At the Coalface

In this episode, I explore Laura’s journey into the fascinating world of political risk insurance, a space that is exploding in relevance as business leaders grapples with an ever more complex geopolitical landscape. Laura shares her insights into the way businesses navigate political risk and the leadership and organisational blindspots she’s noticed. She then distils a few principles that the mo...

In this episode, I sit down with Tjark Marten Egenhoff, a development and foreign policy leader whose life has been shaped by movement, service, and the search for belonging. Tjark reflects on growing up across countries and cultures, from revolutionary Iran to Argentina during periods of political upheaval. He shares how those early experiences, together with a strong sense of justice instilled b...

In this episode, I sit down with Mariana Deluera, a geopolitical risk analyst whose life has been shaped by movement, adaptation, and the search for belonging. Mariana reflects on growing up across five countries as the daughter of a Mexican diplomat. She shares what it was like to become repeatedly uprooted and re-rooted, and how returning to Mexico as a teenager left her feeling both at home and...

In this episode, I sit down with Stephen Hunnewell, a former national security and irregular warfare practitioner whose career has spanned Special Operations, geopolitics, technology, and strategic competition. Steve reflects on growing up in a single-parent household, the values that shaped him early on, and the impact 9/11 had on his generation. We talk about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, th...

In this episode, I sit down with Gian Jones, a real estate investor, community builder, and congressional candidate. Gian reflects on growing up in the Rockaways in a single-parent household, taking on responsibility early as the oldest of three, and a childhood that was modest but grounded in strong family and community. He shares how he found his way into real estate, first as a way to make mone...

In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Freeman, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, entrepreneur, and community builder whose life has been shaped by movement, reinvention, and the search for belonging. Daniel reflects on growing up in a military family, constantly adapting to new places while carrying a quiet sense of not fully fitting in. Over time, that same tension would shape his p...

In this episode, I sit down with Barker Keith, whose career spans military service, law, and sovereign risk management. Barker reflects on growing up in Venezuela, and how his early, idealised view of the United States was challenged by friends who saw the world less through ideology and more through national interests. He shares formative experiences from his time in the U.S. Army, his transition...

In this episode, I speak with Siobhán MacDermott, a cybersecurity and public policy expert whose career spans Silicon Valley, global finance, and advisory. Siobhán reflects on an itinerant childhood and how constantly being the “new kid” shaped her relationship with risk, identity, and belonging. What began as an ambition to become an ER doctor took unexpected turns, from scouting mobile tower loc...

In this episode, I sit down with Jay Truesdale, a geopolitical risk adviser and former U.S. diplomat and Navy Reserve officer whose career spans diplomacy, military service, and private sector leadership. Jay traces his sense of duty back to childhood, inspired by family stories of wartime service. That early call led him into diplomacy and the Navy Reserve, with formative experiences across Russi...

In this episode, I sit down with Andres Boaz Munoz Mosquera, a former Spanish military officer, NATO legal adviser, professor of international law, and spiritual caregiver, whose life has been shaped by war, democracy, and service. Andrés describes himself as “the product of three wars”: the Spanish Civil War, Spain’s colonial conflicts in North Africa, and the war in Bosnia in the 1990s. His fami...

In this episode, I sit down with Iman Kamel, an Egyptian filmmaker, writer, artist and creator, whose work explores inner resistance, transformation, and living between worlds. Living between Germany and Egypt, Ima’s path spans dance, visual art, film, and international relations. Her films blur the line between documentary and fiction, using embodied storytelling to explore fear, rebellion, and b...

In this episode, I speak with Guillermo de los Santos, a humanitarian fundraiser whose career began as an unintended detour. After studying international relations with hopes of working in diplomacy, Guillermo found himself stuck in telemarketing. What felt like a dead end became an unexpected training ground in persuasion, listening, and human motivation. A chance opportunity led him to UNICEF, w...

In this episode, I sit down with Mahendra Shunmoogam, a South African policy thinker working at the intersection of industry, trade, and climate diplomacy. Mahendra’s path spans HIV/AIDS activism, science and economic policy, government diplomacy, corporate affairs, and global climate governance. From working with Zackie Achmat at the Treatment Action Campaign to coordinating negotiations for the...

