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Freedom Matters

Freedom Matters

By Freedom


The Freedom Matters podcast explores the intersection of technology, productivity, creativity and society.

Our collaborators are the leading productivity, digital wellness, and creative voices of our time. They share their powerful stories and guidance on how to nurture productivity and reclaim control over technology.

This is not another ‘productivity’ podcast which puts more pressure on listeners to obtain unrealistic life goals. Our stories are real, and the advice is pragmatic, authentic, and designed to support a healthier, happier and more productive life.
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The Power of Calm – Chris Bailey

Freedom MattersJul 26, 2023

00:00
36:36
The Power of Calm – Chris Bailey

The Power of Calm – Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey is an author and lecturer who explores the science behind living a deeper, more intentional life. He is the international bestselling author of How to Calm Your Mind, Hyperfocus, and The Productivity Project—which have been published in 35 languages around the world. He is also the author of the Audible Original, How to Train Your Mind.

Alongside his wife, Chris is the host of the podcast Time and Attention, and writes a weekly column at ChrisBailey.com, which is read by tens of thousands of people every week. In addition to his writing, Chris speaks to organizations around the globe on how they can become more productive, without hating the process. His latest TED Talk, How to Get Your Brain to Focus, has been viewed over 13 million times.

However, it took an on-stage panic attack for productivity expert Chris to recognize how critical it is to invest in calm at the same time that we invest in becoming more productive. Productivity advice works—and we need it now more than ever—but it’s just as vital that we develop our capacity for calm. By finding calm and overcoming anxiety, we don’t just feel more comfortable in our own mind—we build a deeper, more expansive reservoir of energy to draw from throughout the day.

Today we dive into his most recently book, How to Calm Your Mind, to understand the difference between anxiety and calm, why calm is so powerful and importantly, how crucially, how to find it.



Host and Producer: ⁠⁠⁠Georgie Powell⁠⁠⁠ 

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | ⁠⁠⁠Toccare⁠⁠⁠ 

Jul 26, 202336:36
Generative AI: Fact or Fake? – Henry Ajder

Generative AI: Fact or Fake? – Henry Ajder

In this episode we speak with Henry Ajder, a globally recognised advisor, speaker, and broadcaster working at the frontier of the generative AI and synthetic media revolution. Henry’s work has transformed society’s understanding of deepfakes and generative AI.

He has led pioneering research at organisations including MIT, WITNESS, and Sensity AI, influencing international legislation and corporate AI strategy.

A "deep fake cartographer", henry's work has mapped the emergence and evolution of generative technologies and the impact that they have on our lives.

In this episode we discuss:

  • the current fear around how these technologies are evolving,
  • many of the use cases of Generative AI, and the consequences of those use cases,
  • some of the technological solutions for managing generative AI platforms,
  • what users can do to ensure that they use the tools in a productive and reliable way.

More about Henry:

Henry presented the BBC documentary series, The Future will be Synthesised, and regularly features in global media including The New York Times, MIT Tech Review, CNN, Reuters, and The Financial Times. He has been published by outlets including WIRED, The Next Web, NYU, and The World AI Summit.

Previously, Henry led Synthetic Futures, the first initiative dedicated to ethical generative AI and metaverse technologies, bringing together over 50 industry-leading organisations.

An established keynote speaker and guest expert, Henry has spoken at venues including SXSW, CogX, The University of Oxford, and Adweek and advises organisations on the opportunities and challenges these game-changing technologies present, including Meta, The European Commission, BBC, The Partnership on AI, and The House of Lords.


Henry Ajder

BBC Radio 4 - The Future Will Be Synthesised


Host and Producer: ⁠⁠⁠Georgie Powell⁠⁠⁠ 

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | ⁠⁠⁠Toccare⁠⁠⁠ 


May 19, 202335:33
Digital Wellness in the Workplace – Tyler Rice

Digital Wellness in the Workplace – Tyler Rice

Over the past decade, companies have invested more and more in employee wellbeing. And yet, in recent years, employees perceptions that their companies care about their wellbeing has fallen rapidly. Why is the increase in spend not translating to improved employee wellbeing, and what can be done about it?

