Conscious Curiosity

🎉 Season Finale! We’ve made it to the end of Season 2 of Conscious Curiosity , and this one’s a little different. No academic papers, no references, no guests - just Franck and Liz, two ADHD brains reflecting on what it really means to thrive (at least, in their interpretations of the word). From structure and sustainability to self-awareness and sleep, they unpack what thriving looks like i...

What does it really mean to work with neurodivergent people, not just about them? In this powerful guest episode of Conscious Curiosity, Franck sits down with Lauren Powell ,   lecturer in Psychology and Education at the University of Sheffield and a lived experience neurodiversity researcher. She is also the author of the paper “We’re Not Your Empathy Exercise: Reclaiming Co-Production...

What happens when we bring two passionate minds together to challenge how we think about neurodiversity at work? In this special guest episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck welcomes Nat Hawley,  founder of Divergent Thinking, neurodiversity strategist, TEDx speaker, and an all-round trailblazer in inclusive design. Together, they unpack one of the most cited articles in workplace inclusion...

What do people really think about the neurodiversity movement at the moment... and is everyone truly on board? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz explore new 2025 research into public perceptions of neurodiversity  - from optimism and inclusion to confusion, activism, and the ongoing tension between “difference” and “disorder.” They unpack how language, identity, and soci...

What does it really mean to thrive with ADHD? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz dive into new 2025 research exploring the factors that help adults with ADHD function, and continue to flourish, in everyday life. From social support and coping strategies to the surprising role of depression and self-awareness, they unpack what separates surviving from thriving. Together, they e...

What makes friendships between neurodivergent people feel different, and why do they often “just click” ? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz explore new research on how neurodivergent people communicate, connect, and create safe spaces with each other. From “compatible weirdness” to the double empathy problem , they unpack what happens when shared experience becomes shared lan...

  What if ADHD wasn’t about deficit   but instead about intensity, passion, and creativity? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz dive into new research that reframes ADHD through three themes:  ✨ Intensity as a source of passion  🔄 On/off attention dynamics  🛠️ Recovery strategies beyond “just rest” Along the way, they explore the role of playfulness i...

What can something seemingly unrelated to neurodiversity, the US Department of Defence, teach us about workplace inclusion? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , we explore a fascinating report on neurodiversity in the national security workforce - and uncover lessons every organisation can use. From the “accommodations dilemma” to rethinking interviews, we look at how small, simple change...

  Are Smartphones Sabotaging Our Ability to Pay Attention? This week on Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz dive into a fascinating meta-analysis exploring the link between smartphone use and learning outcomes. Spoiler alert: it’s not great news. From fractured focus to poorer information recall, we explore how even light phone use can erode our ability to retain and understand information -...

In this powerful episode, Franck and Liz deep dive into the Independent ADHD Taskforce Report: Part One commissioned by NHS England in 2024 and released in June 2025 - focusing on the emotional reality behind the policy. They explore what it means to live in a two-tier healthcare system, where access to support is often dictated by postcode, income, and crisis-point criteria. From cross-agency dat...

Could artificial intelligence revolutionise how we diagnose ADHD? In this episode, Franck and Liz explore the promise - and problems - of using AI to speed up ADHD diagnosis. From facial recognition and voice analysis to virtual reality tasks and NHS data sifting, researchers are testing new ways to spot ADHD traits faster, more affordably, and with fewer barriers. But how accurate is it? Who...

What does it mean for your condition to be labelled as disabled - especially when the label doesn’t feel like yours? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz explore a small but powerful study on adults with dyslexia. Together, they unpack the tension between diagnosis and identity, the pros and cons of the “superpower” narrative, and the emotional weight of ticking the disabil...

To celebrate Conscious Curiosity Season 2, we're posting not one but  two  episodes in this first week back. In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Liz explore a 2023 study on workplace masking.  We explore how masking shows up across different neurotypes, why people do it, and the toll it takes on mental health, identity, and job satisfaction. From internalised ableism...

To celebrate Conscious Curiosity Season 2, we're posting not one but  two  episodes in this first week back. In the first episode of Season 2, Conscious Curiosity returns and this time Franck has a new co-host (!) , Business Psychologist and neurodiversity coach Liz Mulhall. Together, Franck and Liz dive into a recent study exploring how students, staff, and faculty define and experience...

Conscious Curiosity is back for Season 2, as of... tomorrow! This time Franck is joined by Season 2 co-host by Liz Mulhall , a Business Psychologist and neurodiversity coach. Across over a dozen 12 episodes we'll explore neurodiversity in the workplace and academia through an ADHD-first lens, pairing fresh research with lived experience. Expect clear takeaways, candid conversations, and a couple o...

Episode 12: Celebrating Season One - A Reflective Summary In this special episode of Conscious Curiosity , the last before we take a break for a little while, Franck and Matt reflect on the key themes explored throughout Season One, offering personal insights and takeaways from their journey together. From motivation to executive functions, they revisit the importance of context, self-awareness, a...

Episode 11: Executive Functions... With A Little Help From Our Friends Mixing it up this week, Franck & Matt continued onto the final part of their 3-part episode run-down on Executive Functions, calling in a few favours from friends to share their own thoughts & interpretations on the subject. A HUGE THANK YOU to all the coaches & peers that helped us piece this episode toge...

Episode 10: Further Expanding on Executive Functions In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt dive deep once more into the role of executive functions, how they shape our behaviour, and the critical importance of context in understanding and improving them. Drawing from Phineas Gage’s story and real-life experiences, they explore how changes to the brain, whether through injur...

Episode 9: Exploring Executive Functions In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt take a step back to examine what executive functions really are and why context, not character, is so often the missing piece in making lasting change. Building on Sabine Doebel’s TED Talk and real-life coaching experiences, they explore how stress, environment, and support systems influence the “cond...

Episode 8: Turning Attention Inside Out In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt dive deep into the neuroscience of attention, using a recent academic paper to explore what actually triggers our focus and how context shapes what we notice. From Formula 1 drivers visualising corners to the subtle cues that shape everyday decisions, they break down the complex mechanisms that drive o...

Episode 7: The Relationship Between Attention and Memory In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck & Matt dive deep into one of the most foundational - and misunderstood - relationships in cognitive science: the dance between attention and memory . From fleeting thoughts in working memory to lasting life lessons in long-term memory, it turns out that attention isn’t just about...

Episode 6: Paying Attention to Attention In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck & Matt unpack the groundbreaking work of Michael Posner and Mary Rothbart on the neuroscience of attention. Far from being a single skill, attention is revealed to be a set of three distinct systems, each with a vital role in how we engage with the world. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 🔹 The three co...

Episode 5: Why We're All Designed To Chase Rewards In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt explore a fascinating neuroscience paper by Aviv Weinstein titled “The Role of the Reward System in the Regulation of Motivation” . Together, they unpack what the latest brain research reveals about how motivation really works – and why we sometimes feel energised to act (or not). We'll...

Episode 4: Is Society Mismatched to ADHD's Suiting Evolutionary Traits? In this episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt dive into the thought-provoking paper "Distractibility and Impulsivity in ADHD as an Evolutionary Mismatch" by Anne-Laure Le Cunff . Together, they explore how ADHD traits , such as impulsivity and distractibility , might have been beneficial in our ancestral past but no...

Episode 3: How Thinking About Our Thinking Helps Our Creativity In today’s episode of Conscious Curiosity , Franck and Matt dive into a deep topic—thinking about their own thinking. That’s right, things start to get deep ! 🧠 Together, they explore the paper "Individuals with High Metacognitive Ability Are Better at Divergent and Convergent Thinking" by Jiang et al (2023) . This fascinating study...