LATEST BLOG POSTS

This week I finished: Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham: I’d been seeing lately how much the pattern today of repeats how Thomas Jefferson lived. Today, people recognize his flaws. We wish that on slavery he had acted differently. We wish he had, as a politician, acted more to end slavery. We wish he had freed his slaves. We recognize that his personal actions caused internal conflict[…] Keep reading →

I like American higher education. I don’t like how disconnected it has become to the day-to-day lives of most Americans. I don’t like how it has become overwhelmingly politically one-sided. I don’t like that that one-sidedness has led to professors moving from teaching students to learn to inculcating and indoctrinating them. I don’t like how expensive it has become. On the other hand, I consider the Trump administration’s attack on[…] Keep reading →

Am I going to get in trouble for a puerile post? Will it distract from my sustainability leadership focus? I hope not. I had a blast making the poem. Regular readers know my sidchas and standard operating procedures mean that I meditate as one of my first morning activities. Before meditating I go to the bathroom. Between my routine being so consistent and my diet containing so much fiber, I[…] Keep reading →

I have to add to what I wrote last month on How the liberation of living more sustainably feels. In that post, I wrote I left out scope and scale I left out the scope and scale of the difference. Taking off wet socks feels liberating and surprisingly pleasant if you forgot they were on, but it’s still just physical sensations for your feet, a part of your body. Unlike[…] Keep reading →

I was out in the park along the Hudson River picking juneberries. Not only was the food not packaged, I picked them myself. They’re incredibly delicious. The tree evolved to provide fruit to be eaten. I saw a lot of people picnicking on the grass, eating at the outdoor bar in the park, and eating while they walked. Every piece of food or beverage I saw them eating was bought[…] Keep reading →

This recording went far beyond my usual preference for recording with guests in person when I can. We met in Prospect Park on one of the peak birding days of the year. Tons of people were out with powerful binoculars and cameras. You’ll hear lots of birds chirping in th background and even people who knew Ryan coming up to talk to him. Nature is everywhere. We can enjoy it[…] Keep reading →

I feel increasingly like an abolitionist or anti-slavery politician around 1800 living in Monticello. Mainstream culture looks and sounds like Thomas Jefferson: He said some of the most important words in history on liberty and freedom. He knew how wrong slavery was. He knew owning people corrupted him. He knew he was violating his own values. Likewise, we all say we don’t want to drive a system that hurts and[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Choice: Embrace the Possible, by Dr. Edith Eger: At one point listening to this book, I started feeling choked up. Tears started welling up in my eyes. I asked myself, “When has a book made me cry?” “Has a book ever led me to cry?” I continued to ask myself. As the book continued, I started full-on bawling at the experience of the author, how[…] Keep reading →

If “transition” means we stop using the old fuel then there has never been an energy transition. You can hear more details when I post my next episode with Mark Mills, but it deserves more publicity. I recorded with him again after reading his recent piece We’ll Never Have an Energy Transition, in City Journal from the Manhattan Institute. I find his results compelling, as always. Every fuel we’ve ever[…] Keep reading →