Better humans, better business, better planet
A podcast bringing ideas for happier, more balanced and fulfilling lives.
The Better Beings Podcast brings together innovative and diverse thinkers to discuss the key challenges facing humanity - from the worlds of business, creativity, spirituality and wider society.
We believe that a more human approach will unlock the future we need. Kinder connection - to ourselves and each other - is the starting point.
Better Beings is a home for diversity of thought and backgrounds and a safe space for authentic and challenging perspectives.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Better humans, better business, better planet
A podcast bringing ideas for happier, more balanced and fulfilling lives.
The Better Beings Podcast brings together innovative and diverse thinkers to discuss the key challenges facing humanity - from the worlds of business, creativity, spirituality and wider society.
We believe that a more human approach will unlock the future we need. Kinder connection - to ourselves and each other - is the starting point.
Better Beings is a home for diversity of thought and backgrounds and a safe space for authentic and challenging perspectives.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nadia Woodhouse is an incredible human. She is leader of EY’s New Economy Unit - which focuses on the long-term, systemic shifts to a new, regenerative economy.
In this wonderful conversation we discuss indigenous wisdom, leadership and how a reimagined approach to business and economics can support human and planetary thriving. We also discuss better ways to engage people to move in different directions - experiences not PowerPoint!
This is one of our favourite episodes yet and is a fitting way to end season 3. We’ll be back soon ❤️
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Leadership lessons from sport and business with the legendary Jonathan Brandling-Harris. Former rugby star Jonathan is the founder of one of the world’s only B-Corp certified real estate firms and builds community and humanity into the heart of his business. In this episode we discuss how life lessons have led him to be an authentic leader of his company and community.
(Apologies for the slightly sub-standard audio on MJ’s microphone 🎤 in this episode - technical gremlins 👹).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What if work worked? Why has workaholism become a badge of honour?
Journalist and author Brigid Schulte joins us for an uplifting conversation about our broken system and offers inspiration for a hopeful way forward.
https://www.brigidschulte.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ilan Eshkeri is an award winning composer known for his concert music, film scores and artist collaborations - linked by his love of emotional narratives.
In this super enjoyable episode we discuss the power of music and storytelling, authenticity and human connection in a world of AI and automation. We also explore the creative process, the power of purpose and the importance of taking care of our home planet 🌍
This episode was recorded live at London’s famous Metropolis Studios - thank you to Glenn Herweijer for having us ❤️
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Karl Burns is a leadership coach and board advisor who is passionate about inner development, human and planetary flourishing. In this moving and enlightening episode we discuss Karl's journey from a council estate in East London to prestigious institutions such as Oxford University and leading global corporations.
Karl shares how he overcame the profound loss of his family home through the kindness and solidarity of community. We discuss unity and male friendships at a time of division and toxic masculinity and reflect on the good and the bad of life in big business.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our guest on this meaningful episode is Malcolm Stern, psychotherapist, leadership coach and host of the Slay Your Dragons with Compassion podcast. He is also the former director and co-founder of Alternatives – a world renowned platform for leading spiritual teachers and alternative thinking.
Malcolm shares his experience of overcoming personal tragedy and adversity.
We also get into the evolution of leadership, psychedelics, ceremonies, rituals and ego death 🙌
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Do big businesses need to fail and be replaced by better ones? Psychology and management guru Helen Sieroda joins us to discuss the evolution of leadership. In this mind-expanding episode on being we explore empathy, burnout, toxic leadership traits and narcissism.
Wild Geese 🪿 by Mary Oliver
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Season 3 is here! What are the economy and markets really for? Ben Kellard is Director of Business Strategy at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. In this thought-provoking episode we explore how we might create genuine wellbeing for people and the planet. We discuss how the market economy is undermining civilisations and wellbeing - and what a better future might look like.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this bonus episode with author and regenerative business guru Stephen Vasconcellos we discuss his new book The Regenerative Enterprise and lots more!
Stephen is a deep and thoughtful guy and we cover lots of bases including indigenous wisdom, regenerative vs sustainable business and whether business can survive at its current scale.
https://theregenerativeenterprise.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Amber Brandner and Brad Harris are the co-founders and principals of A Frame - a venture studio as a force for better businesses. In this episode they discuss their experiences, motivations and the community aspects of building better from the bottom up.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
REFERENCES
Mirth Drink
Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard
Let my People go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
The Wisdom of Insecurity, Alan Watts
Shantaram (audiobook)
Armchair Experts (podcast)
Syzmon, Blue colored mountain (song)
CONNECT WITH BRADLEY HARRIS
CONNECT WITH AMBER BRANDNER
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques, and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Better business genius and spiritual leader John Featherby joins us to discuss the limits to materialism, a crisis of meaning and what spirituality means in the modern world.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
QUOTES & SNIPPETS
“We’re in a meaning crisis. Spiritual Capital doesn’t ‘belong’ to big businesses. You cant import purpose, ritual, philosophical ideas etc”
“It’s a pattern and we’re all in one”
“Consumerism doesn’t provide the meaning people thought it would so they’ve gone looking for meaning in something else”
“All people have now IS their work - home - and hobby. People's lives have gone from many layers to work and home. Back in the day, people belonged to a community organisation, there were layers between the individual and the state that gave them meaning and a sense of grounding but we’ve stripped them out”
“Most of the stuff you read in these modern business books about purpose and good culture - they exist in all the great scriptures. We’ve had this stuff forever.”
