You'll hear a few minutes in when we found out we were being recorded. Since his engineer mixed live as we went, I'm giving you the conversation unfiltered. No removing ums even. We talked about initiative, education, how to learn social and emotional skills, my category of ASEEP fields and how I teach, cold showers, exploring nature, my podcast strategy, and why it brought me to him. James has written and spoken at length on taking initiative, alternatives to mainstream education. He seemed fascinated by my teaching style. I gave him a copy of…