Edgy Ideas

In this podcast, Julia Vaughan Smith shares her reflections about mother and daughter relationships, having just completed a book on the subject. Julia describes the entanglement between mother and daughter that often occurs, and how this can entrap daughters into ways of being that don't enable them to flourish. Anger and hurt can become life scripts that are hard to shake off, limiting daughters' capacity to have joy in their lives. Simon and Julia discuss cross-generational patterns, and also how our relationships to parents continue even when they have died. How daughters relate to mothers, and children to parents more generally, requires time and safe spaces to work through and liberate us from the more destructive patterns and narratives we get caught up in. Julia shares how through the writing of the book, her own relationship with her mother changed and she became more compassionate, understanding and free in the process.  Bio Julia Vaughan Smith is an accredited master executive coach and coach supervisor; a qualified psychotherapist (no longer practising) who has spent many years as an organisational and leadership development consultant primarily in health care. ‘Daughters: How to Untangle Yourself from Your Mother’ is her third book and her first for a general readership. Her two previous books ‘Coaching and Trauma’ and ‘Therapist to Coach’ were written for coaches. She has been teaching about coaching and trauma for the last five years. Her latest book for daughters will be launched on 3rd April 2023, and will be available from all booksellers and via www.becomingourselves.co.uk.

Donate to Karolina (Fine NGO): https://fine.ngo/en/make-a-donation Donate to Zuzanna (Salam NGO): https://paypal.me/salamlab In this podcast Zuzanna and Karolina tell their stories of how they responded to the outbreak of war on the Polish border, and to the sudden influx of millions of refugees, mostly women and children fleeing war. Their individual responses were driven by empathy and a deep humanitarian impulse.  Each share how they utilised and transferred existing skillsets, and drew on their networks to offer extraordinary responses.  Karolina managed to set up a kindergarten within two weeks of the outbreak of war, providing support for 100 children, employing Ukrainian women and establishing a charity to support this work.   Zuzanna’s small NGO had been working on the Belarusian border with refugees and pivoted their focus to immediately provide a help centre and homeless shelter to support the thousands of homeless war refugees flooding into Krakow.    One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, over 9 million border crossings have taken place, and approximately 2 million refugees remain in Poland. Karolina and Zuzanna’s organisations have organically grown and adapted to meet changing needs.  Now their focus is more on integration, building civil society, education and psychological support. They work directly with refugees and also with teachers and others who support them. Their work is being replicated throughout Poland. Small start-up initiatives alongside existing NGOs have innovated, adapted and worked tirelessly to accommodate and support refugees. These inspiring stories have lessons for the wider humanitarian organisations and for all of us engaged in leading change.  This is also a story of how women’s leadership, which dominates the NGO sector in Poland and beyond, can deliver amazing results. I met Zuzanna and Karolina and many other NGOs in Poland as part of a new initiative sponsored by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.  The Eco-Leadership Institute is partnering with the HLA to pioneer new ways to deliver humanitarian aid we call Eco-Mutualism This approach challenges paternalistic and centralised approaches, offering alternatives that engage people mutually and harvesting the resources in their wider ecosystems.  Zuzanna and Karolina offer excellent case studies of Eco-Mutualism in action.  Their task now is to help make their initial urgent responses more sustainable.  The Humanitarian Leadership Academy and the Eco-Leadership Institute will be working mutually with them, and you can help by donating directly. Donate to Karolina (Fine NGO): https://fine.ngo/en/make-a-donation Donate to Zuzanna (Salam NGO): https://paypal.me/salamlab Bios Zuzanna Tamas Co-Founder of Salam Lab; Board Member, Director of Humanitarian Aid and Fundraising. Salam Lab is an NGO working for human rights, inclusion and against discrimination. Zuzanna worked for 7 years in Qatar, with people from all over the world, and brings that experience to create an inclusive and diverse workplace at Salam Lab. She specialises in humanitarian aid, diversity and inclusion. Zuzanna is certified in Management, Humanitarian Standards, Inclusive Humanitarian Programming, as well as Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. Karolina Bisping-Adamik President of the FINE NGO Foundation. Professionally involved in the organization of production and promotion of cultural events, film and music festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, and young art and design fairs for many years. Academic teacher at the Pedagogical University in Krakow and at the School of Computer Graphics. Master of Sociology at the Philosophy Faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and postgraduate studies in Cultural Diplomacy at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw 

