The Impossible Network

Guest overview 

Joshua Spodek is the epitome of a renaissance man.

A two-time TEDx speaker, #1 bestselling author, host of the award-winning Leadership and the Environment podcast, and professor and coach of entrepreneurship and leadership at NYU and Columbia Business School.

He is a regular speaker on environmental leadership at institutions such as Boston Consulting Group, Google, IBM, Harvard, Princeton, West Point, MIT, and Stanford,

Oh he also has a PhD in astrophysics and an MBA from Columbia, helped build an X-ray observational satellite with the European Space Agency and NASA.

He founded a venture to market his invention— an innovative media product

He’s an artist and has installed public works in New York and Amsterdam. 

He studied Meisner acting Technique at the William Esper Studio. He has taught art at Parsons and NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.

He’s run seven marathons (3:51 best), rowed one, competed at the world level of Ultimate Frisbee 

He’s swum across the Hudson River, has done over 140,000 burpees, written over 3,500 blog posts, and has taken over 430 cold showers, 

He hasn’t flown (by choice) since March 2016, has picked up at least one piece of street trash per day since April 2017, and takes over a year to produce on bag of garbage.

In part one we covered Josh’s upbringing, the impact his parents divorce, education, dealing with insecurity, his curiosity. discovering his love of math and science, finding joy in discipline and his evolutionary approach to living.

We also went deep into Josh’s commitment to influence and invite the guests he interviews on his podcast and the corporate clients he consults to embrace personal behavioral changes that will impact on the environment. Josh explains the process of taking actions and joy that results from the values he lives by. 

We also discussed why his approach can be embraced by anyone willing to live more sustainable lives. I hope you enjoy the intellect, inspiration, environmental action and leadership principles of Joshua Spodek

In Part two Josh explains his self developed habit forming technique called SIDCHA and breaks down the step by step approach that anyone can embrace to create more positive habits and behaviors in their life. Josh also invites me to take on my personal environmental challenge. 

We discussed the broader environmental challenges facing society and the planet before jumping into the rapid fire. Questions that turn out not to be rapid fire answers. I hope you enjoy the intellect, the inspiration, the environmental action, and the leadership principles of Joshua Spodek.

We also cover Josh’s mission - to help people live by their values, especially their environmental values, creating and finding joy, meaning, value, importance, purpose, passion, and other emotional reward in the process.

Social Links 

Linkedin

Twitter

Facebook 

Links In Show 

Fanny and Alexander 

Champion Mindset 

Leadership Step By Step

Leadership and The Environment 

Maria Sharapova Book

Your Mom Cares

NeueHouse 

Oprah 

Project Drawdown 

LeBron 

Smart goals 

GTD Book 

Indistractible 

Man’s search for meaning Victor Frankl 

Gimp 

Ron Hogan Tao Te Ching 

Lorna Davis 

Dov Baron 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest overview 

Joshua Spodek is the epitome of a renaissance man.

A two-time TEDx speaker, #1 bestselling author, host of the award-winning Leadership and the Environment podcast, and professor and coach of entrepreneurship and leadership at NYU and Columbia Business School.

He is a regular speaker on environmental leadership at institutions such as Boston Consulting Group, Google, IBM, Harvard, Princeton, West Point, MIT, and Stanford,

Oh he also has a PhD in astrophysics and an MBA from Columbia, helped build an X-ray observational satellite with the European Space Agency and NASA.

He founded a venture to market his invention— an innovative media product

He’s an artist and has installed public works in New York and Amsterdam. 

He studied Meisner acting Technique at the William Esper Studio. He has taught art at Parsons and NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.

He’s run seven marathons (3:51 best), rowed one, competed at the world level of Ultimate Frisbee 

He’s swum across the Hudson River, has done over 140,000 burpees, written over 3,500 blog posts, and has taken over 430 cold showers, 

He hasn’t flown (by choice) since March 2016, has picked up at least one piece of street trash per day since April 2017, and takes over a year to produce on bag of garbage.

What we discuss

In part one we cover Josh’s upbringing, the impact his parents divorce, education, dealing with insecurity, his curiosity. discovering his love of math and science, finding joy in discipline and his evolutionary approach to living.

We also dive deep into Josh’s commitment to influence and invite the guests he interviews on his podcast and the corporate clients he consults to embrace personal behavioral changes that will impact on the environment. Josh explains the process of taking actions and joy that results from the values he lives by. 

