Inside Asia Podcast

I open this episode with a question: What is community? It's changed, I'd argue. Not by definition, so much. But in terms of what people have come to expect from it. And I'm putting emphasis here on the word “expect.”  In our digital world, joining a community can be as basic as adding one's thoughts to a chat, then leaving. Or as complex as building a movement and enlisting global “followers.” There are even names for these modes of engagement. In the first instance, post a controversial or unpopular message, and you're called a “troll.” In the second instance, say or do something big, rash, or daring, and you're branded an “influencer.” In the crazy and mixed up world of digital communities, these traits foster both envy and derision. My guest this episode, Kai Soto, suggests that something's been lost in our rampant drive to build community solely on the foundation of datasets. That's what the world of digital social media has done for the most part. Some good has come from it. I wouldn't be so bold to suggest it hasn't. But something has gone missing as well. My conversation with Kai tries to get to the bottom of it.

After a slow start, delegates to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, found momentum. That's cause for hope. Even the reps from Green Peace seemed satisfied. The question on everyone's lips now is: What's next? Will the world go back to business-as-usual, consume-at-will, and climate-be-damned? Or this time around, has the prospect for change wiggled its way into the crevices of human complacency? This battle is far from won. And on the front lines, where change really matters, countries must now contend with how to practically meet those carbon emission obligations. This puts the developing world in a bit of a pickle. For many, obligations to their own people rival commitments to climate. And in burgeoning democracies, leaders elected to improve infrastructure, provide healthcare, and create jobs won't last the political season if they don't deliver. It's complicated. But that's why Jeff Delmon is here with me this episode to explain. Jeff is a Singapore-based Senior Public-Private Partnerships Specialist at the World Bank.

This week we head south to the equator and to the Indonesian island of Bali where two individuals are working to make a difference. Tomo and Aska Hamakawa are Co-Founders of Earth Company. It's stated mission: “To empower and inspire change-makers who realize social change for our future generations.” It doesn't get more noble than that.  In the wake of so many high-powered gatherings where the political and financial elite debate the future of our planet, I thought it important to hear from just two of thousands of young activists who have committed themselves to grass roots efforts. This is where real change occurs.

At this very moment, representatives from some 197 nations have arrived in Glasgow, Scotland to discuss prospects for net zero carbon emissions by mid-century. The so-called COP26 gathering represents a pivotal moment and a real test of the world's ability to cooperate in the face of climate risk. The consequences of doing nothing are severe. Wild swings in climate patterns causing forest fires in the U.S. and floods in Europe all point to one thing. And that is, unless we act – and act now – the world will soon become a far less hospitable place. I'm talking about melting glaciers, rising sea levels, declining fish populations, widespread drought and mass migration of people fleeing famine and pestilence. OK, hold on, that's all a bit too dark. But if this Old Testament imagery moves you…even a little…it's time to take up the cause and pressure those that can make a difference, to make a difference! Asia is at the epicenter of this ecological sea change, and here to talk about it is Cindy Hook, CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific. Cindy and her colleagues have recently released a new report, entitled Asia Pacific's Turning Point: How Climate Action Can Drive Our Economic Future. It's a provocative piece of research that quantifies the risks the region faces in doing nothing to counter the impending effects of Climate Change.

As climate countdown continues apace, we look this week at a central bottleneck – that if not addressed – could confound even the best intentions. I'm talking about talent, and the tens of thousands of sustainability-related jobs that will go unfilled in coming years unless the public and private sector line up to address the problem. One woman is doing something about it. Dr. Jeanne Ng is Chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Qualified Environmental Professionals. She and her colleagues are bent on transforming Hong Kong into a center of excellence in professional environmental services. And not solely as a defence against climate disaster, but as a way of accelerating research and innovation to transform business and the economy.   To get there, both government and private sector must step up and support the training, development, and hiring of people with new skill sets for a new era. This means expanding Sustainability programs at Universities, creating accreditations through professional institutes, and encouraging companies to create roles and career paths to hone that expertise.

My guest this week is Anurag Banerjee. He's sounding the alarm on mental well-being. Anurag isn't a medical professional, a healthcare expert, or a policy-maker. He's a miner…of data, that is. And through the organization he founded and runs, he's excavating insights that point to leading trends and developments in human behavior.  He describes his organization, Quilt AI, as a mission-first technology company that's looking to reverse fractures in society and generate empathy. From time-to-time, his team of analysts and data scientists point their lens at issues worthy of global attention. Mental health is one such subject. And on this World Mental Health Day, the data is revealing, if not somewhat disturbing. Here's the headliner: In the past 18 months – or since the onset of the global pandemic - there's been a 500 percent worldwide increase in conversations about mental health and well-being. This comes from data collected by his firm from 177 cities across 70 countries. It's an astounding jump and the analysis is only made possible through the use and application of artificial intelligence.  The research raises a bevy of questions. Why the dramatic increase? What's the root cause? What – exactly – is mental health? To be frank, the findings are inconclusive. And yet, the data is indicative of a problem brewing at a universal level. This is a vast subject with nuances as varied as the tens of millions of individuals now engaged and in search of mental health support. In the course of this 25-minute discussion, we try to unpack the problem, then ask: What can be done about it? Join us at www.insideasiapodcast.com to learn more.

It's been said that the global pandemic has offered us a rare moment of existential reflection. When not battling the disease or avoiding infection, it has allowed time for us to consider what's most important. Young professionals are no exception. Data shows that increasingly “the best and brightest” are opting into life and career choices that take them out of the corporate career path and land them in the midst of a gig economy re-energized by a world in crisis.  Headlines announcing “The Great Resignation,” “The Big Quit,” or “Global Burnout” suggest that even when times are tough and unemployment is a real possibility, well-educated professionals are voting with their hearts, not their wallets – leaving behind well-paid jobs in search of something more. But what, exactly? For some thoughtful insight on the subject, I'm joined by Zayd and Akshita Khoury – two extraordinary people who speak to a broader trend that could prove good for the world, but bad for corporates. What do I mean by that? Well, stay tuned. This is a conversation you won't want to miss. Visit us at www.insideasiapodcast.com.

