Tangelic Talks

Tangelic Talks

Tangelic Talks, the official podcast of Tangelic, an award-winning NGO combating climate change, expanding clean energy and driving sustainable development. Hosted by Victoria & Jensen, we go beyond the usual, challenging narratives and explore bold solutions to the world’s most pressing climate and equity challenges. 🌍 What to Expect: ✔ Deep dives into climate action, renewable energy, and sustainability ✔ Expert insights on policies and technologies for a just energy transition ✔ Real-world solutions empowering communities Join us as we amplify voices, spark solutions, and drive impact!

  1. 4d ago

    Healing the Frontlines: The Emotional Cost of Climate & Social Impact w/ Liz Moyer Benferhat | S05E06

    🎙️ The people trying to save the world are burning out. But what if our grief and anger aren't liabilities, but the intelligence we need to keep going? In this episode of Tangelic Talks, hosts Victoria Cornelio and TJ Omojomolo sit down with Liz Moyer Benferhat, founder of We Heal for All. With nearly two decades of experience in sustainable development, grassroots activism, and UN policy, Liz noticed a critical gap in the social impact sector: a complete lack of emotional support for the people confronting the world's most existential crises. Liz challenges the "taboo" around emotions in professional spaces, explaining why regulating our nervous systems shouldn't just mean "clamping down" on our feelings. She breaks down why anger is actually vital organizational data, how trauma psychology helps us cultivate political will without burning out, and why "toxic positivity" and forced hope can actually hurt social movements. Because we can't build a sustainable movement if the people building it aren't treated as human. In this episode, we cover: 🧠 The cultural taboo of emotion: Why clinical psychology and neuroscience prove our feelings are packed with intelligence. 🔥 Reframing anger: How to view frustration and grief not as a burden, but as essential "organizational data" for leaders. ⚖️ Desensitization vs. Empathy: Why nurses need to be desensitized to blood, but social impact workers cannot afford to be desensitized to human suffering. ⭕ The Circle Model: Liz’s social technology for slowing down, storytelling, and collective healing without forced vulnerability. 😷 COVID-19 & Collective Trauma: How the pandemic and the BLM movement forced organizations to recognize the need for identity-specific processing spaces. 🛑 Toxic Positivity: Why accepting periods of "low hope" actually builds the grit and maturity needed for long-term activism. 🌱 Finding your place: Liz's advice on shifting from "needing to change the world" to authentically participating without losing yourself. 🔹 About Our Guest: Liz Moyer Benferhat is the founder of We Heal for All. Following a career in UN policy and sustainable development, she built her organization to provide emotional resilience, collective healing, and climate psychology tools to leaders and change-makers on the frontlines of global crises. 💬 Join the Conversation: Do you think the push for "resilience" in the workplace sometimes just feels like forced positivity? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended Q&A with Liz on collective trauma at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks. 🔖 #TangelicTalks #EmotionalResilience #ClimatePsychology #SocialImpact #CollectiveHealing #JustTransition #BurnoutPrevention #MentalHealthInActivism #WeHealForAll

  2. Oct 19

    Explain to a Friend: Decoding ESG, Mini-Grids & Climate Jargon | S05E05

    🎙️ We use a lot of buzzwords in the climate space—but what do they actually mean? In this "Explain to a Friend" episode of Tangelic Talks, hosts Victoria Cornelio and TJ Omojomolo sit down without a guest to break down the heavy jargon of Season 5. Because as we talk about implementing and innovating in the energy transition, we cannot assume everyone understands the technical vocabulary being thrown around. From the controversial difference between "renewable" and "clean" energy to the actual definition of ESG, Victoria and TJ strip away the technical fluff to explain how clean energy ideas actually move from ambition to real-world delivery. In this episode, we cover: 🌍 Why "sustainability" isn't just about the environment—it's about economic development, affordability, and long-term resilience. ⚡ Renewable vs. Clean Energy: Why solar panels and wind turbines are renewable, but extracting the critical minerals for them sparks debate over how "clean" they actually are. 🔥 The biomass controversy: Why some organizations consider wood pellets renewable energy, while protesters strongly disagree. 🔋 Mini-grids explained: How smaller, decentralized power networks are bypassing insufficient national grids in emerging markets like Nigeria. ⛏️ What "critical minerals" actually are (like lithium, cobalt, and platinum) and why they are essential for EVs and power stations. 🏢 ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) vs. CSR: Why the corporate world shifted terms and why "Responsible Business" might be the next evolution. 💰 Demystifying finance: The difference between institutional investors dropping six-to-eight figures and retail investors. 🏛️ Subsidies and Foundations: How foundations balance profit-driven investment arms with philanthropy, and why government subsidies remain highly controversial. 🤝 Ecosystems: How impact investing borrows from biology to create business networks that benefit multiple entities at once. 🔹 About This Episode: This is an "Explain to a Friend" segment of Tangelic Talks. No external guests. Just Victoria and TJ taking a step back to define the core terminology of climate finance, infrastructure, and community impact so no one gets left behind in the conversation. 💬 Join the Conversation: Did we get our definitions right? What climate buzzword still confuses you? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended blog post with all these definitions mapped out at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks. 🔖 #TangelicTalks #ClimateEducation #Sustainability #RenewableEnergy #ESG #ClimateFinance #CleanEnergy #MiniGrids #JustTransition #EnergyEquity

