The New Abnormal

Series TwoThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' features Brooklyn-based John Seabrook, a staff writer at The New Yorker since the 90's as well as being the author of a range of superb books including 'The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory' / 'Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing—The Marketing of Culture' / 'Deeper: My Two-Year Odyssey in Cyberspace / 'Flash of Genius, and Other True Stories of Invention' . In the interview we discuss his views on all of the above, along with a range of his other recent articles for the New Yorker. Therefore, his viewpoints take us on a fascinating path as we discuss issues inc artificial intelligence & smart composition, counter-surveillance strategies & fashion innovation, a robopop perspective on the record label of the future, social hierarchies in a commercialised culture, and social fragmentation in the post-digital / post-Covid age. Plus, of course, his take on 'Hope  / Community / Resilience' which link all of #TheNewAbnormal podcasts...

Series ThreeThis reposted episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features James Hurman 'a creative person from Auckland, New Zealand'. He founded and continues to lead Previously Unavailable, an innovation studio that provides innovation and CX consulting and new product, brand and business design and development.James is also a co-founder and director of Tracksuit, a SAAS business that provides brand tracking at a fraction of the normal cost and operates across New Zealand, Australia, the UK and US. In addition, he's the author of 'The Case for Creativity' and 'Future Demand'. The first is about the data showing that when businesses are more creative, they’re more successful. The second is about why building your brand among tomorrow’s customers is the key to start-up success.We talk about all of the above in this really interesting discussion - where James also discusses the furore at the Mi3-LinkedIn B2B Next conference in Sydney. Where, as anyone even vaguely associated with adland knows, it kicked off in a big way re: Sharp apparently / supposedly skewering Binet and Field… 

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interview Jon Cohen, the author of "Asking for Trouble: understanding what people think, when you can't trust what they say".  The aim of the book is to enable the development of more creative concepts, braver public policy and more compelling marketing communications through a better understanding of response.He's also the Managing Partner of the award-winning Kindling Research, who have an outstanding record of helping clients develop ideas that challenge the status quo. In this episode, we discuss all of the above, clarify why 'the language of asking' only has six rules, discuss democracy vs meritocracy (in the context of research), debate why 'asking is an art' and give a shout-out to the gone (but not forgotten) HHCL.  Jon also outlines the 'Golden Triangle of Intelligent Response'. The interview starts with the observation that one constant theme has dominated his life: 'Asking is easy. The hard part is knowing what to do with the answer...'

Series Two In this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview Sara Wheeler,  a prize-winning non-fiction writer noted for her accounts of the polar regions. Her books include the international bestseller Terra Incognita, which tells the story of a seven-month journey in Antarctica. The Daily Telegraph reviewer wrote of it, ‘I do not think there will ever be a better book written about the Antarctic.’ In it, she mentioned sleeping in the captain's bunk in Scott's Hut. Whilst in Antarctica she read 'The Worst Journey in the World', an account of the Terra Nova Expedition, and she later wrote a biography of its author Apsley Cherry-Garrard.  For years she travelled frequently to Russia, Alaska, Greenland, Canada, and North Norway to write her book The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle (winner of the Banff Adventure Travel Prize). She later wrote 'O My America!: Second Acts in a New World' which records the lives of women who travelled to America in the first half of the 19th Century, and the authors's travels in pursuit of them.  Sara’s latest book, Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age, came out just prior to the pandemic.Sara is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,  a Contributing Editor of The Literary Review, a Trustee of  The London Library and former chair of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year award. She contributes to a wide range of publications in the UK and US and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio. Sara's the most extraordinary person and I really enjoyed hearing her fascinating stories and perspectives. 

Series ThreeThis episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Tom Johnson, MD at the consumer insights and futures consultancy, Trajectory. He's a researcher, trends analyser and forecaster with  a mass of experience leading complex insight and foresight projects for clients including Vodafone, British Council, Department for International Trade, General Medical Council, McCann and many more.  Trajectory help clients understand how customers, markets and the world around them is changing - and how they can benefit from that change. Trajectory's proprietary international data  - Global Foresight - draws on 100,000 consumer interviews and has been running for a decade. Their monthly 'Optimism Index' monitor tracks consumer sentiment in the UK each month, gaining viewpoints from 1500 adults re: issues such as confidence, personal choice & control, social trust, opportunities in tech, optimism and their place in the world. We discuss all of the above and more, so I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Series ThreeIn this episode of The New Abnormal, I interview Steven MacGregor. He's a global expert in workplace health, wellbeing and performance with PhD and Master's degree in design thinking and virtual teams. Steven is also founder of The Leadership Academy of Barcelona. and author (or lead co-author) of six books in the past 12 years, notably 'Chief Wellbeing Officer' and 'Sustaining Executive Performance'. His next book 'The Daily Reset, 366 ways to move your life forward' was published recently. A keynote speaker and guest professor with experience in research and teaching at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, IE, IMD, IESE, CEIBS and Pompeu Fabra, he's trained with Olympic athletes, Tour de France riders and Ironman champions. Steven's also an international level Duathlete and former national champion currently racing for FC Barcelona. So...we discuss all of the above in what I hope you'll agree is a suitably dynamic conversation.

