The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Edward Norton (Extended) | Un-Believable
Mar 19, 2026
Edward Norton, Academy Award–nominated actor and activist who builds environmental projects, drops by with no promotion and a poem. He talks about a Puerto Rico film with Bad Bunny, his barge company that captures toxic port emissions, and how practical action counters media-fueled anxiety. He also reads a section of Walt Whitman’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.
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How Edward Norton Got Into Cleaning Ship Pollution
- Edward Norton started a barge company that installs 13-story cranes over cargo ship smokestacks to capture toxic port pollution.
- He partnered with engineer Bob Sharp and scaled the tech globally, claiming it removed emissions equivalent to 65 million cars last year.
Port Pollution Cuts Across Political Lines
- Norton frames climate action as nonpartisan because toxic port emissions harm everyone and both shippers and cities want them reduced.
- He emphasizes this problem isn't about greenhouse gases but immediately dangerous toxins that kill people locally.
Action As An Antidote To Doomscrolling
- Norton says action is the antidote to doomscroll-induced anxiety and anchors him when global horrors feel paralyzing.
- He uses running a tangible enterprise as daily, realistic agency versus only speaking out on large geopolitical issues.