Stories

My deep-sea sailing trip, part 3: the cliffs of Newport, Rhode Island

Stories / Visualization

My deep-sea sailing trip, part 3: the cliffs of Newport, Rhode Island

Following up my last two posts, on my recent sailing lesson, we ended up in Newport, Rhode Island. The others wanted to go to a boat show held there that week. Our skipper/teacher had hosted a booth there for years, though not this year. I was open to going but didn't want to do something big and commercial that much. One of the other crew members told me about Newport's cliff walk. The city had an area where in the Gilded Age, rich people built mansions along a cliff. I'm not sure how many of the mansions are still homes, but the city built a walk along the cliffs between the mansions and the water. The hurricane off the coast led to waves that brought…

September 27, 2023

My first deep-sea sailing lesson

Education / Stories

My first deep-sea sailing lesson

Long-term readers know I took sailing lessons after extending my year avoiding flying to more and more years, even before realizing I'd never fly again (also before Greta got a ride across the Atlantic, which somehow no one has offered me yet, though I've worked at it for years). My Sailing 101 lessons were in New York harbor, which I followed up by joining a club that allowed me to join skippers for four-hour stints. It cost much less than flying and took less time, but delivered comparable life value. Still, to sail across an ocean, people told me I needed experience on the deep sea, sleeping on a boat, and all that goes with it. I recently took my first open ocean sailing lesson.…

September 25, 2023

“Josh, You Can Grieve Your Loss Too”

Entrepreneurship / Stories

“Josh, You Can Grieve Your Loss Too”

I've posted about my September 11, 2001: We called the company I co-founded Submedia. We filed the patent in 1998. Our first investment came in 1999, enabling us to pay ourselves salaries and hire people to develop prototypes and create partnerships with subway systems. Atlanta’s system signed first, followed by the PATH system connecting New York City and New Jersey. Coca-Cola signed in 2001 as our debut advertiser, beating Nike by an hour in the bidding. These were blue-chip advertisers and demand was high. I had started taking tentative steps toward living the lifestyle of a successful businessman. I bought new, higher quality clothes and furniture, flew to California to visit national parks with friends and Miami for parties. I ate at more at fancier…

September 11, 2023

Insouciance, colonialism, and sustainability

Nature / Stories

Insouciance, colonialism, and sustainability

Insouciance, colonialism, and sustainability

August 10, 2023

How much of history I’ve lived through

Stories / Visualization

How much of history I’ve lived through

On my birthday, I find it fun to calculate how much of history I've lived through. Depending on your age, you might have lived through similar percentages of history. [EDIT: I attached the spreadsheet to calculate the numbers below if you want to calculate for your life.] Some numbers, for example: I've lived about 2.6 percent of the time Christianity has existed, but only 0.3 percent of the time since agriculture started. I've lived 10 percent of the time since Columbus reached North America and Copernicus suggested the Earth went around the Sun. I've lived about one fifth of the Unites States' existence and nearly two thirds of the time since the U.S. entered World War II. I've lived almost the entire time since a…

July 20, 2023

At last, I dropped my electrical utility account

Addiction / Freedom / Stories

At last, I dropped my electrical utility account

Despite using zero watts over more than a year, I've been paying over $20 per month for an electric bill. Part of it was to a power company that uses more wind and solar that charged me a monthly fee of another $6 or so. The other part was $17 a month to Con Ed, the power company, simply for being connected to the grid, not even using power. I considered it insurance in case something failed, but I figured two things. First, I haven't used power in my apartment in over a year. Second, they said I could restore power with a call. So I cancelled my Con Ed account. This is freedom. Here's what I stopped funding: Smart aleck, know-it-alls will point out…

July 14, 2023

What’s special about 436?

Freedom / Nature / Stories

What’s special about 436?

