The podcast I started in 2020, One Step Beyond, all about “positively engaging with the world outside our door,” has reached the end of its second season. And maybe the end of the road. If so, it is going out on a high, by featuring Henk Rogers, the man who brought Tetris out from behind the Iron Curtain to share with the world. Following a near-fatal heart attack in 2005 just after selling a different company for over $100,000,000 (that is not a typo), Henk is now bringing his proven determination, business acumen and innovative thinking to saving our planet from the climate crisis. Mission #1: to eliminate our use of carbon-based fuels.
I talked with Henk about why we have to do this, how his home state of Hawai'i is already doing this, how he moved to New York to ensure other states and countries follow suit, and why he won't rest until we succeed. He then talks about Mission #2: Making a back-up of human life. And yes, we also talk about Tetris.
Press play on the button below to listen to the episode in full.
You can also listen to the episode on your preferred podcast platform from here, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts via the embedded links below.
Henk Rogers can be found at henkrogers.com
You can hear the incredible story behind his Tetris adventures on
Visit Henk’s Blue Planet Alliance, Blue Planet Foundation, Blue Planet Energy.
When I started One Step Beyond, it was with a four-part documentary series about the group trip I organized to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2019, using the studios of Radio Kingston, which encouraged me to make the show into a podcast and supported that first season, all of which was largely produced in a similar format, more like radio documentaries than mere Zoom calls. (I succumbed to the admittedly easier format in the second season.) I am going out with the same curiosity for and love of this humble planet we call earth by talking to someone who is determined to save it from its worst enemy: ourselves.
So why am I ending One Step Beyond? It may not be for ever, and it has certainly been for the good, but:
a) it’s damn hard work, a labo(u)r of pure love and devotion of which I only have so much to give,
b) I am hosting two other podcasts (The Fanzine Podcast and, with
here on Substack, Crossed Channels), and there are only so many hours in the day, andc) Under the tag line “positively engaging with the world outside our door,” One Step Beyond has ventured all around the world, and tackled all manner of subjects, with some truly amazing and inspirational guests. Ultimately, however, refusing to limit itself to one topic - running, travel, the environment - has ensured that One Step Beyond stays in the margins of the vast podcast universe. While some episodes have proven incredibly popular, jumping from subject to subject is not the perfect formula for building a fanatical following, and some of my favorite episodes - the ones I think people could most benefit from hearing - have unfortunately been at the lower end of listener figures. That part is frustrating, I don’t deny.
So, if I do bring the show back, it will be with a focused theme. Either travel. Or running/outdoor sports. Or the environment. Or something else. But not all of them.
I want to thank everyone who has ever listened to any episode. It has been an absolute blast. I am proud of every single show, some of which I believe should have been heard by many more people. I do hope some of you will take the opportunity to dig deep and find further episodes to your liking.
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For a superb environmentalist on Substack, who alternates the good news (see below) with the frightening, gives it to us in ways we can understand, and does not put his posts behind any paywall, please follow
, and his The Crucial Years.Some more Henk….
I learned a lot from the podcast People are the Answer.
This interview with Henk from the Real Leaders podcast is full of excellent concise pearls of how-to-get-shit-done wisdom:
It is not all about saving the planet from the climate crisis. Sometimes, it is about playing games. This is Henk with Tetris inventor, and best friend, partner Alexy Pajitnov, talking about Tetris itself.
And… why not? Though the truth has been muddled with in ways that make Bob Marley: One Love (reviewed by me here) look like a documentary, here is a trailer for the Tetris movie, starring Taron Egerton as Henk:
This post is in lieu of the usual weekend long read, and posted a day early to coincide with the podcast episode’s publication. Cheers!