  3. Oct 12

    Leapfrogging the West: Nigeria’s Clean Energy Revolution w/ Ifeoma Malo | S05E04

    🎙️ The future of climate tech isn’t just being imported to Africa — it’s being built there. In this episode of Tangelic Talks, Victoria and TJ sit down with Ifeoma Malo, co-founder and CEO of Clean Technology Hub Nigeria. With over two decades of experience advising the Nigerian Ministry of Power and driving decentralized renewable energy, Ifeoma is on a mission to electrify the "last mile" of rural Africa. While the West focuses on massive grid overhauls, Nigeria is leapfrogging traditional infrastructure by building community-owned solar mini-grids that power rural agriculture, healthcare, and education. Ifeoma breaks down why energy and food systems are deeply connected, the reality of building your own infrastructure (yes, sometimes involving camels), and why African developers need patient capital to manufacture clean tech locally instead of relying on imports. In this episode, we cover: 🌍 The four pillars of Clean Tech Hub: Energy access, climate mitigation, sustainable entrepreneurship, and infrastructure financing. 🏥 The post-COVID funding shift: How global capital pivoted from energy to healthcare vaccines. 🛢️ The Dangote Refinery vs. Solar: Why Africa needs diverse energy sources to industrialize at scale. 🌾 The looming food crisis: How solar milling and cold-storage EVs prevent massive crop spoilage between farm and market. 🤝 Community-led projects: Why external development fails when locals aren't empowered to own and operate the infrastructure. 🐪 Building your own infrastructure: The logistical reality of transporting solar panels via camel when roads wash away. 💰 The need for "patient capital": Why investors must fund local African manufacturing rather than just importing Chinese solar components. 📱 The leapfrog effect: How Africa is bypassing the fossil fuel era the same way it bypassed landline telephones. 🔹 About Our Guest: Ifeoma Malo is the co-founder and CEO of Clean Technology Hub Nigeria. She works at the intersection of energy access, climate mitigation, and community development, aggregating finance to deploy decentralized renewable energy across Nigeria's rural communities. 💬 Join the Conversation: Should investors prioritize funding local clean tech manufacturing in Africa, even if it takes longer to see returns? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended Q&A with Ifeoma on Nigerian climate policy at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks. 🔖 #TangelicTalks #CleanEnergyAfrica #RenewableEnergy #CleanTechHub #NigeriaEnergy #EnergyAccess #JustTransition #ClimateFinance #MicroGrids #SustainableAgriculture #PatientCapital

  4. Oct 5

    Transforming Cities: Why Community Input is the Best Market Research w/ Ben Donsky | S05E03

