At the Coalface

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At the Coalface

Philippe Rose

107 episodes

1 week ago

In this episode, I speak with Nicodemus Ajak Bior, a former child soldier from South Sudan who defied unimaginable odds to become a scholar, public servant, and advocate for transparency. At just eight years old, Nicodemus was taken by rebels and thrust into a world of survival, separation, and loss. His escape, walking over hundreds of kilometres barefoot through war zones and jungles, marks the beginning of a story that is both harrowing and inspiring. From makeshift schools under trees in ...

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Social Sciences

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In this episode, I speak with Nicodemus Ajak Bior, a former child soldier from South Sudan who defied unimaginable odds to become a scholar, public servant, and advocate for transparency. At just eight years old, Nicodemus was taken by rebels and thrust into a world of survival, separation, and loss. His escape, walking over hundreds of kilometres barefoot through war zones and jungles, marks the beginning of a story that is both harrowing and inspiring. From makeshift schools under trees in ...

Show more...

Social Sciences

Episodes (20/107)

At the Coalface

Nicodemus Ajak Bior - The Long Walk from War to Leadership

In this episode, I speak with Nicodemus Ajak Bior, a former child soldier from South Sudan who defied unimaginable odds to become a scholar, public servant, and advocate for transparency. At just eight years old, Nicodemus was taken by rebels and thrust into a world of survival, separation, and loss. His escape, walking over hundreds of kilometres barefoot through war zones and jungles, marks the beginning of a story that is both harrowing and inspiring. From makeshift schools under trees in ...

1 week ago

1 hour 13 minutes

At the Coalface

Michael Klein - How to Talk About Economics Without Losing the Plot

In this episode, I speak with Professor Michael Klein, founder and co-editor of EconoFact and Professor of Economics at The Fletcher School. Michael has served as Chief Economist in the U.S. Treasury and as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve and the IMF. We discuss how sound economic analysis can cut through noise and polarization, and why clear communication of facts is critical for better policy. We talk about the motivation behind EconoFact, and how it helps bridge the gap between a...

3 weeks ago

57 minutes

At the Coalface

Krystal Ramsden: From Faith to Fractures, a Journey Through Mining, Resilience, and Meaning

In this episode, I speak with Krystal Ramsden. Krystal was raised in an ultra-religious, homeschooled environment. Her early world was one of strict boundaries, until science, education, and the wider world cracked it open. What followed was a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and a career that has taken her from field camps in the Yukon to the geopolitical battlegrounds of mining finance and fragile states. Krystal also shares her parallel story of surviving abuse, and transforming trauma into a...

1 month ago

57 minutes

At the Coalface

William Morrissey: Adaptability is key, frontline lessons from special forces to business

In this episode, I speak with William Morrissey about his remarkable journey from a career in the special forces to leadership roles in the private sector. Bill reflects on pivotal moments in his path, when he chose to persevere through challenges, and when he decided it was time to cash his chips and move on. We explore how his military career shaped his approach to leadership, including his work setting up innovative counterterrorism practices and designing training programmes for internati...

1 month ago

1 hour 2 minutes

At the Coalface

Jeff Taliaferro: Against the Grain, The Making of a Realist

In this episode, I speak with Professor Jeffrey Taliaferro of the Fletcher School, a leading scholar of international relations and a key voice in the development of neoclassical realism. We explore the formative experiences that led him to study great power strategy and the complex relationships between great powers and their allies. Jeff reflects on realism’s resurgence after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the degree to which international relations theories shape policy - or fail to - and ...

2 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

At the Coalface

Natalia Navarre - Shamanism, Intuition, and the Entrepreneur’s Journey

In this episode of At the Coalface, I sit down with Natalia, an entrepreneur and seeker whose story weaves together Russia, Ecuador, Canada, and beyond. Born to a Russian mother and Ecuadorian father, Natalia grew up in Quito feeling like both an insider and an outsider. Her father, a doctor in the jungle, would return with stories from indigenous peoples that sparked her lifelong fascination with health, spirituality, and tradition. She went on to explore African-influenced practices like Ca...

2 months ago

56 minutes

At the Coalface

Gul Rukh Rahman - The Rebel from Peshawar on the Politics of Philanthropy

In this episode, I speak with Gul Rukh Rahman, a woman whose life and work cross continents, cultures, and the fault lines of global politics. Born in Pakistan and raised in countries including Libya and Saudi Arabia, Gul moved to the US for university before settling in Europe 15 years ago. She grew up in conservative Peshawar in the protective bubble of a military family, yet in a region marked by instability and violence, including bomb blasts during Eid celebrations. Family expectations c...

3 months ago

59 minutes

At the Coalface

Honey Al Sayed: Reinvention in exile and owning the past before it owns you

What does it take to rebuild your life, again and again, when the ground keeps shifting beneath you? In this personal and wide-ranging conversation, Philippe sits down with Honey Al Sayed, a media pioneer turned executive coach, whose life has spanned seven countries, three wars, and countless reinventions. Born in Kuwait to Syrian parents, Honey's path was anything but linear, from escaping war as a teenager, to becoming the voice behind Good Morning Syria, to eventually rebuilding her life ...

3 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

At the Coalface

Robert Palm: Leadership at Altitude: on Service, Fairness, and Space

In this episode, I sit down with Rob Palm, former U.S. Navy aviator, military diplomat, and now space tech executive, for a wide-ranging conversation on military diplomacy, reinventions and leadership. Over a 29-year Navy career, Rob flew F-14s and later served as a Foreign Area Officer, advancing U.S. defence collaboration across Europe and the Middle East. Today, he’s helping to shape the future of space-based intelligence, leveraging radio frequency data at the cutting edge of the commerci...

