WB-40

WB-40

Follow WB-40
Share on
Copy link to clipboard

40 minutes of conversation between UK Tech Industry old gits Matt Ballantine and Chris Weston.

Matt Ballantine & Chris Weston


    • May 20, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 45m AVG DURATION
    • 314 EPISODES


    Search for episodes from WB-40 with a specific topic:

    Latest episodes from WB-40

    (329) AI Leadership

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 48:54


    On this week’s show Julia and Matt interview Matt Cockbill, an executive search consultant specializing in hiring tech leaders for over 20 years, A fundamental challenge for organisations is finding experienced leaders to navigate the new wave of AI and generative technologies. While the possibilities are vast, Matt emphasises the crucial need for leaders to […]

    (328) Learning Leadership

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 51:12


    On this week’s show Matt and Michelle are joined by Professor Nancy Doyle to talk about her new book, and what we can all learn about better leadership. You can find Nancy’s book here https://uk.jkp.com/products/learning-from-neurodivergent-leaders

    (327) Community

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2025 54:15


    On this week’s show Lisa and Matt talk with community builder and poet Janice Whyne about her work, the need to understand culture to work with communities, and the power of peer mentorship amongst many other things. You can find out more about Janice on her website here: https://janicewhyne.com/, and more about Luminary Bakery here: […]

    community luminary bakery
    (326) Women in Data

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2025 40:27


    On this week’s show Chris and Michelle are joined by data specialist Tia Cheang to talk about increasing diversity in the field.

    (325) A bit random

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2025 49:43


    On this week’s show Lisa talks to Matt and Nick about their ongoing literary project, Random the Book. You can follow the progress of their writing (or not) at randomthebook.com

    (324) Modular

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2025 48:47


    On this week’s show, Matt and Lisa are joined by Tom Whitwell, the designer of modular synthesisers and synthesiser modules. You can find out more about Tom’s work at https://www.musicthing.co.uk/ Tom mentioned this article from Andrew Chen about Vibe Coding: https://andrewchen.substack.com/p/predictionsthoughts-on-vibe-coding And here is Lisarbie:

    (323) Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 25, 2025 49:27


    On this week’s show Matt and Julia are joined by writer and poet Rishi Dastidar. Find out more about Rishi and his work at rishidastidar.com

    rishi rishi dastidar
    (322) Angry

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2025 50:47


    On this week’s show Chris and Nick meet with Ali Farahani to talk about how he coaches technology leaders, and the need to move away from anger…

    (321) Listening

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2025 49:40


    On this week’s show we meet with communication expert Julian Treasure to talk about his new book Sound Affects. You can pre-order the book here: https://geni.us/SoundAffects

    (320) Diversity Rocks

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 40:08


    At a time when a group of rich, white, middle-aged American men seem to be claiming that inclusion has gone too far, Michelle and Julia have a fabulous conversation with diversity consultant Liz Crutchley. You can find out more about Liz’s work at https://diversityrocks.co.uk/

    (319) Ask 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2024 52:39


    On this week’s show the full crew are together to answer listener questions. Our shows of the year are as follows: Julia – Paul Clarke Lisa – Tim Plester, Timandra Harkness and James Eves Chris – Mark Bjornsgaard and Martin Sadler Michelle – Cat Barnard, Paula Brockwell, Tammy Watchorn and Katrina Collier Matt – Alice […]

    timandra harkness tim plester
    (318) Critical Futures

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2024 52:40


    On this week’s show Matt and Julia talk with critical futurist Johannes Kleske about how the future is as much of a way to deal with the present as anything else. You can find out more about Johannes and his work at https://johanneskleske.com/en/ Matt’s small collection of historical visions of the future is here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/2015/02/27/envisaging-the-future/ […]

    (317) Folknography

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2024 43:57


    On this week’s show Matt and Lisa are joined by actor, film director and self-proclaimed folknographer Tim Plester to talk about folk traditions, saving archives, and Doctor Who. You can find out more about the Doc Rowe film, and contribute to the crowdfunder at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/docrowe You can watch Way of the Morris athttps://vimeo.com/ondemand/wayofthemorris Find out […]

    morris tim plester
    (316) Personal Purpose

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2024 43:43


    On this week’s show, Michelle and Matt are joined by Victoria Dioh to talk about personal purpose and how we are trained to not follow it. Find out more at https://www.victoriadioh.com/victoria Michelle’s book is available for a few more days on Kindle for 99p – get it now here.

    (315) Secrets and lies

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2024 41:38


    On this week’s show, Julia and Michelle meet with Clara Bettina Behrmann to talk about how psychological safety can become performative.

    (314) Dependencies

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2024 42:00


    On this week’s show, Matt and Michelle meet Henry Oakes, co-founder of Pathfinder to learn how AI might be used to help project and programme managers to make connections they’d otherwise miss.