    🎙️ Why do some massive urban developments thrive while others completely fail? It often comes down to one step: community engagement. In this episode of Tangelic Talks, hosts Victoria Cornelio and TJ Omujomolo sit down with Ben Donsky, Principal of Agora Partners. With over two decades of experience, Ben works with developers, governments, and community organizations to transform public spaces into thriving, financially sustainable places. He shares his unique approach to urban redevelopment, explaining why community engagement isn’t just a "box to check" for approval—it is the best market research an investor could ever ask for. Ben breaks down why traditional real estate developers often avoid deep community planning due to fears of delays and uncertainty, and how curating small, individual focus groups can prevent the competitive, chaotic town halls that derail projects. From 1990s waterfront aquariums to post-COVID public health infrastructure, this episode proves that great cities don't happen by accident. In this episode, we cover: 🏙️ The Chattanooga vs. Camden Aquarium Case Study: Why one waterfront project succeeded and the other failed. 🤝 Why developers should treat community engagement as high-level market research rather than a hurdle. 📊 How to map the demographics, cultural backgrounds, and emotional connections of a neighborhood before building. 🗣️ Why town halls fail: The strategy of using small, individual focus groups to prevent competitive screaming matches. 😷 COVID-19's impact on real estate: How parks and community centers proved to be essential public health infrastructure. 🌀 Social resilience: Why community centers are the most vital resource during storms and hurricanes. 🏗️ Overcoming developer fear: Why deep engagement actually *reduces* long-term financial risk. 🏛️ The public sector roadblock: Why government agencies are often the most resistant to new community planning methods. 🔹 About Our Guest: Ben Donsky is the Principal of Agora Partners, specializing in urban redevelopment, public-private partnerships, and community-driven design. He helps developers and governments create sustainable public spaces by building deep social capital and prioritizing community input from planning through operations. 💬 Join the Conversation: Do you feel like your community has a say in what gets built in your city? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended Q&A with Ben breaking down public sector resistance at TangelicLife.org. 🔖 #TangelicTalks #UrbanPlanning #RealEstateDevelopment #CommunityEngagement #AgoraPartners #SustainableCities #PublicSpaces #UrbanRedevelopment #SocialResilience #ClimateAction #JustTransition

  5. Sep 28

    Turning Climate Ambition into Action w/ TJ Omujomolo | S05E01

    🎙️ We no longer just know that we're in a climate crisis — we know something needs to change. So how do climate solutions and ideas turn into real, structural action? Welcome to Season 5 of Tangelic Talks. This season, we are moving past theory and focusing entirely on one core theme: implementing and innovating. To help us do that, returning host Victoria Cornelio is joined by a brand-new co-host: TJ Omujomolo. TJ runs AfriBond, focusing on connecting people to African investment opportunities, and brings a deep background spanning energy, power stations, and commercial gas. Together, they are sitting down with the innovators, investors, and policymakers who are actually deploying solutions on the ground. Because you can't just innovate without explaining the point to the communities it affects. In this kickoff episode, we cover: 👋 Meeting TJ: His background in energy, commercial gas, and African investment relations 🌍 What "implementing and innovating" actually means for the energy transition 🤝 Why transparency is key to ensuring the "little guy" doesn't get left behind by new tech 🏗️ The real estate dilemma: balancing community improvement and park building with corporate profit ☀️ The Africa solar myth: why you can't just "put panels everywhere" without addressing raw materials and logistics 🏢 Why climate solutions cannot function in silos separated from finance and infrastructure 🚀 Tangelic’s own shift into the deployment phase with the Sunrise Spectrum Initiative ❓ The big question for Season 5: What does it actually take to turn climate ambition into action? 🔹 About This Episode: This is the Season 5 kickoff of Tangelic Talks. Hosts Victoria Cornelio and TJ Omujomolo outline the season's focus on implementation, bringing people along in the just transition, and exploring everything from clean energy ecosystems to mental health. 💬 Join the Conversation: What do you think is the biggest hurdle to turning a great climate idea into a real-world solution? Drop your answer in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended Q&As and resources for this season at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks. 🔖 #TangelicTalks #ClimateAction #EnergyTransition #ClimateFinance #JustTransition #SustainableInvestment #CleanEnergy #AfricanInvestment #ClimateTech #GreenRealEstate #ClimateInnovation