This week, I'm in conversation with the Tyler Rice, who is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Digital Wellness Institute. As a leading digital wellness innovator, Tyler’s work focuses on designing new tools, training, and data measurements to drive awareness of the importance of digital wellbeing for enterprise clients.

Today, we'll be discussing workplace wellbeing, and how to create a culture where digital wellbeing can flourish. We explore:

  • investment in wellbeing and why that hasn't paid off,
  • how to put in place changes to encourage workplace wellbeing,
  • and we touch on the implications of generative AI for the way we work.

If you want to learn more about the digital wellbeing institute, then support us and them on Digital Wellness Day, on the 5th of May, by joining our free virtual co-working session, powered by Caveday. You can register here: https://www.caveday.org/freedomcave


Find out more:

Digitally Well Workplaces: https://www.digitalwellnessinstitute.com/workplaces

Digitally Well Workplace Certification: https://www.digitalwellnessinstitute.com/certifiedworkplaces


Host and Producer: ⁠⁠Georgie Powell⁠⁠ 

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | ⁠⁠Toccare⁠⁠ 

May 02, 202323:02
Generative AI and the ARC of Happiness – Dr Paul Marsden

Generative AI and the ARC of Happiness – Dr Paul Marsden

It is impossible to ignore the rapid rise and adoption of Generative AI programs, like chat GPT and Midjourney. At Freedom, we are fascinated with the conversation about whether these tools will support or undermine digital wellbeing and productivity, and the impact that they will have for the future of work. The likelihood is that it will depend a lot on how thoughtfully we use them.

In this episode we welcome consumer psychologist, Dr Paul Marsden, to discuss this very issue. As a positive psychologist, he believes that technology should be designed to support the ARC of happiness, and that there is huge potential for the positive application of generative AI. We are no longer in a situation where AI will simply replace menial, repetitive tasks; it is being proven to be incredibly creative.

We discuss:

  • Autonomy, Relatedness and Competency in technology
  • The rise of generative AI, it's creative applications and how it is beating humans
  • How generative AI provides insight into the human psyche
  • The place for generative AI and how we can use it for good.

Dr Paul Marsden (CPsychol) is a consultant psychologist specialising on the psychological effects of technology on we think, feel and behave. Paul works with businesses to help them understand how tech transforms people’s expectations, relationships and experiences. Paul appeared as himself in the 2022 award-winning movie ‘I am Gen Z’ - a documentary film on teens, tech and wellbeing, and has recently completed a study for WPP digital agency, SYZYGY, on how people feel and respond to new AI technology like ChatGPT.


Learn more about Paul and his work:

Imagine: Public Perceptions of Generative AI in Germany (Survey on the Public Perceptions of Generative AI in Germany - SYZYGY GROUP)
I am Gen Z: I Am Gen Z (I Am Gen Z)
Website: digitalwellbeing.org


Host and Producer: ⁠Georgie Powell⁠ 

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | ⁠Toccare⁠ 

Mar 30, 202325:07
Silence – Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz

Silence – Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz

Silence isn’t just the absence of noise. It’s a presence that brings us energy, clarity, and deeper connection.

In this episode, we meet with Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz, to discuss just this. Their book, Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise, explores the meaning of silence and the art of finding it in any situation. The book reveals how to go beyond the ordinary rules and tools of mindfulness. It’s a field guide for navigating the noise of the modern world—not just the noise in our ears, but also on our screens and in our heads.

Drawing on lessons from neuroscience, business, spirituality, politics, and the arts, Marz and Zorn explore why auditory, informational, and internal silence is essential for physical health, mental clarity, ecological sustainability, and vibrant community.

In this episode we discuss:

  • what silence means to an individual
  • why it is so important
  • how to find silence in your life and work.

Justin Talbot Zorn has served as both a policymaker and a meditation teacher in the U.S. Congress. A Harvard- and Oxford-trained specialist in the economics and psychology of well-being, Justin has written for the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, Wired, CNN, and other publications. He is cofounder of Astrea Strategies, a consultancy that bridges contemplation and action, helping leaders and teams envision and communicate solutions to complex challenges. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife and three children.

