Joshua Spodek
Joshua Spodek
Born1971 (age 54–55)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
EducationColumbia University BA, master's, and PhD in physics
Occupations
  • Leadership coach
  • environmentalist
  • astrophysicist
ParentHoward Spodek (father)
Websitehttps://joshuaspodek.com/

Joshua Spodek (born 1971) is an American leadership coach,[1][2]environmentalist,[3] and astrophysicist.[4][5] He hosts the podcast This Sustainable Life.[6] He is also an adjunct professor of leadership at New York University[7] and a 4-time TEDx speaker.[8][9]

Early life and education

Spodek was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Howard Spodek, was a world historian and professor of history at Temple University.[10][11]

He attended Columbia University, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Physics in 1993, a Master’s degree in Physics in 1996, a Master of Philosophy in Physics in 1998, his Ph.D. in Astrophysics in 1999, and an MBA in 2006 (studied under a Nobel Laureate).[12][13]

Career

In 1999, Spodek invented a technology with a class of linear zoetropes to show motion pictures to passengers in subways moving between stations.[14] As an astrophysics graduate student, his design debuted in September 2001 in the Atlanta subway system tunnel, showcased to riders moving past.[15] Spodek co-founded a company called Submedia with his friend Matthew Gross to market this technology.[16][17] Submedia installed displays on four continents.[18]

In 2001, he helped build the X-ray observational satelliteXMM-Newton with the European Space Agency and NASA.[19][20]

In 2014, his first experiment of avoiding packaged food for a week reduced emptying his household trash from weekly to less than annually,[21] and he hasn’t flown since 2016.[22][23]

Since 2021, he has unplugged his refrigerator, inspired by other cultures on how to refrigerate less with less waste and with healthier diets.[24][25] He disconnected his apartment in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, from the electric grid in May 2022.[26][27]

He has been living sustainably in Manhattan to enable his sustainability leadership work.[28][29] He last ate meat in 1990, eventually becoming vegan.[12]

He currently teaches leadership and entrepreneurship at NYU and has spoken and led seminars and workshops in leadership and entrepreneurship at Harvard University, Princeton University, MIT, INSEAD (Singapore), the New York Academy of Sciences, and corporations including Google, PwC, Boston Consulting Group, S&P, IBM, and more.[30][7]

Spodek talks with leaders to lead cultural change in sustainability on his podcast, This Sustainable Life, originally called "Leadership and the Environment".[31] His podcast guests include Dan Pink, Marshall Goldsmith, Frances Hesselbein, Elizabeth Kolbert, and many more.[32]

Bibliography

  • Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow (2017)[33]
  • Sustainability Simplified: The Definitive Guide to Understanding and Solving All (Yes, All) Our Environmental Problems (2024)[34]

Recognition

Spodek was named “best and brightest” in Esquire’s Genius issue.[35] He was described as an “astrophysicist turned new media whiz” by NBC.[36][37][15] He received the Dean’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Innovation Scholar Grant, NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) for the academic year 2019-2020.[38]

Personal

Spodek lives in New York City. He visited North Korea twice and swam across the Hudson River twice.[39]

