The New Abnormal

Series Four This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jenny Southan, who is Editor, Founder and CEO of Globetrender, the world's leading travel trend forecasting agency and online magazine dedicated to the future of travel. She's also an award-winning freelance travel journalist, contributing to the likes of Conde Nast Traveller, LUX, Baku, The Telegraph, Monocle, Mr Porter, The Times, Elle, City AM, Forbes, Business Traveller, and Soho House's "House Notes" among others. During our conversation, she discusses a wide range of issues impacting the industry, from the perspectives of hotels, aviation, oceans, dining, wellness, technology, and queer travel. Along the way, she also talks about space tourism, a dynamic personal idea for innovation and...a recent trip to Necker Island. To put it mildly, it was difficult not to feel rather envious.

Series ThreeThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal features James Bidwell, co-founder/Chair of B Corps, Re_Set and Springwise. He's also author of 'Disrupt! 100 Lessons in Business Innovation'.  (Re_Set [described by Seth Godin as “too good to share”] and Springwise are both B Corps).James advises many businesses and several government organisations. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Bristol and Cambridge Judge Business School, participant in the London Business School Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme, committee member and judge at the World Retail Congress and mentor at Red Bull Amaphiko.James is an expert in navigating disruption and the rapid pace of change, the role of innovation, and how to encourage cultural shift. Therefore, in this episode, we discuss all of the above, along with his specific views on the 'New Abnormal ethos' of hope, community and resilience, at a time when those issues are utterly crucial...

Series Two This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the author & philosopher Ian Olasov. An adjunct professor and doctoral candidate at the City University of New York, he's twice won the American Philosophical Association's Public Philosophy Op-Ed Prize. He's also the author of "Ask a Philosopher: answers to the most important - and unexpected - questions". In addition, he set up the first 'Ask a Philosopher' booth in New York City, to answer questions from passers-by. Over the years, the series has received coverage from the likes of Newsweek, The York Times, qz.com and WNYC.  His writing has appeared in titles inc Slate, Vox and Public Seminar. So, in the interview, we discuss issues including truth and post-truth,  alternative facts and fake news, echo chambers and media fragmentation, moral accounting and collective action, morality and false obligation, subjective wellbeing and social comparison, plus - of course - his favourite philosopher. 

Series ThreeIn this episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast I interview Chris Mayer, Assoc Dean for Strategy & Initiatives at West Point Military Academy in the USA.  We discuss his belief that the intersecting futures of higher education, work, and leadership (and the uncertainty associated with these intersecting futures) will create challenges and opportunities for people and organisations. And he points out that we're feeling the impact of these challenges and opportunities right now.  In his role at West Point, Chris explores possible futures resulting from this intersection to anticipate and better prepare for change. This helps ensure that West Point’s academic experience continues to empower future leaders to thrive in an uncertain world. His work involves strategic foresight and planning, and we discuss those subjects amongst other contextual issues impacting the next generation of military leaders in the United States. That's why, along with talk of soldiers, culture and society, we discuss how the learnings of Nietzsche, Kant and Socrates are amongst those debated at the Academy...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interview the dynamic Lucy von Sturmer,  founder of thought leadership agency The Humblebrag and Co-Initiator of global network Creatives for Climate. The Humblebrag works with some of Europe’s best agencies, brands, artists and sustainable fashion initiatives to use the power of ideas, opinions and creativity to challenge the status quo and create impact. (Lucy's mission is to support leaders to take a stand on social, cultural and environmental issues and through her work, to help companies and brands build their reputation). Creatives for Climate is a global network and grassroots initiative to coordinate a collective response from the creative industries to mobilise action on the climate emergency. Lucy cut her communications-teeth in the world of journalism, television and PR, before working for NGOs, which was followed by a move to advertising, before she founded the Humblebrag. She's also built a reputation as a public speaker and has been featured in titles inc The Huffington Post, AdWeek, The Drum, Sustainable Brands and Mumbrella. In this episode, we discuss all of the above, including her specific viewpoints on brand activism, disruption, regenerative solutions, intersectionality and social inclusion; along with her take on 'hope community and resilience'...

