The Hive Podcast

In this final episode of the season, I speak with Paddy Le Flufy. For the past 8 years, Paddy has been focussing on understanding how we can redesign our societal systems to avert the unfolding environmental catastrophe and improve our quality of life. He is now beginning to publish what he has learned, starting with a book, Building Tomorrow: Averting Environmental Crisis With a New Economic System, which was published in March 2023. Throughout the next twelve months, he will be following this book with a series of essays on various aspects of positive societal transformation, which you'll be able to find over at his substack. Before this chapter, Paddy had a somewhat different life. He first earned a degree in mathematics at Cambridge University and qualified as an accountant at KPMG in London. Then he spent years living something of a double life. He worked as a finance specialist in London for six months at a time, but used his money to live in remote places, alongside people whose lives were drastically different from his own. He has travelled with economic migrants, been taught to fish by rural Mozambicans, and lived with Hadza hunter-gatherers. He spent two months living with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest, then won a Royal Geographical Society Award to spend an entire year being taught by traditional wisdom-keepers from another jungle culture. In 2015, Paddy paused his travels to concentrate on how we can improve our own society - and in doing so, improve the lives of the billions of people currently affected by the dominant global systems. Recorded on 4th May 2023.

In today's conversation, I speak with Camila Moreno, an environmental researcher, author and activist, who has worked extensively on land reform, deforestation, GMOs, agribusiness, and biodiversity issues. A leading climate-policy expert and critical voice on neoliberal climate policies and “green capitalism”, Camila's main area of study has been the interface between reasoning on climate change and the greening of capitalism. A researcher at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Camila has been following the climate negotiations since 2008, and in 2016 she authored a book titled Carbon Metrics and the New Colonial (2016), exploring these themes and more. The former coordinator of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, in the Brazil office, Camila has been accompanying the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity since 2006, and the Climate Convention since 2008. She is a working group member of Political Ecology of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences and the International Council of Red for a Latin America Transgenic Free (RALLT), and she served with the organizations Terra de Direitos (Land's Rights) and Amigos da Terra (Earth's Friends) as a researcher and activist. Recorded on 29th April 2023.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with a dear friend of mine, Carl de Jager. Carl is an extraordinary artist who was born and raised in South Africa, and has since spent many years living in the UK, Spain and Australia, all of which are places he calls home. Having first met Carl at Barcelona Academy of Art, his passion for the creative process has been an ongoing source of inspiration to me, and his captivating paintings communicate a deep interest in our perception of reality. Growing up in South Africa, having lived the ‘doublethink' indoctrination of politics and religion, Carl carries a profound sense of disillusionment: At a fundamental level he expresses that he cannot trust the reality that is presented to him by his environment. His story is a rich and fascinating one. In 2015, Carl left a successful career in software development in Melbourne to study classical drawing and painting at what was then the nascent Barcelona Academy of Art. After graduating he continued on as a resident artist, and was then invited to stay as a teacher and program coordinator. In early 2020 as the pandemic was unfolding, he returned to Australia to exhibit his works and train in traditional (and some non-traditional) printmaking techniques, before returning to Barcelona where he is now based. Whether in print or paint, Carl's art deals with his subjective experience of life and draws upon a deep symbolic canon, from existentialism and eastern philosophy to metaphysics and psychology. When words fail, it is this symbolism and abstraction to which Carl turns, to provide a language that can both understand and convey complex feelings and emotions to which, I would say, we can all relate. Recorded on 18th April 2023.

In today's conversation, I speak with Elena Sinel, a multi-award winning social entrepreneur whose mission is to inspire young people across the world to engage in Artificial Intelligence for Impact. A sought-after AI ethicist, policy adviser and keynote speaker, Elena is trusted by global brands and governments to deliver messages that inspire young people and individuals to build responsible AI. Committed to inspiring young people to make a change in their community, country, and economy through passion, agility, teamwork, and expert support, Teens in AI, an initiative that Elena founded, is designed to give young people early exposure to AI that is being developed and deployed for social good. Launched at the AI for Good Global Summit at the UN in 2018, Teens In AI aims to empower the next generation of ethical AI researchers, entrepreneurs and leaders who will shape the world of tomorrow. Prior to this work, Elena spent over 10 years traveling, volunteering and working in Central Asia (where she grew up), as well as the Balkans, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, where she worked with NGOs and the British Council, developing education, entrepreneurship and mentorship programmes for women and young people. Upon returning to the UK as a single mother of two, Elena was shocked at the state of secondary school education across the UK with its “factory” style learning model and was inspired to launch a pioneering educational social impact enterprise, providing young people across the globe with opportunities to interact with leading experts in technology to create solutions that solve real-life, world problems. Recorded on 17th April 2023.

Today I speak with Matt Celuszak, Founder of Element Human, a customer understanding platform that uses AI to measure and make sense of the drivers of human behaviour. Having spent the last decade working alongside top experts in technology and psychology to build machine learning that recognises body language using webcams, Matt works at the intersection of people and technology, pioneering a new class of Human Data that enables tech, AI and its users to be more emotionally aware and empathetic. With clients including the BBC, Amazon, Whalar and Omnicom, Element Human helps organisations measure the conscious (behavioural) and subconscious (emotions) drivers of human behaviour within their ecosystems, using everyday devices paired with advanced intelligence to better understand key stakeholders, improve their experience, and drive more socially sustainable business. While I am now behavioural science adviser to his company, I first met Matt many years ago when he was starting out, and alongside his desire to transform the media landscape, his interest in applying technology to help create meaningful change across critical issues in education, healthcare, mental health, and children's well-being is something I really appreciate, especially in an industry that is not without its challenges. From exploring human centred design and our understanding of emotions, to unpacking the shortfalls and benefits of machine learning in human data and the impact of regulation and privacy when building artificial intelligence systems, Matt's areas of expertise touch on many of the themes I'm looking to explore in this season, and I'm excited to share this conversation with you. Recorded on 31st March 2023.