Leigh Marz is a collaboration consultant and leadership coach for major universities, corporations, and federal agencies as well as a longtime student of pioneering researchers and practitioners of the ritualized use of psychedelic medicines in the West. In her professional work, she has led diverse initiatives, including a training program to promote an experimental mindset among teams at NASA and a decade-long cross-sector collaboration to reduce toxic chemicals in products in partnership with the Green Science Policy Institute, Harvard, IKEA, Google, and Kaiser Permanente. She is the co-founder of Astrea Strategies. Leigh lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and daughter.

You can find Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise at Amazon, Bookshop.org  or anywhere you buy books.

For audiophiles, we highly recommend the Audible audio book —read by Prentice Onayemi.

For recent media and articles written by Justin and Leigh, go to Golden Media.

If you’d like to learn more about Justin and Leigh’s consulting work with Astrea Strategies—helping individuals and organizations address challenges and communicate solutions from a deeper place of attention and centeredness—you can find them at astreastrategies.com

If you’d like to learn more about Jarvis Jay Masters, a primary teacher in the book, and his appeal for his freedom—please visit freejarvis.org.

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell 

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | Toccare 

Mar 16, 202332:23
Attention Spans – Gloria Mark
Mar 02, 202337:49
AI and Creative Writing – Amit Gupta
Dec 15, 202226:13
Sounds for Deep Work – Dan Clark & Phil Amalong

Sounds for Deep Work – Dan Clark & Phil Amalong

Dan Clark is CEO of Brain.FM, which creates music for the brain, to help you unlock your best self, by focusing, relaxing and sleeping better. Phil Amalong is the VP Marketing of Freedom, and audio producer and music composer for Freedom Matters. They both love music, and have lived and breathed how music can change the way we function and work.

In this two part episode, we speak firstly with Phil. We talk about how he builds the soundtracks for our podcast, about his career history as a musician and entrepreneur, and why focus sounds have become an important part of the Freedom product.

Focus sounds exist in Freedom, in part due to Brain.fm. Brain.fm's CEO, Dan, explains the science behind how focus sounds work to align the vibrations in our brain so that we can think more clearly and stay focused for longer. Dan has spent years hacking his life to improve his focus, and believes there is still so much to learn when it comes to sound.

Websites:
freedom.to
brain.fm

Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com

Music and audio production: Phil Amalong | Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Music in this episode: 

- Predictions by Brain.fm

- Freedom Matters Theme - composed/produced by Philip Amalong

- Beethoven Piano Sonata Op. 109, Mvt 3 excerpt - performed by Philip Amalong

- Arc - composed/produced by Philip Amalong

- Apex by Brain.fm

- Moon Cycles by Brain.fm

- Pando by Brain.fm

- Predictions by Brain.fm

Dec 01, 202234:27
The Tools of Our Mind – John Mack

The Tools of Our Mind – John Mack

John Mack is an American artist, photographer, author and founder of Life Calling. A frequent speaker at conferences and universities on the
subjects of technology, awareness and consciousness, Mack’s examination of these topics recently culminated in A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens, an interactive visual art experience and month-long Forum exploring humanity’s current migration from the natural world to the virtual world. It was live in New York through September 2022.

In this episode we discuss "A Species Between Worlds" and the moral lessons that it shares. We cover the role of technology tools in our lives, and how it distorts our relationship with nature. We also discuss how
our psyche is also a tool, which shapes our lived experience. Mack argues that the only way to reshape our relationship with technology is to first reshape the relationship that we have with ourselves, so that we can live fully, uninhabited by the preconceptions of our mind.

Mack was born in 1976 in New York City. Under Life Calling, Mack recently published Notes to Selfie: Bits of Truth in a Phoney World, a volume of thoughts and aphorisms, and a collection of poetry, A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape. He was an honoree of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty people changing the world who the world needs to know about. Mack has also served as an adjunct lecturer for the Graduate program at IADE in Lisbon, Portugal.

