The New Abnormal

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...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interview the filmmaker, photographer and story finder Simon Kreitem. He's also the CEO at Lonelyleap, a collaborative, transatlantic team of strategists, directors, cinematographers, designers and producers; whose films are based on human truths. They communicate at a deep level, stimulating intelligence, feeding curiosity and inspiring acton. In this episode, we cover how he approaches the 'story discovery' process, regarding the evaluation of this on the basis of 'what is it that you've found, what did you discover, how does it move you, what insight does it give you'? Those rules are, he says, as true as they've ever been. Simon also mentions a great truism of storytelling..."that so often it's the little person who says the most profound things". (To which any researcher or journalist listening to this podcast will no doubt agree). Along the way, he discusses a range of their films, which included subjects ranging from Death Row to Local Communities to Cutting-edge Technology. Incidentally, the film about Death Row is about inspiring a piece of work as you can expect to see. Bet you didn't expect that...

Series TwoIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview Sophy Roberts, journalist and author of 'The Lost Pianos of Siberia'.  She focuses on travel stories in remote parts of the world, with a special interest in literature, history, culture and conversation. The ex-Travel Editor of The Economist and a Special Correspondent for Conde Nast Traveller, she shoots articles as well as writing them, including cover features for the Financial Times. Her first non-fiction book, The Lost Pianos of Siberia was named a Times, Sunday Times and Independent ‘Book of the Year’, a ‘Best Travel Book of 2020’ by Smithsonian Magazine, The Spectator, and i paper, and recently shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of 2021. As she says of the book, which is currently being translated into seven languages, "Siberia's expansive history is traditionally one of exiles, bitter cold and suffering. Yet there is another tale to tell..." (The Wall St Journal commented "these pages sing like a symphony"). Sophy also contributes to radio, podcast and panel events, including the BBC, The Economist, Times Radio, Tortoise and The Royal Geographical Society. So, we discuss all of the above, along with issues inc the business of tourism vs the serendipity of travel, music as a conduit of hope, the solace of culture, travel as an act of empathy, and the need to 'keep looking outwards' in the age of Covid. Having been to Siberia myself (before Putin's horrendous attack on Ukraine) I have to say that I found her stories about the people, landscape and history of that extraordinary region to be fascinating.  

Series ThreeIn this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview the renowned journalist and author Ian Williams, who was Foreign Correspondent for Channel 4 News, based in Russia and Asia, before joining NBC News as Asia Correspondent, when he was based in Bangkok and Beijing. As well as reporting from China over the last 25 years, he has also covered conflicts in the Balkans, Middle East and Ukraine. (He won an Emmy and BAFTA awards for his discovery and reporting on the Serb detention camps during the war in Bosnia). His latest book "Every breath you take - China's new tyranny" illustrates the world's first digital totalitarian state, where a system of hitherto unimaginable control threatens to make the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four a terrifying reality. In our discussion, he therefore illuminates the extraordinary rise of the Chinese surveillance state, the war against truth and liberal values, and the vital need to make artificial intelligence democratically accountable. Ian also describes the implications for the rest of the world regarding the urgent challenges facing the West, in what has become a technological Cold War...