In this conversation, I speak with Tugba Kirhan, a breathwork and embodiment practitioner I had the joy of meeting during my time at Embercombe earlier this year. Passionate about nurturing a culture of personal growth and bringing joy into our everyday lives, Tugba is a project manager, facilitator and coach who has worked in the charity and humanitarian sectors in the UK and overseas, dealing with issues such as international development and women & youth empowerment. After experiencing Embercombe's program, The Journey, first-hand as a participant back in 2018, Tugba's relationship with the land and Embercombe's ethos has deepened, and she now facilitates on various different courses. She has also led fundraising campaigns and coordinated events including Mac Macartney's Kith and Kin residentials. Named after the tree of life, Tugba is a native of rural Anatolia (Turkey), where East meets West, and this quality of bridging is present in the many ways in which she works to weave together a sense of kinship between and within humans, and with all forms of life. Recorded on 23rd March 2023.

In today's conversation, I speak with Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic – an author and international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. The Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group and CEO at Hogan Assessment Systems, Tomas is also the co-founder of Deeper Signals and Meta Profiling. Having published 10 books and over 150 scientific papers on the psychology of talent, leadership, innovation and AI, Tomas is a Professor of Business Psychology at both University College London, and Columbia University. His most recent book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique, explores the impacts of artificial intelligence on how we work, rest and play, and his previous book, Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It), examines why it is so easy for incompetent men to become leaders, and why is it so hard for competent people - especially competent women - to advance. He has previously held academic positions at New York University and the London School of Economics, and he has lectured at Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, London Business School, Johns Hopkins, IMD, and INSEAD, among many more. His global academic contributions, paired with his creation of science-based tools to improve performance prediction in organisations, make him one of the most prolific social scientists of his generation. Recorded on 21st March 2023.

Today I have the pleasure of being in conversation with a very special guest. Mac Macartney is many things, but perhaps chief among them, he is a storyteller, a writer and a change-maker. Oriented towards cultivating a more just, peaceful, and regenerative future, and mentored by indigenous people over many years, Mac has acquired profound and original insights into the questions preoccupying many contemporary leaders today. Seeking to inspire the emergence of the leader in each of us, the kind of leader who will take courageous action for a better world, Mac's work seeks to Champion A New Story of Sustainability and reconnection so that together we may walk a path that supports the flourishing of all life. An international speaker and author of two wonderful books - Finding Earth, Finding Soul: The Invisible Path to Authentic Leadership and The Children's Fire: Heart song of a people , Mac is the founder of Embercombe, a beautiful 50 acre rewilding estate on the edge of Dartmoor, that offers courses, programmes and experiences designed to reconnect us with ourselves, with community and with the wild nature that exists within and beyond each of us. Described as a place to breathe, to reconsider, to regenerate and to relearn, I had the precious opportunity to spend a week at Embercombe on a course they call “The Journey”, at the start of this year, in the crisp, cold month of January. It was a profound, moving and rejuvenating experience incandescent with connection, beauty and the magic of stories told and re-told to help us find our place in a changing world. I can only say that if you're yearning for a deeper sense of purpose and connection with nature and with the vibrance and preciousness of your life, this course is a real gem, facilitated with skill and soul and compassion, and I heartily recommend it. Recorded on 28th February 2023.

In today's conversation, I speak with Veronica Stanwell - a multidisciplinary healing and creative arts practitioner who weaves soma, psyche, ceremony and song into intimate gatherings for connection, healing and growth. Driven by a longing for a collective shift towards nature-awe, eco-imagination and rekindled interconnectedness, Veronica is the founder of Rooted Healing, an organization that helps heal and connect inner and outer landscapes through transformational gatherings in nature, cross-cultural wisdom exchange, and somatic and transpersonal workshops. Offering legal and unique ceremonial Psilocybin retreats in the Netherlands, ancestral immersions in her homeland of Wales and many other gatherings that re-indigenise and re-root people back into the land, Veronica's mission is to cultivate the kind of profound belonging that ends habits and systems of harm and instils an embodied remembrance of what it means to be creative, human and alive. As part of a growing collection of resources and projects, Veronica also hosts the wonderful Rooted Healing podcast, which explores how we can heal, re-imagine and co-create a thriving world. With an MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology with the Alef Trust, Veronica's animist embrace of life permeates her explorations into expanded states of consciousness, both within indigenous traditions of the Americas, and her own personal enquiries into Europe's native ways. Drawing upon a background in professional theatre that continues to guide her work, Veronica's approach is one that carries deep reverence for the power of story, music, expression, catharsis and playfulness. As a movement teacher with roots in dance, yoga and somatics, she is currently developing a modality based on animistic ideas, that invokes playful enquiry into the inspirited interdependent body-mind. Recorded on 22nd February 2023.

Join me on this exciting new 6 week course I'm hosting with advaya… The Digital Age: Understanding & Reclaiming Systems of Power Date: Monday 10th April (5-7pm GMT) Website: digitalage-course.com Discount: HIVE20 ... For the first episode of the season, I have the pleasure of interviewing Alexa Firmenich - an investor, consultant and facilitator on the climate crisis, whose life's work centres on dissolving the boundaries that divide human beings from other forms of life, and enabling nature to express its fullest creativity. Focused on developing strategies that repair our planet's ecologies, Alexa's work experience spans from political science and leadership development to corporate sustainability analysis, journalism, eco-cultural projects in emerging markets, land-based conservation initiatives and climate communication. She is currently co-director of SEED, a new initiative housed inside the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, that is creating the world's first biodiversity measure that accounts for all scales of life's complexity at a genetic, species and ecosystem level. Having co-founded the animist investment studio, Ground Effect, to direct capital on behalf of other species and back ventures that maximize planetary generativity, her current areas of investment and research include regenerative agriculture, soil health, food systems, earth jurisprudence, ecosystem restoration, ecological pedagogy, new ownership models, biodiversity, and scientific research that illuminates life's relational processes. As an author, poet, photographer and wilderness guide, she brings people into direct contact with the living world. In her role as an Associate at Leaders' Quest and through the company she founded, Atlas Unbound, she develops and leads multi-day immersive learning journeys for global corporations and decision-makers, principally into “nature”. These journeys embody her thesis that we learn most rapidly and durably through direct experience, and that visceral connection is a remedy to our systemic alienation from the living world. As a means to inspire a greater number of people in their climate/restoration trajectory, she started the podcast Lifeworlds. The show is an intimate dialogue with our planet's ecologies where she explores the mindsets, skills and actions needed to partner with other forms of life. Her guests are farmers, lawyers, scientists, investors, indigenous scholars, artists, and many others, who have all learned to be in close relationship with the lifeworlds of other species. Recorded on 9th February 2023.