    (313) Strengths

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2024 36:13


    On this week’s show Lisa and Julia are joined by Gallup Certified Strengths coach (and, for full disclosure, Michelle’s partner) James Eves to talk about finding out what we are good at doing.

    strengths gallup certified strengths
    (312) Confident Contractor

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2024 38:27


    On this week’s show Matt and Lisa are joined by seasoned IT contractor Neil Millard who had written a book about how to work freelance. You can find out more about Neil’s book here:https://www.confident-contractor.co.uk/confident-contractor-the-book/

    (311) Audiobook

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2024 37:53


    On this week’s show Michelle joins Chris and Lisa to talk about the experience of turning her book into an audiobook. You can get Good Girl Deprogramming exlusively on Audible here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Good-Girl-Deprogramming-Audiobook/B0D9MKBDBW

    (310) Working Futures

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2024 39:27


    On this week’s show Cat Barnard joins Matt and Michelle to talk about the ongoing debates about the future of work, the UK productivity challenge and whether it’s all just a problem of BIG.

    (309) Just Desserts

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 41:42


    On this week’s show Julia and Matt are joined by Mon Dessert’s founder Samina Courtin to talk about her journey from kitchen to supermarket, and the challenges of scaling physical product businesses. You can find out more about Mon Dessert at https://www.mondessert.co.uk/

    Good Girl Deprogramming Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 18:02


    Michelle’s got a new podcast, and here’s the first episode! If you’d like to hear more, you can find all the details at:https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michelle-minnikin

    (308) Reboot Hiring

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2024 41:38


    On the first show of the Autumn, Matt and Michelle are joined by recruitment expert Katrina Collier to talk about her new book Reboot Hiring. You can find out more about her book at https://katrinacollier.com/reboot-hiring/ Katrina mentioned Benchmarcx – https://www.benchmarcx.io/refrkco (this is Katrina’s affiliate link), and also Sue Ingrams Disrupt HR talk https://vimeo.com/254246171 Matt talked […]

    (307) Ask WB-40

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2024 47:58


    For the first time all five regular WB-40 hosts are in the same show! This week Chris, Julia, Lisa, Matt and Michelle answer questions about the IT job market, AI regulation, first jobs and more besides! Here’s the chart Tony Harper shared with us… That’s it for the Summer – we are back in September!

    (306) AI, Empathy and knowing yourself

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2024 44:17


    On this week’s show Michelle and Lisa are joined by polymath Minter Dial to talk about Artificial Intelligence, human self-awareness and the wonders of Padel tennis.

    (305) News Media

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2024 40:00


    It’s Election Week in the UK, and so Matt and Michelle speak with digital news veteran Kevin Anderson about how the interaction between journalism, technology and news media has changed over recent decades.

    (304) Openings

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2024 45:10


    On this week’s show, Michelle and Chris are joined once again by OpenUK CEO Amanda Brock to talk new agendas for Open with new governments, remote working, diversity and AI in the Open Source world.

    (303) Aspirationally Idle

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2024 39:23


    On this week’s show, Michelle and Chris meet with Martin Sadler to talk about his new book about being a CIO –Aspirationally Idle. You can get your own copy at https://aspirationallyidle.sumupstore.com/ Header image Roland TB-303. (2024, February 21). By Steve Sims – Steve Sims, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53932063

    cio idle steve sims header cc0 roland tb martin sadler
    (302) Multidiscipline

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2024 46:40


    On this week’s show Matt and Lisa are joined by Ara Higueras to talk about her multidisciplinary background, her coaching and her book And how?

    multi-discipline
    (301) Value Judgement

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2024 54:03


    On this week’s show, Julia and Lisa are joined by photographer Paul Clarke to talk about AI, creativity, the value of creative work, art and taking great photos.

    (300) Not WB-40

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2024 48:55


    Continuing in our 8-year tradition of our Centennial editions of WB-40 not being an episode of WB-40, to celebrate 300 episodes of the show, here’s a totally different podcast for you. Career on the Cards is a pilot of a new podcast that Matt dreamed up a few months ago. On this first episode he […]

    (299) It’s Not the Technology

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2024 43:15


    On this week’s show Matt and Lisa are joined by the multi-faceted Timandra Harkness to talk about her new book Technology is not the Problem.

    (298) Mental Health Spaces

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2024 50:32


    On this week’s show, Julia and Matt are joined by Your Haven CEO and Founder Claire Barnett to talk about mental health fitness, technology and virtual reality. Claire mentioned the book Pixel Flesh by Ellen Atlanta. You can find out more about Your Haven here: https://www.yourhavenapp.com/

    (297) Glass Front Door

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2024 44:09


    In episode 297 of the weekly podcast WB40, hosts Matt and Michelle, and guest Dr. Tammy Watchorn delve into themes of change, uncertainty, and personal development.

    (296) Happiness

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024 38:22


    On this week’s show, Chris & Michelle talk to Richard Clarke from Secret Source about the role that happiness has in high-performing teams.