  6. Sep 28

    The Billion-Dollar Formula for Affordable Housing w/ Nick Khamsopa | S05E02

    🎙️ Affordable housing isn’t just a construction problem. It’s a capital infrastructure problem. In this episode of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria and TJ sit down with Nick Khamsopa — CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle — who started his career as a union carpenter and is now spearheading one of the most ambitious real estate missions in New York: developing 5,000 units of affordable workforce housing. Nick pulls back the curtain on how mixed-use, transit-oriented development actually works. He breaks down how he identifies abandoned brownfields, aligns with local unions to guarantee jobs, and secures multi-million dollar pension fund backing to de-risk construction and revitalize communities. Because true community development doesn't start by bringing in outsiders. It starts by investing in the local workforce. In this episode, we cover: 🏗️ How Nick went from a union carpenter to overseeing high-rise construction and high-speed rail. 💰 The economics of affordable housing: Why building costs hit $300/sq ft and how government subsidies close the gap. 🏘️ Workforce vs. Low-Income housing: Why keeping rents at the Area Median Income (AMI) retains teachers, nurses, and police. 🤝 The "Local First" Strategy: Hiring 100% union labor to win community trust and secure AFL-CIO pension fund investments. 📊 The reality of scaling: Why Wall Street won't fund a single building, but will fund 50 locations and 5,000 units. 🛑 The migration crisis: Why New York is building 800,000 units to stop the workforce from leaving for Florida. 🧠 Connecting the dots: How Nick navigates municipalities, state grants, and institutional capital to build transit-oriented communities (TOD). 🔹 About Our Guest: Nick Khamsopa is the CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle, a developer focused on community-focused affordable housing in New York's Hudson Valley. From starting as a union apprentice to leading high-speed rail development, Nick now scales workforce housing using strategic partnerships and institutional finance. 💬 Join the Conversation: What do you think is the biggest barrier to affordable housing in your city? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇 🌱 Support Our Mission: Check out the extended Q&A with Nick on brownfields at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks 🔖 #TangelicTalks #AffordableHousing #RealEstateInvesting #CommunityDevelopment #HudsonValley #WorkforceHousing #UrbanPlanning #JustTransition #ClimateFinance #GreenRealEstate #SustainableInvestment

  7. Jun 29

    Season 4 Wrap: Climate Finance, Tech & The Conversations That Changed How We Think | S04E15

    🎙️ We came in expecting a technical season. We're leaving angry, more informed, and somehow more hopeful. In this Season 4 finale of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Andres Tamez sit down to reflect on everything — every guest, every revelation, every moment that made them stare into a wall for a few minutes. Season 4 asked a deceptively simple question: how do finance and technology drive or distort climate action? What they found was anything but simple. It was a season full of insiders, investigators, entrepreneurs, and innovators — each one pulling back a different curtain on a system that's more broken, more promising, and more consequential than most people realize. This is the recap of a season worth revisiting. In this episode, we cover: 🎙️ How Season 4 turned out far more entertaining — and emotionally affecting — than either of them expected 🔥 Rachel Donald: why investigative journalism makes you angry, not just informed — and why anger is the point 💼 Stephen Shortt: why lifetime careers are a myth and the green workforce is the biggest opportunity nobody's talking about 🌍 Dana Darwish: how the Middle East is dismantling Western preconceptions about women, ESG, and climate leadership 🤖 Chris Carter: fear comes from not understanding — and anger comes from understanding 🌱 Josh Dorfman: filtering anger into action — and why adaptation might be more powerful than mitigation 🏜️ Azdean: what community-centered tourism actually looks like when it's done right — and why they need to go to Morocco 💥 Holly Alpine: the false equation nobody's talking about — AI for sustainability vs AI for fossil fuels, and why Microsoft doesn't want you to compare them ⚡ Patrick Galey: your energy bill, your food prices, your cost of living — all fossil fuel problems, all connected 🌍 Aya Yunis: how a medical lab scientist in Jordan built carbon capture tech and carbon credit infrastructure from scratch 💾 Murphy John: decentralized storage, the blockchain ledger that actually makes sense, and why your data is being held for ransom right now 🛰️ Charles Stromeyer IV: satellites measuring greenhouse gases from space, Jevons paradox, and why the solutions already exist — we just have to use them 🏔️ The Just Transition: where both hosts land — less scared, more angry, and committed to keeping the conversation going 📣 The season's one core message: climate change is a threat multiplier — every crisis you already care about gets worse without climate action 🔹 About This Episode: This is the Season 4 finale of Tangelic Talks — a full recap of every guest, every big idea, and every reflection from a season spent at the intersection of climate finance, technology, and power. No guest. Just Victoria and Andres, honest about what they learned, what broke their spirit, and what gave them reason to keep going. 💬 Join the Conversation: Which episode from Season 4 hit hardest for you? And are you leaving this season more angry, more hopeful, or somewhere in between? Drop your answer in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: If you believe in the power of storytelling, clean energy access, and climate justice — help us continue this work. ✨ Donate or Get Involved at TangelicLife.org 🔖 #TangelicTalks #Season4Recap #ClimateFinance #ClimateTech #ClimateAction #JustTransition #ClimateJustice #EnergyTransition #ClimateInnovation #GreenTech #AIandClimate #FossilFuels #CarbonMarkets #ClimatePolicy #Greenwashing #DataCenters #ResponsibleTourism #ClimateEntrepreneur #ESGReporting #Season4