Series ThreeIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview the cultural strategist Amy Daroukakis, who "inspires teams, keep brands culturally relevant and re-imagines products, communication and design".  She's worked across a wide range of sectors, including Retail (Target), Luxury (LVMH), Social (Facebook), Automotive (Hertz), Insurtech (Coya), FMCG (Danone), Hospitality (Park Hyatt), Tourism (NYC GO), Food and Beverage (AB InBev), Entertainment (HBO), Electronics (Bang & Olufsen), and Financial (Amex). We discuss how she started by studying cultural anthropology c/o 'Semester at Sea' (visiting 10 countries in 100 days). She's now  travelled to over sixty countries, lived in six and worked across six continents inc North America, the EMEA and APAC. Amy explains her approach to 'travelling differently' while on research projects, why signals are more important than pathways, her viewpoints on 'where next'', building an innovative culture, and why getting out of your own filter-bubble is so important. 

Series ThreeThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Art Kleiner, a renowned expert on management thinking, thought leadership, organisational learning and scenario planning. In his new book 'The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology' he illuminates a belief that AI holds incredible promise to improve virtually every aspect of our lives, but we can't ignore its risks, mishaps and misuses. The book therefore offers seven principles for ensuring that machine learning supports human flourishing. An editorial consultant for influential thought leaders, he's also former editor-in-chief of the award-winning management magazine Strategy+Business (published by PwC), editorial director of the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook series, co-innovator of "learning histories" (MIT) co-author of 'The Wise Advocate' and author of 'The Age of Heretics' and 'Who Really Matters'.  I really enjoyed listening to his inspiring and insightful viewpoints, and hope you will too!

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Dermot McPartland, Creative Director of Nederlander Studios NYC. He instigates cultural interventions for brands; doing things rather than making things, an assembler, a curator and an event organiser. A resolutely proud member of the London Irish diaspora, his background spans twenty years in publishing, advertising, activism, publicity and the arts. Obsessed with ideas and culture (wide & deep) he possesses an uncanny ability to see creative and strategic opportunities for brands within culture. His work output is idiosyncratic, diverse and multidisciplinary - including experience design, activation, content, social, ads, PR and experiential. Dermot has strong international links into the worlds’ of contemporary art, fashion, cinema, music and literature, and has nurtured close links into the nascent start-up creative businesses in the world of communications and entertainment. In this episode, we discuss his views on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the current 'state of the nation' in adland, to the impact of C19 on culture, leading-edge creativity, localism and folk art, the search for optimism, citizen brands, and more. Oh, and we also disagree on the works of Julien Temple. Dermot finishes the podcast with a quote from Seamus Heaney. #Naturally

Series ThreeThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Luca Morena, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO at Nextatlas.They're a leader in the global market of digitally empowered marketing intelligence and trend anticipation services, who use unique AI focused early adopter detection to reveal evolving consumer behaviour and provide confident trend prediction for what you can’t see on the horizon, helping clients easily visualize emerging trends.With a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bologna, Luca's also been a Postdoc at the Laboratory of Ontology at the University of Turin. His main research interests are now in the philosophy of technology, algorithmic culture, and AI. He explains how and why Nextatlas have long been at the forefront of the trend forecasting industry’s evolution as pioneers in AI-powered solutions, but also outlines their launch of 'Generate' the world’s first generative trend forecasting and consumer insights service, which is powered by large language models and the Nextatlas engine.I really enjoyed listening to Luca's points of view as he outlined the dynamic activity undertaken by Nextatlas, trailblazers in the use of AI for predictive trend detection and monitoring, based on a commitment to bringing a scientific approach to a traditionally opinion-led industry. So, I hope you enjoy the podcast!

Series ThreeThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' features Nick Shackleton-Jones, HR Director / Learning at Deloitte UK. He's also the author of 'How People Learn' and has a revolutionary perspective on...how we learn. Nick began professional life as a psychology lecturer (having studied psychology and philosophy at university) and has since worked for major consultancies and corporates in roles encompassing learning strategy, culture, leadership, innovation, technology & multimedia. Responsible for coining the ‘courses to resources’ shift, the affective context model of learning, and introducing the 5Di approach to user-centred learning design, he's the winner of several awards for people development strategy, innovation, and learning content; and is well-known in the 'learning industry' for his ground-breaking work and thinking. In our interview, we discuss his viewpoints across a range of issues including how the brain works in the context of memory (inc System 1 & 2 thinking), learning and individuality, the significance of play, storytelling and catastrophe, behavioural change, why 'Thinking is Feeling', how to reimagine your world, and the intentional design of experiences and resources that promote learning aka 'Learning Design'.