Michael Barnett is a leading thinker and scholar on humanitarianism, which as he says cannot be separated from humanity. Michael frames humanitarianism in the context of Empire, discussing the ongoing tensions between paternalism/control and compassion/giving that have been present since humanitarianism began. In more recent times humanitarianism has shifted from a voluntarism ethos to an expert professional ethos. The benefits and challenges of these changes are now under scrutiny. Professional experts, on the one hand, bring important knowledge and changes that save lives;  on the other hand, there has evolved a technocratic and instrumentalism that silences local and different voices and creates a managerialist machinery that stifles engagement.   Michael shares his thinking that will be published in a forthcoming book co-authored with Unni Karankura,  "Humanitarianism in a Post-Liberal Age" (Cambridge University Press). Three areas he points to that are driving change are: Securitization – how security is impacting humanitarian work in new ways, and more humanitarians are at risk today. Marketisation – how market forces have radically changed the face of humanitarianism, whereas previously there was a split between the 'sacred-humanitarianism' and the 'profane-market', and now the two find themselves very entangled, with contested outcomes.  Cosmopolitanism — the shift from human rights to a rooted cosmopolitanism in which the givers and receivers are questioning the quality of the aid relationship, typified by the rise of localization, the racial reckoning in the aid sector, and decolonizing aid.  This is a fascinating and insightful discussion - enjoy. Bio Michael Barnett is a University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the George Washington University. His research interests span the Middle East, humanitarianism, global governance, global ethics, and the United Nations. Author of Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism; his most recent books include The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of the American Jews; Paternalism Beyond Borders; and, most recently, the edited collection Humanitarianism and Human Rights: Worlds of Differences? His current research projects include the changing forms of global governance, hierarchies in humanitarian governance; the end of the two-state solution and the rise of the one-state reality in Israel/Palestine; and the relationship between suffering and progress in the liberal international order. A former Associate Editor of International Organization, Professor Barnett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the recipient of many grants and awards for his research. Contact Michael: https://elliott.gwu.edu/michael-barnett

Julian is a British psychoanalyst who has worked in the public health sector for many years. In this podcast, he begins by reflecting on how complacent ways of thinking and being are becoming more commonplace, particularly in the consulting and psychotherapeutic world. He discusses a particular clinical case to emphasise this.  Julian then explores the connection between complacency and action and discusses with Simon how dissociation can lead to conformist ways of being. The conversation then reflects more widely on the role of psychoanalysis in society, and in particular the demise of psychoanalytically applied practices in the public sector. Julian holds the view that society needs containers for its more disturbed and long-term 'ill' citizens, for as he says "not everybody gets well". If psychoanalysis gets pushed wholly into the private sector Julian believes there will be a great loss to society (and also to psychoanalysis). As the public sector increasingly becomes a market-led sector and filled with short-term, more market-friendly treatments and fixes (some of which are helpful of course) the space for holding pain, suffering and dysfunction is diminished.    When exploring what it means to work towards a good society, Julian shares his view that a good society needs a 'maternal' public sector, and that the nanny state, to paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, obliterates the mother. Julian asks then what happens to the welfare state, to the health and education system and to social care?     Enjoy this stimulating and rich discussion.   Bio  Julian Lousada is a psychoanalyst and former clinical director Adult department of the Tavistock and Portman Clinic, and former chair of the British Psychoanalytic Council and British Psychoanalytic Federation.  He is an Organisational Consultant in private practice.

In this episode, we focus on Carl Jung's work in relation to coaching and consulting.  Laurence is an eminent Jungian practitioner and author who is trying to bring the magic of Jungian thinking to the modern world of coaching and consulting.  In this rich exchange Laurence shares why he believes Jung's work is so important.  At the heart of this approach is a recovery of the 'soul' that is so often amiss in our dominant rational, managerial approaches.  We discuss the importance of symbolism and how it can be used in coaching, and Jung's work on the collective unconscious, individuation among many other topics. Laurence also shares his views on Jungian ethics and on misconceptions of Jungian thinking.    This is an excellent exploration of Jungian thinking and more importantly Jungian practice. Enjoy the listen! Bio Laurence is a coach and consultant, and a Director of Heresy Consulting. Prior to joining Heresy as a Founder Director, Laurence spent over two decades in change leadership roles including most recently as the Director of Group Resourcing and Development for Prudential plc. He holds an MSc in the Psychodynamics of Human Development (Jungian) from the British Psychotherapy Foundation and an MBA from Lancaster University. He trained as a coach and supervisor with the Tavistock Institute and in group work at the Institute of Group Analysis. More recently he has developed an interest in our broader place in the world and holds certificates in Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy from the Pacifica Graduate Institute. He also works as a Practicum Supervisor on the INSEAD Executive Masters in Change and is the author of ‘A Jungian Approach to Coaching: The Theory and Practice of Turning Leaders into People’. Follow Laurence Website: https://www.heresyconsulting.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurence-barrett Buy his book: https://www.routledge.com/A-Jungian-Approach-to-Coaching-The-Theory-and-Practice-of-Turning-Leaders/Barrett/p/book/9780367766368