When was the last time you thought about where your food comes from? And I don't mean from your local supermarket… Well, according to the U.N. Food & Agriculture Association, 70% of food consumed globally comes from so-called “smallholder” farmers.  There are an estimated 570 million of them, and nearly half live and operate in the world's poorest countries. In most developing markets, agriculture contributes anywhere from 15 to 35% of GDP. Without this constellation of farming communities, unemployment would soar and economies would crumble.  Not surprisingly, there's a political dimension to supporting the smallholder farmer. This requires governments throughout the region to make constant adjustments – balancing local subsidies against foreign food imports. Into this socio-economic brew enters Corteva Agriscience, a company that a little over two years ago spun off from the chemical giant DowDupont in order to focus exclusively on agribusiness. Today, the company produces high-yield, pest-resistant hybrid seeds, land management, and digital solutions. As my guest, Elizabeth Hernandez, explains, the timing and focus of their market entry offers a unique opportunity for farmers and investors alike. This is the latest in a series of episodes we have planned featuring companies that are delivering on Corporate Purpose. Two episodes back we featured another Corporate Purpose leader, T.C. Ng, Asia Pacific Managing Director of the iconic tech company, HP. If you missed that episode, you can listen or read about it by  visiting www.insideasiapodcast.com.  In coming weeks, we will feature on this program conversations with leaders of other purpose-driven institutions. Our discussions are founded on in-depth case studies created in a three-way partnership between Inside Asia, The Conference Board, and the Center for Creative Leadership.   One year ago, we came together to introduce the Asia Corporate Leadership Council, which today is comprised of 20 plus Asia-based CEOs, Regional Managing Directors, and heads of family-run businesses. It's a select group of senior individuals representing best-practice corporate purpose. The case studies – and these accompanying podcasts – are designed to demonstrate what Corporate Purpose in action looks like.

In this most recent episode of Inside Asia, I speak with James Soback, Director of Sustainability and Hospitality Advisory for OMNE/WX, a firm pushing the edge of the “work-from-anywhere” culture.  It's safe to say that thanks to Covid, work will never be the same. What it will ultimately look like is anyone's guess. For decades, creating efficient, yet pleasant workspaces has been the subject of some debate.  Finding that balance between efficiency and comfort is not always easy. More often than not, available space and design features are the result of limited budgets and doing what the boss wants, while claiming to have the employee's best interests at heart. These days, words like “engagement” and “productivity” are bandied about. Words that are measured. In order to increase the two, you need to find ways of motivating and inspiring the workforce.  To this end, companies have experimented with open architecture, free drinks and snacks, adding a ping-pong table or creating lounging areas. All fine attempts, but still, mostly determined by the culture or the preference of the powers-that-be. In the world of work 2.0, something's got to give. My guest suggests that “employee-centric” workspaces are a good first step.

There are few businesses in the world that have a sales and distribution network as vast and varied as the tech giant, Hewlett Packard. HP has been building and selling personal and enterprise technology for over 80 years. And during that time, it has assembled an ecosystem of business partners that reach from Beijing to Belfast.  Not surprisingly, that kind of network generates some significant revenue. HP today is a US$60 billion dollar a year business. And according to my guest this episode, 85% of that income is derived through tens of thousands of distributors, wholesalers, and retail operators. HP has mastered the art of building and coordinating its partner networks. So, it may come as no surprise that when it comes to driving a corporate purpose and sustainability agenda, enlisting its network is mission critical. Here to discuss how it's done is T.C. Ng, HP's Managing Director for Greater Asia. In coming weeks, we will feature on this program conversations with some of Asia's most purpose-driven institutions. Our discussions are founded on in-depth case studies created in a three-way partnership between Inside Asia, The Conference Board, and the Center for Creative Leadership.   One year ago, we came together to introduce the Asia Corporate Leadership Council, which today is comprised of 20 plus Asia-based CEOs, Regional Managing Directors, and heads of family-run businesses. It's a select group of senior individuals representing best-practice corporate purpose. The case studies – and these accompanying podcasts – are designed to demonstrate what Corporate Purpose in action looks like.

When you think of the ocean, what comes to mind? Rolling waves and the soft pounding of the surf? Boating? Fishing? Cocktails at sundown? While you're relaxing and enjoying these sights and sounds, remember this: The ocean doesn't rest. In fact, it never stops working. Indeed, without our oceans and all they offer, life – as we know it – would not exist. Over 70% of our planet's oxygen is produced by the ocean. 90% of Earth's heat is absorbed by it. And because of the amount of carbon we humans dump into the atmosphere, the oceans are 30% more acidic than ever before. The changing temperature and make-up of our open waters is bad enough. But as if to add insult to injury, annually we dump eight million tons of plastic into the ocean, destroy tens of thousands of kilometers of coastal wetlands to make way for resorts and housing developments, and have so over-fished the seas that by 2048, all seafood, as we know it, will be gone, unless we do something about it. That's the bad news. Now here's the good news. The world is waking up to the power and importance of our oceans. We have science to thank for that, but also a rising consciousness among politicians and industrialists who see that failure to protect our oceans will most assuredly result in social and economic chaos. Nothing like the threat of losing power or profit to drive some positive behavior change. At the epicenter is Asia, which represents over 90% of global fish and seafood farming and almost half of all commercial fishing. Here to talk about oceans and the challenges we face is Jack Kittinger, a Senior Director at Conservation International and Head of it's Center for Oceans.

If you hear the acronym “E-S-G” being bandied about, it's for a reason. The world is waking up to the fact that traditional business practices are no longer enough to meet the needs of the 21st century. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. Together, they form the foundation for a new set of principles that codify a new way for companies and investors to operate. They also speak to the so-called “intangible” assets within an organization. That can make them hard to measure, and one thing business executives hate are things that are hard to measure. It seems like every time you look up, some management consultant or business guru is introducing a new concept to supercharge the enterprise. Each new process has had its day in the sun, and an acronym to match. Remember BPR, “Business Process Re-engineering?” Or how about ERP, “Enterprise Resource Planning. And who could forget CRM, “Customer Relationship Management.” Even the folks in the back-office had their three letters. To keep it simple, they called it ABC, “Activity Based Costing.”  If the mere mention of these past activities bore you to death, let me offer hope. ESG is different. It has soul. Got your attention now? Then sit back and listen to my conversation with Steve Okun. He's been a guest on Inside Asia before. In past episodes, we've covered impact investing, US politics, and international trade. Steve has a diversity of talents and interests, but a cornerstone issue for him these days is ESG.  He plies his trade by serving as a Senior Advisor with McClarty Associates and chairing the Global Private Capital Association in Southeast Asia.

This week on Inside Asia, we take a look at the world of seed investing. I'm not talking about farming, although, in some ways, I am. I'm talking about the way good, early-stage ideas attract seed capital to get their ventures off the ground. And while I don't have the data to support it, I suspect that the number one reason why most great business or product ideas never see the light of day is for one reason, and one reason only: Money. After calling in favors from friends and family and tapping out the credit card, there's a funding gap. To fill it, entrepreneurs oftentimes turn to angel investors. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are successful entrepreneurs themselves, happy to spread their new-found wealth to help others like them. Others organize themselves into groups with a common set of investment goals or interests. In recent years, online platforms have emerged, letting almost anyone get involved. Like buying one hundred lottery tickets, just one might get lucky.  Increasingly, angel investors are starting to specialize. Assemble together a team of consumer bankers, payments experts, and techno-geeks, and you can – for example - specialize in FinTech. Think about how technology can be applied to solve climate change, and you become Sustainability investors. That's exactly what my guest this week has done. Mark Inkster is a technologist at heart. He's spent decades in the region holding strategic roles at Yahoo!, eBay, Microsoft, and a handful of startups. Earlier this year he co-founded Asia Sustainability Angels, and together with a hand-full of others, he's formed a circle to seed early stage companies bent on solving some of the biggest sustainability problems of our day.