While reading ProPublica's story How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S., I came across these paragraphs about Lauren Davila finding a newspaper ad from 1835 announcing someone having sold 600 slaves in one auction: A sale of 600 people would mark a grim new record—by far. Until Davila’s discovery, the largest known slave auction in the U.S. was one that was held over two days in 1859 just outside Savannah, Georgia, roughly 100 miles down the Atlantic coast from Davila’s home. At a racetrack just outside the city, an indebted plantation heir sold hundreds of enslaved people. The horrors of that auction have been chronicled in books and articles, including The New York Times’ 1619 Project and “The Weeping…

June 24, 2023

Applying lessons from sports to sustainability

Applying lessons from sports to sustainability

On July 21st last year, both the solar panel and power station broke. I don’t know why or how, but cutting-edge technology is prone to fail. As the next day would complete two months, double my goal and twenty times my expectation, I decided I could declare victory, reconnect the circuit, and plug back in the next day. You can hear me say so in my July 22 podcast episode, 609: Finishing My Off-the-Grid-in-Manhattan Experiment in Month 3. I said after recording, I could say I started my third month, plug back in, cook some lunch, and move on. Instead, after recording, I noticed I still had some sauerkraut fermenting and enough other summer vegetables to make salads to last me another day. Instead of…

March 25, 2023

I’ve waited nearly half a century to deliver this pun.

Humor / Stories

I’ve waited nearly half a century to deliver this pun.

I'm interrupting my usual talk of sustainability leadership, sidchas, doof, and my other usual subjects for a story that happened this afternoon. The scene: With family. People's stuff and toiletries are scattered about the room. My sister moved some things on a table and knocked a tube of toothpaste on the floor. She heard the noise but couldn't see what fell. I said, "the toothpaste fell." She didn't hear and asked, "what?" The moment of a lifetime arrived. The skies opened up. I'm that big into puns, I saw an opportunity since the first I'd heard this pun in my childhood. I answered "'The toothpaste fell' I said, crestfallen." It's not a PhD in physics or changing global culture to embrace sustainability, but yes, I…

March 5, 2023

Read the photo-story on me: “A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging” from the Associated Press

Leadership / Nature / Stories / Visualization

Read the photo-story on me: “A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging” from the Associated Press

Katherine Roth interviewed me about unplugging my fridge and apartment from the electric grid and Bebeto Matthews photographed me cooking and putting my solar panels on my roof. Read the story and see the pictures at A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging. I hope it helps achieve one of my main goals for this experiment: for a few people to say "You can do that!? I want to try!" The goal is not for them to copy my results but to apply my process of mindset shift followed by continual improvement to improve their lives for themselves in their lives in their way as I did in mine. If I could change anything about the article, I'd change two things. First,…

January 26, 2023

Read my piece in Ars Technica: “I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan”

Ars Technica Josh Spodek Disconnected In Manhattan

Leadership / Nature / Stories

Read my piece in Ars Technica: “I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan”

Ars Technica published a piece I wrote on my experiment disconnecting my apartment from the grid, I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan. It goes into more depth than my TIME piece I've Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year. It's in my voice, unlike the New Yorker's Off the Grid in the Big City. One of my main points was seeing the experiment like the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Normally when I talk about flying, I'm talking about pollution, displacing people from their land for fuel, and problems like that, but tabling the sustainability perspective, looking at it on the Wright brothers' terms, before anyone could have imagined the problems flying would create in sustainability, tearing communities apart, emptying small…

January 13, 2023

The New Yorker profiled my living off the grid

Leadership / Nature / Stories

The New Yorker profiled my living off the grid

My letter to the New Yorker's editor in September led to a reporter, Zach Helfand, visiting and writing a story on me. They published it today (including spotlighting it, see below): Off the Grid in the Big City: It begins, "Josh Spodek disconnected the circuit breaker in his apartment, and now—thanks to solar-powered vegan stew—his carbon footprint is about that of three house cats." Along with the New Yorker piece, I recommend the pieces I wrote with more detail: In TIME: I've Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year In Ars Technica: I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan Zach spent an afternoon and we covered a lot, including his talking to three executives, two from major fossil fuel companies (one ExxonMobil,…

January 9, 2023

Waking before the alarm, writing in the dark

Habits / Nonjudgment / Stories

Waking before the alarm, writing in the dark

I told a friend how sometimes when I wake up before the alarm I get my best ideas. Most of the time I don't write them down, figuring if they're important enough, I'll remember them when I wake up for the day. I learned the habit of not trying to save everything during my first silent meditation retreat. They don't let attendees bring anything to write with. At first I recoiled: "What about all the things I learn?!" Then during the first couple days I tried to keep track of every thought, trying to remember them for the rest of life. I'd write them after the retreat. It didn't take long to realize that I came up with memorable thoughts a dozen times every hour-long…