In 2015, sisters Ruby and Christabel Reed started organising events to explore the interconnections between ecology, community, spirituality and wellbeing. They understood the ecological emergency and mental health crisis to be inherently connected and wanted to learn about ways of being that could create happier, healthier and more just cultures. This unfolding project became Advaya, a systems change initiative that organises around the principles of radical regeneration and joyful revolution. Since its inception, it has become a global platform for transformative education, which has organised over 200 events that promote everything from regenerative narratives, embodiment, daily practice, small scale agriculture and degrowth, to local economies, ecosystem restoration, public awakening and embedded ecological awareness. In 2020 Christabel, Ruby and Cara Delevingne founded EcoResolution, an educational platform that aims to empower and inspire meaningful action in the face of ecological breakdown through education and a big-picture approach to change by platforming the inspiring and imaginative ways we can create cultures of liberation and ecological harmony. In 2021 Ruby and Christabel created Initiative Earth, a charity that empowers and enables individuals and communities to take action to support environmental restoration and regeneration. They will be launching earthed.co later this year. I first met Ruby and Christabel at a one-week introductory course in regenerative agriculture run by the wonderful folks at La Junquera in Murcia, Southern Spain, and I had the pleasure of curating a panel for their stage at the Medicine Festival earlier this year. They're a powerful duo, and I've really been looking forward to sharing this conversation with you. Recorded on 28th October 2022.

Today I speak with award-winning author and speaker, Jeremy Lent. Described by Guardian journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” Jeremy's work investigates the underlying causes of our civilisation's existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. A former internet company CEO, with a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Jeremy's life has followed an unexpected path, as we'll come to hear, and he has gone on to write two highly acclaimed books. The first, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning, explores the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. His new book, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, draws upon science and philosophies to lay out a solid foundation for a worldview of deep interconnectedness. Jeremy is the founder of the Deep Transformation Network, a global community exploring pathways to an ecological civilisation, and the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the Earth. Recorded on 20th Oct 2022.

Today I have the treat of speaking with Dr Ros Watts - a clinical psychologist, a mother, and a passionate nature lover. Having worked as the Clinical Lead for Imperial College London's pioneering psilocybin trial, and then as the Clinical Director at Synthesis Institute, Ros is one of the most prominent and experienced voices in the field of psychedelic research today. She has been named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Psychedelics and one of the Top 16 Women Shaping the Future of Psychedelics, and it is her focus on integration, harm-reduction and inclusion in the psychedelic space that makes Ros's work so unique in this field. With a recently published a paper providing a validated scale for assessing psychological connectedness in a broad sense, Ros has designed The Watts Connectedness Scale as a clinical, practical tool for measuring our sense of connectedness to ourselves, to others, and to the living world. Ros has a desire to help people cultivate connectedness especially after psychedelic experiences, and it is from this place that she has created an integration community called ACER Integration, which aims to provide experiential education around how to integrate singular experiences into the wider collective and how to connect more deeply to life and one another, in all our relational complexity and richness. Recorded on 16th Nov 2022.

Today I speak with Rich Summers – a sustainable butcher, a curer, teacher and consultant who has worked in the British meat industry for over 30 years, and gained an appreciation of the finest quality British livestock and game along with an admiration for those who dedicate their time to producing it. Drawing upon his experience as a butcher, charcutier, slaughterman and occasional stockman, he has developed a forensic knowledge of ethically farmed and humanely slaughtered livestock and the importance of how these factors influence meat quality and in turn, a healthy and balanced human diet. A well-respected industry figure, Rich's extensive knowledge of whole carcass butchery enables him to impart complex academic and scientific processes, alongside sophisticated practical skills, to clients wishing to guarantee the very best eating quality and food safety standards in a sustainable way. Rich also consults, teaches and judges on a wide range of subjects, and he leads a team of specialists offering a world class range of services aimed to produce healthier, ethical, commercially viable food systems – which you can check out at summersandco.uk Recorded on 14th Oct 2022.

As we approach the Winter Solstice and the longest night of the year, I'm delighted to share with you what has become a joyful tradition of reflection, contemplation, and looking ahead to the year to come. In this conversation, I rejoin Manda Scott and Della Duncan for a collaborative solstice offering from The Hive, Accidental Gods, and the Upstream Podcast. As we gather to reflect on what's been a rather unusual year, we share some of the key themes of enquiry and growth we've explored on our podcasts, we trace what we find when we each go upstream from the challenges we're facing today, and we explore the question of what most ignites us as we step into the months ahead. At the end of the conversation, we'll each offer a question to you to dwell with, and Manda will guide us in a beautiful guided meditation to help us reach into and connect with this moment of the season. This is always a special episode for me, and I'm so very grateful to be able to dive into conversation with these two passionate, thoughtful and extraordinary women. I hope you find it inviting and inspiring, and I wish you a restful, restorative Winter Solstice and a fruitful new year. Recorded on 7th December 2022.

In today's episode, I speak with Cain Blythe – CEO of Credit Nature, and Managing Director of Ecosulis, an organization that specializes in habitat restoration, particularly through the adoption of natural regeneration techniques, rewilding and the use of technology in conservation. Qualified as a Chartered Environmentalist, and a full member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, Cain has over 20 years of experience specialising in nature recovery and habitat restoration. In 2020, he published the brilliant book, Rewilding: The Radical New Science Of Ecological Recovery, which he wrote in partnership with Paul Jepson, one of the UK's leading conservationists. Cain's work not only focuses on the natural world – central to his approach is the endeavour to deliver solutions that ensure attractive and healthy places for people, and which also provide havens for wildlife. He has presented to a variety of audiences on biodiversity-related subjects across the UK and Europe, and he's currently involved in innovation around biodiversity monitoring, measurement and automation, as well as rewilding, blockchain and landscape-scale habitat restoration. His company, CreditNature, focuses on mobilising high impact nature positive investments by offering a suite of green fintech products and services that have been developed using cutting-edge technologies and techniques. Recorded on 18th Nov 2022.