My guest this week is Tom Malnight. He took time to speak with me from Lausanne, Switzerland, where he serves as Professor of Strategy at IMD Business School.  We live in an era when time-tested business practices are all of a sudden being called into question. The same goes for strategy; that nebulous part of the planning process that asks you to take a 30,000-foot view then bring it down to actionable outcomes. The fact is, there are as many theories on strategy as there are organizations in need of one. Some take it seriously, employing high-paid consultants to produce thick and colorful playbooks that are then left unopened. Others try to make it sound simple. Remember Jack Welsh, GE's notoriously outspoken former CEO. He once famously said (and I quote): "In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell."  That might have worked during the 1980s and 90s. In fact, by all traditional measures, it did work. GE's revenues grew five-fold under Welch's leadership. Today, however, running a business is more nuanced. Stakeholder Capitalism is far from straight-forward. Just how strategy has changed and how companies are failing to adapt is the subject of this week's conversation. And wouldn't you know, Corporate Purpose is playing a big part.

There's not a person or organization out there that couldn't do with some good advice, particularly in times like these. Perhaps, therefore, it's no surprise that organization's the world over are reaching out and establishing Advisory Boards as a way of bringing outside expertise in. This rush for talent and insights should come as no surprise. Companies, large and small, are inundated with a new set of complex challenges. They're asking questions, like: How do I build a cyber-security network to stave off hackers? What does it mean to use artificial intelligence ethically? Or, how do we, as an organization, create diversity and inclusion policies to attract the next generation of talent? You might say this is the job of the leadership team. But who's going to run the day-to-day business if these kinds of issues keep popping up? Some say, it's the responsibility of the Board of Directors. Aren't they supposed to see problems arising before they happen? They are. But oftentimes, they don't. There are reasons for this, and it all comes out in my conversation this episode with Louise Broekman, Founder and CEO of the Brisbane-based Advisory Board Centre.

My guest this week is the Founder and CEO of ID Capital, a Singapore-based firm with a focus on food. It's an age-old industry now receiving high-profile attention from investors, inventors, and activists. It seems like everyone, these days, has something to say about the future of food. Here to help us break it down is Isabelle Decitre. After successive roles with high-end brands like Alfred Dunhill, Cartier, and Hennessy, she gave it all up in 2014 to focus on sustainable and disruptive food solutions. She and her colleagues now work with venture capital firms to help advise and direct them on deals that show promise of augmenting or displacing traditional food products.  

Is global enthusiasm for China investment cooling? That’s the question I pose in this week’s episode. My guest is David Hoffman, Senior Vice President for The Conference Board in Asia, and Managing Director of the China Center for Economics and Business. We got together on the back of an article David just posted insisting that now was a critical moment for MNCs to step up their game, align their internal communications, and ensure that the rhetorical noise from on high doesn’t detract from the real story on the ground. This isn’t to say that doing business in China today doesn’t come with some significant risk. But it does suggest that the reasons for staying, doubling down or retreating, require new levels of thoughtful consideration. Are overseas investors still bullish? Are foreign companies still welcome? Is a China strategy still essential? Over the course of the next 40 minutes we explore these questions and more.

Everyone loves a story. This statement is as true today as it likely was 5,000 years ago. We, as a species, are drawn to stories like bees to honey. Why is that exactly? Here to discuss it with me is Anna Ong, Founder of "What’s Your Story?", a Singapore-based outfit that uses storytelling to shape individual and corporate purpose.

I know I’ve been relentlessly flogging the Corporate Purpose theme these past few months. I’ll be honest, I can’t help myself. It’s a big part of what I do these days. But more importantly – and I mean this – it’s a topic that simply cannot be ignored. If anything, Covid-19 has shown us that we can no longer rest on our laurels and expect things to get back to normal. People and planet are suffering in new and terrifying ways. There is a major role to be played by corporations and a purpose-agenda is the first best way to make a difference. That means paying new levels of attention to all stakeholder groups and not just shareholders. Customers, suppliers, the environment, communities, and employees in particular, require new levels of investment and support. If you’re a business leader, you might say that’s a tall order in the midst of a pandemic and economic crises. But the reality is, you don’t have a choice. Those that get out in front on this will be the employer, provider, and corporate citizen of choice. The others will fade away. Dinosaurs of an era long-past. This week, we tackle the subject of employee inclusion. Here to help explain is my guest, Jane Horan, founder of The Horan Group, a strategic consulting firm focusing on organizational inclusion, diversity, and purpose.

Conversations – most would agree – are best had in person. Yet, our recent bout with Covid has shown that sometimes technology is necessary to keep that conversation flowing. When restrictions lifted several months back, I was quick to return to in-person meetings, on location. It was nice while it lasted. In recent days, Singapore made a call to re-impose rules to keep us at home, out of the office and away from crowds. It’s probably the right decision, but I confess, the thought of going backward instead of forward is mildly distressing. I have the feeling I’m not alone.   Nothing replaces face-to-face engagements. Warm up to a conversation with a coffee or a meal, and the entire tone and tempo changes. It’s noticeable. Or at least, I think it is. Find a place that puts a person in a calm and positive frame-of-mind and you can literally hear the difference. I’d like to think that the conversation you’re about to hear captures that feeling. My discussion with Razeen Sally took place after a sumptuous Thai meal at the Jim Thompson Restaurant just off Tanglin Road here in Singapore. There are many beautiful places to dine in the city, but this restaurant is among my favorite. High ceilings, exotic décor, and…did I mention the food…it’s really something special. It all made for great conversation. Razeen is Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He’s also a mix of Welsh and Sri Lankan. It was – in part - the thing that drew him back to his country of origin several years ago. That trip (and subsequent others) resulted in a book: Return to Sri Lanka: Travels in a Paradoxical Island. And so it was, we joined up to talk about those paradoxes, the evolution of Sri Lanka, and the example it sets (or not) for other emerging economies.

My guest this week is Koh Lian Pin, a Singapore-based conservation scientist, and also one of nine nominated members of the Singapore Parliament. He’s staked his career on identifying ways to preserve our planet’s natural resources. His dream, as he says, is to see agri-business and forests in a state of peaceful co-existence. This week, we take a look at the movement to preserve and protect our forests. There’s a new sense of urgency in the race to combat climate change. Trees, it so happens, are one of the greatest single sources of carbon-capture. And because of that, they are receiving a well-spring of conservationist and investor attention. Programs like OneTreePlanted, Global Forest Generation, and One Trillion Trees are all encouraging individuals and corporations to plant and preserve forests. It couldn’t have come at a better time. While the pandemic might have slowed the rate of carbon output from manufacturing and travel, rain forests were not spared. In fact, the rate of deforestation accelerated in 2020, led primarily by logging and clearing activities in Brazil – home to more than 50% of the world’s rain forest. Evidence suggests that love of trees alone won’t stem the deforestation tide. What we need are market mechanisms that value trees and the carbon they capture and process. Singapore is lining up on the opportunity and I spoke with Lian Pin to better understand what’s at stake.

