The New Abnormal

Series TwoIn this reposted episode of #TheNewAbnormal I interviewed Matt Rivitz, founder of the activist community "Sleeping Giants". (He's also a freelance copywriter - his past jobs inc being Creative Director of TBWA/Chiat/Day and Senior Copywriter at Goodby Silverstein & Partners).  After witnessing the public rise of racism and sexism in the media and social media in 2016, he started Sleeping Giants, a crowdsourced campaign dedicated to advertiser safety and responsibility in the digital age. It now has an international network of Sleeping Giants chapters in numerous countries and territories including Australia, Canada, Brazil, and across the EU. In year three, Sleeping Giants is continuing its mission for brand safety and responsibility by working directly with advertisers to help them understand and navigate this complex and ever-changing media environment. Therefore, Matt and I discuss his inspiration for setting up the Sleeping Giants community, and issues relating to social trust, brand transparency, corporate responsibility, misinformation and disinformation. Oh - and the issue of 'moral neutrality' for brands and those working to promote them...

Series TwoIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interviewed Mark Vernon, a psychodynamic psychotherapist, writer and broadcaster, who has a keen interest in spirituality and the inner life. He has a PhD in ancient philosophy, as well as degrees in physics and theology. His books (which have appeared in translation around the world) cover subjects from friendship and belief, to wellbeing and love, and his latest one is 'A Secret History of Christianity'. Mark contributes to and has presented a number of radio programmes such as 'The Moral Maze' and 'In Our Time'. He teaches at The Idler Academy and also leads workshops and gives talks re: 'Ancient Greek Philosophy and How to See Spiritually'.  So, as you can no doubt imagine, I found it fascinating to talk with Mark about his thinking on subjects ranging from Plato to Freud to Blake to Augustine; and on issues ranging from  friendship to religion to generational angst  to Pandora's Box. Along the way, we discuss the Socratic Question, his viewpoints on the Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics and Cynics, all things ego-related, why it's hard for science to question itself, along with the parables of Jesus and Buddha. 

Series ThreeIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Kathleen Higgins, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas, at Austin.  Kathleen's main areas of research are continental philosophy, philosophy of the emotions, and aesthetics.  She has published a number of books: Nietzsche's “Zarathustra” , The Music of Our Lives,  A Short History of Philosophy,  A Passion for Wisdom , What Nietzsche Really Said , and The Music between Us:  Is Music a Universal Language?  She has edited or co-edited several other books on such topics as  German Idealism, aesthetics, ethics, erotic love, non-Western philosophy, and the philosophy of Robert C. Solomon.  In this episode, we discuss her thinking on topics including post-truth, autonomy, the Noble Lie, filter-bubbles and echo chambers, public opinion and media narratives, heuristics vs critical thinking; alongside the lessons of today that we can learn from philosophers ranging from Rousseau to Kant to Schopenhaur to  Derrida. And, of course, Nietzsche. 

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal series, I interviewed the billion-streamed, multi-platinum songwriter and producer Martin Jensen, who topped off a crazy year as an X-Factor judge. Martin’s breakthrough 'Solo Dance' had over a million streams daily upon its release and was the second-most played track of the past decade across BBC Radio 1, as well as going 8x platinum with international success. He also collaborated with #1 artist James Arthur,  and The Vamps, and was approached by Katy Perry and her team to officially remix ‘Bon Appetit’. He collaborated with Jason Derulo, regularly playing hundreds of live gigs each year (before the pandemic hit) taking his sound to shows everywhere from the world’s biggest dance festival Tomorrowland, to Lollapalooza, etc. At the start of lockdown, he launched a project called 'Me, Myself, Online' that saw him stream sets from stunning locations, solo in conjunction with Twitch and Revolut. So, in this episode we discuss his dynamic career, the day to day complications of being a mega-star DJ vs 'normal life' and how he related to the issues of 'hope, community and resilience' during the pandemic.

Series TwoThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal features an interview with Taji Chesimet, who is an activist, advocate, and student. He's Executive Director of 'Raising Justice' a nonprofit organization actively working to dismantle systems that deny young people their basic public safety. Their work combines Policy Advocacy, Grassroots Organizing and Education and Training that proves when we dismantle racial, generational, and class injustice and create safe public spaces, we validate young people’s need to feel welcome, safe, and treasured. In addition, he spent a year as an intern at the ACLU of Oregon - a nonpartisan dedicated to the defending and advancing civil liberties and civil rights, who believe that the freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. He's also a Project Lead at Black Male Achievement Portland (BMA) designed to assist City leaders in their efforts to improve the life outcomes of Black men and boys; doing so in four key areas: Education, Employment, Family Stability, and Criminal Justice. Finally, he's also a Legislative Intern for Representative Akasha-Lawrence Spence in Oregon. So, as you can imagine, I really enjoyed talking with Taji, an incredibly dynamic individual doing seriously important work. Oh, and he's still a teenager, at the University of Chicago...

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...