The Human Risk Podcast

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) gets smarter and tkaes over more tasks, what happens to human dynamics like trust, transparency, leadership and empathy. How can humans and machines wowrk togehter effectively?  And how can leaders lead in this new world? Episode Summary  AI is often discussed as a technical challenge, but the more interesting question is how it impacts humans and how we will interf...

What lies behind Romance Fraud? Romance fraud is one of the fastest-growing forms of fraud worldwide, and one of the most emotionally devastating. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. On this episode, I’m speaking to Becky Holmes , author of the bestselling book Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You . Becky didn’t become interested in romance fraud through victimhood or research. She stumbled i...

Why do we struggle to talk about grief? Why that matters and what we can do about it, is the subject of this episode. Summary Grief is something almost all of us will experience, and yet something we still struggle to talk about openly. Not because it’s rare, but because it makes us uncomfortable. We lack a shared language for it, feel uneasy about how long it lasts, and often don’t know how to si...

Are we losing our ability to think critically as we rely more on AI? Episode Summary My guest is social psychologist Dr Guy Champniss to explore the role of behavioural science in business and the emerging challenges of AI in the workplace. We discuss why behaviour change is so hard to sell, the myth that behavioural science is only needed when everything else fails, and how organisations often ov...

Why do governments rely on coercion and punishment when voluntary cooperation often produces better, more sustainable outcomes? Episode Summary On this episode, I’m joined once again by Professor Yuval Feldman , who returns to explore the core question behind his latest book: Can The Public Be Trusted? Instead of asking how much we trust our governments, Yuval flips the script, asking how much gov...

We all intuitively know that hypocrisy is a bad thing. But what if it isn’t a flaw, but a feature? But maybe the real problem isn’t hypocrisy, it’s how we think about it. Episode Summary On this episode, I'm talking to Dr Michael Hallsworth , a leading behavioural scientist and the author of The Hypocrisy Trap. We explore a topic that’s instantly recognisable but not often properly understood. Hyp...

Can a single sentence change the way you see the world? My guest on this episode, James Geary thinks so. Episode Summary On this episode, I speak with writer and journalist James, whose lifelong fascination with aphorisms — the world’s shortest literary form — reveals why brevity really is the soul of wit. James explains what makes an aphorism work, shares the five laws that define them, and explo...

What can war teach us about how the human brain really works? And why is human decision-making a more significant factor than military strength in wars? Episode Summary On this episode, I'm exploring how the human brain truly manifests in conflict—and what that reveals about everyday decision-making. Dr Nicholas Wright , a neurologist-turned-neuroscientist who advises the Pentagon Joint Staff, joi...

What if your body is learning things your mind doesn’t know? What if memory wasn't just something that our brain has? Episode Summary  On this episode, I'm exploring a bold idea with neuroscientist Dr Nikolay Kukushkin : memory doesn’t just live in the brain. It might be a basic property of life itself. We unpack how scientists define memory (behavioural change over time) versus how the rest of us...

What if the biggest AI risk isn’t bias or data, but human behaviour itself? How might AI impact the people using it and what does that mean for how we design solutions and deploy the technology? Episode Summary On this episode, I’m joined by a returning guest.  Richard Chataway is a behavioural science expert and strategist who joins me to explore how we can design AI systems that truly work for h...

What happens when the worst thing you’ve ever done becomes the foundation for your life’s work? Episode Summary My guest on this episode is Tom Hardin, otherwise known as Tipper X.   He's been on the show before, but this time we're tackling a different angle. If you don’t already know his story, Tom was a rising star in the hedge fund world in his twenties when he became involved in insider tradi...

Why do so many workplaces run on bullshit processes and procedures?  And how might Behavioural Science help resolve them? Episode Summary In this episode, I sit down with author, speaker and advisor James Healy to explore his book BS at Work — and the everyday nonsense we all recognise inside organisations. James argues that while behavioural science has transformed public policy and consumer beha...

