How Can Investment Propel Climate Restoration? IBRAHIM ALHUSSEINI - Founder & CEO of FullCycle - Highlights

How Can Investment Propel Climate Restoration? IBRAHIM ALHUSSEINI - Founder & CEO of FullCycle - Highlights

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Founder and CEO of FullCycle Fund

Is it okay that you benefit at the expense of everyone and everything else? Is that a way that you really feel like you are winning at life? If not, then reconsider what you’re doing and just realize that we all live in this inextricably connected closed sphere in the middle of space. Anything that harms one area harms every area. There is nobody who can escape dirty air, dirty water, dirty food, economic political disruptions, etc. We’re all in this together. So don’t fool yourself by thinking somehow you’re going to come out this unscathed and having ‘won’ while everybody else loses.

What Role Does Venture Capital Play in a Sustainable Future? IBRAHIM ALHUSSEINI - Founder & CEO of FullCycle, Environmental Advocate

What Role Does Venture Capital Play in a Sustainable Future? IBRAHIM ALHUSSEINI - Founder & CEO of FullCycle, Environmental Advocate

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Ibrahim AlHusseini was born in Jordan and raised in Saudi Arabia by parents who are Palestinian refugees. He emigrated to the United States in the 1990s to attend college at the University of Washington and he currently resides in Los Angeles. 

AlHusseini is a venture capitalist, sustainability-focused entrepreneur, and environmentalist. He is the founder and CEO of FullCycle, an investment company accelerating the deployment of climate-restoring technologies. AlHusseini is also the founder and managing partner of The Husseini Group.

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk, Justin Hayes & Daniel Soroudi with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Daniel Soroudi. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.

Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming w/ McKENZIE FUNK - Highlights

Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming w/ McKENZIE FUNK - Highlights

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Journalist & PEN Literary Award-Winning Author of Windfall

As a parent and especially through all this reporting, what I’ve tried to do is think through these solutions and these fixes we have for everything and make sure that we’re not forgetting…that we’re thinking about other people. Capitalism won’t do it. Self-interest isn’t going to do this for us. As silly as it is to think that empathy will do or caring about your fellow humans will do it, I don’t know what else there is to hope for. I don’t believe that people do stuff purely out of rational self-interest, this libertarian idea that I was quietly pushing against the entire time in Windfall. That we do things just for ourselves or just to make money–that’s not been the reality of my lifetime.

McKENZIE FUNK - Journalist & PEN Literary Award-Winning Author of Windfall

McKENZIE FUNK - Journalist & PEN Literary Award-Winning Author of Windfall

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Journalist & PEN Literary Award-Winning Author of Windfall

As a parent and especially through all this reporting, what I’ve tried to do is think through these solutions and these fixes we have for everything and make sure that we’re not forgetting…that we’re thinking about other people. Capitalism won’t do it. Self-interest isn’t going to do this for us. As silly as it is to think that empathy will do or caring about your fellow humans will do it, I don’t know what else there is to hope for. I don’t believe that people do stuff purely out of rational self-interest, this libertarian idea that I was quietly pushing against the entire time in Windfall. That we do things just for ourselves or just to make money–that’s not been the reality of my lifetime.

How Can Literature Illuminate Climate Change?" KAREN PINKUS - Prof. of Italian & Comparative Literature, Cornell - Highlights

How Can Literature Illuminate Climate Change?" KAREN PINKUS - Prof. of Italian & Comparative Literature, Cornell - Highlights

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Author of Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary
Professor of Italian & Comparative Literature, Cornell University

For many years I wrote, taught, and published about climate change from a more philosophical, existential point of view, especially thinking about deep time, but I did come back to fuels with my Fuel book in part for the fact that so much of the press and so much of public discourse confuses fuel and energy, and it’s still happening today. I thought about this so long and the same themes, the same tropes are still being recycled.

Narrative, Climate Change & Culture with KAREN PINKUS

Narrative, Climate Change & Culture with KAREN PINKUS

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Author of Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary
Professor of Italian & Comparative Literature, Cornell University

For many years I wrote, taught, and published about climate change from a more philosophical, existential point of view, especially thinking about deep time, but I did come back to fuels with my Fuel book in part for the fact that so much of the press and so much of public discourse confuses fuel and energy, and it’s still happening today. I thought about this so long and the same themes, the same tropes are still being recycled.

What Can Cosmic Rays Teach Us About the Universe? Panofsky Prize-Winning Astrophysicist PIERRE SOKOLSKY - Highlights

What Can Cosmic Rays Teach Us About the Universe? Panofsky Prize-Winning Astrophysicist PIERRE SOKOLSKY - Highlights

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Leader in field of Particle Astrophysics
Professor Emeritus of Physics & Astronomy U of Utah
Dean Emeritus of the College of Science

As an administrator for 15 years, I still tried to do science and it was difficult because being a dean, every day there is a problem. Every day you have to solve some personal issues, so it’s difficult to concentrate and what I would do was, whenever there was an opportunity to go to a conference away from the university, particularly in a different country, I would sit in the conference room listening to these lectures. You know how it is with meetings, maybe 10% of the speakers are exciting and interesting. What I found is even when I was not listening because I was in this atmosphere of people talking about physics, my mind was set free and would just start percolating. And all of a sudden ideas would come completely unrelated to what the speaker was talking about, except that they were scientific ideas. And I would jot them down and I found that this was really quite an interesting process because it was kind of an immersion process where you actually are not concentrating on what is exactly in front of you, but it puts you in this mood. The brain turns on a different lode and I think by association other ideas come up.

