Let’s Reboot the Future

This week we're joined by Xander Beks , founder of Eye For Nature , whose whole way of working began with a simple willingness to step up. As a teenager, when others met a good idea with "that will never happen," his instinct was different: nothing is impossible until we have tried. More often than not, it became a success. He puts it down to an open, generous approach, one he trace...

Explorer, TV presenter and author Alice Morrison joins us this week, fresh from a world first: becoming the first recorded person to cross Saudi Arabia from north to south on foot. For Alice, the heart of adventure is understanding, and not only of the people next door. Through the stories she gathers and shares from her journeys, she helps us get to know other people, countries, religions and pla...

Award-winning author and co-founder and director of the pioneering Black Mountains College, Ben Rawlence joins us this week. He shares how his life has been guided by a need for fairness for all and a deep commitment to morally important campaigns. That work in policy and human rights has taken him to the USA, to his beloved Tanzania, and across Africa, a career that someone recently described to...

This week we're joined by Joshua Ford , an award-winning actor and filmmaker whose work explores kindness, vulnerability, human connection and the belief that creativity can change lives.  In 2024 he made a film called Hey You, Yes You, Open Me , dropping a hundred handwritten notes of kindness across London's tubes and buses, each one a message of hope and an invitation to connect. It w...

Ben Peers, Creative Director, Designer and Videographer, believes that nothing ever really changes for the better without a little bit of shameless, idealistic creativity. He also believes that our fixation on metrics and the bottom line can stifle our ability to challenge the status quo and shame idealism out of us. He recalls the same trajectory in his own life: creativity that flourished in pri...

What happens when you stop trying to fit in and start trusting your own way of seeing the world? Dr Lucy Wallace, a convenor and peacebuilder in food systems, has spent her career bringing people together in rooms thick with conflict, holding to one quiet belief: everyone deserves a seat at the table. In this conversation she takes us from a childhood spent hunting out small pockets of nature in t...

What happens when you refuse to accept that nothing can be done? In this episode, we hear from Samantha Ward OBE, Deputy CEO of Royal Voluntary Service , whose lifelong conviction that the world can be changed for the better has shaped an extraordinary career in service and volunteering. From childhood, Sam had a powerful sense of right and wrong and the grit to go with it, always asking not just...

Before he made it to the boardroom, David Butcher managed the stage at a Jimi Hendrix concert. What he learned backstage on a Baltic island about motivation, leadership and getting the best out of people stayed with him through three CEO roles and a lifetime in business. In this episode, David makes the case that the most effective leaders are not the loudest ones. Kindness, compassion and the cou...

What does it look like to build a business where people truly matter? Edwin Booth CBE , Executive Chairman at E.H.Booth & Co ltd, shares his journey from arriving as an 18 year old into his family's business, shaped immediately by the sheer kindness of the people around him, to becoming a leader who puts people at the heart of everything. Edwin reflects on how culture is built from the in...

Gemma Lannon has created a wonderful gathering space in London for people channelling their work towards sustainability and climate solutions - it's called Treo House. In this episode, Gemma shares how the sudden loss of her father at 15 reshaped her understanding of the world, teaching her to hold two things at once: the uncertainty of outcomes, and the courage to act anyway. She reflects on...

Michael Macy may describe himself as having a minor role, but a front row seat in establishing peace across some of the world's most complex conflict zones - but the lessons he carries from those experiences are anything but minor. At the heart of this conversation is a deceptively simple but profound insight: "Too often people think you have to resolve all the conflicts before you can h...

Felicity Aston MBE is a climate scientist, polar explorer, expedition leader and record-breaker. She was the first woman to ski across Antarctica alone. Most recently, she led the B.I.G. (Before It’s Gone) Arctic Research Expedition, gathering vital material for Arctic sea ice research. In this episode, Felicity shares the importance of using what you’re good at to address the issues facing our wo...

