The Persuaders podcast

Is the traditional perception of Public Affairs outdated?   Modern organizations demand more of Public Affairs Professionals than a good network among current politicians, and we are seeing a transition in expectations from a firefighter function to a business enabler. But the lack of common ground both in our profession, but also in the interaction with other professions, causes a lot of frustrat...

"Public Affairs - from a firefighter to a business enabler?" - this is the topic in this episode of the Persuaders Podcast - the only podcast only about Public Affairs...      In this episode we cover one of the biggest challenges in the Public Affairs departments across Europe right now: How Public Affairs can earn legitimacy.       To explore this topic, I have invited Jacob Lund Nielsen in to t...

The Public Affairs Manager Survey is a new yearly survey, which includes new data, insights and perspectives on the state of Public Affairs in Europe.    93 Public Affairs professionals from 27 countries in the EU has been interviewed for the survey by Anders Kopp.    So in this episode co-host Sosun Sendi, Public Affairs Director at Ulobby, interviews Anders about the findings of the Public Affai...

New episode of the Persuaders Podcast is out! The only podcast only about Public Affairs...      This time we dive into one of the hottest and most hyped trends in our field: AI and lobbyism.      My guest is Peter Aagaard, Associate Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University in Denmark.      Peter has recently published an essay called "Digital lobbying 2.0...

This time we talk about some of the biggest and hardest challenges in Public Affairs today: Delivering value and building a Public Affairs function from scratch!   To help me cover these enourmous challenges in Public Affairs, I am joined by Stefan Pinter ,  Head of Public Policy EMEA at Suzano - the largest pulp manufacturer in the world as well as one of the largest paper producers in Latin Amer...

New episode of the Persuaders Podcast! Episode 2 of season 4.    In this episode we talk to Thea Utoft, who is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting in Brussels. She leads Financial Services Public Affairs across EMEA for FTI Consulting.   In 2023 Thea was recognized as one of the 40 top influencers in Brussels by Politico.    So how do you become a "super lobbyist"? What skills or mindset...

The Persuaders Podcast is back with season 4 - with more insights from the world of Public Affairs!    We have entered a new year and traditionally we kick off the year with an episode about trends in Public Affairs. This year is no exception!   So in this first episode of 2024, Sosun Sendi, Public Affairs Director at Ulobby, takes on the role as a guest host of the podcast, as she quizzes the nor...

Episode 3, season 3 of the Persuaders Podcast - with Maria Teresa Scardigli, Managing Director, Kellen Europe. Maria has more than 20 years of experience in European Public Affairs, advocacy, and management of trade associations. From Brussels she heads Kellen on a European level and manages a team of about 40 professionals serving +30 trade associations.    In the episode I talk to  Maria about a...

Episode 2, season 3 of the Persuaders Podcast - with Assistant Professor Wiebke Junk. This time we talk to Wiebke Junk, who is an Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen. The starting point for our conversation in this episode is Wiebke's paper from 2022 " Is There a First Mover Advantage in Lobbying? A Comparative Analysis of How the Timing of Mobilization Affects the Influence of Int...

The Persuaders podcast is back with season 3! We kick off this third season with a special episode about trends in Public Affairs in 2023.  At the beginning of each year Anders Kopp Jensen shares his thoughts about trends in Public Affairs, exclusively on the podcast. Again this year, Ulobby Public Affairs Director, Sosun Sendi, takes on the role as guest host for this special episode and intervie...

This time we talk to Ellis Aizenberg, Assistant Professor at the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs at the University of Leiden (time of recording Ellis was working at Aarhus University in Denmark). Ellis conducts her research in relation to interest representation, lobbying and perceived legitimacy. We talk to Ellis about her recent article in Governance called "Conflict and salience as driver...

This time Alan Hardacre swings by the studio and shares his perspectives on the state of Public Affairs as well as the importance of the internal side of Public Affairs.    Alan has a PhD in international relations from the Loughborough University. Alan has many years of experience both in public administration as well as on the corporate side. He has been practising, teaching and writing on advoc...

