Alastair Greener Generationally Speaking

Alastair chats to Haresh Patel, a highly experienced location and post production sound engineer whose credits span film, television, documentary and commercials, and who also teaches the next generation at the London Film Academy. The two have worked together many times over the years on shoots, and this conversation grew out of one of those long waits between takes. In this episode Haresh traces...

Alastair is in conversation with Emily Stone, a senior analyst in Deloitte's consulting business and three years into the firm's BrightStart degree apprenticeship. Emily came straight from sixth form at a grammar school geared almost entirely towards university, and chose instead a route that has given her a fully funded degree, a chartered managership and three years of client work by the time he...

Alastair is joined by David Duffett, an award-winning speaker, chartered engineer and author of “Be The Nerd That's Heard”, who helps technical experts raise what he calls their human bandwidth so that their knowledge and ideas are not lost through ineffective communication. David's own path ran through pirate radio transmitters he built himself, the Civil Aviation Authority's telecoms engineering...

Alastair welcomes Zoe Thompson, a leadership consultant and coach who works with senior leaders and organisations across the UK and EMEA, helping them navigate fast paced, high stakes environments while building more intentional leadership and higher performing teams. Zoe joined the police service at 18, in uniform on the front desk of her local station with no Google, no training course and no ca...

In this episode, Alastair talks to James Stallabrass, a student who is just entering his second year reading Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Durham University. During the holidays James works in his local pub, and it gives him an unusually broad view of student life, work and the generations he serves across the bar. James pushes back hard on the idea that there is such a thing as a typical...

Alastair is joined by Karen Krawczyk, an author, facilitator and retirement coach who spent much of her career as a speech and language therapist working with adults in hospitals and community settings in the NHS. Karen left at 60, invested in new skills and built a portfolio life combining work, volunteering, personal interests with a renewed sense of purpose. Having lost both her parents before...

Alastair is joined by Emily Haslam-Jones, a consultant, therapist, yoga teacher, and specialist in co-regulation and neurodivergence. Emily works with children, parents, carers, and businesses in crisis. She helps them rebuild trust, connection, and emotional regulation using evidence-based tools. Her background spans humanitarian crisis intervention, specialist education, and the therapy room, gi...

Alastair sits down with Robbie Westacott, a millennial writer, marketing consultant, and founder of Seaforth Creative Group, who has spent his career helping events and media companies get more from their content, communities, and data. A master's graduate in creative writing and a lifelong storyteller, Robbie is currently ghostwriting a business book, crafting his own fiction, and building an onl...

Alastair welcomes Farzana Parkar, an HR consultant at face2face HR and who describes herself as an Xennial with 15 years’ experience in HR.  In this episode, Farzana and Alastair explore what working in HR really looks like in 2026, from Gen Z’s reluctance to “play the game” and the importance of robust onboarding, to the disconnect between what companies promise during recruitment and what employ...

Alastair sits down with Danny Wang, a 23-year-old Gen Z IT sales professional who transformed himself from a shy, introverted teenager into a national-level public speaking champion in under a year. Danny's story is a compelling one. After leaving school without qualifications and working two jobs, he made a deliberate decision to reinvent himself through communication, networking, and public spea...

Alastair welcomes Victoria Rennoldson, a multi-award-winning global leadership coach, international speaker, bestselling author, and podcast host specialising in strategic communication and cultural intelligence. A cusp Millennial who began her career at Boots before founding her own business, Victoria now works with leaders and organisations worldwide, helping them navigate the communication chal...

Former school “superhead” Nick Bowen reflects on 20 years leading large secondary schools and turning around failing institutions. Nick explores how education has evolved, from low accountability to data-driven performance management and why today’s students demand earned respect rather than automatic authority. They discuss generational shifts in parenting, rising parental accountability pressure...

Alastair is joined by International archer and Civic Engagement Manager Lizzy Rees who reflects on growing up in a household of five millennials, competing at elite level sport, and working across generations at university. Lizzy shares insights on how sport funding evolved post-Lottery investment, how Gen Z students engage differently, and why millennials are navigating delayed milestones while b...