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the member’s lounge of a local club I like to visit, and my Italian economist friend, Pietro Ventani comes up to me, sits down, and pushes a piece of paper across the table. “I’ve been thinking about this,” he says. “There’s more to it.”  What he’s referring to is an earlier conversation that resulted in the release of our first “Capitalism’s Right of Passage” episode released on April 2nd. I unfolded the paper and there, printed in black and white, were four statements with accompanying bullets. There was “The Problem,” “Root Causes,” “What governments are doing to fix the problem,” and “What governments should do to fix the problem.” We had a coffee, talked it over, then retreated to a corner of the club to have the conversation you’re about to hear. We get straight to the point. And if I’m not mistaken, we address, in its entirety, the problem with the current state of Capitalism. I’m joking of course, but I have to say, it was a pretty tight and focused conversation. You be the judge. To latch onto what we’re saying, it’s not essential, but you might want to first listen to part one. Either way, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

This week on Inside Asia, we reach across the Pacific to speak to Vasuki Shastry. He’s a Washington D.C.-based Senior Fellow at the US Chamber of Commerce and an Associate Asia Pacific Fellow at the policy institute Chatham House in London. We reached out to talk about his new book, provocatively entitled: Has Asia Lost It? A surprising headliner at a time when many would say the Pacific Era is upon us and Asia is most certainly on the rise. Vasuki disagrees. On the face of it, he says, things looks good. For instance, in just four short decades, the region has climbed its way out of poverty. Political and economic risk remains low. Vast wealth has accrued. And China has assumed Superpower status. Not too shabby. What we’re facing now, he says, is Peak Asia. Scratch beneath the surface and you see two systems. One that caters to the elites and one that controls the average citizen. Opportunities and upward mobility are diminishing. And unless Asia breaks the bonds of economic integration with the west through trade and manufacturing, it may never realize its potential. With talk of further de-coupling, the pressure is on Asian leaders to change – and fast.

This week on Inside Asia, we’re tackling a big topic – Capitalism. You might argue that it’s a system as tightly imbedded in our daily lives as any other. There’s hardly a place on Earth that isn’t affected by it. In most places, it governs the basic exchange of goods and service, provides the means for that exchange, and offers a set of economic rules by which most of us can agree. It can be credited in large part for lifting half of the human population out of poverty in only half a century’s time. Healthcare and lifestyle innovations did wonders in keeping disease in check. That led to a global population explosion. But corporations responded, building things better, faster, and cheaper so that everyone could take part in the great Capitalist dream. It was all going so swimmingly, until it wasn’t. Starting in 2005, there were warning signs. By 2007, in the U.S., delinquency rates on subprime lending rose sharply. And at the outset of 2008, the markets were in free-fall. What ensued was a Global Financial Crises, the likes of which the world hadn’t seen since the Great Depression. If this re-telling strikes you as tiresome, forgive me, but here’s the point: It could have been prevented. It’s a failing of government regulators who proved unable or unwilling to check the collective power of monied interests. In the blink of an eye, Capitalism as a means of serving the greater good became the whipping boy of the financial elite. The real question is: Can we get it back? Here to discuss it with me is Pietro Ventani, a Singapore-based economist and investment strategist, who does some dabbling in early-stage fintech and blockchain ventures. We talked about Capitalism’s victories and failings, its ability to address new world issues, and how politics and technology are spoiling some of those prospects. All this in less than 35 minutes. So stay tuned.

My guest this week is Assaad Razzouk, Group CEO at Sindicatum Renewable Energy and host of The Angry Clean Energy Guy podcast. We’re talking about the need for new market forces to drive sustainability and reduce carbon output. In Assaad’s view, we’ve been playing around the perimeter for too long. Now is the time to align corporate, government and societal interests to ensure a cleaner world and healthier planet.  On the environmental and cleantech front, we’re off to a fast-start in 2021, and according to my guest this episode, there’s no time to waste. Structural changes, however, are essential. And this means calling out the biggest contributors to our current climate change crises. It starts with Big Oil. They have a lot to account for, says Assaad, not just in the way they operate, but in the tactics they have long employed to divert public attention and lay the blame elsewhere.  In this 35-minute conversation, we touch on the geopolitics of climate change, fossil fuel charades, investor responsibility, and the need to once and for all impose a set of progressive policies that hold corporations accountable for extracting from the earth and polluting the environment.

“Purpose” as a business operating principle, has been elevated as a key priority for hundreds, if not thousands of organizations worldwide. The idea that all stakeholders are important, and not just shareholders is a new, novel, and some say, notorious concept. Convincing people within an organization to change the way they think, plan, and work is no easy task. Even so, that’s what purpose-driven organizations are trying to do – lifting their game in order to better serve people and planet. But what happens if executives tasked with developing and delivering Corporate Purpose are experiencing their own existential crises? Many have built careers by toeing the party line, delivering results, and mastering corporate politics. Achieveing career goals carries some satisfaction, no doubt. But you have to ask: To what end? For those of you who’ve been in the game for a while, chances are you’ve made your company richer, more efficient, or even better liked. That’s great. But how do you feel…you know…personally? “Tired,” said one senior executive who I recently spoke with. “It was hard enough to keep everyone happy before Covid. Now it’s even harder,” he told me. My guest this episode, Todd Miller is someone who’s reflected on the challenges of modern corporate life. He knows first-hand that failure to address the yearnings of the soul – if not taken seriously – can alter your outlook on life, curtail job satisfaction, and leave you searching for answers in far away places. Here’s my conversation with Todd.

This week (and every week) we celebrate women, and women entrepreneurs in particular. Increasingly, female founders are launching new and innovative ventures with growing support from investor communities that for too long have been male-biased. Don’t believe me? Look at the numbers. From wage inequality, to promotions, to venture funding and social stigmas, women have had an uphill battle. The situation is particularly depressing in the poorest countries and among the least educated. Patriarchal societies are alive and well and for a woman to succeed financially or professional it takes an added level of luck, grit, and tenacity. Money helps too. And in markets the world over, women have a harder time securing credit or receiving funding than their male counterparts. One Singapore-based start-up hopes to make a difference. LUCY, a self-described “neo-bank” plans to provide the tools, network, and eventually the credit, to help entrepreneurial women succeed. I spoke with co-Founder and CEO Debbie Watkins. She spent years working with women in poverty-striken markets before pulling together a group of inspirational women and backers to offer their sisters in the field a helping hand. I’m also pleased to announce that beginning this week Inside Asia has a new sponsor. Quilt AI is a mission-first technology company that helps large organizations use the Internet more purposefully. It’s looking to reverse fractures in society and generate empathy, while helping organizations understand their consumers and beneficiaries much better. Quilt works with amazing organizations including Amazon, Twitter, The Gates Foundation, and The World Bank. But what got my attention is their pro bono work in gender equity and climate action - giving time and money to causes they care about and in service to the planet. Inside Asia is pleased to be associated with Quilt AI. For more information, do check them out at Quilt(dot)AI. 

