Best Spencer Cohn Podcasts (2024)

1
773: Frederic Laloux, part 1: His program, "The Week," creates space for conversations on the environment 1:10:29

8d ago1:10:29

1:10:29

Frederic describes his program The Week in our conversation. I did it last year, invited by a friend (whom I misname in our conversation, sorry) and recognized him. Podcast guest and mutual friend Lorna Davis had introduced us before he had started creating The Week. The Week is one of the few programs on sustainability approaching it as a leadersh…

51
772: Bruce Alexander, part 3: Advanced Spodek Method 1:06:56

10d ago1:06:56

1:06:56

I find this series of conversations with Bruce to be ending up excellent examples to learn advanced Spodek Method from. I think they're also engaging. I certainly enjoyed the conversations with Bruce. You can tell he believes in the vision and isn't trying to answer askew, or maybe I'm not picking up on cues, but the interaction is both not clickin…

1
771: Jack Spencer, part 1: The Heritage Foundation, limited government, free markets and the environment 1:03:51

15d ago1:03:51

1:03:51

Regular readers of my blog know I took a course, Conservatism 101, from the Leadership Institute, which led me to read conservative literature I hadn't before: Edmund Burke, Frederic Bastiat, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, and more. This reading came after I started reading and watching Milton Friedman, Julian Simon, Ayn Rand, and current followers…

1
770: Nick Loris, part 1: A limited government free market approach to our environmental problems 1:04:23

17d ago1:04:23

1:04:23

Regular readers of my blog know I took a course, Conservatism 101, from the Leadership Institute, which led me to read conservative literature I hadn't before: Edmund Burke, Frederic Bastiat, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, and more. This reading came after I started reading and watching Milton Friedman, Julian Simon, Ayn Rand, and current followers…

1
769: Kevin Fucillo, part 1: An inside view of our community fridge and its volunteers 46:18

19d ago46:18

46:18

Kevin and I talk about volunteering at the Chelsea Community Fridge, how it formed, how it's evolved, and our roles. You'll hear he's involved with it more. I was curious to learn about parts I don't know about. It's outdoors so it operates 24/7, 365 days a year. New York City has no lack of hungry people, nor places with extra food. It's insane to…

101
768: Trish and Evelyn, part 2: The birth of sustainability awards 51:02

27d ago51:02

51:02

Trish and Evelyn took the workshop, and neither seriously acted on sustainability before it, so one thing to listen for in this conversation is what people who look at personally living more sustainably sound like. I think it's safe to say we have fun. Partly we express exasperation at the depravity of our polluting and depleting culture. We also s…

1
767: Andrew Bennett, part 2: Behind the scenes with a New York City chef 47:13

28d ago47:13

47:13

If you like food, you'll love this episode. I shared before how unbelievably delicious Andrew's food was, even if it were at a top restaurant. But he works at a hospital, so it was healthy too. I almost don't go to restaurants any more since they just pile salt, sugar, and fat onto everything. I don't need a stick of butter in every dish. I also ta…

1
766: Chip Conley, part 1: Learning to Love Midlife 46:52

1M ago46:52

46:52

I'd heard about Chip long ago but only met him recently at a launch event for his book Learning to Love Midlife. It resonated since at 52 years old, I was smack in the middle of the part of life he was talking about, after adulthood but before old age. I've also been approached by universities with programs for people in their third acts. A big top…

1
765: Bruce Alexander, part 2: Can the Spodek Method scale from the individual to the world? 1:19:00

1M ago1:19:00

1:19:00

I think I can safely say Bruce and I have formed a friendship, both professional and from similar interests, even though he's retired and I'm not a psychologist. I learn psychology to help lead. We're both intrigued by addiction. We both want to improve our environmental situation, not just give in. He likes the idea of the Spodek Method. He hopes …

1
764: Erica Frank, part 2: "No Hairshirt At All." Instead: Abundance 1:02:13

1M ago1:02:13

1:02:13

I rarely get to talk to people who expect living more sustainably to be joyful and rewarding from personal experience, not just hoping for the best. I enjoyed sharing that perspective with Erica last time, I invited her back with no specific agenda. This episode presents conversation between two people who have left mainstream culture and are livin…

