This conversation was one of the most fascinating I've had. I couldn't have had it when I was younger. Michael and I are learning each other's world view regarding population, our innate drives, how we create or deplete resources, and related topics. We both agree we want many humans prospering. Our world views differ in what creates the resources we need to live: more humans to create the resources or fewer humans to keep from depleting them. As a result, we each see the strategy the other promotes as grave threats to the mission we agree on: human flourishing. What makes the conversation fascinating and one I couldn't have had before is that we aren't arguing or fighting. We're listening and learning. We start by…

I hope you know Climate Town. Watch a bunch of episodes if you haven't. This Sustainable Life listeners and hosts talk about the show. It's funny and fun, yet intelligent and informative. On top of the content, I watch the backgrounds, which often take place where I live in lower Manhattan and where I went to school, at Columbia, where Rollie went to. So I contacted him and his team. We spoke. Within minutes I could tell why Climate Town is so funny. He and his team are funny. Immediately, I could tell I could learn from them. Here he is. We talk about his and his shows' origins and goals. I always thought he was a scientist making humor. He's a humorist taking on…

Judith shares her work, motivation, and vision on a problem everyone sees killing people and wildlife, but shies from applying themselves to, maybe because we value our polyester clothes, bottled water, laptops, and such. Have we lost the ability to imagine the world before plastic was invented? Her perspective, vision, and plans are common sense, sadly not common, yet, but she's working to bring us there. We do not need to use as much plastic as we do. Beyond Plastic's mission, from its web site: Launched in January 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of college students to build a vibrant and…

Who doesn't love knowing about something big before everyone else? EJ Perry is something big, a very talented quarterback being scouted by the NFL, coming from the Ivy League. Rarely do people reach pinnacles in multiple areas of life so young. (I'm posting early so you can know to see him play in the Shrine Bowl next week, February 3 at 8pm eastern on the NFL network.) Regular listeners know I like bringing top athletes to the podcast because they've faced challenges, victories, losses, and adversity and had to return to the game and life. We didn't ask to be born into a polluted world, but we did. I believe we can learn from athletes and other leaders. I indulge in asking EJ about playing…

My notes that I read from for this episode: Sea wall for Manhattan, like Holland: expensive, huge, likely won't workControversial already. Natural solutions might work better.Let's say they worked.On Staten Island, Fresh KillsAlso everywhere, all coasts unprotectedNow think of Cancer Alley Gulf coast, oil refineries and global toxic dumpsAll that pollution will be dispersed to seas and biosphereI'd guess hundreds of thousands of yearsThink of the sufferingChallenge is more than energy. Also thermodynamics. Everything will disperse.Best solution: stop using fossil fuels now.Yes, we'll face problems, but we'll solve switching problems more easily than global garbage.Not an option: keep going as we are and maybe the problems won't happen.

Five months ago, Gaya's work led to headlines like Yep, it's bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction. The 1970s predictions weren't exactly predictions, but the headline refers to the book Limits to Growth. If you're not familiar with it, we start by talking about it. We both consider its views and analysis among the most important. The book simulated possible outcomes for humans on Earth. Those outcomes varied from lots of happy people to billions dying. The authors' goals were to show what patterns we might expect. Still, people since have wondered if we and Earth have tracked any of those outcomes. Gaya's work does just that and shows that we have a slim chance of avoiding collapse, but a good chance of…

Hilary describes her commitments as achieving some success and some failure, but learned from both. We start with her personal experiences and memories of ice skating and cross country skiing as a child leading to her sometimes painful lessons today. More than just ice skating again, she took lessons with her child. Listen to her for the lesson and why it was painful, but I'll share that she learned to wear a helmet. She also talked about driving less, which led to what she could do with her community not to accept that not driving has to be hard, but how to improve the situation. She talked about eating less meat, which I heard creating more connection within family. From the personal, we moved to…

In this episode we talk about how to lead people, but I can't help notice on listening afterward how quick and easy it is for him to fly his whole family across the country several times a season, but impossible to pitch a tent in his back yard. Whatever effect I've had on other guests, it's not happening with Chad. What he shares about leadership, I agree with and his life transformation to adjust to circumstances he couldn't have predicted, we can all learn from, so I recommend listening (sorry about the sound quality on my microphone). He lost his sight, which hasn't led to a worse life, as best I can tell. We're losing our ability to eat meat, have as many babies as…