My guest this week is Rachele Focardi, author and expert on multigenerational divides. It’s a topic that continues to plague corporations that now, more than ever, need to attract and retain great talent. Rachele, Founder of XYZ@Work and author of Reframing Generational Stereotypes, sat down with me to discuss many of the challenges faced by modern corporations when it comes to identifying, understanding, and incorporating the growing needs of an increasingly diverse workforce. A lot of attention has been paid to gender and racial diversity in the workplace, but generational differences are sometimes under appreciated. My guest argues that this could prove a grave mistake, particularly at a time in history where young talent armed with technology, a gig mentality, and social agendas, have choices. Increasingly, she argues, “the value of an organization doesn’t lie in it’s assets, but in it’s people.” There’s not an organization that doesn’t pay lip service to the idea, but how many are actually backing it up, investing in their employees not just because it’s good business, but because it’s the right thing to do?

My guest this week is Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Eat Just, Inc. And no, it’s not an episode about life beyond this planet but life on the only planet that really matters – our planet. It’s also a "chicken or the egg" story. But in this instance, the chicken and the egg both come first. What comes next is a plant-based version of the egg. Confused yet? Well hang in there, because we’re talking about one of the most centrally important subjects of our time: Food. How we produce, process, and consume it has been something that all of us have taken for granted for decades now. But when you consider – as Josh does – that fully one-third of our arable land is used to produce feed for chickens and livestock, then something is terribly wrong. East Just, Inc. and a network of like-minded start-ups are trying to make a difference and hoping to profit at the same time. Poultry is a 230 billion dollar a year business. The market for eggs is slightly smaller at 200 billion. But given that both are among the world's most popular foods, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that by converting just a small percentage of chicken and egg lovers to a plant-based alternative, there’s upside for everyone: the consumer, the innovator, the planet, and not to be overlooked, our fine-feathered friend, the chicken. Josh is no stranger to the plant-based protein business. He's been probing away at the problem for more than a decade. But now, his company’s plant-based egg and lab-cultivated chicken are taking wing. Country regulators are just beginning to approve plant-based meat alternatives and manufacturing is ramping up. I spoke to Josh about his journey, his company, and what’s at stake if we don’t innovate our way out of a pending agricultural crises.

Do corporations have a moral obligation to society? That’s the subject of this week’s episode of Inside Asia. My guest, Mac McKenzie, is Co-founder of the Bridge Partnership Asia and the Bridge Institute. It’s safe to say that over the course of history, companies have been viewed through the lens of profit. Causes that speak to social justice, racial and gender equality, and even environmental protection were left over the years to non-profit, religious, and government institutions. Unfortunately for them, public perception with respect to their effectiveness has all but collapsed. Only corporations, apparently, have withstood public scrutiny and are seen today as the last bastion of trust and competency. In some ways, that’s a scary thought. But regardless, it puts new impetus on companies to step it up. Even for the hold-out CEO who say “it’s not my department,” there’s no stopping consumers from wanting it to be so. It’s a dilemma for the for-profit sector, but an opportunity as well. At the heart of it is trust. And if you watched – as I did – as rabid Trump supporters stormed the US Capital after the President of the United States lied about the election outcome, then its not hard to wonder how public trust in government is in rapid decline. The same is true in China, where attempts to cover up the Covid-19 outbreak created a public outcry. And in Russia last week, protests erupted in over a hundred cities with tens of thousands demanding an end to political corruption. Trust in government from Moscow to Bejing and Washington, DC, has plummeted. Some say it’s the early makings of a societal vacuum. There are few institutions left in the world that have the resources and ability to move the dial in the realm of social justice. Bridge Consulting is trying to test the limits on what companies feel they can and can’t do. It’s raising some interesting questions. And consumers in Asia, it appears, are hoping to see more from companies in the months and years ahead.

It’s 2021. A new year brings new hope. For those of you who’ve generously followed Inside Asia for the past two seasons, we thank you for listening and for your loyal support. Over the course of the past 30 months, we’ve produced nearly 170 episodes, bringing to you insights through conversation from some of the region’s most compelling thinkers, leaders, and entrepreneurs. We’ve covered geopolitics, trade, technology, sustainability, the future of food, and leadership trends. We’ve covered vast territories as well, sharing insights from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and even the Middle East. Asia is a smorgasbord of change and innovation and it’s been an honor and pleasure to be your host. Of all the topics and ideas covered in recent years, there is one that stands out above all others, and that’s Corporate Purpose. Week-in and week-out, the topic pervades the changing business landscape. Beyond the death and devastation caused by the global pandemic, it has taught us one thing: We can no longer operate in the world in the same tried and true way. It’s time for a change. How we as a society choose to address that change will define us for all ages. Corporate Purpose is to the coming decade what digital transformation was to the last. Increasingly, companies the world over are embracing the idea of conscious capitalism, committing resources to environmental protection and social justice. No longer is it enough for companies to remain myopically focused on growth and profit. Corporations are uniquely imbued with the kind of talent, ingenuity and resourcefulness to solve the world’s biggest problems. In the coming weeks and months, Inside Asia will commit its time and energy to covering Corporate Purpose as it plays out in Asia. The region is uniquely positioned not just to follow, but to lead the world out of our current climate, health and economic crises. Each week I’ll introduce you to the companies, enablers, and thought-leaders who see Corporate Purpose as the hallmark of our times. We invite you to join us and if you haven’t already, please search for and subscribe to Inside Asia podcast and the Inside Asia newsletter. Visit us at www.insideasiaadvisors.com and sign up now. The infamous Albert Einstein once said “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.” May 2021 be the year of a new consciousness. Stay tuned. We have new episodes in store. And as always, we thank you for listening!  

Something special happened in recent days, and in a slight departure from our regular format, I bring you a discussion held with one of the great environmental thinkers of our time, Hunter Lovins. It was on the occasion of one of our regularly scheduled gatherings of the Asia Corporate Leadership Council that Hunter joined us virtually from her ranch in Colorado. The Council is a partnership between The Conference Board, the Center for Creative Leadership, and Inside Asia, and is comprised of a select group of senior-most leaders of western multinationals, Asian conglomerates, and family offices. Our mission: To define and promote best practice in corporate purpose. Hunter is the latest in a string of featured speakers who define what good looks like, and with permission from our members, I bring you our conversation.