Today I speak with Marc Aixalà, an author and psychologist practicing in Barcelona, whose work sits at the intersection of psychotherapy, altered states and the facilitation of psychedelic integration. Having originally worked as a Telecommunications Engineer, Marc went on to become a Licensed Health Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Holotropic Breathwork facilitator, and he served as a team leader and trainer in emergency psychological assistance at Boom Festival through the Kosmicare harm reduction program. Since 2013 he has coordinated support services at the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS), and he worked on the first-ever medical trial on the use of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, a study chronicled in the 2018 documentary, “Magic Medicine.” During his time at ICEERS, he provided integration psychotherapy sessions for people going through challenging situations after experiencing transformative non-ordinary states of consciousness. This work led him to develop theoretical models of intervention which I'm excited to say he has shared in the publication of his new book: Psychedelic Integration: Psychotherapy for Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. Tracing the evolution of psychedelic-assisted therapy and integration research from the 1960s to the present, this book offers different models of integration and practical therapeutic techniques, and it documents Marc's real-world observations on the deep work of healing and self-discovery. Recorded on 15th Nov 2022.

Today, I speak with Emmy-nominated filmmaker and social scientist, Lindsay Branham. The Founder of Novo, an incubator for art that inspires human connection in imaginative ways, Lindsay leverages media and technology to end violence and human rights abuses. Lindsay has given specific focus over the last ten years to documenting and responding to the issue of children in armed conflict in central Africa but has an overall commitment to entering into complex, conflict or disaster areas and using visual storytelling to highlight the human experience. The interventions she has designed have focused on peacefully dismantling the Lord's Resistance Army from within, facilitating the reintegration of former child soldiers, preventing recruitment into violent extremist groups, reducing psychological distress and challenging the root causes of bonded labour. Her partners in these media-based interventions include Search for Common Ground, The Freedom Fund and Google. With an MPhil in Social Psychology from the University of Cambridge, Lindsay has studied trauma and mental health at Harvard Medical School and journalism at the University of Southern California. Her current focus is exploring the efficacy of Virtual Reality to reduce prejudice in the Central African Republic, and her Virtual Reality documentary, Behind The Fence, was nominated for an Emmy and won the Grand Jury Award for best 360 film at SXSW. A Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace, Lindsay was named the inaugural Envision social good fellow by the Independent Film Project and the United Nations, and she has been published by CNN, the BBC and The New York Times. Her research investigating the link between media and behaviour change has been published by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and in academic journals. Recorded on 14th Oct 2022.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Dr David Luke, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. I first encountered David's work a few years ago when I attended the biennial academic conference, Breaking Convention, of which David is a co-founder, director and chair. As you may know, I speak at a lot of conferences for my work, and I was particularly struck by this one, for their skill in weaving together different disciplines associated with the research of psychedelic substances, which is an area that is not only rich, but also very complex. Over the course of a few days I encountered talks and presentations spanning everything from medicine, psychology and anthropology, to sociology, law, politics and the arts – and so I thought who better to explore the theme of integration with, than David. Having published more than 100 academic papers, including ten books, David's work focuses on transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness, especially those occasioned by psychedelics. When he is not running clinical drug trials with LSD, doing DMT field experiments or observing apparent weather control with Mexican shamans, he directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon. Recorded on 13th Oct 2022.

For the first episode of the series, I have the pleasure of speaking with Erinch Sahan, the business and enterprise lead at the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL). A term coined by the pioneering economist Kate Raworth, the aim of Doughnut Economics is to create 21st century economies that are regenerative and distributive by design, so that they can meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet – a theme which we will be exploring in our conversation today. Erinch is a board member of the Social Enterprise World Forum, he was recently the chief executive of the World Fair Trade Organization and he previously spent 7 years at Oxfam leading campaign initiatives, where he also founded Oxfam's Future of Business Initiative. With degrees in finance and law, and an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University, Erinch teaches sustainable value chains at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and he has also worked for Australia's aid programme. In the course of his career, he's even established a furniture business, and in his earlier years, he worked at Procter & Gamble as a market strategy manager, a story I'll be asking him about shortly. Recorded on 3rd Oct 2022.

In this final episode of the season, I speak with Tracey Follows - a futurist and author of The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st-Century Technology?  The CEO of Futuremade, a futures consultancy advising global brands and applying foresight to boost business, Tracey has appeared on BBC Business Matters, Radio 4, Talk Radio, and on the Megyn Kelly show in the US. A contributor to the FT, Guardian, and the Daily Mail, she has her own contributor column in Forbes, and hosts The Future of You podcast. Tracey has spoken at UN HQ, keynoted at events such as the Financial Times Tech Live and Think With Google, and spoken alongside Silicon Valley CEOs at the FT's Global Boardroom, as well as UK Government and Parliamentarians at Think Digital Identity, delivering her Tedx at the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. She has covered topics as diverse as the future of luxury, retail, media, cities, gender, work, defense, justice, entertainment, and AI ethics, decoding what future trends mean for businesses, brands and organisations. Recorded on 9th June 2022.

Today, I have a rather unusual guest… Following a sudden non-dual experience one morning in February 2016, Jessica Corneille decided to change the course of her life by quitting her career in the arts and cultural heritage preservation, to play her part, instead, in helping to de-stigmatise, de-pathologise and raise awareness around spiritual awakening, enlightenment, and non-dual experiences within mainstream psychology. She graduated with Distinction from a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Greenwich, where she focused her studies on “exceptional human experiences” (including transpersonal, anomalistic and parapsychology), and is now a qualified research psychologist, focussing predominantly on awakening experiences of a spontaneous nature. Jessica has presented her work at a number of academic conferences, including with the British Psychological Society, and she is the Communications Coordinator for the Scientific and Medical Network. She is also a collaborator of the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium and Spiritual Crisis Network, and runs support-groups for people undergoing spiritually transformative experiences. With a desire to challenge the default pathologisation of awakening experiences, Jessica's research aims to inform and encourage mainstream psychology to look beyond the current designated spectrum of ‘normality', to encompass the transpersonal as something that is intrinsic to the human experience, and in helping individuals come to the realisation of their highest human potential. Recorded on 30th May 2022.

