PRI: Social Entrepreneurship

Boston's Green District

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:03:00 +0000

In a bid to make green living economically viable and attractive, an ambitious new community is springing up in Boston.

Organic farming in Italy. Adventure toursim in Haiti

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:18:35 +0000

1) Jobs scarce, more Italians volunteering on organic farms, 2) Adventure tourism group plans bike race in Haiti to raise awareness.

Protecting Forests, Sequestering Carbon

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:20:35 +0000

An indigenous tribe in the Amazon that’s trying to protect its forest by selling carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market. Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports.

Bionic limbs empowers amputees

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Hugh Herr, a leading bionics developer, and a double amputee following a mountain-climbing accident, has developed prosthetic legs powered by robotics. From Studio 360.

Wapapura: A solar-powered music project

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 23:00:00 +0000

An open air recording project called Wapapura seeks to create environmentally friendly music. From PRI's The World.

A new approach to representing breast cancer

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 23:00:00 +0000

How turning a tumor into a sculpture may help doctors change the way they treat breast cancer. From Studio 360.

Green lawn solution saves water and lawns

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 23:00:00 +0000

With two-thirds of the nation hit by drought, keeping our lawns green is a challenge. But one entrepreneur has a solution that saves water and lawns. From Here and Now.

Music to help the forests of Madagascar

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Musician Razia Said talks about the music she wrote to raise awareness about deforestation in her native island. From Living on Earth.

Mapping the trees of Central Park

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 23:00:00 +0000

The beauty of Central Park lies in its desgined landscape and unique trees. One New-Yorker and tree-lover has walked every inch of the park to map 19,933 of the park's trees. From Living on Earth.

Digital tools for tough economic times

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:00:00 +0000

British technologist Ken Banks wants to build apps and websites to help people do things like barter and time-swap. From PRI's The World.

Making energy efficient design pay off

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:00:00 +0000

EcoManor, Laura Turner Seydel's super efficient house in Atlanta, Georgia, showcases green technologies and design, and is a blueprint for promoting green building practices. From Living on Earth.

Bespoke Innovations' designs for prosthetic limbs

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Scott Summit of Bespoke Innovations describes how his company creates beautifully designed covers for prosthetic limbs. From Studio 360.

Games for Good

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

At the ninth annual Games for Change Festival in New York City, game developers, designers, publishers, and players gathered together to explore the greater potential for games. From The Takeaway.

How big data can solve big problems

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Data experts at MIT are using data to give us information on everything from medicine, to our ancestry, to the state of traffic on Los Angeles's busy highways. From The Takeaway.

Video game technology being tested for surgical application

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Touchless technology similar to that used in video games, is being tested by surgeons to help them carry out delicate keyhole surgery. From PRI's The World.

Small drones track mafia eco-criminals in Italy

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Massimiliano Lega, an environmental engineer, has created a drone which is being used by the Italian government to collect evidence on eco-criminals. From PRI's The World.

A social networking site for Nigerians living abroad

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Spartan Arinze, a Nigerian living and working in China, created a website, Gbooza -- part social network, part news aggregate -- to help Nigerians living in China keep connected. From PRI's The World.

Mobile apps for the blind

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Nektar Paisios, originally from Cyprus and blind from the time he was four, is working on a number of iPhone apps that could solve some of the blind community's problems. From The Takeaway.

Inventor creates wind-blown landmine clearance device

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Massoud Hassani grew up in Kabul, near an area filled with unexploded mines. Later, when he'd emigrated to The Netherlands and became a design student, he came up with an idea to help clear such mines, and the "Mine Kafon" was born. From PRI's The World.

Life-Changing Inventors

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Interview with this year's Lemelson MIT Prize winner, Ashok Gadgil, who helped bring light to 100 million people in the developing world, designed fuel efficient cook stoves, and a simple way to purify water. From Living on Earth.

Entrepreneurs invest in asteroid mining

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

A group of big-name technology entrepreneurs and investors have created a company that will mine asteroids and "make the resources of space available to humanity." From Here and Now.

Intercultural understanding through couchsurfing

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

CouchSurfing.org, which helps connect people around the world who are looking for a couch to crash on when they travel, say they are committed to creating intercultural understanding. From The Takeaway.