For years John has expressed concern over the effects on humanity in the wake of the rapid proliferation of smart-devices. A vanguard in advocating research, activism, and awareness around their unmitigated use, John founded Life Calling, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help us all live fulfilled lives in the Digital Age while retaining our humanity and personal autonomy. It aims to empower humanity through a dynamic series of activations, campaigns, exhibitions and public programming, to help generate a more balanced, nuanced and thoughtful perspective for us all in the Digital Age.

For more from John: www.life-calling.org
For more on A Species between Worlds: www.ASpeciesBetweenWorlds.com

Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Nov 10, 202235:49
Is the Tech-Tool Always Best? – Tanya Goodin

Is the Tech-Tool Always Best? – Tanya Goodin

Tanya Goodin is an author, broadcaster, pioneering thinker and campaigner on digital wellbeing and tech ethics - founder of the digital detox movement Time to Log Off and host of the ‘It’s Complicated’ podcast. Her game-changing books on our relationship with technology, ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’, ‘Off’ and ‘Stop Staring at Screens’, are published in ten languages worldwide.

In this episode we discuss many of the lessons that she has learnt about the costs of using technology. We discuss:
- The elephant on the zoom
- Technoference
- Tech-life balance
- And one very important question - is technology always the answer?

She hasn’t always been a ‘digital canary’. As an award-winning digital entrepreneur and instinctive trend spotter, Tanya spent two decades running one of Britain’s first digital businesses. Her mission now is to make today’s tech issues accessible to users and consumers, so they can consciously manage their digital lives.

Tanya is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a graduate of the University of Oxford, and currently researching for a Masters in Artificial Intelligence (AI) ethics at the University of Cambridge.

Websites: www.tanyagoodin.com and www.itstimetologoff.com

Twitter handle @tanyagoodin

Book link My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open: How to Untangle Our Relationship with Tech

Podcast: Digital Detox Resources, Research and Retreats | Time To Log Off 

Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Oct 27, 202228:04
Tools for Time – Henry Shapiro

Tools for Time – Henry Shapiro

Henry Shapiro is co-founder at Reclaim.ai, an intelligent calendar assistant and time management platform used by over 13,000 companies worldwide. In this conversation we talk about some of the practical ways in which time constrains us, and how to manage those constraints.

We discuss:

  •  the importance of shifting from a task to a priorities-based approach to managing time
  •  how good time-management requires facing up to our constraints
  •  how to manage the balance our own demands with those of others
  •  the importance of allocating time for good habits
  •  how AI can help us with time, and where it can go too far

Prior to founding Reclaim, Henry was VP and GM of Product Management at New Relic, where he led development of observability solutions for tens of thousands of customers.

Find out more: Reclaim | Smart Scheduling for Busy Teams

Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Sep 29, 202229:05
Tools for Thriving – Randy Fernando

Tools for Thriving – Randy Fernando

This week, we welcome Randima Fernando. Randy works at the intersection of technology, mindfulness and social impact, helping to find ethical solutions to hard problems. Here's a co-founder of Center for Humane Technology (CHT), a nonprofit whose mission is to align technology with humanity's best interests. The Center for Humane Technology was featured in the Emmy winning film, The Social Dilemma, which has been seen by over a hundred million people globally.

This episode is the first in our new series on the tools that we use, where we discuss, how technology mediates our lived experiences.

In this wide ranging conversation, we delve into some of the systemic issues of the technology industry today, which are now shaping the way that we live. We discuss how business incentives, not human interests, govern design, how no tools are created neutral and why we all, users and designers alike, need to understand what thriving means to us so that we can live these values, eyes wide open, in the tools that we create and use.

