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,[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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,[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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.[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →

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[…] Keep reading →