We also discuss why his approach can be embraced by anyone willing to live more sustainable lives. I hope you enjoy the intellect, inspiration, environmental action and leadership principles of Joshua Spodek

Social Links 

Linkedin

Twitter

Facebook 

Links In Show 

Fanny and Alexander 

Champion Mindset 

Leadership Step By Step

Leadership and The Environment 

Maria Sharapova Book

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First up the Podcast We Loved

Dr David Perlmutter - On Ultimate Health 

So much insight on brain health here from Board-Certified Neurologist and Fellow of the American College of Nutrition Dr. David Perlmutter on Ultimate Health podcast as he covers stress and lack of sleep, the impact of the pre-fontal cortex and the amygdala on our wellbeing and what lifestyle choices trigger them to compete, The Western diet and inflammation, how to manage our digital experience using hisT.I.M.E. model, the positive health benefits of being in nature, and his 20 minute a day meditation practice

We found this online 

Is It Wrong To Be Hopeful About Climate Change 

This BBC Futures piece sets out what our everyday actions - yes we can make a difference - are what counts as “hope is profoundly linked with action: both ours and that of others alongside us.”. It means rolling up our sleeves and making lifestyle changes like reducing the packaging we purchase. 

Recommended to us

What to Expect By 2030

Our friends Faris and Rosie shared Azeem Azhar’s post from his Exponential View blog on the “what we can expect in the next 10 years — from increasingly fragmented geopolitics, to climate change being the dominant narrative, rethinking the purpose of economies, eating less meat, and yeah, unfortunately big tech companies like FB, Google and Amazon working aggressively to hoover up data wherever they can, using their balance sheets to expand into new arenas.” 

Last Week’s Podcast 

A few weeks ago I interviewed Michael Hanchett Hanson - author and founder and director of the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition program at Columbia University around the theoretical aspects of creativity.

In part two of the interview we focused on creativity in practice. Michael explains why constraints are a core component in generating creativity, and expands on the invalidity the out of the box metaphor, discusses big ideas.

I use a classic quote from legendary ad man David Ogilvy to frame our discussion and state that creativity is a state of mind.

We discuss how as we work creatively, we not only produce work, but our point of view develops, our understanding of big questions deepens.

Michael draws on references to Monet, John Coltrane, Ian Curtis, Mozart, George Bernard Shaw, Elton John, and Picasso as we discuss and dissect the role of passion, empathy, hard work, research, complex systems, forward and backward loops and how creating solutions for the future often requires us to mine the creativity of the past.

I hope you are stimulated by this episode of big questions on creativity with Michael Hanchett Hanson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest Overview 

First of all thanks Stephen Hecht for the recommendation. 

Born in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Arno Michaelis grew up in a caring loving family but the combination of being told he could achieve anything while witnessing his artistic mother’s suffering from dealing with her husband’s alcoholism drove him to bullying and vandalism at school; to by age seventeen, becoming deeply involved in the white power movement and a founding member of what became the largest Neo-Nazi skinhead organization in the world. For years he followed the path of violence until he was confronted at a McDonalds checkout by elderly African American lady with a smile and pointing at his swastika tattoo - “Saying that is not you, you are better than that” 

That moment started his path to redemption.  

This is a two parter. 

Part One Arno recounts his early years and his descent into violence, and how a mass killing at a Sikh temple in 2012 led him to form a bond with Pardeep Singh Kaleka, whose father was murdered in the temple by a white supremacist gunman in a Milwaukee suburb. The gunman who killed Pardeep’s dad and five others, was a member of the white power group that Arno had founded years earlier.

Part Two we cover Arno’s path away from extremism, his recent book with Pardeep Singh Kaleka -The Gift of Our Wounds, the work he is doing to promote the practice of peace, traveling, speaking and working with all kinds of reformed extremists to confront hateful ideologies through storytelling, fearless creativity and compassion.

I hope you are inspired by the kindness, gratitude, and compassion of Arno Michaelis

What we discuss?

The impact of an elderly African American server in McDonalds defied him with kindness and destroyed his self identity in one comment. 

How it has made him committed to random acts of kindness. 

Walking away from the movement to confront extremism. 

Haram explained. 

Pradeep's Monster Ted x Talk. 

How rave music and culture became his gateway to a new life.

His personal mission statement of ‘I'm working towards a society where all people are valued and included.’ 

Why he thinks everyone needs a personal mission statement.

The work he is doing now with telling his story at events around the world. 

Meeting Deeyah Kahn.

Confronting polarization through embracing uncertainty.

And How curiosity reinforces uncertainty.

The power of story and being cognizant of where our story is taking us.

The connection between AI, extremism and fear of loss.

His support of Andrew Yang.

Race Traders.

Universal Basic Income. 

The imperative of changing the education system. 

Meditation and inner peace and why children need to meditate .

Serendipity and his Fox Lane Prison.

Gratitude, Kindness, and Compassion as his core principles.