In this conversation, I speak with Mark Gallagher - author, conference speaker and Managing Director of Performance Insights, an organisation that provides corporate clients with deep-dive insights and executive coaching from the world of Formula One. His book, "The Business of Winning: Insights in Transformation from F1 to the Boardroom", is a compelling insider's account of nearly 40 years in the Formula One industry, in which he explores what it takes to succeed in a competitive business with high technology, high finance and immensely high stakes. Having joined the world of Formula One back in 1983, Mark's career includes more than a decade on the management board of the highly successful, race winning Jordan Grand Prix team, running the world famous Cosworth engine business, and establishing the commercial arm of Red Bull Racing which went on to become 4-times World Champions. During his career he has worked with many of the sport's leading drivers, including former World Champions Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button. Today he works closely with a number of the sport's major stars including David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen and Jacques Villeneuve. Mark may not seem like the most obvious guest to have on the show, but what has consistently struck me in our various conversations together, is the power and potential that his industry holds, in helping us to innovate, collaborate and imagine our way out of some of the most pressing issues of our time - most crucially, how we can unhook ourselves from reliance on fossil fuels, and decarbonise our energy industries. Recorded on 18th May 2022.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Yanniek Schoonhoven, a regenerative farmer, co-founder of the Regeneration Academy, coordinator of the Re-Generation Festival, and trainer for the regenerative agriculture research program in Murcia, Southern Spain. Holding a master degree in Environmental Sciences, Yanniek has worked with farmers throughout Southern Spain for several years as part of Commonland and AlVelAl, two projects that aim to initiate, catalyse and enable large-scale and long-term restoration initiatives. With a shared mission to transform degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems and communities, these projects take a practical, holistic approach to developing viable solutions based on social and ecological needs, science and entrepreneurship. The folks at Commonland have been working tirelessly since 2013 to build a universal proof of concept that brings farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs, communities, nature organisations and legislators together to create real returns on investment per hectare. Called 4 Returns, this framework is capable of initiating, organising and following through on large-scale and long-term restoration initiatives that integrate ecology, land use and business - a framework we'll be exploring in greater depth a bit later. I'm really delighted to be having this particular conversation today, not least because I've seen the work they're doing on the farm, and experienced their passion, determination and open-heartedness first-hand. I'm also excited to be sharing this with you, because it offers a practical example of the transformation we can achieve, at a large scale, when we're able to envision a different, more regenerative path forward, and work collaboratively with others to make it happen. Recorded on 5th May 2022.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Octavia Raheem, beloved author, mother, activist, yoga teacher and practitioner, whose books - Gather, and Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change - offer revolutionarily gentle, powerful ideas and practices to restore the body, mind and spirit.  Having received national attention for her work training yoga teachers and diversifying the yoga and wellness industry, Octavia's work as a yoga professional focuses on practical tools to teach individuals how to manage stress, anxiety, and fatigue through yoga and meditation in a way that is accessible to all levels and abilities, and restorative to the nervous system. Her work has been featured in Yoga Journal, Mantra magazine, Well + Good, CNN, WXIA, and Atlanta Magazine, and she is one of the most vibrant and inspiring voices I have come across in the re-imagining of what it means to reclaim our rest. If you're searching for a way to come home to yourself, or to transform ethnic or race-based stress and trauma, Octavia's teachings offer a path towards refuge, and her voice is a powerful guide to surviving, healing and thriving in difficult times. Recorded on 15th April 2022.

In this conversation, I speak with Indra Adnan - an author, psycho-social therapist and political entrepreneur, and a global consultant on soft power. The Founder and Co-initiator (together with Pat Kane) of “The Alternative UK political platform”, Indra has been writing, consulting, network-building and event-organising on the themes of future politics, conflict transformation, the role of the arts and integral thinking, for the past 20 years. The Co-Lead in Bounce Beyond, a social enterprise network doing transformative work to cohere and connect the next global economies, Indra is also the author of the fascinating book, The Politics of Waking Up: Power & Possibility In The Fractal Age. She has consulted to the World Economic Forum, NATO and a variety of governments, and she runs community collaboratories around the UK, building Citizen Action Networks (CANs) to reconnect people to cosmo-local eco-systems of solutions that are available. Central to her vision of an Alternative politics is the interdependency of the complex individual, the community and the planet: I, We, World - which is just one of the many themes we'll be exploring in our conversation today. Recorded on 13th April 2022.

Today I speak with Dr. Ruth Gotian - author of the recently published book, The Success Factor, a fascinating read that explores how we might understand and learn from the mindset and skill set of peak performers, from Nobel Prize winners and astronauts to Olympic champions and political change-makers. The Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology, and former Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine, Ruth has made her name in management thinking and was hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development. Selected as one of 30 people worldwide to be named to the Thinkers50 Radar List in 2021, Ruth was also a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list, and recently won the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement, Radar Award given to a “thinker with the potential to change the world of theory and practice”. A regular contributor to Forbes, Psychology Today and Harvard Business Review, Ruth's work has been widely published in academic journals, and her take on what pro-social success can look like in a rapidly changing world is what drew me to speak with her on the show today. Recorded 9th February 2022.

In this conversation, I speak with the brilliant Rob Hopkins - cofounder of the Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes, and author of several wonderful books: From What Is to What If? (one of my personal favourites), The Power of Just Doing Stuff, The Transition Handbook, and The Transition Companion. Voted one of the Independent's top 100 environmentalists in 2012, and named among Nesta and the Observer's list of Britain's 50 New Radicals, Rob has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Four Thought and A Good Read, and was featured in the French film phenomenon Demain and its sequel Après Demain. An Ashoka Fellow, Rob has spoken at TEDGlobal and three TEDx events, and holds a doctorate degree from the University of Plymouth and two honorary doctorates from the University of the West of England and the University of Namur. A keen gardener, Rob is a founder of New Lion Brewery in Totnes, and a director of Totnes Community Development Society, the group behind Atmos Totnes, an ambitious, community-led development project. He's also an artist whose beautiful lino prints you can check out at robhopkins.net, and his podcast, From What If to What Next is really worth a listen if you're looking for inspiration as to how we can unleash our collective imaginations to create a more resilient world. Recorded on 28th January 2022.