Scientist invents shark repellent fishing hook

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Scientist Eric Stroud's SMART Hooks, which repel shars and being tested in several countries, show a 60 to 70 percent reduction in the number of sharks caught by commerical fishing. From PRI's The World.

TOMS Shoes: Does Buy-one-give-one work?

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

An investigation into TOMS Shoes reveals the company may actually be hurting the communities it's trying to help. From PRI's The World.

Eco-friendly mushroom packaging

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Ecovative Design is using mushroom roots and agricultural waste to grow environmentally friendly packaging material. From Living on Earth.

Conservation drones keep tabs on environment

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Lian Pin Koh had developed an unmanned drone for use in the war against deforestation, animal poaching and habitat destruction. From Living on Earth.

British company Pavegen is turning footsteps into electricity

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

The development of a new paving tile that captures the energy of footsteps and turns it into electricity. From PRI's The World.

LuminAID: The Inflatable, Rechargeable Solar Lantern

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

There are a few solar lanterns and flashlights on the market, but there's nothing quite like the LuminAID, a portable, inflatable, rechargeable solar lantern designed by two graduate students, Andrea Sreshta and Anna Stork. From PRI's The World.

German company brings European-style carpooling to US

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Carpooling has been popular in Germany for decades. One German-based web company is betting that it will catch on in the US, where your car is your domain. From PRI's The World.

Dutch company recycles surgical implants

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

For almost 15 years, a Dutch company called OrthoMetals has been recycling surgical implants, and giving the bulk of the proceeds to charity. From PRI's The World.

High-end guitar makers work towards sustainability

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Taylor Guitar Company and other guitar makers are partnering with environmental organizations to ensure sustainability in the materials they use for the instruments. From Living on Earth.

Ranchers use livestock grazing to improve soil health

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Jim Howell, Colorado rancher and CEO of Grasslands LLC, attracts venture capital and runs education programs to further the "holistic land management" movement, which uses livestock grazing to promote soil health. From Here and Now.

New video game targets India's dowry problem

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Game developers in India have created a game called "Angry Brides," ddesigned to raise awareness about the problem of dowry in India. From PRI's The World.

Zephyr Press translates foreign books for American audience

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

A lot of books out in the world aren't making it to the United States, but Zephyr Press is trying to change that. The group's mission is to bring literature and poetry from other countries to an American audience. From Here and Now.

An environmental map made by you

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

The new site, Eye on Earth, features a water watch, an air watch and even a noise watch. Jaqueline McGlade, the director of the European Environmental Agency, a lead partner for the project, explains how it could change the way we view our environment. From Living On Earth.

How a rapper and a scientist teamed up to create a rap guide to evolution

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Scientist Mark Pallen commisioned Baba Brinkman, a Canadian rapper with a Master's degree in English and a passion for Darwin, to create the series called "The Rap Guide to Evolution." From Living on Earth.

Deep ocean listening

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Scientists are establishing a worldwide network of deep-sea listening posts connected to the Internet. It allows researchers -- and the public -- to hear whales, ships, and other underwater sounds. From PRI's The World.

Laptops from the skies

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Nicholas Negroponte, The head of the One Laptop Per Child project, which builds low-cost computers for the developing world, has an idea for deploying the laptops that is raising eyebrows. From PRI's The World.

Electricity for herding communities in the Middle East

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

COMET-ME, a cross-cultural project among Israelis and Palestinians, wants to build and install wind turbines and solar panels in small Palestinian and Bedouin villages. From Living on Earth.

Geeks Without Borders: Hackers unite for global good

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The Random Hacks of Kindness movement brings computer experts together to build software that could be used during natural disasters or other global crises. From PRI's The World.

Malaria vaccine and milk fiber clothing on Best Inventions of 2011 list

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

From a malaria vaccine that's in testing and a cure to the common cold, to clothes made from milk and an electric wand that puts out fires, 2011 has seen inventions ranging from the ingenious to the downright weird. From Here and Now.

One entrepreneur's commercial boutique farm started from a home garden

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

How Eva Sommaripa grew her home garden into a commercial boutique farm, where she raises 250 different kinds of organic vegetables and herbs, sold to restaurants from New York City to Portland, Maine. Story from Living on Earth.

The Green Magician

admin@entrepreneur-podcast.com (Gary Schuller) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Magician C.J. May incorporates ideas of sustainability into his magic act "C.J. the Resourcerer: Recycling is Magic." From Living on Earth