4 months ago

1 hour 1 minute

At the Coalface

Curtis A. Smith - The Doctrine of No: Power, Identity & the Politics of Refusal

In this episode, I sit down with Curtis A. Smith, a political thinker, author, and practitioner whose journey spans the worlds of media, finance, and direct community service. From a childhood steeped in conversations that challenged liberal orthodoxies, to feeding the homeless and working with youth in recovery, Curtis has developed a rich and personal understanding of power, injustice, and resilience. We explore his early awakening to systems that weren’t as neutral as they seemed - race, g...

4 months ago

54 minutes

At the Coalface

Eileen Barber - Impact and Impermanence and What It Takes to Keep Aid Working

In this episode, I speak with Eileen Barber about her career in international development and the transformative years she spent in Colombia helping farmers improve their livelihoods. We explore the power of foreign aid programmes rooted in strong community engagement, and why it's just as important to communicate their impact back home to sustain political and public support. Eileen reflects on how shifts in U.S. political leadership disrupted this work and how she navigated a pivot toward m...

4 months ago

45 minutes

At the Coalface

Athanasia Shinas - Where Service Meets Self: A Senior Military Logistician on Purpose and Leadership

In this episode, I sit down with Athanasia Shinas just hours after her graduation from The Fletcher School to reflect on her remarkable 28-year career as a senior military logistics officer. What begins as a conversation about career choices, from a childhood love of archaeology to joining ROTC, evolves into a deeply personal exploration of leadership, service, and growth. Athanasia shares how she fell in love with the mission, the challenges of commanding through complexity, and the importan...

5 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

At the Coalface

Jorge Tuddón - The Diplomat’s Detour: on Stories, Spirit, and Starting Over

In this episode, former Mexican diplomat Jorge Tuddón shares his journey into the foreign service and reflects on the unexpected influences, what he calls “angels”, that shaped his career path. He recounts the emotional weight and richness of serving as a mobile consular officer across the U.S., where he encountered the powerful and often untold stories of Mexicans abroad. Jorge also opens up about his pivot away from public service, choosing instead a more independent and creative path, one ...

5 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

At the Coalface

Theo R. - Trauma and Power in Africa’s Great Lakes

In this episode, Theo offers a deeply informed perspective on the conflict unfolding in the Great Lakes region of Africa. He unpacks the forces shaping the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda’s role in it, drawing connections between colonial legacies, economic interests, and the personal influence of political leaders. With the region still carrying the unhealed trauma of genocide and war, Theo reflects on what’s truly at stake. What kind of leadership is needed to break th...

6 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

At the Coalface

Derreck Kayongo - From Soap to Soul: on Legacy and Leadership

In this episode, I speak with Derreck Kayongo, founder of the Global Soap Project, which recycles hotel soap for communities in Africa without access to basic sanitation. In a conversation that moves between the idealistic and the deeply personal, we explore the trauma that fuelled his entrepreneurial drive and the lessons he's learned as a change-maker. We talk about how embodying a brand—through clothes, words, and gestures—can inspire a movement. Derreck also opens up about confronting the...

6 months ago

56 minutes

At the Coalface

Nelly Arocha Dagdug - Rediscovering purpose, a journey of self-discovery and healing

In this episode, I speak with Nelly Arocha Dagdug. Nelly shares her professional journey working for Mexico’s government on improving transparency in the electoral process and then in the field of information disclosure. Her story gives a fascinating insight into Mexico’s shift towards a more pluralistic political system and the cultural shock that came with it. Our conversation switches gear to explore the other dimension of Nelly’s life, her passion for yoga and meditation that eventually b...

7 months ago

1 hour

At the Coalface

Lasha Kasradze - From Georgia to Florida: Navigating Chaos, Freedom, and Identity

In this episode, Lasha Kasradze shares his journey from growing up in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic to witnessing the chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union and eventually moving to the United States as a teenager. The conversation explores how his experience of straddling cultures and striving to integrate shaped his worldview, fuelled his drive to survive and thrive in the U.S., and led him to entrepreneurial ventures across different fields. Over time, Lasha found his ni...

8 months ago

52 minutes

At the Coalface

Sang Yeob Kim - Balancing interests and personalities in high stakes diplomacy

In this episode, I speak with Sang Yeob Kim. Sang shares his experience growing up across cultures, being exposed to Latin America as a child. This planted the seed for him to return as an adult to work as a diplomat, initially working for Chile. In our conversation, Sang shares his secrets about navigating high stakes diplomacy at the UN and, at the other end of the spectrum, about delivering results in the field for the UNDP. This episode is full of pearls of wisdom and lessons learned in t...

8 months ago

54 minutes

At the Coalface

David Kovar - Managing the existential threat of UAV cybersecurity

In this episode, I speak with David Kovar. David shares his thought leadership in the field of cybersecurity and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles forensics. David’s work addresses cyber crime and informs domestic and international policies on these important yet often poorly understood topics. David shares his philosophy about bringing the temperature down, finding a common language and translating complexity into frameworks that enable constructive action and effective collaboration. We also e...

9 months ago

1 hour 14 minutes

At the Coalface

Kelly Sims Gallagher - The art of climate diplomacy and navigating the U.S.-China relationship

In this episode, I speak with Professor Kelly Sims Gallagher, Dean of the Fletcher School. In our conversation, we explore how Kelly’s early life and exposure to air pollution shaped her desire to dedicate her life to environmental issues. Kelly shares the insights of her research on China in the late 1990s and her realisation that China would become a world leader in climate issues, both as emitter and as clean technology superpower. We talk about how the Global South can compete in the clea...

9 months ago

51 minutes