This week on Inside Asia, we take a look at just one more way in which artificial intelligence is ingraining itself in our daily lives. With so much hype around AI, it’s hard to know what to think of it. In one moment, AI applications can appear benevolent, even helpful. And in the next, it can be intrusive. Facial recognition, for instance, can and has been used to track and screen innocent people simply going about their business. AI, you might say, wears many faces. One moment, it’s Big Brother watching your every move. The next, it’s R2D2 trying to save your life. I’m dramatizing, but you get the point. Now, apparently AI-enabled machines are learning to listen; so well, in fact, that advanced technology is able to decipher subtle tones, language variances and emotional nuances, virtually inaudible to the human ear. In so doing, it can determine the sentiment of the speaker. And that, says Walt Mayo, CEO of expert (dot) ai, can make a world of difference. Take the just concluded US Presidential race, for instance, Walt and his colleagues put their technology to the test and three weeks before the election, calculated that Joe Biden would receive 50.2% of the popular vote compared to 47.3% for Trump. It struck me as a bit of a marketing ploy at the time, and a risky one at that. Why would a tech company stick its neck out with this kind of prediction when every other major poll prior to the election had Biden trouncing Trump by at least an eight percent margin? The results are now official with Biden winning the popular vote by 51% to 47.2%. Yet, the real victor was AI. How did this relatively small tech company blow the doors off a phalanx of seasoned and highly certain professional pollsters? I asked Walt to join me in this episode to share his story and talk about the future of so-called “sentiment analysis” AI.  

What a difference an election makes. Or at least, that’s the hope. It’s as if the world has been holding its breath and now – after no shortage of political drama – Joe Biden has emerged as the new President of the United States. Why’s that important? Because the world is suffering – environmentally, socially, and economically. The US can’t change all that, but it does bode well for a new era of greater international cooperation. As the world’s second largest polluter and the single largest economy, the US is instrumental if any progress is to be made. It’s track record on the environment, however, is less than inspiring. When things got messy some 40 years ago, exporting the problem seemed like a good idea. From the 1980s onward, US industrialists sent their polluting problems overseas, with China as a favored destination. Trump’s four-year war on the environment hasn’t helped. What we’re left with is lost time and little action. Our planet has reached a breaking point. And thanks to a well-spring of activist investors and an increasingly well-informed consumer class, pressure is mounting for governments and companies alike to drive change or lose favor. In this episode of Inside Asia I speak with two global specialists in the field of ESG. That stands for Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance. It’s catching on – now more than ever – as our dance with disaster draws closer and the private sector being called upon to do more. Iain Donald is U.S. and Canada Country Manager for Control Risks. Silke Goldberg is a Partner with London-based law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills. They joined me in a recent live discussion organized by GetGlobal. If you’re a CEO, CFO or hold any C-suite position within your organization, this episode of Inside Asia is meant for you. Here’s our discussion.

When the influence of private capital exceeds that of a sovereign state, it raises an important question: Where does real power reside? Increasingly, it seems, money makes the world go round. At a time when stocks are over-valued, bond yields are flat, and property prices are inflated, private equity is where it’s at. Indeed, since the chaos of the 2008 Global Financial Crises, PE firms have only grown in size and influence. Asia has been a key beneficiary. And China – until recently – has absorbed the lion’s share of private capital. As and when US-China tensions subside, the surge is likely to continue In this week’s episode of Inside Asia, I speak to one of the PE industry giants - Weijian Shan, Chairman and CEO of PAG Group. Shan’s new book, Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank, is a tale on how deals get done in the convoluted world of big money and big personalities. It’s been over 20 years since Shan and his colleagues at Newbridge Capital landed in Seoul to rescue Korea First Bank, but he tells it like it happened only yesterday. The transaction is epic in both size and circumstance. But it also speaks to the central importance of developing personal trust and accountability to offset fears of xenophobia and big money exploitation. It also speaks to the enormity of PE as a vehicle for rescuing distressed businesses – a point not lost in these pandemic times.

In the run-up to this year’s US Presidential election, the only Asia topic that appears to loom large is China. And during these days, no self-respecting US politician can talk about this rising Superpower without saying something disparaging. Indeed, there’s hardly a businessman, legislator, or policy wonk within the Beltway who has anything positive or hopeful to say about US-China relations. Maybe that’s simply because there’s nothing to be gained politically by doing so. Americans need to blame someone for lost jobs, climate change, and a global pandemic – why not China? It’s a communist country, after all, and Americans are fond of blaming things on communists too.Remove yourself from this political quagmire and step outside of the U.S. and you get a more balanced – dare I say – sophisticated take on China, it’s role in the world, and the existential threat (if any) that it poses to a United States undergoing an identity crises. In this episode, I turn to two of the most thoughtful commentators on US-China relations. Jim McGregor and Craig Allen. Jim is Shanghai-based and a consummate China watcher, author, and a top advisor to US businesses in China. Craig is D.C.-based and President of the US-China Business Council. I had the pleasure of facilitating a hard-driving conversation between the two experts in a recent GetGlobal virtual event. In the course of this 55-minute tria-logue, we covered a lot of territory, challenged one another on some of the more popular US-centric characterizations of China, and contemplated prospects for a more constructive relationship between the two countries under a Biden administration.

2020 has been a headline year, dominated by news of a global pandemic, US elections, Brexit and China’s rise to power. On the business front, Corporate Purpose has emerged as the theme of the year. It comes on the back of an August 2019 statement released by the US-based Business Roundtable, calling into question the primacy of shareholders. For the past 50 years, corporations have operating on the principle that the only responsibility of business is to generate profits for its shareholders.With the world in such a muddle, that core idea is coming into question. If issues like climate change, inequality, and social justice aren’t addressed, there’s growing concern that societies everywhere will come face-to-face with collapse. Corporations – so say pundits – are best positioned to make a difference.Helping companies make that shift so that purpose and profits might co-exist is the work of my two guests this episode. Robert Quinn and Anjan Thakor are US-based professors. Together, they wrote a book entitled: The Economics of Higher Purpose: Eight Counter-intuitive Steps for Creating a Purpose Driven Organization. I spoke with them by phone recently. We touched on the traditional employer-employee contract, the new operating paradigm, and what it takes to bring a purpose agenda to life. 