In this podcast, Nick and Simon go on an intriguing journey that explores coaching from different perspectives. Nick shares his experiences of what is called ‘life coaching’ and reflects on how this differs, and shares common ground with, executive coaching and other forms of helping relationships such as counselling and psychotherapy.   Nick believes that coaching is a new configuration, built on the shoulders of giants i.e. it draws from the well of knowledge and practices from psychology, psychotherapy and more. Yet he also claims that coaching delivers its support to others in a new way, and also that it has created a new and different client group.  Contemporary society demands a lot emotionally and psychologically and navigating our way through ‘life coaching’ has emerged because it can be beneficial in this domain. Those who are attracted to life coaching aren’t typically experiencing their lives as dysfunctional or suffering in a way that might attract them to psychotherapy or counselling. This opens up a new space to explore and leads to new conversations, methods and insights.  In this fascinating podcast, what it means to be human emerges to be at the centre of Nick's work.  Nick Bolton is the founder and CEO of Animas Centre for Coaching and the International Centre for Coaching Supervision. With a particular interest in the role of coaching in helping individuals navigate existential issues and the complexities of 21st-century life, Nick combines a solution-focused approach with a deeper inquiry into the client’s worldview which contributes to, though isn’t exclusively responsible for, the conditions or dilemmas they are facing. Nick is an avid lifelong learner and recognises that anything he says today merely reflects his limited thinking in the moment. He considers that a wise disclaimer for any foolishness he says along the way!

Animal rights activism is at the heart of Esther’s work and life. In this podcast, Esther shares her thinking on the entanglements between the way we treat animals and how we live in consumer capitalist cultures. Esther discusses the economic structures behind our mistreatment of animals and the ways in which they are commodified and treated as resources that mirror slavery. She then also offers ideas about what a future world could look like; where animals and human beings have a healthy relationship with one another   Simon and Esther discuss what facing animal rights issues bring up in others, often disassociation and guilt.  To live with the awareness of how we treat animals is to live with a burden.  We all like to protect the idea of our ‘good-self’; therefore, to acknowledge the animal suffering we collude with is a direct challenge to our 'good-selves', hence our defensiveness.  Esther and Simon discuss whether animals are 'individuals', and what rights they have in relation to individual humans.  Esther discusses broader social movements, direct action and mass mobilisations in this fascinating podcast.  Bio Esther delved into full-time Animal Justice work early in life. She dedicates her time towards understanding and building people-powered organisations capable of creating transformative change. She helped to kick-start Animal Rebellion as a full-time member in 2019 and supported it through its first wave of resistance. Esther is the co-founder and Strategic Lead of Animal Think Tank, where she works to promote nonviolence, mass direct action, civil resistance and grassroots activism. Follow Esther Websites: https://animalthinktank.org.uk https://www.plantbasedfuture.animalrebellion.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-salomon-0a89a11b9/

We are celebrating our Golden Jubilee with the 50th episode of Edgy Ideas and thought it appropriate to reflect on the monarchy and its meaning.  My guest Leslie Brissett draws on his wealth of experience in human dynamics and as Director of Group Relations at the Tavistock Institute to share his thoughts on what is projected onto the monarchy from the people, and what the monarchy represents, contains and holds for us.   Simon is an anti-monarchist, and whilst able to admire Queen Elizabeth's extraordinary leadership over 70 years and recognise how the monarchy offers continuity for many, it also is highly problematic. Simon believes it reinforces a dependency and a "know-your-place" culture that reproduces class divisions, and elitist power and undermines our capacity for autonomy and to maximise our collective potential.  Leslie and Simon ponder together the meaning of the monarchy and explore the difference, and continuity between a matriarchy (the Queen) and patriarchy (the King). They reflect together in a non-partisan way, what future containment might look like without a monarchy and what can be learnt from the monarchy, that can help us to work towards creating the good society.     Bio  Leslie is a member of the Judiciary in England and Director of the Group Relations Programme at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and has studied human dynamics in experiential settings in many countries. He is also the Company Secretary at TIHR. Born in the UK, Leslie experiences life as a Citizen of the World More on Leslie: https://www.tavinstitute.org/staff/leslie-brissett/