January 6, 2023

Doing What It Takes

Leadership / Nature / Stories

Doing What It Takes

When I spoke to Tom Szaky, founder of Terracycle, on the podcast, he shared an origin story. He had bought a used industrial composting machine and arranged with Princeton's food services team to take a few barrels of their food scraps. it was summer, the composting machine arrived late, and the barrels of scraps were mostly sealed. When they opened the barrels, the stench was revolting, the maggots everywhere, and at least one person vomited, as I remember. But the company started. I saw him tell that story to an audience at a conference at NYU. Afterward, another attendee remarked on the story: who does that? I responded, "that's why he was on stage and we were in the audience." That story came to mind…

December 27, 2022

A silly moment showing the joy in disconnecting from the grid, even when it means climbing a lot of stairs

A silly moment showing the joy in disconnecting from the grid, even when it means climbing a lot of stairs

The backstory: I emailed a reporter doing a story on me to ask when the story would post, sharing that I'm using the story to motivate me keeping the apartment off the grid. She wrote back, "Please please don’t continue on in this dark and freezing weather because of this story!" She then explained what was setting the pace, then continued, "please please don’t risk your health by going on the roof in these freezing temps for the sake of this one story deadline." I wrote back to allay her concerns. Later that day what I considered a funny silly story happened so I shared that story with her. Both help illuminate what I'm doing so here are both. To allay her concerns: To clarify,…

December 15, 2022

RIP Frances Hesselbein, one of my great inspirations

Leadership / Stories

RIP Frances Hesselbein, one of my great inspirations

I received this email this morning from the Director of Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership and Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Dear Friends, It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of Frances Hesselbein, our mentor, friend, and the namesake of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum. Frances was an inspiration to all of us, and I am certain that we will all remember her many years of service and her lifelong commitment to values-based leadership. Her eternal optimism—as she frequently said, “even my blood type is B positive!”—serves as a beacon in these difficult times. [. . .] I believe that the best way to honor Frances is to recommit…

December 12, 2022

Yet another reason I don’t watch TV

Yet another reason I don’t watch TV

Because on the first day I watched in maybe a year or more, on October 23rd they played a Christmas ad! I'm posting partly because I was reminded that the universe started that day, exactly 6,026 years before (for details, scroll down). Anyway, here's the story: Podcast guest E.J. Perry was quarterback for Brown University when we recorded our episode. Possibly partly from being a guest, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars (likewise, after endorsing my book, General Lloyd Austin became U.S. Secretary of Defense and after appearing on my podcast Eric Adams became Mayor of New York City). I decided to watch Jacksonville play the New York Giants, which they did on October 23. It was hard to find a TV to watch since…

November 20, 2022

Apparently I’ve Earned a Reputation Volunteering

Habits / Stories

Apparently I’ve Earned a Reputation Volunteering

This evening, volunteering, as I approached to dropped off my load of groceries, probably a few hundred dollars' worth, a couple people asked, "Are you Josh?" I hadn't seen them before. They asked as if someone had told them about me, that I delivered a large load of great food at certain times, which I do. So I seem to have developed a reputation for consistency in time and volume. I guess it's coincidence that they shared knowing who I was a couple days after I posted My volunteering amounts to donating about $50,000 per year of food. When I picked up the groceries, the store workers greeted me friendly, one guy saying "I must have known you were coming because I just unlocked the…

November 17, 2022

Read my story in TIME Magazine: “I’ve Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year”

Leadership / Nature / Stories

Read my story in TIME Magazine: “I’ve Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year”

TIME magazine is an icon of American journalism. In a few months, it turns one hundred years old. I grew up reading it. Its covers help define our culture. Today it printed its first story from me: I've Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year. Click to read the story. Here's a screen shot of the top of the story: Click to read the rest: I've Been Living Off-Grid In Manhattan for Half-a-Year It begins: Sunday, May 22 was the last day my apartment was connected to Manhattan’s energy grid. That morning I used my pressure cooker—powered by portable solar panels I had bought on Craigslist and carried to my roof to charge—to cook a pot of stew. Then I decided to take it one…