Randy was previously the founding Executive Director at Mindful Schools, a nonprofit that has taught mindfulness to millions of kids and over 50,000 educators worldwide. Before that, Randy led many award-winning projects and authored 3 books on 3D graphics over seven years at NVIDIA, where he was also inaugural board member of the NVIDIA Foundation. Randy also serves on the board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

CHT offers several helpful resources:

Their free online course, Foundations of Humane Technology, helps product teams create technology that treats attention and intention as sacred, protects well-being, and builds our collective capacity to address humanity’s most urgent challenges. (https://www.humanetech.com/course

Their podcast, Your Undivided Attention, has over 14 million downloads, and explores the incredible power that technology has over our lives — and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future. (https://www.humanetech.com/podcast)

Their free Youth Toolkit helps youth ages 13-25, as well as their parents and teachers, navigate—and push to change—a broken social media environment. (https://www.humanetech.com/youth)

Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Sep 15, 202244:06
Rituals for Digital Life – an episode swap from Digital Habit Lab

Rituals for Digital Life – an episode swap from Digital Habit Lab

This week on Freedom Matters we are taking a break from recording, and sharing with you instead an episode from one of our favourite podcasts, Digital Habit Lab from Mind Over Tech.

Hosted by Menka Sanghvi, this podcast welcomes guests from different walks of life to observe how we use tech; reflect on how it sometimes uses us; and experiment on ways to make sure it is actually helping us to do what we most value in life.

In this episode, Menka interviews Tiu de Haan, a ritual designer, creative facilitator, idea doula and ‘serendipiter’. She curates and creates experiences designed to shift your perspective to see the wonder in the world, helping people to birth their creative ideas and design their own unique path filled with moments of meaning.

They discuss the question: Why is it so hard to be intentional in our digital activity? In exploring this question, Menka and Tiu talk about how easily we get into routines (repeated behaviours) that we may even become addicted to, and how rituals can help shift this. A ritual creates a pause in our routine activity, elevating a moment into something bigger and more meaningful. Tiu describes ritual as a “container for emotion, reflection, transition, and sometimes celebration” - a subject she has talked about in more depth in her TED Talk.

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Freedom Matters Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Freedom Matters music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO



Sep 01, 202241:14
Designing for Joy – Ingrid Fetell Lee

Designing for Joy – Ingrid Fetell Lee

This week, we speak with Ingrid, a designer and author whose groundbreaking work reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and wellbeing. As a former design director at IDEO, author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, and the founder of the website The Aesthetics of Joy, she empowers people to find more joy in life and work through design. Her immensely popular TED talk “Where Joy Hides and How to Find It” has been viewed more than 17 million times.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Ingrid, where we get to understand:

  • What joy is
  • How our environment's influence joy
  • Why conflicting emotions can spark creativity, and
  • How joy has helped her to build resilience through her life

Ingrid has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, Real Simple, The Atlantic, the Today Show, HGTV Magazine, and Fast Company. She has over fifteen years of experience in design and branding, having led design programs for Target, Condé Nast, Eileen Fisher, American Express, Kate Spade, Diageo, Pepsico, and the US government, among others. She was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her design work has been exhibited at imm cologne in Germany.

Lee holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University. She loves pancakes, polka dots, and rainbow sprinkles, and has an extensive repertoire of happy dances for any occasion.

Read more: The Aesthetics of Joy by Ingrid Fetell Lee https://aestheticsofjoy.com/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Aug 18, 202237:28
Mind, Body and a Bike – James Hibbard
Aug 04, 202234:46
Body Over Mind – A Guest Episode from The Solo Collective
Jul 21, 202237:39
Meaningful Motivation – Sharath Jeevan
Jul 07, 202228:11
Attention & Love – Casey Schwartz
Jun 23, 202222:51
Freedom to Breathe – Jillian Horton

Freedom to Breathe – Jillian Horton

This week, we are in conversation with Jillian Horton. Jillian is an award-winning medical educator, writer, musician and podcaster. She completed a residency and a fellowship in internal medicine at the University of Toronto and has held the post of Associate Dean and Associate Chair of that department. For sixteen years, she cared for thousands of patients in an inner-city hospital. During that time, she had three sons and mentored hundreds of students. She now leads the development of new programs related to physician wellness and won the 2020 AFMC–Gold Humanism Award.

