Ukraine’s most famous novelist took to the stage at The Conduit to discuss his new book, Grey Bees - a dramatization of the conflict raging in his country through the lens of a mild-mannered beekeeper. The conversation was led by Kelly Falconer, founder of the Asia Literary Agency, and touched on the crisis in Ukraine. Andrey shared his signature humour, imagination and sensitivity with the audience, allowing a genuine and thoughtful discussion to emerge. Presented in collaboration with Frontline Online.

In this episode Paul talks to Tom McGillycuddy. Tom has 10 years of investment management experience, starting his career at Barclays before moving to Wellington Management where he was part of the founding team of their $2B Global Impact Fund. He is a CFA Charterholder and the Co-Founder of ‘the investment platform of the future’, CIRCA5000.  Tom tells Paul about his journey to founding CIRCA5000, how the platform works and what it takes to start up a successful business. CIRCA5000 is a Conduit Connect company, find out more about them on their website www.circa5000.com

When Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard discovered how trees communicate through fungal networks her finding were dismissed and ridiculed. But today she is world renowned for transforming our understanding of the lives of forests. She was the inspiration for one of the protagonists in Richard Powers magnificent novel, ‘The Overstory’… and Amy Adams is set to play her in a forthcoming movie of her life. Suzanne has just published a memoir called ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ and on a recent trip to the UK she joined author and traveller Sophy Roberts to tell her story live at The Conduit. The event was held in partnership with the How To Academy, London’s home of big thinking. 

In this episode Paul talks to Regan Ralph, the founding president and CEO of the Fund for Global Human Rights. Prior to launching the Fund, Regan was vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, DC, where she led advocacy, policy, and educational strategies to promote the quality and availability of health care for American women. From 1992 to 2001, Regan helped build and direct the Women’s Rights division of Human Rights Watch, where she developed campaigns to ensure the prosecution of sexual violence in conflict as a war crime, to secure recognition of gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum, and to promote women’s rights in countries including Russia, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Pakistan, and Mexico. Paul and Regan take a deep dive into the state of Human Rights in the world today, how Regan sees it moving forward and what work she is doing to create change at the grassroots level. Visit the website of the Fund for Global Human Rights to find out more about their work. 

In this episode Paul has a conversation with Melinda Janki, an international lawyer with over 30 years of experience. Beginning her legal career in the City of London, Melinda has advised international financial institutions, governments and multinational corporations including oil companies. She has also spent much of her time focusing on human rights cases and is currently challenging dangerous deep water petroleum production in offshore Guyana. Paul and Melinda talk about the challenges that Melinda faces taking on such huge corporations, the effects that offshore drilling will have on Guyana and how we can support her work. To find out more about Melinda's work, please visit her website.  To sign the moratorium to pause oil and gas operations, please go here. 

In this episode Paul chats to Atieno Odhiambo, the director of the Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF), a programme of the Fund for Global Human Rights. A lawyer by training, Odhiambo’s experience ranges from working for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya, to representing marginalized populations in both the US and Kenya.  During this conversation, Paul and Atieno discuss what the 'justice gap' really means and how the work of the Legal Empowerment Fund is striving to close it. 

In this episode Paul van Zyl is joined by Dr Kyle Grant, Founder of Oxwash – the world’s first future-proof, and clinically clean washing service, whose goal it is to eradicate the impact of washing on the world’s ecosystems and prove that a closed-loop and safe washing process is possible. Let’s talk laundry! OxWash is a Conduit Connect company and was the first investment made by the Conduit EIS Impact Fund.

Alex Tamlyn, a Partner at DLA Piper, and Lindsay Hooper, Executive Director of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership join Paul van Zyl, co-founder of The Conduit. Alex is Head of DLA Piper’s EMEA Capital Markets practice, and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Boardroom Advisory Services practice, which is designed to support the lifecycle of boardroom needs.  Lindsay leads CISL’s Education team, supporting organisations and leaders around the world to align commercial performance with the delivery of positive outcomes for society. She is a member of the Institute’s Executive Board and, alongside Earth on Board, leads CISL’s work to inform and engage Board Directors. This episode is produced in collaboration with DLA Piper, and recorded at The Conduit Studio at COP26, as part of a series exploring the role of the law in responding to climate change. 

How can we ensure that small nations are fairly represented in climate negotiations? In this episode of Fast & Fair: The Climate Transition podcast, Paul van Zyl is joined by Nino Tandilashvili, the Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, along with Jesse Medlong, an Associate at DLA Piper, the only law firm representing a country at COP26. They discuss the importance of prioritising fairness and equity in climate discussions, and the impact of DLA Piper’s advocacy for Georgia at COP. This episode is produced in collaboration with DLA Piper, and recorded at The Conduit Studio at COP26, as part of a series exploring the role of the law in responding to climate change.

Daphne Frias is an unapologetically Latina youth activist who is proud to be a voice for the disabled community. She was appointed as the New York State director for March For Our Lives and is also part of the Generation Climate Initiative. Daphne speaks with Paul van Zyl about her own route to becoming a young elected official who’s bringing climate to the top of the political agenda in the US. They also talk about urban planning and environmental racism, and her personal experience of COP26 through an inclusion lens.