Series TwoIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview Christian van Nieuwerburgh, Executive Director of 'Growth Coaching International' and Professor of Positive Psychology at University of East London. An international authority in the field of coaching, he's a renowned public speaker who regularly presents on the topics of motivation, engagement and leadership. We discuss his latest book and his motivation for creating coaching cultures for learning which allow people to pursue their aspirations with confidence and mental toughness. In this fascinating episode, we also talk about his thinking around post-traumatic growth, social polarisation, evidencing compassion, why hope isn't mere wishful thinking - it 's a valuable tool, and why optimism can be dangerous. Christian explains that while it's important that a vision for the future is believable, it should also be desirable - and he also outlines  six evidence-based ways to look after your mental health. To conclude, we debate the psychology and philosophy of hope vs optimism. This is one of my favourite subjects, so I hope you enjoy listening to Christian as much as I did! 

Series TwoThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Dr Jennifer Mercieca,  author and Professor at Texas A&M University; an historian of American political rhetoric whose research combines history, political theory / philosophy / science. Her latest research is on how ubiquitous propaganda has ruined our public sphere and what we can do about it. As an author, she writes about American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, and the presidency, and has published three books: 'Founding Fictions', 'The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency', and 'Demagogue for President: the Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump'.  Jennifer has also written for The Conversation,  USA Today, Washington Post, and other major media outlets. ​She's been interviewed by the BBC, NPR, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, Vice, ABC Radio, Slate, and many other outlets throughout the US and Worldwide - and has been called “probably the leading authority on Trump’s rhetoric”.  So, as you can imagine, this interview features a fascinating discussion about her views, including the use of language as a weapon, how Trump took advantage of distrust, polarisation and frustration, and why the unifying campaign strategies he employed were anything but simple.  In their review of her latest book, The Washington Post stated "The question of how Donald Trump ever got elected president has stumped some of the nation’s deeper thinkers. Jennifer Mercieca has a compelling answer. Spoiler alert: Trump is not, in fact, a genius. He’s a sophisticated con man who used the tools of rhetoric to pick the pockets of the American body politic, double-talking his way to power..." 

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interviewed Lucie Greene, who is a forecaster, strategist and author specialising in cultural trends, consumer insights and brand innovation. Having relocated to NYC from L.A. she set up her futures practice 'Light Years' having previously led JWT's global futures think tank JWT Intelligence. She also launched their renowned 'Future 100' annual trends report, which is now translated into ten languages. Her book 'Silicon States: the power and politics of BigTech and what it means for our future' is absolutely excellent. In this episode we discuss a wide range of issues including the increasing exposure of a lack of faith in Government, the privatisation of the C19 pandemic inc surveillance capitalism, the need for 'Solve & Dissolve' teams re: the Future of Work, brand responses to the climate & ecological emergency, and the impact on our social fabric of hyper-individualisation. 

Series TwoIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Graham Black, Owner/Creative Director at BureauxBlack Design, and a Lecturer at Falmouth University; whose particular areas of expertise are in the arts, culture, sport, literature and current affairs. His early agency career focused on the music industry, designing record sleeves and advertising campaigns for clients inc Virgin, EMI and Sony; and in the years that followed he's art directed editorial publications for some of the biggest and most respected brands in publishing, inc The FT, The Economist, and The Observer.  His design approach is to employ powerful, sophisticated and striking typography, photography and illustration. After many years of commissioning he's built up a contact book that inc many of the finest reportage, portrait, fashion and travel photographers in the world, as well as the most innovative and well known illustrators.  So...in this episode we discuss some of the amazing photographers and illustrators with whom he's worked (resulting in covers featuring everyone from Bowie to Mandela to Orwell), and his viewpoints on leading-edge culture, NextGen magazines and the creative process. And, of course, his take on why 'hope, community and resilience' are the way forward...