    (295) Thinking Partners

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2024 41:35


    On this week’s show Chris and Lisa talk with Tina Lee Odinsky-Zec and Simon Carcagno from True Advance about the concept of “Thinking Partners” and how we need get more intentional about our collaboration. Lisa mentioned an article questioning the validity of Extroversion and Introversion – that can be found here. Machine-Generated transcript Chris: Hello […]

    (294) Prevent plastic

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2024 40:11


    On this week’s show, Matt and Julia are joined by enough.store founder Paul Keaveny to talk about his design-led mission to reduce plastic waste in retail. You’ll be able to find out more soon at enough.store Matt mentioned two books – Wasteland and Material World.

    (293) Burnout

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2024 46:13


    On this week’s show, Matt and Julia are joined by Georgina Shute to talk about her business KindTwo and how she is helping leaders with ADHD to avoid burnout.

    (292) Reshaping Business

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2024 33:53


    On this week’s show Chris and Michelle are joined by BillionMinds‘ Paul Slater to talk about organisations, leadership and delivering change.

    (291) IRL

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2024 51:17


    On this week’s show, Lisa and Matt are joined by author Alice Sherwood to talk about what “In Real Life” means in 2024. Alice’s book Authenticity was published in 2022. You can read more about the Vice closures here.

    (290) Culture

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2024 38:37


    On this week’s show Michelle and Chris talk with Paula Brockwell on her approach to helping organisations to better cultivate their own cultures. You can find out more about Paula’s business at https://theexproject.com/

    (289) Ask WB-40

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2024 49:23


    It’s another episode of Ask WB-40, this week with Julia Bellis answering listener questions alongside Matt for the first time. Views on the year ahead, AI, leadership mentoring, mental models and what really happened when Julia got left adrift in the Pacific.

    (288.1) Playful bonus episode

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2024 39:38


    A special bonus episode for you as Lisa and Nick Drage host a conversation with Matt who has a new set of playing cards to flog. We talk about his Business Meerkat deck, and more broadly about the power of playfulness in work. Order your own set of the Business Meerkat cards at https://theplaycards.myshopify.com/collections/business-meerkat You […]

    (288) Crowdfunding

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2024 50:18


    On this week’s show we are joined by Matt Webb to talk about taking his Poem/1 clock from idea to the bring of manufacture through a Kickstarter exercise. You can read more about Galactic Compass: On Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/new-app-always-points-to-the-supermassive-black-hole-at-the-center-of-our-galaxy On Matt’s blog: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/02/15/galactic-compass And download from the App Store https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/galactic-compass/id6451314440 You can find the Poem/1 […]

    (287) Strategic Storytelling

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2024 41:22


    On this week’s show Matt and Michelle are joined by Natalia Talkowska to talk about the importance of “the hook”, telling stories, creativity and other tales. You can find Natalia’s business at natalkadesign.com Matt mentioned his Business Meerkat cards (pre-order them here) and also the TBD Conference he is speaking at at the end of […]

    storytelling strategic natalia talkowska
    (286) Heat Exchange

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2024 39:00


    On this week’s show, Chris and Julia interview Mark Bjornsgaard about his fascinating renewable energy and data hosting business Deep Green.

    (285) A new era

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2024 29:23


    From next week, there is a new sound to WB-40. We are delighted to share that Julia Bellis, Lisa Riemers and Michelle Minnikin will join the team to share hosting duties with Chris and Matt. On this bonus show we share the thinking behind the changes, and the wonderful Nick Drage asks all of the […]

    (284) Good Girl Deprogramming

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2024 40:00


    On this week’s show we are joined by psychologist and author Michelle Minnikin to talk about her new book, Good Girl Deprogramming. You can find out more about Michelle’s work at https://michelleminnikin.com/

    (283) Accessibility

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2024 46:20


    On this week’s show we speak with Lisa Riemers about challenges of digital accessibility, and what to do about it. You can find Lisa’s collection of useful links here: https://lisariemers.com/index.php/2023/05/12/accessibility-resources/ and you can book to attend her talk here: We spoke with AbilityNet on Episode 208

    (282) Psych Safety in Action

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2024 42:55


    This week’s guest is Equal Experts Psychological Safety Lead, Julia Bellis. We talk about the misconceptions associated with psych safety, building safety in client-facing teams, and the challenges of hybrid and global working, amongst many other things. A couple of books were mentioned: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer and The Fearless Organization by Amy […]

    (281) Intelligent Agents

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2023 39:09


    On this week’s show we are joined by Equal Expert’s Lewis Crawford to talk about his experiments in building autonomous teams of AI agents. AI Generated transcript follows… Matt: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to episode 281 of WB40, the weekly podcast with Matt Ballantine, Chris Weston and Lewis Crawford. Chris: Well hello everybody, welcome back. […]

    Claim WB-40

    In order to claim this podcast we'll send an email to with a verification link. Simply click the link and you will be able to edit tags, request a refresh, and other features to take control of your podcast page!

    Claim Cancel