In this episode we reflect on themes from her book, We are All Perfectly Fine, and discuss:

  • how language can define how we feel 
  • the spectrum from coping to thriving
  • the science behind mindfulness and why it is so powerful

This episode is part of our mini-series on 'Self' where we explore how our technology impacts some of the most important aspects of being human. Episodes so far in the series include Krista Tippett, creator of On Being, Susie Alegre, human rights lawyer and author of Freedom to Think, and L M Sarcasas, renowned commentator on technology & society. Upcoming episodes are with Casey Swartz, author of Attention, A Love Story, and Sharath Jeevan OBE, motivation expert and author of Intrinsic

Our goal: to help all our listeners to think more critically about the role of technology in our lives, and how it shapes who we are.

To read We Are All Perfectly Fine: https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/cr-195536/jillian-horton/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Jun 09, 202230:51
Reframing our Reality – Michael Sacasas

Reframing our Reality – Michael Sacasas

This week we welcome Michael Sacasas, author of The Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology and society. Michael is the associate director of the Christian Study Center of Gainesville and has written for The New Atlantis, The New Inquiry, Comment Magazine, and Real Life Magazine. He is also the author of a forthcoming book 41 Questions: Technology and the Moral Life (Avid Reader Press).

In this thought provoking episode we invite all our listeners to reconsider the place of technology in their own lives. We discuss:

  • the role of technology in our lives and how the way that we use tools shapes our experience of the world, and by extension our   existence
  • attention, it's importance and its various forms
  • why Twitter for Michael is a deal with the devil
  • how, even out of the Metaverse, technology reframes our reality
  • the three most important questions everyone should ask of the way that they use technology

If you enjoyed our previous conversations with Oliver Burkeman, Nicholas Carr and Krista Tippett, then this episode is for you.

This episode is part of our series on "Self", where we explore how our technology impacts some of the most important aspects of being human. Recent episodes include Krista Tippett, creator on On Being, Susie Alegre, human rights lawyer and author of 'Freedom to Think' and upcoming episdoes include Jillian Horton MD, and author of 'We are All Perfectly Fine', Casey Swartz, author of "Attention, A Love Story" and Sharath Jeevan OBE, motivation expert and author of "Intrinsic". Our goal: to help all our listeners to think more critically about the role of technology in our lives, and how it shapes who we are.

More from Michael: The Convivial Society https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

May 26, 202233:23
Freedom to Think – Susie Alegre

Freedom to Think – Susie Alegre

This week, we welcome Susie Alegre, a leading human rights barrister in the internationally renowned Doughty Street Chambers. She has been a legal pioneer in digital human rights, in particular the impact of artificial intelligence on the human rights of freedom of thought and opinion.

Her book, Freedom to Think, charts the history and importance of our most basic human right: freedom of thought. From Galileo to Nudge Theory to Alexa, Susie explores how the powerful have always sought to get inside our heads, influence how we think and shape what we buy. Providing a bold new framework to understand how our agency is being gradually undermined, Freedom to Think is a groundbreaking and vital charter for taking back our humanity and safeguarding our reason in the technological age.

In this fascinating episode we discuss:

  • How human rights underpin what it means to be human and why the right to the freedom of thought should be protected at all costs
  • How historically this right has come under threat, but never more so that today, when the threat of surveillance capitalism means our minds are read every single minute
  • We discuss how to stay cognisant of how technology is affecting our freedom of thought
  • And future strategies to keep us safe.

This episode is part of our mini-series on 'Self' where we explore how our technology impacts some of the most important aspects of being human. Over the coming weeks we will speak with Krista Tippett, creator of On Being, Susie Alegre, human rights lawyer and author of Freedom to Think, Jillian Horton MD, physician and author of We are All Perfectly Fine, Casey Swartz, author of Attention, A Love Story, L M Sarcasas, renown commentator on technology & society, and Sharath Jeevan OBE, motivation expert and author of Intrinsic. Our goal: to help all our listeners to think more critically about the role of technology in our lives, and how it shapes who we are.