‘Bravery Creates Possibility’.

Separatism as the biggest problem to solve.

 Daryl Davis and de-robing KKK.

The question we should have asked. 

Social Feeds?

Website 

Instagram 

Facebook 

Youtube 

Twitter 

Links 

Punk Rock 

Deeyah Kahn Film Maker 

Deviate book 

Occam’s Razor

Gift of Our Wounds 

Gift of our Wounds youtube 

Serve to Unite 

Sharon Risher For a time such as this 

Fox Lane Prison 

Monster Ted x Talk 

Forgiveness Project 

Haram

Sikh Faith 

Hitler’s application to Art school 

Daryl Davis 

The Common party 

Declaration of Interdependence 

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few weeks ago we interviewed Michael Hanchett Hanson - author and founder and director of the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition program at Columbia University around the theoretical aspects of creativity. 

In part two of the interview we focused on creativity in practice. 

Michael explains why constraints are a core component in generating creativity, and expands on the invalidity the out of the box metaphor, discusses big ideas.

I use a classic quote from legendary ad man David Ogilvy to frame our discussion

We discuss how as we work creatively we not only produce work, but our point of view develops, our understanding of big questions deepens.

.

Michael draws on references to Monet, John Coltrane, Ian Curtis, Mozart, George Bernard Shaw, Elton John and Picasso as we discuss and dissect the role of passion, empathy, hard work, research, complex systems, forward and backward loops and how creating solutions for the future often requires us to mine the creativity of the past. 

I hope you are stimulated by this episode of big questions on creativity with Michael Hanchett Hanson. 

What we discuss 

Constraints drive creativity 

Deviation amplifying techniques 

David’s Ogilvy's philosophy 

Pat Stokes research on creativity and rats

George Bernard Shaw and The Fabian Society 

Bill Bernbach 

Aristotle 

The importance of passions

The role of Empathy 

Affect and Effect

The future as an idea

Complex systems 

Temporal loops 

Neophilic version of creativity 

The role of domain expertise

Research 

The role of talent

Creativity defined

Connecting 

Linkedin 

Links in the show 

Weisberg 

Edward Clapp

George Bernard Shaw 

Fabian Society 

Ian Curtis 

Picasso

Monet

David Ogilvy 

Mozart 

Bill Bernbach

Aristotle 

RocketMan Movie 

Bernie Taupin 

Bowie 

John Coltrane 

Labor Omnia Vinci

Howard Gruber 

Creativity and constraints

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Week’s Guest - Hunter Johansson  

Hunter Johansson, twin brother of actress Scarlett was born and raised in New York to an American Mother and Danish Architect Father, and a community activist grandmother. Hunter is on a mission to save lives through renewable energy and is in Puerto Rico as we send this dealing with the aftermath of this week's earthquake. 

(In part one) Hunter shares his experience of growing up in Manhattan, the values passed on to him by family, friends, and mentors, and finding his path and purpose in life. 

(In part two ) Hunter explains his NGO’s mission to save lives in hurricane-hit regions by installing solar power units in first responder fire and police stations and how he co-founded Solar Responders, with London born Las Vegas-based fire captain Richard Burt. 

Hunter discusses his mission to help the disadvantaged people of Puerto Rico, still devastated by the 2017 Hurricane and his vision to extend the renewable technology to other regions threatened by the ever-increasing risk of life threaten hurricanes and climate change

Finally, we cover his principles, influences, and advice. 

Hunter is driven and humble and has an indomitable spirit. 

Podcast We Loved

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman - Scott Harrison

You might not have heard of Scott Harrison but I expect you have heard of Charity: Water. This interview with Scott deconstructs how a great story is a foundation for building a great company. Scott Harrison is a master storyteller, and has built his nonprofit on 3 radical principles: (1) 100% of donations would go to water projects (not overhead) (2) Progress reports would be utterly transparent, sharing victories, defeats and even GPS coordinates of water wells (3) The brand’s storytelling would lead with hope instead of guilt, inspiring joyful participation without sacrificing honesty. Lot’s to learn from this one. 

Recommended to us

Rise of the Polymath

Our friends Faris and Rosie shared this great BBC article on polymaths, and why in a world of specialism, cross-disciplinary skills maybe what we will need to solve some of the larger societal problems we face. It also covers the characteristics of a polymath and what open-mindedness, curiosity and emotional resilience are common traits. 

This was our favorite read this week. 