  8. Jun 22

    AI, Climate Tech & the Investment Gap: What's Actually Worth Funding? w/ Charles Stromeyer | S04E14

    🎙️ AI is accelerating the climate crisis. And it might also be one of the best tools we have to fight it. The question is — which side wins? In this episode of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Andres Tamez sit down with Charles F. Stromeyer IV — Principal of Frontier AI and Investment Strategy at Tangelic, with over 30 years of experience in AI and investing — for one of the most wide-ranging, technically grounded, and genuinely optimistic conversations of Season 4. Charles took his first two AI courses in 1992. He's been at the intersection of technology, investment, and climate strategy for three decades. And unlike a lot of voices in this space, he's equally comfortable talking about hyperspectral satellites and what happened to electric taxis in 1911 Manhattan. Because understanding where climate tech is going requires understanding where it's already been. In this episode, we cover: 🛰️ How hyperspectral satellite imaging can measure CO2 emissions before and after a clean energy project — creating a new form of verified carbon reduction 🤖 CLRS — Tangelic's new climate intelligence platform for measuring high-quality carbon credits and ESG impact ☁️ OptiCloud — the first company using AI agents to eliminate digital waste in cloud computing 📊 The three types of climate risk — planetary, economic, and financial — and why banks reneged on their net zero commitments 💡 The impact investing paradox: why it's neither a great house nor a great boat 🔋 Why solar is now the cheapest global energy source — and the myth that it doesn't work when the sun isn't shining ⚡ Why US solar just surpassed coal for the first time — and why AI data centers accidentally caused it 🌍 Why Africa has 60% of the world's best solar potential but only 1% of installed capacity 🚗 How electric taxis were ubiquitous in Manhattan in 1911 — and how WWI accidentally gave us a century of gasoline 💼 The clean tech valley of death — why startups build prototypes that work but fail to scale 🌱 Why there are 36 million clean energy workers globally — and the myth that the transition kills jobs 🏗️ Jevons paradox — why producing more clean energy makes us consume even more 🗳️ Whether governments can ever be trusted to regulate industries they're invested in 🔹 About Our Guest: Charles F. Stromeyer IV is the Principal of Frontier AI and Investment Strategy at Tangelic. With over 30 years of experience in AI and investing — including his first AI courses at Oberlin College in 1992 — Charles brings a rare long-view perspective on what technology can and cannot solve for climate change. He has served as a mentor at Mass Challenge, advised the finance minister of Nigeria on clean energy strategy, and works directly on Tangelic's CLRS climate intelligence platform. 💬 Join the Conversation: Did you know electric taxis were ubiquitous in Manhattan in 1911 — before WWI accidentally gave us a century of gasoline? And if you could fund one thing in climate tech tomorrow, what would it be? Drop your answer in the comments 👇 ✅ Don't forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Your support helps us amplify conversations on energy, equity, and empowerment. 🌍✨ 🌱 Support Our Mission: If you believe in the power of storytelling, clean energy access, and climate justice — help us continue this work. ✨ Donate or Get Involved at TangelicLife.org 🔖 #AIandClimate #ClimateTech #ClimateInvestment #FrontierAI #SolarEnergy #NuclearEnergy #CarbonCredits #ESGTracking #SmallModularReactors #CleanEnergy #ClimateFinance #DataCenters #ClimateInnovation #GreenTech #ImpactInvesting #ClimateJustice #EnergyTransition #Fervorit #Oklo #TangelicTalks

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About

Tangelic Talks, the official podcast of Tangelic, an award-winning NGO combating climate change, expanding clean energy and driving sustainable development. Hosted by Victoria & Jensen, we go beyond the usual, challenging narratives and explore bold solutions to the world’s most pressing climate and equity challenges. 🌍 What to Expect: ✔ Deep dives into climate action, renewable energy, and sustainability ✔ Expert insights on policies and technologies for a just energy transition ✔ Real-world solutions empowering communities Join us as we amplify voices, spark solutions, and drive impact!