The other day I was picking up litter in Washington Square Park, not making a big deal about it. I just do it as a matter of course. Something happened that often does: people got annoyed at me. The details aren’t important, but they rudely approached and got angry at me. The interaction with me isn’t the point. Something they said, that many people say, is. They said, “there are[…] Keep reading →

I’ve written about taking several courses at the Leadership Institute. Conservatism 101 recommended a lot of historical videos to augment their lectures. Though I finished the course a while ago, I took a while to finish the videos. If interested, here they are. I didn’t grow up learning these views. Adults around me during my childhood seemed to view, say, Phyllis Schlafly, as weird and devious: why would a woman[…] Keep reading →

You can’t stop the global heroin trade if you’re worried about your own supply. This post is about people who are addicted, perhaps without realizing it or in denial, to behavior causing others to suffer and die finding themselves impotent to change others. They haven’t tried to change themselves so they don’t know what change takes. Would you take piano lessons from someone who read a lot of books on[…] Keep reading →

I recommend this podcast if you like my work and learning more of where my passion comes from. Srikanth, the host, prompted me to share my origin story and describe the Spodek Method. I haven’t appeared on another podcast for a while, so I share things I’ve been developing how to communicate but haven’t. Available on all podcast platforms: From the show notes: Joshua Spodek is a sustainability advocate whose[…] Keep reading →

Adam treats dependence and addiction in some ways different and unique than past guests who have covered addiction. One way is the business side. For example, early in this conversation, he talks about how people at companies that create products designed to addict, like cell phones, tablets, and the apps and games on them, don’t allow their children to use them. Yet they gleefully reach trillion-dollar valuations based on making[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi: This book sold huge and I’ve seen it for years. I kept comparing it to Ikiru the movie by Kurasawa and Death of Ivan Illyich the novella by Tolstoy. They’re all works on evaluating and reevaluating life, how to live it, and what we value when confronted with mortality. Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl too. People may look[…] Keep reading →

My friend who teaches kids sustainability, among other things, invited me to join her with some of her students and their parents sailing in New York Harbor. She had me speak to them about things like taking five years (and counting) to fill a load of garbage, not fly, and so on. They loved it. I loved it too. I enjoy being on the water, when the wind, currents, and[…] Keep reading →