Series of the week 

Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

A compelling story of a twisted criminal's gruesome videos that drive a group of amateur online sleuths to launch a risky manhunt that brings them into a dark underworld. Be prepared for the true story of one of Canada’s most infamous crimes

Mulling on this           

Packaging Free - Update 

Following a challenge from upcoming guest Joshua Spodek, I have been attempting to avoid buying anything with packaging. It’s hard but what I have witnessed is a change in my consciousness toward what I purchase and how I plan my food and meals. 

Previously my supermarket visits were simply scripted behavior patterns and repetitive purchases with no thought to the plastic packaging the presents itself in every aisle. 

There are some items like yogurt I have failed with but generally, I am living more sustainabLY and healthier. MORE TO COME

Tools we’re using 

URLList

URLList is a handy bookmarklet that allows you to bring a group of URLs together in one place and then share them with a single link. Imagine using this for your Instagram link in your bio and being able to promote a list of URLs for different product landing pages or social media sites. We use it. 

Social Impact 

Bushfire donations 

In light of the calamitous destruction caused by the Australian bushfires and the catastrophic loss of wildlife, we are simply posting a link to the WWF’s appeal page 

That’s all for now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest Overview 

Hunter Johansson was born and raised in New York to an American Mother and Danish Architect Father, a community activist grandmother, he is twin brother to Scarlet Johansson, and he’s on a mission to save lives through his renewable energy NGO Solar Responders.

In part two of this interview how he found his purpose and founded his NGO Solar Responders. He explains his NGO’s mission to save lives in hurricane-hit regions by installing solar power units in first responder fire and police stations and how he co-founded Solar Responders, with London born Las Vegas-based fire captain Richard Burt.

Hunter discusses his mission to help the disadvantaged people of Puerto Rico, still devastated by the 2017 Hurricane and his vision to extend the renewable technology to other regions threatened by the ever-increasing risk of life threaten hurricanes and climate change

Finally, we cover his principles, influences, and advice.

I hope you enjoy the humble, yet the indomitable spirit of Hunter Johansson.

What We Discuss 

The effect Hurricane Maria had on him

Meeting Captain Richard Burt

Forming Solar Responders

How Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson supported his mission

The impact of solar technology on future hurricanes

The challenges of raising funds for the NGO

Empowering the Puerto Ricans locals

His principles

His hard choices

Who has made him reevaluate himself

Where he goes to discover new ideas

His impossible question answer

Where and when in history

The book he recommends

Social Links 

Instagram

Solar Responders 

Links in the Show 

Solar Responders

Marco Krapels

PS 41 

Scarlett Johansson

Hurricane Sandy 

Hurricane Maria 

The Jones Act 

The Stafford Act

Scott Stringer 

Colin Jost from SNL 

Terry Tempest Williams Erosion 

Manny and Lo

Nita Baum 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest Overview 

Born and raised in New York to an American Mother and Danish Architect Father, a community activist grandmother, and twin brother to Scarlet Johansson, he’s on a mission to save lives through renewable energy, is this week’s guest Hunter Johansson. 

(In part one) Hunter shares his experience of growing up in Manhattan, the values passed on to him by family, friends, and mentors, and finding his path and purpose in life. 

(In part two ) Hunter explains his NGO’s mission to save lives in hurricane-hit regions by installing solar power units in first responder fire and police stations and how he co-founded Solar Responders, with London born Las Vegas-based fire captain Richard Burt. 

Hunter discusses his mission to help the disadvantaged people of Puerto Rico, still devastated by the 2017 Hurricane and his vision to extend the renewable technology to other regions threatened by the ever-increasing risk of life threaten hurricanes and climate change 

Finally, we cover his principles, influences and advice. 

I hope you enjoy the humble, yet the indomitable spirit of Hunter Johansson. 

What We Discuss 

Hunter’s upbringing in NYC

The importance of family

His relationship with his twin Scarlett 

Hunter discusses finding his path to purpose in life 

His love of the environment

The Impact of Hurricane Sandy

The enduring memory of 9/11

His respect for the first responders and fire crews 

His many work experiences 

Hunter’s passion for helping people

The effect Hurricane Maria had on him

Meeting Captain Richard Burt 

Forming Solar Responders 

How Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson supported his mission

The impact of solar technology on future hurricanes

The challenges of raising funds for the NGO

Empowering the Puerto Ricans locals 

His principles 

His hard choices

Who has made him reevaluate himself

Where he goes to discover new ideas 

His impossible question answer

Where and when in history

The book he recommends

Social Links 

Instagram

Solar Responders 

Links in the Show 

Solar Responders

Marco Krapels

PS 41 

Scarlett Johansson

Hurricane Sandy 

Hurricane Maria 

The Jones Act 

The Stafford Act

Scott Stringer 

Colin Jost 

Terry Tempest Williams Erosion 

Manny and Lo

Nita Baum 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.