On Astrophysics, Education & Cultivating Creativity - PIERRE SOKOLSKY

On Astrophysics, Education & Cultivating Creativity - PIERRE SOKOLSKY

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Leader in field of Particle Astrophysics
Professor Emeritus of Physics & Astronomy U of Utah
Dean Emeritus of the College of Science

As an administrator for 15 years, I still tried to do science and it was difficult because being a dean, every day there is a problem. Every day you have to solve some personal issues, so it’s difficult to concentrate and what I would do was, whenever there was an opportunity to go to a conference away from the university, particularly in a different country, I would sit in the conference room listening to these lectures. You know how it is with meetings, maybe 10% of the speakers are exciting and interesting. What I found is even when I was not listening because I was in this atmosphere of people talking about physics, my mind was set free and would just start percolating. And all of a sudden ideas would come completely unrelated to what the speaker was talking about, except that they were scientific ideas. And I would jot them down and I found that this was really quite an interesting process because it was kind of an immersion process where you actually are not concentrating on what is exactly in front of you, but it puts you in this mood. The brain turns on a different lode and I think by association other ideas come up.

The Secret of Turning Your Moments into Miracles w/ MITCH HOROWITZ - Highlights

The Secret of Turning Your Moments into Miracles w/ MITCH HOROWITZ - Highlights

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Historian of Alternative Spirituality & PEN Award-Winning Author

I’ve always considered myself a believing historian and, in fact, most historians of religion are actually believing historians. Very frequently they emerge from the congregations that they’re writing about, whether new religious movements or traditional religions, this is true of Kabbalistic scholar Gershom Scholem, it’s true of people who have written probably the most important biographies of more recent religious figures like Mary Baker Eddy or Joseph Smith, a Mormon prophet. Although, historians don’t frequently acknowledge being believing historians because they feel that it might seem to compromise their capacity for critical judgement, but my impression is different. My impression is that being in very direct proximity to the nature of the philosophical, religious, ethical, therapeutic movements that you’re writing about can heighten your critical acumen.

MITCH HOROWITZ - Historian of Alternative Spirituality & PEN Award-Winning Author of Occult America

MITCH HOROWITZ - Historian of Alternative Spirituality & PEN Award-Winning Author of Occult America

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Historian of Alternative Spirituality & PEN Award-Winning Author

I’ve always considered myself a believing historian and, in fact, most historians of religion are actually believing historians. Very frequently they emerge from the congregations that they’re writing about, whether new religious movements or traditional religions, this is true of Kabbalistic scholar Gershom Scholem, it’s true of people who have written probably the most important biographies of more recent religious figures like Mary Baker Eddy or Joseph Smith, a Mormon prophet. Although, historians don’t frequently acknowledge being believing historians because they feel that it might seem to compromise their capacity for critical judgement, but my impression is different. My impression is that being in very direct proximity to the nature of the philosophical, religious, ethical, therapeutic movements that you’re writing about can heighten your critical acumen.

“As a child, music felt very natural for me" - LORENDA RAMOU - Pianist, Musicologist, Concert Curator at Onassis Cultural Ctr - Highlights

“As a child, music felt very natural for me" - LORENDA RAMOU - Pianist, Musicologist, Concert Curator at Onassis Cultural Ctr - Highlights

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Pianist, Musicologist & Concert Curator for Contemporary Music · Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens

As a child, music felt very natural for me. I didn’t feel I needed to put any effort into learning the piano. I wanted to find all the musical information that was there. What was the purpose of studying the piano? Suddenly the whole thing became so creative. I felt that the sound is something malleable and you can have an infinite number of possibilities and ways of phrasing and expressing, so that opened a whole new area of possibilities and I found this just fascinating.

What Secrets Does Greek Piano Repertoire Hold? LORENDA RAMOU - Pianist, Concert Curator at Onassis Cultural Center

What Secrets Does Greek Piano Repertoire Hold? LORENDA RAMOU - Pianist, Concert Curator at Onassis Cultural Center

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Pianist, Musicologist & Concert Curator for Contemporary Music · Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens

As a child, music felt very natural for me. I didn’t feel I needed to put any effort into learning the piano. I wanted to find all the musical information that was there. What was the purpose of studying the piano? Suddenly the whole thing became so creative. I felt that the sound is something malleable and you can have an infinite number of possibilities and ways of phrasing and expressing, so that opened a whole new area of possibilities and I found this just fascinating.