In today's conversation, I have the treat of speaking with Anthea Lawson - a campaigner and writer, whose powerful book, The Entangled Activist is essential reading for anyone interested in how we might change the world in a more meaningful, integrative way. Having trained and worked as a reporter at The Times, and studied history at Cambridge, her work as an activist has seen Anthea campaign to shut down tax havens, control the arms trade and prevent banks from facilitating corruption and environmental devastation. While working at Global Witness, a human rights and environmental organisation, Anthea also launched a campaign that succeeded in changing the rules on secret company ownership, resulting in new laws being passed in dozens of countries around the world. She's a rare gem whose rich experience, brilliant mind and grounded presence make for an inspiring and refreshing guide to the hardest challenges we face. I came across Anthea's work through the renegade economist, Della Duncan, to whom I am grateful for the introduction - and I have to say that while I don't consider myself an activist per se, this book is one of the most deeply affecting, empowering and illuminating that I have read in a long while. From mapping out the self-righteous, saviour-complex dynamics that arise from our unmet needs, to challenging the extractivist, power-over patterns inherited from our colonial pasts, The Entangled Activist reveals how we can end up re-creating the very problems we seek to fix - and how we might rise to the challenge differently. Recorded on 9th February 2022.

In this first episode of the new season, I have the pleasure of speaking with Indy Johar, the founding Director of 00 and Dark Matter Labs. An architect by training, Indy is a Senior Innovation Associate with the Young Foundation and a visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield. Having co-founded the Impact Hub Birmingham and Open Systems Lab, he was a member of the RSA's Inclusive Growth Commission and is one of the leading voices in the world of system change, the future of urban infrastructure finance, outcome-based investment, and the future of governance. Whether you're interested in how our societies might transition and respond to climate breakdown, or you're curious about understanding the interconnected ways in which we could foster systemic change, this conversation offers an exploration of both past and present, and what steps we might take to create a more democratic, distributed and sustainable future. Recorded on 3rd March 2022.

Tara Lemméy does invention – really big invention. From US National Security to large scale entertainment systems. From drones and autonomous technologies to internet protocols. Ask her what she's working on and it's probably a secret. She partners with some of the most innovative CEOs and companies in the world. What's not a secret, is that you can find her at LENS Ventures making startups, patenting technologies and telling very funny stories. Recorded on 4th February 2021.

In this episode, I speak with Yessi Bello-Perez, a technology and business journalist, editor and copywriter, whose work sits at the intersection of tech, healthcare, business, culture, arts, politics, and economics. The editor of UNLEASH, a customer-first digital media platform, built to inspire, connect and enable HR leaders worldwide, Yessi is also the co-host of Rising Startup Ecosystems, a podcast for fDi Intelligence, the Financial Times' specialist service. Passionate about people, stories, and innovation, Yessi has years of experience in the B2B and B2C sectors, and a deep knowledge of the European tech ecosystem and its key players. She has been featured in Computer Weekly's ‘Most Influential Women in UK Tech' longlist for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019) and shortlisted for “Tech Reporter of the Year” at the ITA Awards. Recorded on 12th February 2021.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Nell Watson, a tech ethicist, machine intelligence researcher and AI faculty member at Singularity University. A longtime friend of the podcast, Nell's interdisciplinary research into emerging technologies such as machine vision and AI ethics have attracted audiences from all over the world, and inspired leaders to work towards a brighter future at venues such as The World Bank, The United Nations General Assembly, and The Royal Society. A Senior Advisor to The Future Society at Harvard, Nell also serves as an Advisory technologist to several accelerators, venture capital funds and startups, including The Lifeboat Foundation, which aims to protect humanity from existential risks that could end civilisation as we know it, such as asteroid collisions, or rogue artificial intelligence.

In this conversation, I speak with Lewis Garrad – an occupational psychologist, and Partner and business leader for Mercer's Singapore Career business. Voted a top 101 Global Future of Work Influencer, he is regular contributor to publications such as the Harvard Business Review and Talent Quarterly and he speaks on the subject of people science, HR data, employee engagement and leadership. In his commercial work, Lewis leads a team of economists, social scientists, engineers and consultants to help clients and customers implement data-driven reward, talent, leadership and employee engagement programs to help improve organizational performance. Chartered by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as an Occupational Psychologist, Lewis graduated from the University of Nottingham in the UK with an MSc in Occupational Psychology and a First Class Honours BSc in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. He is also qualified by the British Psychological Society to use both ability tests and personality questionnaires to assess talent. Having supported the development of several organisation and HR capabilities programs, including a leading role in the development of the national Skills Frameworks in Singapore, Lewis has deep expertise in making people programs relevant for C-level executives in global companies as well as facilitating senior leadership teams to help them unlock leadership effectiveness. Recorded on 21st January 2021.

Today I speak with John Featherby, the founder of Shoremount, a business that helps organisations to become more purposeful, adaptable, human and regenerative. As one of the UK's founding B-Corps, and awarded Best For The World: Changemaker by B Lab, Shoremount models how businesses can achieve the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. And as a certified member of the B Corp movement, they are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. With an MA from CASS Business School, and having grown up around dialogues of change (with his parents having funded the first social impact bond), these influences contributed towards founding Shoremount, an endeavour seeking to put flourishing back at the centre of the workplace. As well as sitting on the investment committee for the UK's leading impact investment funds, John also holds various Ambassador, Investment Committee and Board roles. Recorded on 21st December 2020.

In this conversation, I speak with Jeremy Dalton, the Head of XR at PwC UK, and author of Reality Check: How Immersive Technologies Can Transform Your Business. Jeremy's work aims to help clients understand, quantify, and implement the benefits of virtual reality and augmented reality, a set of technologies sometimes collectively referred to as XR, immersive technologies or spatial computing. Alongside his fascinating book on the subject, Jeremy has given talks all over the world on the future of XR and his work has been featured in newspapers, radio and online through The Financial Times, the BBC, and many more. As part of his mission to educate, connect and inspire, he has worked with the World Economic Forum on XR initiatives and currently sits on the advisory board of Immerse UK, a UK government supported cross-sector network for businesses, research groups and educational organisations that are engaged with immersive technologies. Recorded on 15th January 2021.

Today I speak with Toby Daniels, Chief Innovation Officer at Adweek, and the founder of Social Media Week. Working at the intersection of technology, media and marketing for over two decades, Toby is a thought leader in media, marketing and technology, and has been featured in mainstream and trade media, including articles on CNN.com, The New York Times, The Next Web, Huffington Post, AdWeek, PSFK and Fast Company. Having served as the co-founder and former CEO of Crowdcentric Media, a global media and events company, Toby is an advisor to a number of companies, and speaks regularly at conferences and has given talks at PdF Latin America in Chile, Social Media Brazil, The Co-Creation Conference in Phoenix, and SXSW. Recorded on 4th February 2021.