If the world has a problem, technology will solve it. That’s the stance taken by many technologists and industrialists who trust that human innovation – when put to the test - will prevail. It’s the “human” part of the equation, however, that is increasingly in question.    In Japan, for instance, where a demographic decline in working age citizens demands automation in order to fill the gap, Covid-19 has given the country further reason to invest in AI, robotics, and machine-learning wherever possible. Elsewhere in the world, where Covid has left millions unemployed, there’s rising concern that companies will pass on human employees in deference to machines. Observing Japan to see how it’s robotic revolution takes hold and impacts people could serve as a bellwether for policy-makers elsewhere. Governments are desperate to rekindle economic growth after Covid’s devastating effects. This means encouraging corporate recovery, while reducing unemployment. In certain sectors – primarily industrial – the two may prove mutually exclusive.  To help us understand what’s at stake, I contacted the author of the McKinsey article, Maya Horii. She’s a Partner in McKinsey’s Tokyo office and advisor to both public agencies and private enterprise. We discussed Japan’s unique set of circumstances, its declining workforce, poor productivity, and prospects for displacing human workers with machine-based alternatives.

After living in the shadow of Western-style development for the greater part of the last 200 years, China is in the throes of crafting it’s own vision of what it means to be a modern economic power. That doesn’t always sit well with other countries – and particularly the U.S. – a nation grown accustom to it’s hard-won hegemony.  China’s demonstration of its new-found strength is showing up in dozens of ways. Militarily, as in its testing of its territorial rights with India and in the South China Sea. Politically, as reflected in its imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong. And diplomatically, squaring off – as it were – with the US over issues relating to trade and technology transfer. The country is also investing in a series of longer-term strategies to ensure it’s economic and political rebound, in some cases, thinking well ahead of the curve, and ahead of other nations like the US, the UK, and Japan – all mired in their own set of domestic issues. In this week’s episode, we tackle China’a quest to deploy one of the world’s first comprehensive digital currencies. DCEP as the chosen acronym for China’s so-called Digital Currency Electronic Payment platform now under development and primed for piloting. What are digital currencies and why is China so enthusiastically pushing to convert its currency from a cash to a digital equivalent. Here to break it down for us on this episode of Inside Asia is Zennon Kapron, Founder and Director of Kapronasia, a fintech boutique strategy and research firm.

This is Steve Stine from Inside Asia. Just 45 days from today Americans will go to the polls and cast a vote for the next president of the United States. By all counts, this is proving one of the most essential electoral decisions in modern US history. The outcome will fundamentally change the course of America and the reverberations will be felt throughout the world. As Inside Asia listeners, I’m asking one of two things of you: If you’re an American living abroad, please register and vote. If you’re not a US citizen, reach out to your American friends and colleagues and ask them if they plan to vote. If they say “no” or “not sure,” please share with them the following. According to a 2018 Pew Research survey, only 55.7 percent of eligible US voters are registered to vote. By world standards, that’s shockingly low. Among the 32 OECD countries that support free and open elections, the US ranks 26th in terms of voter turnout. Rather than explore any number of socio-political reasons as to why this might be the case, let’s focus on what’s at stake. As a nation, the US – for better or for worse – has imprinted its political, cultural and economic DNA on the world. It’s shaped our current brand of global Capitalism by virtue of its strength, money, and ingenuity. Whether we like it or not, a half-century of US foreign policy has imposed itself on the current world order. Some might disagree, but I’d say the results are mixed at best. Economically, many might be better off today than they were decades ago, but social, political, and environmental strife persist, unabated. As Inside Asia listeners are well aware, the geopolitical balance is shifting. It’s a frustrating moment for a superpower in the throes of change and whether you agree with US leadership efforts or not, it’s impacting the way the world sees the country. While the days of US hegemony are fading, there’s still an important role to be played by a nation that’s left such an indelible imprint. It is, therefore, the responsibility - if not the obligation - of every American – at home and abroad - to exercise his or her inalienable right to vote. This is not a partisan plea. But rather a call to participate in mapping a future for a country at the crossroads. To my fellow American expats and to all those who support a role for America in the world, please don’t miss this chance to leave your mark on history. It’s not too late. Registering and voting from abroad is simple. Not sure how? Here’s a message from votefromabroad.org. For more information, visit www.votefromabroad.org. And as always, we thank you for listening.  

My guest this week is Isabelle Decitre, CEO of Singapore-based ID Capital. She’s a future-of-food advocate, an investor, and convener of food innovators. For many, there’s nothing more all-consuming and enticing than the topic of food. In these maddening times, food offers comfort, conjures up memories, and nurtures the body. Unfortunately, food all over the world, is not what it once was. Whether in pursuit of economic profit, or in a bid to deliver greater variety at lower prices, mass manufactured food has its benefits and its drawbacks. Walk through the aisles of any major grocery shopping chain anywhere in the world and you’re inundated with choice. Variety, you might say, is the hallmark of the world’s leading food and beverage companies. So what’s the problem, you ask? In a word: nutrition. In recent decades, global eating habits have shifted dramatically, enticed by the manufactured tastes and low price points of thousands of sugary, salty, and artificially conjured food products. The health impact is apparent. Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are modern day ailments that plague populations the world over, perpetuated by our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Millions of products compete each day for a piece of the consumer pallet. It’s big business with big health and wellness consequences. Listen to the full conversation by visiting us as www.insideasiapodcast.com. As always, we thank you for listening.

This week, we take a hard look at how consumption patterns in Asia have shifted as a result of the global pandemic. With me this episode is Nielsen’s Managing Director of Consumer Intelligence, Vaughan Ryan.  I met Vaughan virtually during a recent Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry event where he, I, and others were asked to share our thoughts with the Singapore business community in a session entitled: “Gearing Up for the Next Normal.”  Neilsen had just surveyed consumers in the region to see how Asian buying behaviors have morphed in a time of Covid. Now, in the course of our 30 minute conversation, we share these findings with you.

My guest this week is Davina Ho, Co-Founder and Chief Well-Being Officer at Hasiko, a Singapore-based advisory and training organization. She says that pre-Covid, stress levels in the workplace were on the rise. The global pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. So much so, she argues, that it’s time for employers to get involved. Davina says “mindfulness” is a solution for our times. It’s been six months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, and for many – if not all – some aspect of our social, professional, or personal lives have changed – maybe forever! As a species, we’re impressively adaptable. Through war, famine, and natural disaster, we’ve proven ourselves capable of rallying and coming together in times of need. This time around, however, coming together – at least physically – only exacerbates the problem. So it is, in relative isolation, we are all looking for new ways to cope. Many of the tried and true ways of dealing with stress and anxiety are no longer available to us, whether that’s an after-work visit to the local bar to mingle with friends, a night at at the movies, or dining out at your favorite restaurant. Going to the gym or the yoga study poses its own set of risks and challenges. So what’s left? How does one manage stress, stay fit, healthy, and focused on the task at hand?