In this episode, Liz Hall draws on her experience of editing 'Coaching at Work' journal to reflect on the state of coaching today. Liz shares how she believes coaching is thriving for two key reasons First, the demand on managers increasingly means they need a reflective space, and support to help them navigate the emotional and relational people side of the work, and the intensity of work demands upon them.  Second, Liz blurs the boundaries between coaching and therapy and believes that coaching provides important support to people who would not necessarily go to therapy.  Liz shares her own practices of utilising mindfulness and somatics in her work, sharing how important this is in her own life, and how the bodywork is gaining increasing prominence in coaching more generally. Her initiative 'Coaching for Covid and Beyond' was established with colleagues and offered free coaching during the pandemic, and Liz shares her experience of this project.  Enjoy this exploration of coaching! Bio Liz Hall is a leadership coach and mindfulness teacher. An award-winning journalist, she’s the editor of Coaching at Work magazine, and the author of publications including Mindful Coaching (Kogan Page), Coach your team (Penguin Business), and author/editor of Coaching in times of crisis and transformation (Kogan Page), and numerous chapters in other books. As a co-founder of the award-winning Coaching through Covid and Beyond, offering pro-bono coaching to NHS workers impacted by the pandemic, she helped create a trail-blazing organizational culture shaped by compassion, relational mindfulness, psychological safety, agility and openness to emergence. The initiative is to be the subject of a study by a leading university exploring coaching in crisis. Through Coaching at Work, Liz has launched initiatives including the pioneering Roundtable towards Race Equity in the Coaching Profession which has seen professional coaching bodies agree to collaborate around a charter for change, and Climate Coaching Action Day, an annual event in March to celebrate and encourage climate coaching. Liz is also a co-founder of the International Summit for Mindfulness and Compassion at Work and speaks regularly on mindfulness and coaching at conferences. She is a member of the Academy of Executive coaching’s faculty, teaching on mindfulness in coaching. She’s currently working on a book on relational mindfulness with Dr Emma Donaldson-Feilder. Follow Liz Website: https://lizhallcoaching.com Coaching at Work Magazine: www.coaching-at-work.com Coaching through Covid and Beyond www.coachingthroughcovid.org Article on Coaching Through Covid Initiative: https://www.coaching-at-work.com/2021/03/01/covid-a-year-in-coaching/

Shermin Voshmgir is a leading thinker in the world of Web 3. This podcast explores the intersections between human dynamics and Web 3 developments. Shermin discusses the new possibilities of more democratic and decentralised ways of being and organising, and shares her growing concerns about how old politics, ego-driven behaviours, and simply the lack of awareness around potential dangers. There are tensions around transparency and privacy, algorithmic bias, and lack of participation in decentralised systems which leaves a few people making decisions. Power dynamics and biases become embedded in new DAOs and networks, making them difficult to influence and change. Shermin shares her new adventures in the domain of agriculture as she works with her partner to bring together Web 3 technologies, such as tokenization, that will support more sustainable farming. We are all entering the new world of Web 3, and Shermin Voshmgir is a brilliant translator who brings that space to life for those of us struggling to understand it - a must-listen episode!  Bio  Shermin is the author of the best-selling book “Token Economy“, the founder of Token Kitchen and BlockchainHub Berlin. In the past, she was the director of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics which she also co-founded and a curator of the infamous project TheDAO back in 2016. She is currently setting up a data-driven farm in Portugal with her Partner where they investigate how to tokenize agricultural assets and sustainable ecosystem services such as soil quality or CO2 capture with the support of hardware wallets and sensor technology. Shermin studied Information Systems Management at the Vienna University of Economics and film-making in Madrid. Under her alter ego KAMIKAT.SE she has also created a series of audio-visual works. She is Austrian, with Iranian roots, and now lives in Portugal where she works on the intersection of technology, agriculture, art & social science. Her biggest strength is to make complex issues easily understandable to a wide audience without losing the depth or scope of the issues she writes or talks about. Shermin has a long track record of public speaking about Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, the Web3 and the future of technologies in general – from prestigious community conferences such as TedX, The Next Web or Re:publica, to private events for companies and institutions such as Vodafone, Audi, IMF and the Wordbank. She has a multidisciplinary perspective of how Web3 will impact different areas of society. She believes that Web3 and its tokenized applications can shift the dynamics of our socio-economic systems. Her focus is to make technology accessible to a non-tech audience so that all those who use technology can also take part in the decision-making process of the technology they use. Buy Token Economy, Shermin's fantastic Web3 explainer: https://www.bookdepository.com/Token-Economy/9783982103853 Follow Shermin Website: https://shermin.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherminvo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherminvoshmgir