They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the centre of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history. Red Sister, Ching-ling, married the ‘Father of China’, Sun Yat-sen, and rose to be Mao’s vice chair. Little Sister, May-ling, became Madame Chiang Kaishek, first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her ow...
Nov 09, 2020•56 min
For more than thirty years, Julia Cameron has helped ordinary people and world-renowned artists alike discover their passions and transform their lives. From Booker Prize winners like Anna Burns to world-famous musicians like Alicia Keys and Pete Townshend, actors like Reese Witherspoon and comedians like Russell Brand, the list of artists, innovators and creatives who cite a debt of gratitude to Julia Cameron and her bestselling creativity bible, The Artist’s Way is extraordinary. An icon to an...
Nov 02, 2020•59 min
Since their discovery over 160 years ago, Neanderthals metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins. In conversation with particle physicist and broadcaster Brian Cox, archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes reveals the Neanderthals as curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. They ranged across vast tracts of tundra and steppe, but also stalked in dappled forests and waded in the Mediterranean Sea. Above all, they w...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Lying is probably as old as human language itself – an inevitable consequence of humanity’s greatest superpower. And comedian, Observer columnist and Peep Show star David Mitchell lies quite often (mostly about whether he is free to come to social events). But even he never expected to live in the post-truth age. In conversation with broadcaster and journalist Hannah MacInnes, he joins us to rail against the times with the characteristic wit, warmth, originality and insight we’ve come to expect....
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 1 min
At a time when many of us feel the world isn’t listening, Jess Phillips is here to teach us how to get organised, speak out and fight against injustice in all its forms. Jess Phillips is no stranger to speaking truth to power. Since becoming the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley in 2015, she has earned widespread acclaim as an authentic, fearless and uncompromising force for good in British politics, unafraid to stand up against injustice no matter the cost. Now she returns to How To Academy to t...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 2 min
She is the most iconic American feminist of the 20th and 21st centuries: a journalist and activist whose career spanned the campaign trails of Bobby Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. As a co-founder of Ms. Magazine, Gloria Steinem demonstrated a unique gift for offering hope and inspiring action – and to this day her words continue to serve as a source of guidance, humour and unity for people around the world. As the Emmy and BAFTA winning star of Westworld and The Line of Duty, alongside a cinematic...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr
As the inventor of an entirely new genre of entertainment, legendary video-game designer Sid Meier is a true creative pioneer a godfather to a multi-billion dollar industry. When Sid Meier designed his first computer game at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s computer-games hardly existed – and there were certainly no professional computer-game designers. In the following decades he would create some of the most famous and celebrated video-game titles ever made – including Civilizatio...
Sep 21, 2020•40 min
The question of whether Western nations must return the artefacts plundered under colonial rule is the most pressing issue in the art world today. From the Elgin Marbles to the return of more than twelve thousand stolen artefacts from Belgium’s Africa Museum, the cry for the restitution of cultural objects once stolen under armed force or conquest is being heard across the globe. And the call is being heard in the highest echelons of power: from President Macron’s commitment to returning hundred...
Sep 14, 2020•35 min
The greatest challenge facing humankind is not climate change or terrorism; it is our inability to think long term. Britain’s leading public philosopher is here to change the way we think to ensure a tomorrow. We are living in the age of now. Businesses can barely see beyond the next quarterly report nor politicians beyond the next election. Markets spike then crash in speculative bubbles. In this right here, right now society, we rarely stop to consider if we're being good ancestors. But the fu...
Sep 07, 2020•41 min
From anxiety to PTSD, the consequences of the pandemic for global mental health are profound. Neuropsychiatrist Anthony David explores what we know so far – and what we can do about it. Anthony David is one of the UK’s leading mental health professionals. As Director of UCL’s Institute for Mental Health, he has dedicated his life to treating illnesses at the edge of human understanding. Drawing on four decades of study and practice at the forefront of mental healthcare, he joins How To Academy t...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 11 min
When bestselling author Maria Konnikova set out to investigate the science of decision-making, she never expected to become a world-class poker player under the wing of a legend of the game. The author of two New York Times bestsellers, psychologist Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn’t even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel -- Poker Hall of Fame inductee, winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings -- and asked him to be her mentor. She had faced a...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr
Sir Clive Woodward has spent a lifetime in high-performance environments, from the rugby field to the boardroom. He gave broadcaster Matthew Stadlen a masterclass in achieving peak performance. After leading the England Rugby team to victory in the 2003 World Cup, delivering Olympic glory in 2012 as Director of Sport at Team GB, and going on to help some of the world’s biggest brands and businesses deliver peak performance, there are few if any men better qualified to teach the skills of leaders...
Aug 17, 2020•45 min
Such a Fun Age is the literary sensation of the season, making the bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic following overwhelming critical acclaim. Its 32 year old author Kiley Reid ‘bites into the zeitgeist then spits it out with gusto' (Stylist), offering a piercing and emphatic take on the way we live now. Exploring the intersection of money, class and race with candour, empathy and satirical insight, as well as the politics of privilege, the complicated reality of being a grown-up, an...
Aug 10, 2020•57 min
Psychotherapist and bestselling author Owen O’Kane was the NHS Clinical Lead for Mental Health. He joined us to explore evidence-based techniques for developing a healthier perspective. It is not necessary to sit on waiting lists and spend thousands of pounds to benefit from the insights of psychotherapy. Many of the tools from therapies including CBT, mindfulness and interpersonal therapy can be taught and practised simply and immediately. As one of the most experienced and senior therapists in...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright may be the most widely admired diplomat of our age; a tireless public servant whose new memoir Hell and Other Destinations is not only a record of living through history – but making it. In 2001, when Madeleine Albright was leaving office as America’s first female Secretary of State, interviewers asked her how she wished to be remembered. “I don’t want to be remembered,” she answered. “I am still here and have much more I intend to do. As difficult as...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 9 min
It’s time to turn the tide against mental decline. Learn how to make your mind fitter, healthier and stronger using the insights of cutting-edge neuroscience in this week's podcast. Dr. Rahul Jandial is one of the world’s most eminent experts in the study and improvement of brain function. An award-winning, dual-trained neuroscientist and neurosurgeon, the author of ten books and a former faculty member at both Harvard and Stanford, Dr. Jandial is also a broadcaster and science communicator dubb...
Jul 20, 2020•42 min
The acclaimed director of stage and screen joins Matthew Stadlen for a masterclass in making theatre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 14, 2020•40 min
‘Glennon shows us the clearest meaning of “To thine own self be true”. It’s as if she reached into her heart, captured the raw emotions there and translated them into words that anyone who’s ever known pain or shame – in other words, every human on the planet – can relate to.’ – Oprah Winfrey There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeli...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Revered by politicians, financiers and his fellow economists alike, the FT’s Martin Wolf may be the world’s most influential economic commentator. Matthew Stadlen seeks his insights. Admired across the political spectrum for his level-head, independence and lack of dogmatism, Martin Wolf is far more than an astute analyst of global economic affairs. Through his columns in the Financial Times, books and documentaries, he is an opinion-maker deeply respected by business and political leaders, whos...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 10 min
This week's podcast guest Max Brooks is the bestselling author of the zombie apocalypse cult classic World War Z, for which he also wrote the screenplay for the Hollywood adaptation with Brad Pitt. He is the son of Hollywood legends Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks – Max and Mel recently went viral with their #DontBeASpreader video which has had 16.1M views to date. As well as a bestselling author, Max is also a renowned global disaster preparation expert and works alongside the US government, the A...
Jun 17, 2020•37 min
'David Marquet is the kind of leader who comes around only once in a generation... His ideas and lessons are invaluable' – Simon Sinek Few of us realize that our language in the workplace inhibits creative problem-solving and escalates uncertainty and stress. In both high-pressure situations and everyday scenarios, in each meeting and email, we have the opportunity to empower our colleagues by using the right words. David Marquet is a man who understands first-hand the power of words to make cha...
Jun 08, 2020•46 min
Frustrated by the limits of an outsider’s perspective, counter-extremism expert Julia Ebner secretly infiltrated five fanatical groups. She joined the How To Academy Podcast to reveal her journey into the darkest recesses of extremist thinking. By day, Julia Ebner works at a counter-extremism think tank, monitoring radical groups from the outside, but two years ago, she began to feel that she was only seeing half the picture. She needed to get inside the groups to truly understand them. So she d...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Fans of Steven Pinker and Yuval Noah Harari ought not to miss this eloquent blueprint for building a brighter future from engineer, John Browne. In conversation with Matthew Stadlen, Lord Browne argues that we need not and must not put the brakes on technological advance. Civilisation is founded on engineering innovation; all progress stems from the human urge to make things and to shape the world around us, resulting in greater freedom, health and wealth for all. Drawing on history, his own exp...
May 25, 2020•37 min
'She is no-joke changing the world and, for what it's worth, the way I live my life.' - Anne Hathaway How can white people challenge racism -- whether in the form of their own unconscious biases or the wider systems of white supremacy? In this week's How To Academy Podcast, Hannah MacInnes meets author, influencer and activist Layla Saad, whose Instagram challenge #MeAndWhiteSupremacy encouraged people to own up and share their racist behaviours. She was looking for truth, and she got it. Thousa...
May 18, 2020•30 min
The bestselling author of The Elegant Universe joins the How To Academy Podcast to explore humankind’s search for purpose in the vastness of the cosmos. World-renowned for his ground-breaking discoveries in string theory, Brian Greene is also one of our most eloquent and original storytellers in science, able to transport us across the vast reaches of time and space, bringing to life breakthroughs and trials, great discoveries and profound philosophical meditations. He joined Matthew Stadlen on ...
May 11, 2020•34 min
In this unprecedented moment in global history, psychotherapist Julia Samuel joined the How To Academy Podcast to tell us how to find unknown strengths in times of difficulty and change. As the global coronavirus pandemic causes profound difficulties to our health, work, and family, Julia drew upon more thirty years of experience helping everyday people in times of uncertainty, and taught us the skills we need to adapt and hopefully thrive in this strange new normal. Learn more about your ad cho...
May 01, 2020•54 min
How do our brains produce the magic show of conscious experience? The question remains one of the universe's unsolved mysteries -- and this week's podcast guest, Anil Seth, is working on the answer. This week's guest Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. In his work he seeks to understand the biological basis of consciousness by bringing together research across neuroscience, mathematics, AI, computer science, psychology, philosophy and p...
Apr 20, 2020•41 min
Many of the world’s problems stem from the false belief that we can accurately predict the future. Can we make better decisions by acknowledging radical uncertainty? In this week's podcast, Mervyn King and John Kay build a powerful case. Uncertainty pervades the big decisions we all make in our lives. How much should we pay into our pensions each month? Should we take regular exercise? Expand the business? Change our strategy? Enter a trade agreement? Take an expensive holiday? We do not know wh...
Apr 14, 2020•1 hr 6 min
The How To Academy Podcast presents an episode of one of our favourite shows: the Global GoalsCast. The climate challenge is sprawling and extraordinarily complex. It is too much for any individual to hold all of it in their head. That knowledge void has become a major political obstacle to effective climate action (SDG 13) as we fill it in paralyzing ways, from denial to apocalyptic fear. The best way to learn that we can curb climate change is to do it. So Global GoalsCast co-host Edie Lush sa...
Apr 06, 2020•43 min
He coined the word ‘Cyberspace’ and envisioned the Internet and Virtual Reality before they ever existed. Now, in this week's How To Academy Podcast, William Gibson turns his prophetic eye to the 21st century. He is the prophet who first envisioned our fluid, hyperconnected, hallucinatory world; the internationally bestselling author whose visions of the near future reveal the strangeness of our contemporary moment as much as they illuminate potential worlds to come. But William Gibson is more t...
Mar 30, 2020•33 min