1
763: Guy Spier, part 2: Limited government, free market, low tax sustainability solutions 1:27:25

2M ago1:27:25

1:27:25

I loved where this conversation led. We began by talking about recent news: Greta Thunberg taking a political stand and acting publicly on it on an issue unrelated to the environment. Guy described how he saw this action distracting and undermining her credibility in sustainability. We got to talking about overwhelming tribalism today. In the proce…

1
762: Chef Andrew Bennett: Changing the Culture of Hospital Food 1:12:29

2M ago1:12:29

1:12:29

I start my conversation with Andy with what brought me to him: the meal after recording with the guy who hired him, podcast guest Sven Gierlinger, and the Washington Post article that read like a paid ad for their food, Hospital food is a punchline. These chefs are redefining it. I didn't record in my conversation with Sven how off-the-charts the f…

1
761: Dave Kerpen, part 2: Joyfully Skipping Donuts 23:04

2M ago23:04

23:04

This conversation was brief, but covered the important points, particularly the challenges of changing habits. Dave didn't do everything he intended, though I thought he succeeded more than he did. The goal of the Spodek Method isn't to make big changes, though some do, but to share and act on intrinsic motivation relevant to nature and the environ…

1
760: Adam Alter: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked 52:42

2M ago52:42

52:42

Adam treats dependence and addiction in some ways different and unique than past guests who have covered addiction. One way is the business side. For example, early in this conversation, he talks about how people at companies that create products designed to addict, like cell phones, tablets, and the apps and games on them, don't allow their childr…

1
759: Bruce Alexander, part 1: Rat Park, Addiction, and Sustainability 1:02:18

2M ago1:02:18

1:02:18

I start by describing how podcast guest Carl Erik Fisher, author of bestseller The Urge, reviewed my upcoming book Sustainability Simplified as a subject matter expert on addiction. Carl mentioned how my book suffered from what Bruce describes as the demon drug myth. He pointed to Bruce's work as seminal, so I started reading it. I'd heard of Rat P…

1
758: Peter Singer, part 2: A philosopher approaches sustainability 46:43

3M ago46:43

46:43

I started by sharing my experience giving after reading Peter's book The Life You Can Save. I confess I only read it after our first conversation, but loved it. I feared reading a book by an academic philosopher arguing a point would be dry and boring. Instead it led me to donate to causes. Then, even though I didn't donate for recognition or perso…

1
757: Dr. Anna Lembke, part 1: Dopamine Nation 39:14

3M ago39:14

39:14

Regular listeners know I see our relationships with many activities that are enabled by pollution as behavioral addictions like gambling or playing video games. Thus, I bring experts in addiction. Anna's book Dopamine Nation is one of the most accessible I've read. She covers the scale of addiction, how much it's increasing, how it works, her perso…

1
756: Kimberly Nicholas: How Fly Less? Fly less. 48:43

3M ago48:43

48:43

Kimberly has, by dramatically reducing her flying, improved her life, living more deliberately and consistent with her values. I met her when she was a panelist at an event on promoting hurting people less by flying less. I invited her as someone to explore her journey of reducing her flying. In our conversation, the shared how she went from learni…

1
755: Stefan Gössling: Busting self-serving myths about flying 1:03:42

3M ago1:03:42

1:03:42

People who fly think most people fly, but it's more like a few percent. A small fraction of people fly, let alone across oceans or multiple times per year. If you fly, it's probably your action that hurts people most through its environmental impact, but you probably rationalize and justify it. Unlike many other polluting activities, most of the mo…

1
754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back 1:16:14

3M ago1:16:14

1:16:14

"What I do doesn't matter" is one of the more common sentiments of our time. We use it to avoid acting when we see problems. A similar rationalization not to act: "I have faith that younger people will solve our environmental problems. After all they will be affected more." People say these things to avoid acting, avoiding personal responsibility. …

