I gave blood today. The medical system never ceases to shock me with its needless waste, senseless rules ostensibly based in safety but clearly not, and mindlessly following those rules without question. For context, I met an NYU researcher, Cassandra Thiel, who researched and published on comparing an operation performed in two hospitals, one in the UK, the other in India. The Indian hospital impacted the environment five percent—that is,[…] Keep reading ..read more

People jump to treating our environmental problems as rooted in science, therefore they look for solutions from scientists. I’m seeing the problem more as social than scientific in the following way. First, I want to clarify that understanding the mechanisms by which Earth’s ecosystems are changed depend on science. I’m not challenging that we understand the mechanisms through observation, experiment, debate, and the other tools of science. When I pollute[…] Keep reading ..read more

Our culture increasingly isolates and addicts us: doof, binge-TV, social media, online gambling, and so on. We associate the most serious addiction with hard drugs, but they are just a prominent case of our culture overall. I’m not writing this post about people addicted to hard drugs. I’m writing it about modern culture. I found this fentanyl testing and overdose treatment kit while picking up litter in Washington Square Park.[…] Keep reading ..read more

The first result on a search on bp carbon footprint was a Guardian opinion piece Big oil coined ‘carbon footprints’ to blame us for their greed. Keep them on the hook which linked to a piece in Mashsable The carbon footprint sham: A ‘successful, deceptive’ PR campaign. That piece begins: In a dark TV ad aired in 1971, a jerk tosses a bag of trash from a moving car. The[…] Keep reading ..read more

Dave and I go back years, to when we both wrote columns at Inc. I’m surprised I didn’t bring him on before. He helps entrepreneurs, leaders, and aspiring leaders develop social and emotional skills, as well as college students aspiring to internships. We recorded now on the occasion of his new book, Get Over Yourself! How to Lead and Delegate Effectively for More Time, More Freedom, and More Success, on[…] Keep reading ..read more

This week I finished: The Denial of Death, by Ernest Becker: A friend I considered insightful recommended this book over a decade ago. At last I got a copy from the library. Reading it made me glad to have the PhD in physics. Otherwise, I’d feel stupid. It read to me like a salad of hard words strung together, maybe more like spaghetti. It seems like Freud created a bunch[…] Keep reading ..read more

Many TVs use more than 100 watt-hours in an hour or two when turned off. I used that much last year from grid power, from plugging in at NYU, which I allowed myself while I unplugged my apartment. My use at home was zero, of course. Last year, I published an article in Ars Technica, I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan. Eight months off the grid[…] Keep reading ..read more

A reader emailed me: I really enjoy your podcast and greatly appreciate your work. It was very exciting to someone else thinking about personal choices the same way I do and effectively influencing others to do the same. I want to commit to a new personal challenge of only buying food without packaging — I’m almost there now but I want to publicly commit and go all the way …[…] Keep reading ..read more

The Problem Do any of these situations resonate? Have you said or thought anything like them? Solutions I’m not saying the following are the only solution to each of these problems, but they work and create freedom, joy, and liberation. Anyone can learn the Spodek Method ..read more

Have you hit rock bottom on the environment? The question isn’t if the problems are grave enough or you know about them. You’ve seen enough problems from litter on your street to a region called Cancer Alley in the most technologically advanced nation in history and front-page news nearly daily. The question of you hitting rock bottom is if you choose no longer to accept your rationalizations and justifications of[…] Keep reading ..read more