In this episode, we’re joined by Gaynor Morrison , a midwife, lecturer and photographer, and the creator of You Were Held . Drawing on her role as a midwife safeguarding lead, Gaynor shares how she supports some of the most complex moments in care, when babies are removed from their mothers following court decisions. Through You Were Held , she offers a simple but profound gift: professional photo...

Rich Good has spent over 40 years exploring the human condition, drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. At the heart of his episode is a black and white photograph of Rich as a young boy, beaming outside a wigwam in his grandmother’s garden in Aberdeen. A child full of love and ready for adventure. He takes us through the journey of that boy’s life, the challenges he faced, the...

Daryl Davis is an American musician, lecturer, activist and author whose life’s work has been shaped by a simple question: why would you hate me when you don’t even know me? He has spent decades studying, seeking out and speaking with members of hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. Through Daryl’s calm, human conversations, many have chosen to leave these organisations and encourage others to...

Jennifer Nadel shares what it means to trust what you know is right, even when others dismiss it as naive. From protesting as a young girl in the countryside to drafting a law to make it an offence for politicians to deliberately deceive the public, she reflects on how taking action, even when it does not succeed, moves us out of despair and into something more hopeful and generative. Years on, th...

Rachel (Rai) Lewis is the director and co-founder of Plant One , a Cornish woodland creation CIC restoring habitats and connecting communities with nature across the South West. Rai is also autistic, and in this conversation she speaks candidly about what it’s like to move through a world that often perceives her as naïve. She shares some of the traits many autistic people experience - struggling...

Mark Winters is a Texan acoustic rock singer-songwriter with an unexpected past in aerospace engineering. Now a regular touring artist, he blends analytical thinking, creativity, and a hopeful spirit in songs that celebrate reinvention and science-fuelled joy. When Mark says “think like a proton,” he is encouraging his audiences to approach the world with positivity and possibility. Coming to musi...

Ben Solanky, Co-Founder and Director of Empathy Action , speaks up for not allowing your enthusiasm to be dampened. From a young age, Ben was encouraged to bring his enthusiasm and energy to any task he put his hand to. A sliding door event brought him into the world of development, where he learned that championing a cause is not optional, it is a powerful skill, especially when funding and resou...

Sarah Howard, Managing Director of the Global Philanthropy Forum , speaks up against allowing others to judge our ideals as naïve. Growing up in the Bay Area, at the heart of Silicon Valley, shaped Sarah’s cultural context; where ideas that might be labelled naïve elsewhere are re-framed as bold, innovative, and novel. She deeply resonates with this energy and brings a willingness to push at the e...

This week we’re joined by Minnie Moll, CEO of the Design Council, who shares stories that shaped her belief in pushing beyond what many think is possible. From growing up on a boat in the English countryside, Minnie’s deep love of nature and animals fuelled a childhood full of adventure and curiosity, always bringing other children along for the ride. She speaks with real pride about creating the...

Seasoned creative, entrepreneur, and advocate for a regenerative future, Gareth Jenkins joins Let’s Reboot the Future to share how life experiences, from encounters with racism to time spent at Plum Village, gently chipped away at his childhood naivety and led him back to something deeper: a belief that the future doesn’t have to be a continuation of the way things are today, and that we can remak...

American author John Perkins joins Let’s Reboot the Future to reflect on what it really means to follow your heart, and the courage it takes to keep listening to that inner voice even when it disrupts expectations, security and status. John shares how dropping out of college to become a journalist in Boston set him on an unexpected path that allowed him to build skills in both writing and business...

Writer, theatre maker and producer specialising in immersive and site specific performance, Marie Klimis joins Let’s Reboot the Future to share her stories and reflect on how she has learned, and helped others, to think about the world in a different way. Marie reflects on learning early in life that rules need to be questioned, and that being kind, being a good person, and not betraying anyone’s...

Augustus Hoff, conservationist and storyteller, shows how passion can bridge divides and inspire care for the environment beyond our own backyard. He reflects on how growing up in a small Florida town taught him the importance of connecting across differences and inspiring care for the natural world. Now pursuing a master’s in environmental science and policy at CU Boulder, he shares his insights...