If you haven’t started plogging, I recommend it. What’s plogging? It’s a term the Swedish created for picking up garbage when you run. I’ve picked up at least one piece of trash per day for a few years. In fact, this podcast began from a former student who, when he heard of my practice, committed to picking up 10 pieces of trash per day for a month. Most people do[…] Keep reading →

We are swimming in low-hanging fruit Politicians, scientists, journalists, and everyone wonders how to bring third-world communities to first-world standards of living without destroying the environment. It’s 22 F (-5 C) outside. I just closed a window in one place in this building. In another I turned off an air conditioner. I turned off an air conditioner when it’s 22 degrees outside and we’re wondering how to bring others to[…] Keep reading →

Search how can you tell if you’re a good leader and you’ll get a lot of answers, nearly all vague, like you are approachable or you’re comfortable reflecting on your strengths and weaknesses. Lots of non-leaders reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. Here’s how you can measure your effectiveness as a leader: People thank you for getting them to work hard Someone thanking you when you get them to work?[…] Keep reading →

If you’re like me, you’ve heard of Bulletproof coffee. Since I don’t drink coffee I didn’t think much of it, but since I heard about it, I figured the guy behind it was good at internet marketing. I’d come to hear Dave name. Also I kept hearing about people losing weight on it and saying they had tons of energy. Still, I didn’t pay too much attention? Was it keto?[…] Keep reading →

My series answering the New York Times’ Ethicist column with an active, leadership approach instead of an analytical, philosophical perspective continues with “Was I Wrong to Facebook-Friend My Nephew’s Girlfriend?”. I’m a 60-something-year-old man with a social-media problem. Like so many others, I use Facebook. Facebook regularly presents users with images of “People You May Know,” and the opportunity to send them a friend request. One of the people so[…] Keep reading →

Entrepreneurs and other creators want to innovate, to create meaningful new things that people love. Once in a while someone delivers at an extraordinary level, devoting themselves to expressing themselves so personally and authentically that they inspire us to seek greatness in ourselves to share. I was fortunate enough to experience such a leap forward–unexpectedly and contrary to my expectations, as I’ll explain. I’m not a restaurant critic, nor a[…] Keep reading →

Marion Nestle is a hero for me. Food may be the greatest interest that got me into acting on my environmental action. Avoiding packaged food emerged from avoiding fiber-removed foods, which emerged from reading Diet for a Small Planet in the 80s, which also motivated her. She, her books, and blog, Food Politics, are voices of sense in a crowded field. Her most recent book is The Unsavory Truth: How[…] Keep reading →

My third conversation with Geoff covers using his research to figure out what to do. I start with a few questions on how to create a vision for the future based on his research. Can we change our growth trajectory, currently leading to ever-accelerating growth, without sacrificing the superlinear growth that makes cities and presumably culture stable? Recall that sublinear growth leads to companies’ and animals’ limited lifetimes. Without leadership,[…] Keep reading →

First, I thought Christmas was supposed to be about peace and goodwill. I didn’t come up with the concept of a “war” on Christmas. I heard it most from Christians. Snopes traces it to Henry Ford, who attacked Jews with it: “Last Christmas most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone’s Birth,” wrote Henry Ford in 1921, more than 80[…] Keep reading →