My guest this week is Clay Chandler, Executive Editor for Fortune here in Asia. Based out of Hong Kong, he’s a long-serving member of the region’s journalistic community, holding stints with The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Time Inc. At Fortune, he’s created a niche in delivering nuanced tales, offering up an Asia perspective to challenge more populist US-centric views. US and China, it seems, are caught in a downwardly spiralling political maelstrom and there is no end in sight. While the short-term implications appear rather petty, the longer-term issues could prove severe. Not just for the two countries, but for the world at large.  It speaks to the essential nature of the two Superpowers. They set the tone for what comes next economically. Diplomatic squabbling isn’t helping, particularly in a time of pandemic when greater inter-reliance, not less, could make all the difference. Which country comes out on top may have less to do with politics and more to do with which nation gets it’s economy back on track first. Through this lens, China would appear to have the upper hand. It’s economy is rebounding. And as my guest this week explains, it has much to do with China’s relative success in bringing Covid to heel.

My guest this week is Fraser Thompson, Founder and Managing Director of AlphaBeta, a Singapore-based consulting firm specializing in strategy and economics. Fraser and his colleagues teamed up with the World Economic Forum to highlight sector-specific ways in which business might profit, while enhancing bio-diversity and reducing the impact of climate change. He joins me in this episode to explain how they arrived at these figures and what it will take to deliver on it. According to the report, investment in nature-friendly initiatives has the potential to generate $10.1 trillion in recurring annual revenues and up to 395 million jobs by 2030. To pull it off, we need new levels of corporate and government coordination to target the right opportunities and incentivize the right players.

On this week’s episode of Inside Asia I’m in conversation with Steve Okun, political pundit and senior advisor with McClarty Associates. For years now, and with each new US political cycle, Steve steps up to offer an outside-in view of how things are shaping up. Understanding how politics shape Asia commerce is his forte.   Every four years, US presidential elections role around and Americans are asked to pick a candidate who best represents their needs and ideals. Bread basked issues like jobs, the economy, and healthcare top the list. Foreign Policy? Well, it barely ranks. In most cases, it doesn’t even make the top 10.    It should not, therefore, come as a surprise that as the US enters this political season, America’s engagement with Asia won’t receive so much as a mention. The only exception, of course, is China. Every politician needs a bogey-man, and this time round, it’s the Middle Kingdom, or as, no doubt, it will be characterized in political ads and stump speeches as “the red threat rising in the East.”   It’s the kind of rhetoric that politicians like to bandy about. It’s good for public morale, they might argue, but it has little bearing on the outcome of an election. So why do it?

These days, we busy ourselves 24/7 with emails, text messsges, spreadsheets and reports. Human contact is becoming obsolete, and Covid-19 and its social distancing requirements makes Zoom calls the last step in severing us from our friends and work colleagues. What’s left?   The imagination, apparently. I’m talking about the science of day-dreaming. Momentary opportunities to give your brain a break, and in so doing, restoring the capacity to create in new and unexpected ways. You think I’m dreaming? I’m not. Neuroscience holds the proof and here to assist me in understanding what that entails is Tony Estrella. Inside Asialisteners may recall a conversation we had a year ago, when we discussed the Science of Sleep. [Listen here: http://www.insideasiapodcast.com/sleep-science/]   In this episode, we take it one step further, drawing the connection between sleep as an essential function and dreaming as the creative output. Embrace dreaming as a practice of sorts, and the results could prove spectacular.   Somewhere along the way, we stopped listening to our dreams. For centuries, images conjured in our unconscious state informed our biggest decisions. Indigenous people even to this day describe the dream state as a gateway to the divine. Science put an end to that. For centuries dreams were discounted as nothing more than nighttime nonsense. Breakthoughs in neuroscience say that was a mistake. Time to get it back!

My guest this week is James Crabtree, an Associate Professor at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy and a frequent commentator across news outlets here and abroad. In a recent Foreign Policy article entitled “The End of Emerging Markets,” James outlined many of his concerns as efforts are made to weather the Covid storm. In this episode, we visit the developing markets of South and Southeast Asia. Well, maybe “visit” isn’t the right word. Most emerging markets in this part of the world remain locked down. This, in contrast to China, Europe and North America where re-opening is the theme of the day. It’s a balancing act between containing Covid and resuscitating economies on life-support. It’s laudable that markets in this region are airing on the side of safeguarding the health and safety of its citizens. But its equally concerning - because in emerging markets at least - poor economic performance can quickly lead to political unrest.

This week my guest is Gavin Adda, CEO of Total Solar Asia. He is one of the true-borns who embraced solar and its potential nearly 15 years ago. This week, we take a look at the burgeoning solar industry. To be frank, it’s been a slog in many parts of Asia, where the appetite and economics for solar have long struggled to add up. Only Japan, some might say, has proven the exception. Change, according to Gavin, has finally come, thanks in large part to a dose of good old fashioned economics. Few people have battled as hard as Gavin to see this renewable source of energy begin to take its rightful place. Through a series of executive roles at Samsung, REC and Cleantech Solar, he arrived at Total, the French energy giant. His mission: to spread the word that solar is not only good for the earth, it’s good for the corporate bottomline.

My guest this week is John Wood, Founder of Room-to-Read, one of the world’s most successful education and gender equality non-profits. He wasn’t always in the business of building and filling libraries in the poorest parts of the world. For years prior, he served as a senior executive with Microsoft. Then came his great awakening. I won’t spoil it for you. Our conversation takes you back to the beginning, and it’s quite a tale. He’s a four-term member of the Clinton Global Initiative Advisory Board, a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and a book author. His latest: Purpose Incorporated: Turning Cause Into Your Competitive Advantage. It’s a user friendly guide on how to steer an organization towards a world where purpose and profit co-exist. John’s backstory is powerful. But it’s his thinking about the future that holds the greatest appeal. This is a story about possibilities. And at a time when the world is spinning from pandemics and economic displacement, John’s words of encouragement and their practical application are well received.

My guest this week is Daniel Moss, Bloomberg’s Asia Economy columnist based here in Singapore. In this week’s conversation, we contemplate the risks vs. rewards of urban living. We’re talking about mega-cities – defined as urban centers with a population of 10 million or more. What took hundreds of years in Europe has taken only decades in Asia, and the region for that – plain and simple – is economic growth and opportunity. For billions of Asians the city means jobs, new wealth, and opportunity. Unfortunately, the dream hasn’t panned out for many - one in three to be exact. By some estimates, over a billion urban-dwelling Asians live in slums and abject poverty. The only reason they stay is because their rural options are even worse. That fact alone should be enough to point the finger at governments. In this region, cities have received the lion’s share of resource and investment. It’s where you can find the best infrastructure, the best wireless coverage, the most jobs, and if can afford it, the best housing. Rural communities, on the other hand, have been left to their own devices. For many, even basic electricity and indoor plumbing remains a distant dream. Some attempts – albeit few – have been made by governments to right this wrong. Although, if truth be told, investment in outlying communities probably has more to do with political expediency than economic altruism. I ask Daniel to share with us his thoughts on Asian urbanization and how Covid-19 might encourage a re-think.