He has maintained a burpee-based calisthenic routine daily[2] since 2007. He posts daily to his blog.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^"Leadership Step by Step (audio) with Joshua Spodek". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  2. ^ abHelfand, Zach (2023-01-09). "Off the Grid in the Big City". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  3. ^Misdary, Rosemary (2025-05-02). "Meet the NYC environmentalists going off the grid and eating discarded food". Gothamist. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  4. ^Herder, J. W. den; Brinkman, A. C.; Kahn, S. M.; Branduardi-Raymont, G.; Thomsen, K.; Aarts, H.; Audard, M.; Bixler, J. V.; Boggende, A. J. den; Cottam, J.; Decker, T.; Dubbeldam, L.; Erd, C.; Goulooze, H.; Güdel, M. (2001-01-01). "The Reflection Grating Spectrometer on board XMM-Newton". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 365 (1): L7–L17. Bibcode:2001A&A...365L...7D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20000058. ISSN 0004-6361.
  5. ^"Astrophysics Data System". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  6. ^"This Sustainable Life". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  7. ^ ab"Joshua Spodek". sps.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  8. ^"Joshua Spodek | Search Results | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  9. ^TEDx Talks (2019-06-21). Find Your Delicious: Leadership and the Environment | Joshua Spodek | TEDxNYU. Retrieved 2025-05-19 – via YouTube.
  10. ^"Remembering Howard Spodek, a Historian Who Saw Gujarat and Ahmedabad Like No Other". The Wire. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  11. ^"Howard Spodek Obituary (2023) - Philadelphia, PA - Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Funeral Directors, Inc. - Philadelphia". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  12. ^ ab"Joshua Spodek '93 Found Connection by Disconnecting". Columbia College Today. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  13. ^"4 Skills Not Taught in the Ivy League That Every Great Leader Must Master". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  14. ^"URBANPHOTO: Cities / People / Place » Tunnel Vision: Subway Zoetrope". 2016-03-21. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  15. ^ ab"Written On The Subway Walls - Forbes". Forbes. 2016-04-07. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  16. ^Layton, Lyndsey. "Advertising industry to hitch ride on metro". The Washington Post.
  17. ^"Advertising goes underground in Philly, Atlanta"(PDF). MediaWeek - the News Magazine of the Media: 13. 2001-10-08.
  18. ^Brill, Louis M. (2006-02-06). "Subway Advertising: Outdoor Underground". Signs of the Times. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  19. ^Den Herder, J. W.; et al. (2001). "[PDF] The Reflection Grating Spectrometer on board XMM-Newton by J. W. den Herder, A. C. Brinkman, S. M. Kahn, ...,Joshua Spodek, Marcela Stern, Takayuki Tamura, J. A. Tandy, C. P. de Vries, Steven B. Welch, A. Zehnder · 10.1051/0004-6361:20000058 · OA.mg". The Reflection Grating Spectrometer on Board XMM-Newton. 365. Bibcode:2001A&A...365L...7D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20000058.
  20. ^"The Reflection Grating Spectrometer on board XMM-Newton"(PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  21. ^ abLeland, John (2024-11-05). "Who Says You Can't Live Off the Grid in Manhattan?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  22. ^"TEDxConnecticutCollege | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  23. ^lincolnvillagesun (2024-07-06). "The Spodek Method: Saving the planet and ourselves by not harming others". The Village Sun. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  24. ^日本放送協会. "@nyc ①米トランプ政権は"洪水作戦"？②環境のために電力を"自給自足" - キャッチ!世界のトップニュース". キャッチ!世界のトップニュース - NHK (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  25. ^"Meet the NYC environmentalists going off the grid and eating discarded food | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  26. ^Misdary, Rosemary (2 May 2025). "Meet the NYC environmentalists going off the grid and eating discarded food". Gothamist. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  27. ^Leland, John (2024-11-08). "Who says you can't live off the grid in Manhattan?". The Business Times. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  28. ^"A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging". AP News. 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  29. ^"Living The Simple Life With Astrophysicist Joshua Spodek". America Out Loud News. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  30. ^"Lead Better: A Workshop with Marshall Goldsmith and Joshua Spodek".
  31. ^"Leadership And The Environment (podcast)". 2018-01-19. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  32. ^"This Sustainable Life". This Sustainable Life. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  33. ^Spodek, Joshua (2017-02-16). Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow. AMACOM. ISBN 978-0-8144-3794-0.
  34. ^Spodek, Josh (2025-02-18). Sustainability Simplified: The Definitive Guide to Solving All (Yes, All) Our Environmental Problems. Amplify Publishing. ISBN 979-8-89138-069-1.
  35. ^VAUGHAN, BRENDAN. "Joshua Spodek | Esquire | December 2003". Esquire | The Complete Archive. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  36. ^"TEDxNYU | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  37. ^"Initiative: A Proven Method to Bring Your Passions to Life (and Work)". www.whartonny.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  38. ^"NYU School of Professional Studies Awards Dean's Faculty Teaching and Learning Innovation Scholar Grants Across a Broad Range of Disciplines". sps.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  39. ^Kruse, Kevin. "Lead Yourself First: How To Tap Into Your Mental Chatter". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
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