Politico & Axios: Jim VandeHei

Pierre Thiam is a renowned chef, restaurant owner, cookbook author, and co-founder of Yolélé – a company working to introduce the world to fonio, an ancient West African grain built for climate change. But it hasn't been all sunshine and good harvests for Pierre. In fact, he was robbed just days after he first arrived in New York City from Senegal. It was 1989, and he had just traveled to the U.S. to study chemistry and physics. This chance incident, however, set Pierre’s life on an entirely different course. This week on How I Built This Lab, Pierre talks with Guy about his company’s work circulating fonio, a nutrient-dense and drought-resistant food source. Pierre also shares how he overcame cultural norms to embrace his cooking career, and his take on the connection between colonization and the vulnerability of our global food systems. This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Gilly Moon. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

By her early thirties, Ava DuVernay was already a successful entrepreneur, having founded her own film publicity agency in Los Angeles. But after years of watching other people make films, she started to get an itch to tell her own stories onscreen. Ava's first films were rooted in deeply personal experiences: growing up with her sisters in Compton, performing Hip Hop at Open Mic Night at the Good Life Café in L.A. Her self-funded and self-distributed projects began to draw attention, and in 2012, Ava won the award for best directing at the Sundance Film Festival. She went on to direct powerful projects like Selma, 13th, and When They See Us; and through her production and distribution company ARRAY, she's created a movement that is helping change how movies are made—and who gets to make them. This episode was produced by Rachel Faulkner, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Liz Metzger. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Millions of Americans don’t have enough to eat — a startling fact considering 40% of the food produced in the U.S. gets thrown away. And a lot of that food… from restaurants, supermarkets, office buildings and more… is perfectly safe to eat. What’s worse is that this discarded food waste produces harmful methane emissions that contribute to global climate change. Jasmine Crowe-Houston is an entrepreneur who became obsessed with these problems. In 2017, she founded Goodr, which works with businesses to take unused food and deliver it to those who need it. Instead of paying waste management companies to throw surplus food into landfills, businesses can work with Goodr to deliver that food to local nonprofits that get it to people in need.  This week on How I Built This Lab, Jasmine talks with Guy about solving the logistical challenge of delivering surplus food to people experiencing food insecurity. Plus, the two discuss Jasmine’s decision to launch Goodr as a for-profit organization, and the growing corporate focus on sustainability that’s led to Goodr’s rapid growth. This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch.  You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1998, Curran Dandurand and a colleague from Mary Kay Cosmetics came up with an unorthodox idea: a premium skincare brand for men. Despite the prevailing wisdom that American men would never want to moisturize and exfoliate - and a total lack of interest from investors - Curran and Emily Dalton forged ahead, with the help of Curran’s husband Jeff. Their brand, Jack Black, launched in 2000, and eventually landed in major department stores, with some unexpected boosts from the Dallas Cowboys and Matthew McConaughey. The brand became a leader in men’s skincare, and eventually sold to Edgewell Personal Care for just under $100 million. This episode was produced by Casey Herman, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Edited by Neva Grant with research help from Katherine Sypher. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over one hundred billion garments will be produced this year, but they don’t have to be.  Peter Majeranowski says we have all the clothes we need to make all the clothing we’ll ever need, and his company, Circ, has pioneered the technology to prove it.  This week on How I Built This Lab, Peter shares how trying to create fuel from tobacco unintentionally led to the creation of a different material — pulp that could go back to the beginning of the supply chain and close the loop on fast fashion. Plus, the future of sustainability in the industry and the impact brands can have on the environment simply by changing their fabric sources.  This episode was produced by Carla Esteves and edited by John Isabella, with research help from J.C. Howard.  Our music was composed by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was James Willetts. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.