Podcast
Bigger Than Us
Hosted by Nexus PMG · EN
Nexus PMG welcomes you to the Bigger Than Us™ podcast, which we, as energy geeks lovingly refer to as the BTU. Bigger Than Us is a podcast that focuses on ideas that will shape the future of our planet and ultimately, our existence. We will occasionally lean into energy topics because after all, it’s the key to our collective survival, but we’ll also explore other areas that we believe will have an effect that is Bigger Than Us.
21episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#263 John Belizaire, CEO of Soluna Computing
Mar 25, 202500:43:37Tap to summarizeJohn Belizaire is the CEO of Soluna Computing, the world’s first utility-scale company developing power plants and combining them with high-performance computing facilities. As a serial entrepreneur, John has successfully founded and scaled multiple industry-leading technology startups that have achieved market leadership and double-digit growth, including FirstBest, an insurance software company acquired by Guidewire, and The Theory Center, a software company acquired by BEA Systems. Before becoming an entrepreneur, John was the lead architect for Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group. Soluna Computing builds modular, batchable computing centers for intensive applications like cryptocurrency mining, AI and machine learning. Soluna’s scalable data centers provide a cost-effective alternative to battery storage or transmission lines. Soluna Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLNH) is the leading developer of green data centers that convert excess renewable energy into global computing resources. Soluna Holdings was formed when Mechanical Technology, Inc. (MTI) acquired Soluna Computing in 2021.https://www.solunacomputing.com/https://www.nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#262 Michael Sheldrick, author of From Ideas to Impact
Mar 11, 202500:28:55Tap to summarizeMICHAEL SHELDRICK is a policy entrepreneur and a driving force behind the efforts of Global Citizen to end extreme poverty. As a Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer, he leads the organization's campaigns to mobilize support from governments, businesses, and foundations. He is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, From Idea to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. With a career that spans the world of pop and policy, Michael has worked with an impressive roster of international artists such as Beyoncé, Coldplay, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Priyanka Chopra, Rihanna and Usher, as well as prominent political leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and former Australian Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.He has co-produced some of the world's most impactful social campaigns and events, including the annual Global Citizen Festival in New York, the Guinness World Record-winning virtual concert One World: Together At Home, and the Nelson Mandela 2018 centennial celebration, Mandela 100. These initiatives have reached millions of people in over 150 countries and helped secure over $40 billion in support for local and regional organizations working to provide access to essential resources such as healthcare, education, and climate resilience.A sought-after speaker and author on policy advocacy, sustainable development, and corporate responsibility, Michael has shared his insights at conferences and summits worldwide. His insights have also featured in leading outlets including Forbes, The Guardian, The Hill, HuffPost, Nikkei and Fairfax Media, and his voice heard on major news networks such as ABC, BBC, France 24, Sky News and CNN.He has been recognized as a finalist for the 2017 Young Commonwealth Person of the Year and serves on: the board of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global citizens; the Leadership Council of aable, a fintech company connecting compassionate investors with underserved communities; and the Advisory Board of the Nigerian Solidarity Support Fund. He is also a co-host of the Global Town Hall, a North-South, East-West meeting featuring world leaders and leading minds to connect with global citizens.From Ideas to Impacthttps://michaelsheldrick.com/https://www.nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#261 Lionel Selwood Jr, CEO & Founder of Zelena AI
Feb 25, 202500:37:05Tap to summarizeLionel Selwood Jr. is a proud US Virgin Islander and Engineer, who has spent his entire career pioneering energy solutions that have reshaped industries. His vision in anything he does, is addressing global energy poverty through the mass adoption of advanced technology. Lionel's experience includes leading a company to IPO via the NYSE and managing a strategic sale of a startup to a major automaker. He founded his newest endeavor, Zelena AI Inc., which aims to enable data centers that are more innovative, efficient and green, than the AI solutions they power. https://zelena.ai/https://www.nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#260 Amy Blankson - Bestselling author of The Future of Happiness
Feb 11, 202500:44:14Tap to summarizeAmy Blankson is the Co-founder and Chief Evangelist of the Digital Wellness Institute and the bestselling author of The Future of Happiness. A graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Management, she’s the only person to receive aPoint of Light award from two US Presidents. She is also a member of Harvard’s AI for Human Flourishing Council, a former member of the UN Global Happiness Council, and a featured professor in Oprah’s happiness e-course.Most recently, Amy was named to the AI75 by Dallas Innovates. Her newest book, SuperThinkers, will be released in Summer 2025.https://amyblankson.com/https://www.nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#259 Ross Faransso, CEO of Nexus PMG