In this episode 4 in season 2 of the Persuaders Podcast we talk to Marko Kovic. Marko has a PhD in communication and media studies from the University of Zurich. He is now a researcher, author and podcaster.  Marko co-authored the paper "Digital astroturfing in politics: Definition, typology, and countermeasures", which is the basis of our conversation. In the episode we cover:  - What is digital...

In this episode I talk to Mark Dober, Managing Director of Dober Partners and also the man behind Best in Brussels.    The Public Affairs job market is on fire at the moment. The demand for skilled Public Affairs pros is by far exceeding the supply. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a big role as a catalyst for this, but also as Public Affairs is no longer just considered a defensive discipline - i...

Episode 2, season 2 of the Persuaders Podcast - with PhD Maiken Røed. This time we talk to Maiken Røed, who recently defended her PhD thesis, at the department of political science at Lund University. In her research Maiken primarily focuses on interest groups, political parties as well as the EU. In this episode we discuss when political parties listen to interest groups - in the light of Maikens...

The Persuaders podcast is back with season 2!  We kick of this second season with a special episode about trends in Public Affairs.    At the beginning of each year Anders Kopp Jensen shares his thoughts about trends in Public Affairs, but this year he shares them on the podcast.   Ulobby Public Affairs Director, Sosun Sendi, takes on the role of guest host for this episode and interview Anders ab...

The last 2021-episode of the Persuaders podcast is now out!   My guest on this episode is Sara Carrer. Sara has an impressive career with more than 13 years of experience from the consultancy side before joining the UN World Food Program in 2021 as a Chief Political Officer.    In this episode we discuss: - How you handle the switch from the consultancy side to working for the biggest humanitarian...

In the 10. episode of the Persuaders podcast my guest is Christophe Diercxsens who works for Too Good To Go as a Global Public Affairs Manager. Christophe has 10 years experience from the consultancy side before joining Too Good To Go in 2019.    In this episode we discuss: - How you handle the switch from the consultancy side to working in-house, including the differences, challenges and pressure...

My guest on this episode is Troy Scully. Troy is an American living in Brussels and has worked in different senior communication and marketing roles at Lockheed Martin for more than a decade before joining Goodyear in 2016, first as a communications director and now Vice President for Communications & Public Affairs in the EMEA region. In this episode we had a great conversation about many aspects...

This time we are joined by Andrew Hobbs, Partner & Public Policy Leader at Ernst & Young for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. And this episode we talk about stakeholder capitalism.  Stakeholder capitalism is not a new term, but the term is evolving and is in some ways also being re-defined. As we discuss in this episode, stakeholder capitalism includes focus on creating long-term value not o...

In this episode I had the pleasure of talking to Anna Koj, Managing Director for Mavence in Brussels. Mavence is an international recruitment firm at the crossroads of Public Affairs and people management.  In this episode we get the headhunters perspective on the state of Public Affairs and how 1) the demand for PA pros is increasing and many are currently being approached, especially from consul...

The sixth episode of the Persuaders podcast is now out! This time I had the pleasure of talking to Kristian Ruby, secretary general for Eurelectric. Kristian has a background from journalism, he has worked as a speechwriter, as an assistant to former commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, he has worked as a public affairs advisor and as chief policy officer for windeurope - and is now...

In the fifth episode of the Persuaders podcast we fly to Brussels and talk to Yiannis Korkovelos, EU Government Affairs Manager at Philip Morris.   Yiannis is a seasoned PA pro with experience from Singapore, Paris, London and Brussels. In this episode Yiannis shares some perspectives from his own world: how PMI is going through massive changes as they are working towards a smoke-free world and wh...

The fourth episode of the Persuaders podcast is out! This time we jump into the world of academia and talk to Anne Rasmussen, professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen.   We discuss the revolving doors phenomenon in Public Affairs: politicians and civil servants moving into the private sector and we get Annes view on if this is a widespread problem. We talk about i...

The fourth episode of the Persuaders podcast is now available. This time my guest is John Lindberg, Public Affairs Manager at the World Nuclear Association. In this episode John shares his perspective about his shift from parliament to Public Affairs, how he is working to make the debate about nuclear energy more nuanced, but also how the organization and players in the industry can be more proact...