In today's episode, secreted away within this special book-related season, is a rather special conversation, that I have come to look forward to as a tradition. As we turn again to the deepest night of the year, I rejoin Della Duncan and Manda Scott for a shared solstice offering from The Hive, Accidental Gods, and the Upstream Podcast. As we come together to reflect on this extraordinary year, we share some of the joys and challenges we've faced, the stories we've encountered, and what they've taught us. We touch on some of the inspiring books, conversations and explorations that have gotten us through, and offer our ideas and visions for what we might create together as we move into 2022. Recorded on 5th December 2021.

In today's conversation, I speak with César Christoforidis, the Senior Vice-President of Global Partnerships & Strategy at Emplifi (previously known as SocialBakers), where he spearheads the partner growth strategy and manages strategic relationships with Facebook, Google, Twitter, TikTok, and Linkedin. With a passion for new technologies and helping humanity to cultivate a healthy mix of human/tech solutions to improve our everyday lives, César's work also focusses on how we might build strong, sustainable and helpful communities. Having led a team of digital consultants as Sales Director UK & EMEA for Experian Hitwise, one of the world's leading online marketing intelligence solutions, César's 15 years of experience in digital and software solutions spans everything from Social Media, Live Shopping, eCommerce and Influencer marketing, to Affiliate Marketing, PPC, Display, Messaging, and Email. Recorded on 6th January 2021.

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with another friend of the podcast, Dr Gillian Isaacs Russell, a celebrated author, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Member of the British Psychoanalytic Council, the British Psychotherapy Foundation, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Psychoanalytical Association, Gillian is a Registered Psychotherapist in the state of Colorado and has been in private practice in the UK and USA since 1988. Her fascinating book, Screen Relations: The Limits of Computer-Mediated Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, examines how some of our most intimate relationships, including that of analyst and patient, are affected by technologically-mediated communication. Having served on the Editorial Board as Book Reviews Editor, Gillian currently serves on the COVID-19 Advisory Team for the American Psychoanalytic Association, where she received the 2021 Distinguished Service Award. This episode is sponsored by Pleo, whose event, "Forward", I will be hosting on 9th December 2021. Join me and grab your free ticket here: pleo.io/en/forward Recorded on 15th February 2021.

Today I speak with another friend of the podcast, Perry Timms – an international and 2x TEDx speaker, advisor and award-winning writer on the future of work, HR and learning. Founder of PTHR, a micro consulting venture in its 9th year of operation with the ambition to shape, ‘Better Business for a Better World', Perry's work in progressive thinking in HR and the workplace of the future, was recognised by his inclusion on HR Magazine's HR's Most Influential Thinkers List for 2017, where he also placed 5th most influential in 2018. The author of two books, Perry's first volume, Transformational HR, was an Amazon.com Top 30 HR seller shortly after its release, and, due to popular demand and the effects of the pandemic, the 2nd, revised edition came out earlier this year to wide acclaim. His second book, The Energised Workplace, explores Human Energy & Organisation Design, and it was published in April 2020. Perry serves as Adjunct Faculty at Ashridge Executive Education and Hult International Business School, and is a visiting fellow at Sheffield Hallam University. He is also the world's only WorldBlu-certified Freedom at Work Consultant and Coach, and he currently leads the London Chapter of ResponsiveOrg. Recorded on 21st December 2020.

In this conversation, I speak with Stephanie M. H. Moore, a Lecturer of Business Law and Ethics at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, whose areas of interest and expertise include business ethics, conflict resolution, critical thinking, advocacy, contracts, and legal writing. A Registered Domestic Relations Mediator, Stephanie graduated first in her class from Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and she also holds degrees in English and Telecommunications from Indiana University. Prior to joining the Kelley School, Stephanie served for four years as a Federal Law Clerk for the Honorable Monroe G. McKay, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Professor Moore also worked in advertising, sales, marketing, and at Indiana University's Office of Student Conduct, and she has served on the board of several local nonprofits and as an Indiana University Title IX Hearing Panel Officer. Stephanie has taught Advanced Legal Writing for Indiana University's Maurer School of Law and frequently serves as a case competition judge, panelist, and facilitator. This episode is sponsored by Pleo, whose event, "Forward", I will be hosting on 9th December 2021. Join me and grab your free ticket here: www.pleo.io/en/forward Recorded on 20th January 2021.

In today's conversation, I speak with Octavius Black – the CEO of Mind Gym, a consultancy that uses the latest psychology and behavioural science to transform how people think, feel and behave so as to improve both the performance of companies and the lives of the people who work within them. Having read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, Oxford University, Octavius went on to work as an analyst at Booz Allen Hamilton, and later became a director of the organisational communications consultancy, Smythe Dorward Lambert. He co-founded Mind Gym in his kitchen with Sebastien Bailey 20 years ago and floated the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, and he has co-authored several Mind Gym books, including Wake Up Your Mind, Give Me Time, and Relationships. Octavius has written for The Times, Financial Times and The Sunday Telegraph, and together with his team, he seeks to equip ambitious companies with the knowledge and capability to be ready for tomorrow. Recorded on 26th November 2020.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with another great friend of the podcast, Dr Aaron Balick – a psychotherapist, author and director of the international psychology hub, Stillpoint Spaces, an organisation devoted to sharing ideas from depth psychology widely and with integrity. After nearly 20 years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist and supervisor, and a decade as an academic in his field, Aaron now works as an author, media contributor and consultant, and speaks internationally to a wide variety of audiences about the impact of social media and technology on the individual and society. As a psychological consultant for the media, Aaron has advised on, and contributed to a variety of projects that aim to bring quality mental health content to programming for young people and adults alike, and he has been the resident “agony uncle” for BBC Radio 1 and CBBC for many years. The author of several fantastic books both for adults and children, his new title, The Little Book of Calm: Tame Your Anxieties, Face Your Fears, and Live Free draws upon his years of experience as a clinician and researcher, to offer readers techniques, advice and inspiration on the best and most effective ways to manage anxiety. Recorded on 14th December 2020.