Jan 28, 202500:30:11Tap to summarizeRoss Faranso is the CEO of Nexus PMG. A seasoned leader in advisory, engineering, construction, and technology solutions throughout the energy sector. Over 20 years in increasing roles of responsibility from project management to operations management to business development. I’ve led multiple initiatives and contracts for clean energy projects for multinational companies and responsible for creating strategic alliances and leading clean energy and EPC project deployments. I hold a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from University of Houston, and I am a certified Project Management Professional (PMG). I also serve on the Executive Advisory Committee on the Board of Directors for the Association for Capital Projects Engineering & Construction Community (ECC). https://www.nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#258 Advice for 2025
Jan 14, 202500:34:59Tap to summarizeA special episode featuring advice from a variety of previous guests. www.nexuspmg.com
Transcribe →***Special archive - #243 Tom Dickson, CEO of New Energy Risk
Dec 31, 202400:43:38Tap to summarizeTom Dickson, CEO of New Energy Risk since 2015, has more than 35 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry and finance; including senior executive and underwriting leadership positions in the US, Europe, and Asia; notably as the former CEO and Chief Underwriting Officer of the Centre Group, a $10B reinsurer that pioneered innovative products to address high-value business risks and financing. Tom has also served on the boards of public and private companies, including Flagstone Re, Paragon Insurance Services, Reformation Insurance Services, and as an advisor to Cellcontrol and Fairmatic. He graduated with honors from Stanford University, where he remains an active alumnus, and received a Master’s degree from John Hopkins University (SAIS). Currently, Tom serves on the Natural Capital Advisory Council at Stanford University and the board of Adara Group, a non-profit engaged in health and education development for women and children in remote communities. https://newenergyrisk.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#257 Peter Kelly-Detwiler, reviews 2024 and looks to 2025
Dec 17, 202400:43:28Tap to summarizePeter Kelly-Detwiler has 30 years of experience in the electric energy arena. He writes for Forbes.com and other publications on topics related to disruptive innovation and its impact on the electricity infrastructure. He provides strategic advice to clients and investors, helping them to navigate this transitional period. Peter is also the author of The Energy Switch - a book about how companies and customers are transforming the electrical grid and the future of power. Mr. Kelly-Detwiler has spent much of his career in various areas of competitive power markets. As Senior Vice President at Constellation Energy, he oversaw creation of VirtuWatt – a market leading platform to facilitate real-time awareness of electricity pricing and consumption and bidding of assets into competitive markets. He is currently writing a book on the transformation of electric power markets, to be published by Prometheus Books in the Spring of 2021. https://www.peterkellydetwiler.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →#256 Vince Beiser - Author of Power Metal, "The destructive side effects that the global hunt for critical metals."
Dec 3, 202400:48:57Tap to summarizeIn POWER METAL, award-winning journalist Vince Beiser chronicles the destructive side effects that the global hunt for critical metals has on our clean energy transition, from environmental damage to political upheaval to murder. Vince Beiser is an award-winning journalist and author of “The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization.” The book has been translated into five languages, was a finalist for a PEN America award and a California Book Award, and spawned a TEDx talk. Vince is currently at work on a new book, “Power Metal”, about how the materials we need for digital technology and renewable energy are causing environmental havoc, political upheaval, mayhem and murder—and how we can do better. Vince has reported from over 100 countries, states, provinces, kingdoms, occupied territories, no man’s lands and disaster zones. He has exposed conditions in California’s harshest prisons, trained with troops bound for Iraq, ridden with the first responders to natural disasters, and hunted down other stories from around the world for publications including Wired, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Time, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Playboy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Vince’s work has been honored by Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Columbia, Medill and Missouri Graduate Schools of Journalism, and many other institutions. He has three times been part of a team that won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, and shared in an Emmy for his work with the PBS TV series SoCal Connected. He is also a grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. https://vincebeiser.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →***Special archive - #237 Seth Godin, Founder of The Carbon Almanac
Nov 26, 202400:39:09Tap to summarizeSeth Godin is an author, entrepreneur, and, most of all, A teacher. Seth is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 21 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His book, This is Marketing, was an instant bestseller in countries around the world. His latest books are The Song of Significance and The Practice, and creatives everywhere have made it a bestseller. Though renowned for his writing and speaking, Seth also founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!). By focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything, Seth has been able to motivate and inspire countless people around the world. In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. In an astonishing turn of events, in May 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well. He might be the only person in both. https://thecarbonalmanac.org/ https://nexuspmg.com/
Transcribe →