What if the most powerful tool at work isn’t logic, but laughter? On this episode I'm speaking to a comedian who far from thinking humour is a workplace distraction, thinks it might be one of our most powerful tools.  Episode Summary My guest is Pep Rosenfeld : comedian, improviser, and co-founder of the Amsterdam-based comedy institution Boom Chicago. He’s also the author of Work Laugh Balance ,...

Why do cyclists in London run red lights? It's against the law, and yet, if you've cycled, driven or just observed London's cyclists, you'll know that many of them don't stop when there's a red light.  Confession time: I'm one of them. Not all the time, but some of the time, and weirdly not when I'm in Munich — the other city I live in — but only in London. The question of why this happens — not j...

What if the ideas that linger in the back of your mind — the ones you can’t quite explain — are the ones you most need to pay attention to? Episode Summary In this episode, I explore that question with Dr Nuno Reis, a former physicist and investment banker turned thinker and guide in uncovering what he calls rare dots — those unique, pre-verbal insights that feel deeply resonant but don’t yet fit...

Is listening a hidden superpower we’ve overlooked?  You've heard of Active Listening, but what is Radical Listening and why does it matter? Episode Summary On this episode, I’m joined by Professor Christian van Nieuwerburgh , an academic who also describes himself as 'Coach on a Motorcycle'. He's on the show to help me explore what he calls 'Radical Listening'. Christian is Professor of Coaching a...

Why do we follow orders or go along with things that feel wrong? Why might defiance be better than compliance? And how can we go about becoming more defiant? Episode Summary I’ve always been fascinated by why people obey, even when it clashes with their instincts or values. In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr Sunita Sah — a physician-turned-organisational psychologist whose work explores the hi...

What happens when citizens lose faith in the institutions that serve them? And how can we rebuild that trust? Episode Summary On this episode, I'm speaking to someone who cares passionately about this subject and who has made it her life's work to research and solve it.   From politicians who lie, to corruption scandals, to public services that simply don’t work the way we expect—especially when w...

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘the show must go on’.  But when shouldn’t the show go on?  To help me answer that, I’m speaking to someone who has spent 35 years managing some of Australia’s most iconic large-scale events — from Taylor Swift concerts to public city spectacles with crowds over 200,000, and corporate experiences — and has often faced the question: when should the show  really stop? My g...

What if the real risk of AI isn’t job loss but brain atrophy? Episode Summary If you've spent any time on social media recently, you'll be familiar with the flood of low-quality AI-generated sludge. And on this episode, I'm speaking to someone who is leading a one-woman campaign against it and in favour of human-generated content.  Her name is Zsike Peter and she's the fiercely human founder of an...

What if we treated mental health like a capability instead of a crisis? On this episode, I'm talking to a business school professor and a counselling psychologist about their new book that looks at practical ways we can manage mental health. Not after it manifests itself, but beforehand. Episode Summary Mental health has become part of the workplace conversation, but all too often, that conversati...

What if joy became the most important metric when we organised events? Or, to put it another way, why are so many events uninspiring and not very joyful? Episode Summary On this episode, I’m joined by event strategist, educator, and author Tahira Endean to explore a provocative question: what if we measured events not just by financial metrics, but by the joy they deliver? Drawing from her new boo...

Why is getting shit done so hard, and what can we do about it? Episode Summary Getting shit done isn’t just about motivation or tools, it’s about design. In this episode, I speak to Claus Raasted: consultant, author, speaker, experience designer, and someone who describes himself — with tongue firmly in cheek — as an “overpaid rockstar consultant.”  But behind the flair is a deep understanding of...

What happens when a British communications expert takes her political instincts and corporate storytelling skills to Germany? 🎙️ Overview   On this episode, I speak with Katy Diggory, who’s done exactly that — and learned a lot about tone, culture, and translation along the way. It’s a brilliant conversation that blends politics, international business, and linguistic nuance.  We explore the diffe...

What can a global pop icon teach us about business strategy? In the case of Taylor Swift, more than you might think. Episode Summary On this episode, I’m joined by Kevin Evers , senior editor at Harvard Business Review and the author of There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift . We dive deep into what makes Swift not just a pop icon but a master strategist — someone who has...