1
753: Martin Doblmeier, part 2: Sabbath and Sustainablity 58:45

4M ago58:45

58:45

A blackout struck New York City and a large part of the U.S. northeast in 2003. It happened only two years after 9/11. How could we not first wonder if it was terrorism. I had been at work at the time. After waiting maybe an hour, we all walked down the stairs and went home. Phones worked for a while, so I called the woman I was dating and coordina…

1
752: Dave Kerpen, part 1: Delegation for leaders and entrepreneurs 42:04

4M ago42:04

42:04

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 Effec…

1
751: Erica Frank, part 1: Living More Joyfully Sustainably for Decades 55:52

4M ago55:52

55:52

I met Erica in a online meeting of academics who promote avoiding flying. A major perk for many academics is that universities pay for flying to academic conferences, for research, and for other academic reasons, of where there are many. In other words, they often fly for free. (As an aside, since academics learned about our environmental problems …

1
750: Alden Wicker: To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Poisoning Us. You'll Be Shocked 1:12:50

5M ago1:12:50

1:12:50

Since recording this conversation, I've mentioned to a lot of people, "you wouldn't believe the situation with dyes and poisons in our clothes." The most common response has been something like, "Oh yeah, I've heard. It's terrible." Then I share some of what Alden shares in this conversation and they say, "Wow, I didn't realize it was that serious,…

1
749: Sven Gierlinger, part 1: Transforming the Culture of a New York Hospital Chain as a Chief Experience Officer 1:03:41

5M ago1:03:41

1:03:41

I heard about Sven through the articles below about the cultural change at Northwell, a chain of hospitals around New York City. I recommend reading the Post article before listening to this episode. It may read overly positive about the food, but Sven and I ate just after recording at the hospital the regular food they serve patients. It was incre…

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1
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1
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1
773: Frederic Laloux, part 1: His program, "The Week," creates space for conversations on the environment 1:10:29

51
772: Bruce Alexander, part 3: Advanced Spodek Method 1:06:56

1
771: Jack Spencer, part 1: The Heritage Foundation, limited government, free markets and the environment 1:03:51

1
770: Nick Loris, part 1: A limited government free market approach to our environmental problems 1:04:23

1
769: Kevin Fucillo, part 1: An inside view of our community fridge and its volunteers 46:18

101
768: Trish and Evelyn, part 2: The birth of sustainability awards 51:02

1
767: Andrew Bennett, part 2: Behind the scenes with a New York City chef 47:13

1
766: Chip Conley, part 1: Learning to Love Midlife 46:52

1
765: Bruce Alexander, part 2: Can the Spodek Method scale from the individual to the world? 1:19:00

1
764: Erica Frank, part 2: "No Hairshirt At All." Instead: Abundance 1:02:13

1
763: Guy Spier, part 2: Limited government, free market, low tax sustainability solutions 1:27:25

1
762: Chef Andrew Bennett: Changing the Culture of Hospital Food 1:12:29

1
761: Dave Kerpen, part 2: Joyfully Skipping Donuts 23:04

1
760: Adam Alter: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked 52:42

1
759: Bruce Alexander, part 1: Rat Park, Addiction, and Sustainability 1:02:18

1
758: Peter Singer, part 2: A philosopher approaches sustainability 46:43

1
757: Dr. Anna Lembke, part 1: Dopamine Nation 39:14

1
756: Kimberly Nicholas: How Fly Less? Fly less. 48:43

1
755: Stefan Gössling: Busting self-serving myths about flying 1:03:42

1
754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back 1:16:14

1
753: Martin Doblmeier, part 2: Sabbath and Sustainablity 58:45

1
752: Dave Kerpen, part 1: Delegation for leaders and entrepreneurs 42:04

1
751: Erica Frank, part 1: Living More Joyfully Sustainably for Decades 55:52

1
750: Alden Wicker: To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Poisoning Us. You'll Be Shocked 1:12:50

1
749: Sven Gierlinger, part 1: Transforming the Culture of a New York Hospital Chain as a Chief Experience Officer 1:03:41

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