21-year-old mental health and digital wellbeing campaigner Paddy Crump shares what it’s really like entering the workplace as Gen Z. From struggling with OCD and school anxiety to campaigning in Parliament as Campaigns Director at Flip Gen, Paddy offers a candid insight into youth mental health, social media regulation, and intergenerational misunderstanding. With Alastair he explores onboarding c...

In this episode Emma Clark joins Alastair live from Australia to explore rising anxiety in schools, generational differences in parenting, and the reality behind Australia’s under-16 social media ban. A former English teacher and now co-founder of Anxiety Uncovered, Emma shares her deeply personal story of childhood trauma, high-functioning anxiety, eventual burnout and how that journey now shapes...

Natasha Wallace joins Alastair to unpack conscious leadership. This is a science-backed approach to building high-trust, high-performance cultures without burning people out. Drawing on her own experience of severe burnout, Natasha explains how values conflict, not just workload, drives disengagement. She also discusses why Gen Z’s refusal to accept “work at all costs” cultures may be a rational r...

Joe Rowntree; comedian, presenter, and founder of Anxiety Uncovered joins Alastair to explore anxiety, parenting, and growing up in a permanently connected world. They discuss the “xennial” experience of analogue childhood and digital adulthood, how smartphones have reshaped family life, and why practical guardrails beat either panic or denial when it comes to young people and technology. 5 highli...

Alastair speaks with higher education professional Charlotte Marshall about what student life and employability really look like right now. From supporting “hard to reach” students to preparing Gen Z for a workplace that doesn’t come with pastoral support, Charlotte offers a grounded view of the transition from education to employment. The conversation progresses to collaboration, communication ac...

George Cairns, founder of Get AI Powers, joins Alastair to cut through the noise around AI and explain what “agentic” systems really are: tools that can carry out computer-based work with minimal human input. George explores how different generations respond to AI, why older workers are often more adaptable than stereotypes suggest, and why most AI projects fail not because of tech, but because or...

Val Corbett brings decades of experience to a deceptively simple question: how do we get people talking again? From prison reform to professional networking, Val argues that isolation has become a default state and that connection often has to be deliberately engineered through structure, shared spaces, and face-to-face interaction. She suggests that age doesn’t equal mindset and why phone bans do...

Patrick Quinton-Smith joins Alastair to dismantle myths about Gen Z at work and focus on what actually improves retention, performance, and engagement. They explore coaching as a high-ROI investment, the unintended damage of poorly designed hybrid work, and why early-career development needs urgent rethinking as AI reshapes entry-level roles. Podcast highlights Employer-funded coaching that genuin...

Neuroscience-informed coach Alison Blackler joins Alastair to explain why generational friction may feel personal, but why it usually isn’t. In this fascinating episode she helps us understand how the brain’s threat response shapes communication, why certainty increases conflict, and how curiosity and empowerment create calmer, higher-performing teams. Alison Blackler Takeaways: Communication styl...

In this podcast Tyler Thompson, (award-winning speaker and youth communication coach), shares how his split upbringing of local roots and private-school opportunities, led him into public speaking and youth work. He explains how he connects with young people, why mental-health and phone culture matter, and practical ways both young and older people can close the communication gap. Episode highligh...

At just 17, Ruby juggles A-Levels, fashion-design ambitions and a record-breaking hospice-fundraiser. She credits her school’s “competitive compassion” culture for normalising charity work. Ruby shares how she builds peer support networks, manages exam stress through friend “debrief dinners”, and why asking older generations about their own passions is her favourite icebreaker. Ruby Woodward Takea...

Freddie Miller shares his journey from urban London to a rural career in river management. He breaks common Gen Z stereotypes with his passion, work ethic and ability to connect across generations. A refreshing conversation about purpose, communication and the evolving relationship between younger and older workers in traditional industries. Freddie Miller Takeaways: Purpose-driven work is Gen Z’s...