November 4, 2022

Ela Bhatt 1933-2022

Leadership / Stories

Ela Bhatt 1933-2022

Ela Bhatt passed yesterday. She knew me when I was a baby and I had lunch with her a couple years ago when she visited her family in New Haven. My parents knew her in Ahmedabad, India before I was born. My father remained very close friends with her until she passed, meaning over half a century. She acknowledges him in her book Anubandh: Building Hundred-Mile Communities. The Times of India wrote: Elaben Bhatt, the ‘gentle revolutionary’ who pioneered the movement to empower women in India and won global acclaim, died here on Wednesday. She founded Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), one of the biggest women-led cooperatives and national trade unions with 2.1 million-strong membership across 18 states. . . Bhatt’s influence inspired many world…

November 3, 2022

Notes on aging, part 2

Humor / Stories

Notes on aging, part 2

Context: Decades ago I used to go out clubbing and dancing. Back then I'd go out a couple weekends a month. Now I went once since the pandemic, and the last time before would have been years ago. A friend said he got tickets for a big DJ playing in Brooklyn and invited me to join. I didn't know the DJ since I don't know anything about the scene today. I asked him if he knew how old the crowd would be. Would they be young? He responded, "they'll be younger than us." I said, "But will they be young? . . . They could still be 45." I don't know how funny that observation comes off in writing, but it killed us: We laughed…

October 28, 2022

Stood up in the rain by a homeless guy with AIDS

Podcast / Stories

Stood up in the rain by a homeless guy with AIDS

Last week, while I picked up litter in Washington Square Park, a guy approached me and asked, "Why do you do it?" Before I could answer, he continued, "Really, I've seen you do it and wonder why you do it." He told me his name was Dave. Before I could answer again, he continued and talked about values, where this country is going, integrity, and things like that. We got to talking about doing what one thinks is right, our childhoods, litter, and more. He told me he's homeless and has AIDS. I told him my motivations for doing it, including how this nation has abandoned Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You (the Golden Rule), Leave It Better Than You…

October 17, 2022

A value in spending time with junkies

Addiction / Stories

A value in spending time with junkies

A couple weeks ago, in a hurry to meet someone, I passed by one of the few addicts I've seen regularly in the northwest corner of Washington Square Park, in fact, enough to have had a few conversations with him. He was passed out on Sixth Avenue, looking close to death. I had seen him the evening before a couple blocks north, on the steps of the library, appearing to ask for help. I was across the street and started to go toward him to say hi, but he was rambling incoherently and didn't recognize me, as best I could tell. The first time I met him, last spring, I had been picking up litter and he thanked me. I may have posted about it…

October 4, 2022

The Emperor’s New Cigarettes: A Parable for a Polluted World

Nature / Stories

The Emperor’s New Cigarettes: A Parable for a Polluted World

In the spirit of The Emperor's New Clothes, although this parable doesn't contain an emperor or clothes, I feel like it exposes self-important foolishness we see around us. It emerged from an email exchange I had with someone who flies a lot and sent a group message about a disaster in the news from glaciers melting, attributed to global warming. I wrote him, "If only there was something we could do to stop destroying the environment. Most people's greatest contribution is flying, if they are among the few percent who fly internationally or more than once a year. Do you think it's possible for people to fly less, or should we just accept that people who pollute the most ruin cause such problems?" He responded,…

September 10, 2022

My first bike-camping trip since 1988

Fitness / Nature / Stories / Visualization

My first bike-camping trip since 1988

Longtime readers know one of the highlights of my summer is visiting the farm providing my summer and fall CSA vegetables, Stoneledge Farm. Since the pandemic, they haven't chartered a bus for us in the city without cars. I've been biking more, including two overnight rides to Philadelphia, each 125 miles over two days. They were fundraisers and, since my group raised the most funds, I ended up getting free hotel rooms. Actually, the second trip I meant to camp, but the rain was so cold and lasted so long, I took them up on the hotel. The map says Stoneledge Farm is 130 miles. It's a holiday weekend so I had time, a tent I hadn't used yet, and plenty of desire. Working in…

September 4, 2022

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