At the Coalface

In this episode, I catch up with Nikole Burroughs, whose career has taken her from Capitol Hill to the State Department and USAID, and now to government affairs and lobbying in Washington. Growing up in rural Vermont, Nikole had little exposure to international affairs until a university class on the European Union opened up a new world. Her instinct to challenge injustice was already there, thoug...

In this episode, I sit down with Kim Wilson, a financial inclusion scholar and practitioner whose work has taken her from the world of business and finance to the everyday financial lives of migrants and communities often overlooked by formal institutions. Kim reflects on how her early career in finance led her towards international development, and how her experiences with microfinance challenged...

In this episode, I sit down with David Browne, a former USAID Foreign Service Officer whose career has taken him from Bolivia and Bangladesh to the West Bank, Uganda, and now back home to local government in North Carolina. David reflects on growing up between India and the United States, never quite fitting neatly into a single cultural identity, and how those early experiences shaped his lifelon...

In this episode, I sit down with Rob (Mark) Nelson, a pharmacist and lifelong student of languages, culture, and global affairs. Mark reflects on growing up in New Mexico, where a rich blend of cultures, languages, and family influences first sparked his curiosity about the wider world. He shares how formative experiences in Mexico deepened his appreciation for cultural understanding and reinforce...

In this episode, I sit down with Perry Boyle for the second time, two years after our first conversation about his efforts to build Ukraine's domestic defence industry. Much has changed since then, with Ukraine emerging as one of the world's most innovative defence ecosystems and developing technologies that other countries are increasingly looking to learn from. Perry reflects on how th...

In this episode, Siri and I sit down with Carolina L., an Argentinian economist and humanitarian whose career with the United Nations took her from New York to East Timor and Iraq. Carolina reflects on the experiences that first drew her to international affairs, her fascination with diplomacy, and the sense of purpose she found working in some of the world's most challenging environments. Ca...

In this episode, I sit down with Tyson Johnson, a leader whose career has spanned intelligence, enterprise risk, cybersecurity, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence. Tyson reflects on the conversations around his family's dinner table, the influence of his World War II veteran grandfather, and the curiosity that first led him to explore how the world works. He shares how a care...

In this episode, I sit down with Mildred Pantouw, a public health and international development leader whose career has taken her from Indonesia to the United States, Guinea, and back to Indonesia. Mildred reflects on growing up between two cultures and how navigating life between Indonesia and the United States shaped her understanding of identity, community, and service. She shares how her faith...

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Salinas, a former U.S. Coast Guard officer whose career has spanned international security, maritime cooperation, and technology. Chris reflects on the experiences during his teenage years that first drew him toward a life of service, and how those early influences led him to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He shares how working alongside partners across cultur...

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...