I didn’t think of how small my building’s elevators were when I bought a sofa after moving into my current apartment. It didn’t fit. The deliverymen tried to bring it up the stairs too. They made the first landing, but couldn’t make the turn to go up the next flight. They had to take it back. I ended up paying a $300 restocking fee plus big tips for the deliverymen’s[…] Keep reading →

Jonathan and I have a good rapport. We joke around. I love his expressiveness as an artist. I think he values stewardship more than he’s behaved so far in life, so I hear him enjoying aligning his behavior with his values. In this episode we review his leading his kids and wife in The Spodek Method from last time. You’ll hear touching family interactions. The I teach the second interaction[…] Keep reading →

My books and courses get stellar reviews because they teach how to lead and take initiative effectively—not through lecture but through practicing the basics and advancing as we improve, sometimes to mastery. We learn all performance-based fields that way—sports, dance, music, military, and so on. I approached coaching acting sustainably similarly. It hit me the other day that some things we don’t need structured learning for—things we love without any[…] Keep reading →

Brunchwork’s “The 11 Best Leadership Books You Should Read This Year” named Leadership Step by Step along with favorites including, 1. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard 3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey 6. 5 Levels of Leadership by John C. Maxwell 7. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie 9. Leading with[…] Keep reading →

You might think with a physics degree I’d feel strongly that we should require students to learn a fair amount of math and science. I love the subjects and consider them as beautiful as any art or music, but until recently didn’t consider them beyond simple calculations important for most people. The pandemic and environment changed that view. The U.S. response to the pandemic exemplifies what happens when a nation[…] Keep reading →

This episode started talking about sidchas and the episode one of the hosts did on my podcast, involving biking in minus 40 degree weather, but the meat of it was what traps us online and to devices, which also traps us polluting: people design everything to make us want more. First they promote craving, then ways to mollify the craving but that recreate the craving. They try to addict us.[…] Keep reading →

The more I learn about successful, non-coercive, voluntary family planning leading to more freedom, stability, and prosperity, the more I talk about it. Think the opposite of China’s One Child policy or whatever eugenics programs you’ve heard of. You don’t judge fire because it burned down a home. Any time family planning comes up, someone parrots, “we must educate women and girls! It’s the most effective way!” As far as[…] Keep reading →