Spring is here. Flowers are blooming. Buds are forming on branches. People are showing off the spring clothes they’ve waited months to show off. The parks are full. I’d guess about a third to half the people, depending on time of day, are carrying a plastic bag and other disposable stuff, often food and doof packaging. By noon, all the trash cans are overflowing with packaging. People blithely eat takeout[…] Keep reading →

Speaking of Washington Square Park, I want to call attention to the children’s hills in the south west corner. Everyone agrees kids benefit from playing in nature, like in woods, on trees, in rivers and oceans, and on grassy spaces. Notice anything wrong with this picture of that space? The kids look like they’re having fun. The trees look like trees. Does the grass look a little too green? Does[…] Keep reading →

Through voluntary, noncoercive, even fun ways, enabling couples to decide their family sizes, many nations have lowered population growth leading to prosperity, abundance, and stability. Think the opposite of the One Child Policy or eugenics. Most of us don’t know these success stories. Many people would have considered such changes impossible, including myself until recently, or would have thought it resulted from a so-called demographic transition that resulted from economic[…] Keep reading →

Kathryn Garcia, candidate for Mayor of New York City joined. No matter where you live, the mayor here matters. Many national trends in politics, business, culture, education, sports, and more start here. Our output in entertainment, culture, but also pollution and population affect the U.S. and world. I wanted to treat two issues: sustainability and leadership. Also hear Kathryn Garcia as a person, not just a candidate. Talk about a[…] Keep reading →

Kathryn Garcia, candidate for Mayor of New York City joined. No matter where you live, the mayor here matters. Many national trends in politics, business, culture, education, sports, and more start here. Our output in entertainment, culture, but also pollution and population affect the U.S. and world. I wanted to treat two issues: sustainability and leadership. Also hear Kathryn Garcia as a person, not just a candidate. Talk about a[…] Keep reading →

You’ve probably heard of vertical farms—growing crops indoors stacked as high as the entrepreneur builds. Indoors allows year-round growing, growing near where people live, saving transportation costs and pollution. It allows hydroponics and related techniques, reducing resource use. They light plants with LEDs with frequencies optimized for each plant. Despite these advantages, they face several limitations. So far, only high water, low calorie plants like lettuce, tomatoes, and herbs have[…] Keep reading →

We got into territory I’d wanted to talk to a religious scholar about. I would have expected being recorded would make us more tentative, but I found the opposite. I didn’t keep track, but several times I said feel free not to answer. Instead he answered more, sharing what he’d thought and researched about in depth. We cover Joseph, Isaac, the Arch Bishop of Burundi, population, contraception, consumption, and more,[…] Keep reading →