In this episode, I sit down with Rob Palmer, corporate government relations executive and retired U.S. Air Force Reserve public affairs officer, for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, influence, and the art of translating complexity across the worlds of politics, the military, and industry. Rob’s career spans trade association lobbying, military public affairs, NATO operations, and today t...

In this episode, I speak with Emma N’Gouan Anoh. Emma shares her journey and insights as a seasoned development professional currently working at the UNDP in Djibouti. Emma traces the pull she felt towards development to conversations with her father when noticing the jarring inequalities in her home country of Ivory Coast. In our conversation, we discuss what stakeholder participation means in pr...

In this episode, I speak with Dylan Monaghan, engineer, pilot, linguist, digital nomad, and author of Singlethreading. Dylan’s life is a study in reinvention: from a childhood in the Virgin Islands to an elite school in White Plains, from the discipline of the U.S. Air Force to the creative freedom of Japan. His story moves across cultures and identities, and somehow he has stitched these chapters...

In this episode, I speak with Fredrik Norman, whose story captures Norway’s remarkable transformation, from a country built on fishing to one where new generations could freely choose their path. We spoke about navigating career choices in a rapidly changing economy, and Fredrik’s journey through the energy industry, a path we both share, before he moved into public service. We also touched on mar...

In this episode, I speak with Nicodemus Ajak Bior, a former child soldier from South Sudan who defied unimaginable odds to become a scholar, public servant, and advocate for transparency. At just eight years old, Nicodemus was taken by rebels and thrust into a world of survival, separation, and loss. His escape, walking over hundreds of kilometres barefoot through war zones and jungles, marks the...

In this episode, I speak with Professor Michael Klein, founder and co-editor of EconoFact and Professor of Economics at The Fletcher School. Michael has served as Chief Economist in the U.S. Treasury and as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve and the IMF. We discuss how sound economic analysis can cut through noise and polarization, and why clear communication of facts is critical for better...

In this episode, I speak with Krystal Ramsden. Krystal was raised in an ultra-religious, homeschooled environment. Her early world was one of strict boundaries, until science, education, and the wider world cracked it open. What followed was a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and a career that has taken her from field camps in the Yukon to the geopolitical battlegrounds of mining finance and fragile...

In this episode, I speak with William Morrissey about his remarkable journey from a career in the special forces to leadership roles in the private sector. Bill reflects on pivotal moments in his path, when he chose to persevere through challenges, and when he decided it was time to cash his chips and move on. We explore how his military career shaped his approach to leadership, including his work...

In this episode, I speak with Professor Jeffrey Taliaferro of the Fletcher School, a leading scholar of international relations and a key voice in the development of neoclassical realism . We explore the formative experiences that led him to study great power strategy and the complex relationships between great powers and their allies. Jeff reflects on realism’s resurgence after Russia’s annexatio...

In this episode of At the Coalface, I sit down with Natalia, an entrepreneur and seeker whose story weaves together Russia, Ecuador, Canada, and beyond. Born to a Russian mother and Ecuadorian father, Natalia grew up in Quito feeling like both an insider and an outsider. Her father, a doctor in the jungle, would return with stories from indigenous peoples that sparked her lifelong fascination with...

In this episode, I speak with Gul Rukh Rahman, a woman whose life and work cross continents, cultures, and the fault lines of global politics. Born in Pakistan and raised in countries including Libya and Saudi Arabia, Gul moved to the US for university before settling in Europe 15 years ago. She grew up in conservative Peshawar in the protective bubble of a military family, yet in a region marked...

What does it take to rebuild your life, again and again, when the ground keeps shifting beneath you? In this personal and wide-ranging conversation, Philippe sits down with Honey Al Sayed, a media pioneer turned executive coach, whose life has spanned seven countries, three wars, and countless reinventions. Born in Kuwait to Syrian parents, Honey's path was anything but linear, from escaping...