REFERENCES
Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton
CONNECT WITH JOHN
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques, and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The wonderful Dan Haggis - from chart-topping band The Wombats - joins us to discuss creativity and commercialisation in the music business. In this fun and thoughtful episode we also discuss parenthood, wellbeing, mid-life-crises and what makes for a fulfilling and grounded life.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
QUOTES & SNIPPETS
“It’s like I’m seeing the pyramid of Egypt for the first time when I’m watching him (son), that sense of wonder, seeing his little personality grow”
“No matter how much work you do on yourself (e.g meditation, Wim Hof ice showers) - you can still fall into bad habits. We are all a work in progress”
“Keep the harmony. If you don’t get things ironed out with yourself and your band or business; there’s no longevity”
“Yoga was a revolutionary force in my life; the one place, apart from making music, that could go to be in the moment where no other thoughts exist”
REFERENCES
The Infinite Monkey Cage, Brian Cox
Cold Reactor, Everything Everything
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***, Mark Manson
The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
CONNECT WITH DAN
Instagram (Dan)
FOLLOW THE WOMBATS
Instagram (The Wombats)
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques, and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Steve Biddulph is the world's top-selling parenting author this century. His books include Raising Boys, Manhood, Raising Girls, and Fully Human, which are in over 6 million homes. Steve campaigns for better treatment of families and children and a more affectionate and connected form of parenting.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
QUOTES & SNIPPETS
“If your kid sees you cry sometimes, that’s a gift to them”
“Human beings are broken and that’s the beauty of us - it’s what we make of that”
“There’s a thousand different ways to be a boy or a man, and there’s a thousand different ways to be a girl or a woman”
“Instead of thinking ‘I'm anxious’ - try thinking: ‘there's something in me that’s anxious;’ then everyone can muster that strength to nurture themselves”
“There’s a generational uprising. It’s angry and it’s tender at the same time. These kids have got heart and they’ve got backbone. And they know what’s what.”
“We are wired to have fatherly, sisterly, and motherly feelings. A human organisation will only really hum when we honour these”
“Any organisation that has money as its purpose is automatically doomed to fail, because money is a myth, it’s a fairytale.”
REFERENCES
Fully Human by Steve Biddulph
The Secret of Happy Children by Steve Biddulph
Make Friends with Your Wild Creature Mind by Steve Biddulph *coming soon*
Ian McGilchrist (neuroscience)
CONNECT WITH STEVE
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques, and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Lorna Davis is passionate about helping leaders to live and lead with love. She has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents, and was previously the leader of multi billion dollar businesses such as Danone, Kraft and Mondelez.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
QUOTES & SNIPPETS
“Where to act is where your heart breaks”
"To be human is a heartbreaking, excruciating experience, and it is an uplifting liberating experience. But holding both of these as true, is key to our liberation and destiny"
“Play, practice, push the edges of your imagined cells, and the worst that can happen is that you have to apologise”
“Every time a subject is freaking you out, instead of moving away, get closer to it and see what joy you find… There are always people on the front line doing remarkable things”
“In our quiet moments, something powerful is guiding us that isn't our logic”
REFERENCES
Barbara Sreisand’s Autobiography
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why by Richard Nisbett
CONNECT WITH LORNA
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques, and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Andrew Hunt, founder of superfoods company Aduna shares the highs and lows in his inspiring entrepreneurial journey.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE:
QUOTES & SNIPPETS:
“Doing something on a daily basis that is making a difference to other people is the most important part of wellness”
“I am because we are” - the concept of Ubuntu
“So many people are living in deficiency of human community in modern life”
“If you want to achieve a state of oneness it can’t just be about yourself”
“Collective Wellness is true wellness”
“Physical and emotional health are two sides of the same coin”
REFERENCES:
How To Do The Work, by Dr Nicole LePera
CONNECT WITH ANDREW:
FOLLOW ADUNA:
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS:
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT:
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Journalist, author and political commentator Adam Lowenstein discusses business systems and power dynamics.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE:
QUOTES & SNIPPETS:
“Corporations are claiming to be the solution to the problems they have created”
“It has nothing to do with bad people - it has everything to do with incentives and structures & the way human beings operate”
“When do you call someone out and when do you bring them into your movement?”
“There’s no secret formula for achieving power”
"If we’re going to die at some point, we might as well live”
"I’ve seen what's on the other side; and they're just people"
"At the end of the day, it's not going to be the emails I regret or the work I didn't do - it's going to be the walks in the park i didn't take"
REFERENCES:
The Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
The Persuaders, Anan Giridharadas
Reframe the Day, Adam Lowenstein
CONNECT WITH ADAM:
SUPPORT BETTER BEINGS:
If you enjoyed this episode of Better Beings, please share it with your friends and follow us on socials. Thanks for listening!
CONTACT:
Let us know your thoughts, feelings, critiques and resource recommendations betterbeingspodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