In this episode, I speak with workplace and change strategist, Chris Kane, the Founder and Director of Six Ideas Ltd. Having started out as a Chartered Surveyor, Chris' 30-year career spans corporate real estate and workplace strategy, and he has held positions from the CEO of BBC Commercial Projects and Head of the BBC Corporate Real Estate, to the VP of The Walt Disney Company's CRE. Of his wide-ranging projects, the largest includes overseeing the BBC's £2bn property portfolio regeneration to deliver a fit-for-purpose estate using the Corporation's decade-long ‘analogue to digital' transformation, as a catalyst for organisational change – an endeavor which also involved masterminding the foundations of new innovative and creative media, business and residential quarters in White City, London and Salford, Manchester. Chris is also the author of the brilliant book, Where is My Office? Reimagining the Workplace for the 21st Century, published by Bloomsbury, a volume that presents a game-changing challenge to the existing ways we work, as well as being a guide to harnessing the true potential of an organisation's people and workplace. Recorded on 9th February 2021.

Today I speak with Rita Clifton CBE – a global brand expert and former Chair of Interbrand, described by the Financial Times as a ‘Brand guru', and by Campaign magazine as ‘The doyenne of branding'. Alongside her board chairing and non-executive roles, Rita is a writer, keynote speaker, conference chair and practitioner on all aspects of brands, branding and business leadership. A regular columnist and media commentator, Rita is the author of several books, including the best-selling title The Future of Brands, two editions of The Economist book Brands and Branding, and her new book, Love Your Imposter, which explores new types of business leadership and how we might take our imposter self and use it as a driver to come out stronger. Having worked as the Vice Chair and Strategy Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, the London CEO and Chair of Interbrand, and as co-founder of BrandCap, in 2014 Rita received a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list, and is now a portfolio chair and non-executive director on the board of businesses including John Lewis Partnership, Nationwide Building Society and Ascential plc. Previous boards have included ASOS, Dixons Retail plc, Emap, Bupa and Populus Group. Her non-profit boards have included Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the UK Sustainable Development Commission and Green Alliance, and she was recently appointed Chair at Forum for the Future, the leading international sustainability organisation. Recorded on 11th February 2021.

In this conversation, I speak with a great friend of the show, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. Professor of Business Psychology at University College London and Columbia University, Tomas is an international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. An incisive and prolific writer, he is also the author of a wide-range of brilliant books, the most recent of which, Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It), was transformed into a TED talk of the same name, which has racked up over 1.3m views. Currently the Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group, and co-founder of Deeper Signals and Metaprofiling, Tomas is also an associate at Harvard's Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, and his commercial work focuses on the creation of science-based tools that improve organisations' abilities to predict performance, and people's abilities to understand themselves. Tomas has previously held academic positions at New York University and the London School of Economics, and frequently lectures at Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, London Business School, and IMD, as well as being the co-founder and CEO of BrazenX and the former CEO at Hogan Assessment Systems. Recorded on 27th November 2020.

Today, I speak with Cindy Gallop, founder & CEO of Make Love Not Porn, the world's first user-generated, human-curated social sex platform which is ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference'. With over 30 years of experience in brand building, marketing and entrepreneurialism, Cindy is a brand and business innovator, consultant, coach and keynote speaker, who works with those who want to change the game in their particular sector. From brand and business innovation, leadership and advertising, to sextech, social responsibility and diversity and inclusion, Cindy has worked with some of the biggest brands across a gamut of industries, and her unique approach has seen her reach audiences around the world, with her 2009 TED talk, Make love, not porn, attracting over 2.6 million views. Summarising her style as, “I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business,” Cindy takes a radical, innovative and transformative approach to helping clients envision and achieve their futures, whether in leadership, branding, or in creating more gender-equal, diverse and inclusive workplaces. Recorded on 15th January 2021.

Today I speak with the inimitable Brian Solis, a world-renowned digital anthropologist and futurist. An award-winning author and global keynote speaker, Brian's research, advisory and presentations humanise the relationship between disruptive innovation and its impact on institutions, markets and societies. He not only helps audiences understand what's happening and why, he also visualises future trends and inspires people to take leading roles in defining the future they want to see. Brian serves as Global Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce, and his work focuses on thought leadership and research that explores digital transformation, innovation and disruption, customer experience, commerce, and the cognitive enterprise. He has advised leading brands, celebrities, and startups, and his ideas and work are consistently featured in the press. A regular contributor to leading business and industry publications including Forbes, Harvard Business Review, CMO.com, Adweek and others, Brian is also an official LinkedIn Influencer. His work is followed by over 700,000 people across social media. Recorded on 24th February 2021.

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Barbara Kellerman – the Founding Executive Director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, and a member of the Kennedy School faculty for over twenty years. A world-leading authority on the subject of leadership, Barbara has held professorships at Fordham, Tufts, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Washington, Uppsala, Dartmouth, and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and she is the cofounder of the International Leadership Association (ILA). Having received the Wilbur M. McFeeley award by the National Management Association for her pioneering work on leadership and followership, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Leadership Association, Barbara has spoken to audiences all around the world, and has appeared on media outlets including CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, and the BBC. Alongside articles for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and the Harvard Business Review, Barbara has authored many books including Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (2010); Professionalizing Leadership (2018), and Leaders Who Lust: Power, Money, Sex, Success, Legitimacy, Legacy (co-authored with Todd Pittinsky). Her new book, The Enablers: How Team Trump Flunked the Pandemic and Failed America, is now out. Recorded on 19th January 2021.

In today's conversation, I speak with David Rowan – renowned technology expert and former editor-at-large of WIRED magazine's UK edition, Conde Nast's award-winning technology-and-innovations magazine that stays ahead of the trends transforming businesses. In his role as editor of WIRED UK, he traveled extensively to investigate the companies and entrepreneurs who are changing our world, and his insights and research are documented brilliantly in his captivating book, Non-Bullshit Innovation: Radical Ideas from the World's Smartest Minds. As a speaker, David has given keynotes around the world on the themes of technology, business, and innovation, and he has chaired and moderated high-profile events for the UK and French governments, for Google Zeitgeist and TED Global, and for international banks, and Fortune 100 businesses. His most recent awards include Techmark Technology Journalist of the Year, DMA Editor of the Year, and British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year. With wide newspaper experience as an editor, he has made TV films for Channel 4 News, and written regular columns in GQ, Condé Nast Traveller, The Times, and The Guardian. Recorded on 12th January 2021.