To find out more about Susie: https://susiealegre.com/

Purchase Freedom to Think in the US

Purchase Freedom to Think in the UK

Susie talks about Magic Sauce: https://applymagicsauce.com/demo

And also Privacy International's Twitter Bot: https://twitter.com/privacyint/status/1148506707150200833

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

May 12, 202232:31
On Being & Freedom – Krista Tippett

On Being & Freedom – Krista Tippett

This week we welcome Krista Tippett. Krista is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, a National Humanities Medalist, a New York Times bestselling author and the creator and host of On Being, a world renown podcast which sets out to explore the immensity of our human lives.

In this extended episode, we discuss the importance of questions - how asking the right questions and accepting that there may never be an answer, can help us to know ourselves better, whilst enabling society to grow. We discuss the role of technology in our rush for answers, media’s role in the portrayal of society and just how Krista, through her career in exploring humanity has come to understand herself.

Krista grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, attended Brown University, and became a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin. She then lived in Spain and England before seeking a Master of Divinity at Yale University in the mid-1990s.

Emerging from that, she saw a black hole where intelligent public conversation about the religious, spiritual, and moral aspects of human life might be and came to launch On Being, a weekly NPR show, to fill this hole.

In 2014, the year after she took On Being into independent production, President Obama awarded Krista the National Humanities Medal for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.” On Being with Krista Tippett airs on more than 400 public radio stations across the U.S. and is distributed by WNYC Studios. The podcast has been played/downloaded more than 350 million times.

==

This is the first episode in our new mini-series on 'Self', where we explore how our technology impacts some of the most important aspects of being human. Over the coming weeks we will speak with Krista Tippett, creator on On Being, Susie Alegre, human rights lawyer and author of Freedom to Think, Jillian Horton MD, doctor and author of We are All Perfectly Fine, Casey Swartz, author of Attention, A Love Story, LM Sacasas, renowned commentator on technology & society, and Sharath Jeevan OBE, motivation expert, and author of Intrinsic

Our goal: to help all our listeners to think more critically about the role of technology in our lives, and how it shapes who we are.

Learn more about Krista and the On Being Project: https://onbeing.org/

Listen to the On Being show and podcast: https://onbeing.org/series/podcast/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO


Apr 28, 202238:24
The Future of Work – Fred Stutzman

The Future of Work – Fred Stutzman

This week, we wrap up our series on the the future of work with Founder and CEO of Freedom, Fred Stutzman. Freedom is developing the essential toolset for the future of focused work. In a distraction-first world, we believe that the ability to reliably and consistently do focused, deep work is a differentiating skillset.

In this episode we reflect on Fred's own thoughts on the future of work, how the Freedom team is organized to embrace asynchronous, remote working, and some of his favourite insights from our most recent series. We cover:

  • what initially attracted Fred to building a productivity tool
  • reflections on his own productivity
  • how Freedom works in an asynchronous remote way (and the roles of Trello, Slack and email in all that)
  • why 4 Day Work Weeks are better than holidays
  • the tension between new ways of working, and the return to the office as a celebration of normalcy
  • the role of office and workplaces in the future of work

Fred is a seasoned GTM executive and serial entrepreneur, having taken multiple consumer technology companies from the idea/R&D phase to market. His core strengths include technology development, remote team formation and management, and using research-driven strategies to identify market needs. Fred has conducted research at both UNC-Chapel Hill and Carnegie Mellon University. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science (HCI), and degrees in Survey Research and Economics from UNC-Chapel Hill. Additionally, he completed postdoctoral work in Behavioral Economics at CMU.

Previously, he co-founded ClaimID, a distributed social identity provider, served as Director of Technology for Ibiblio.org/Metalab, where he managed large, distributed technical projects. In his spare time, Fred is a competitive masters racer on the bike.

You can find out more about Fred here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fstutzman/
Or at Freedom here: freedom.to

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Mar 31, 202231:36
Working in a Cave – Jeremy Redleaf
Mar 17, 202227:06
Working Flexibly – Charlie Warzel
Mar 03, 202226:27
Working Solo – Rebecca Seal

Working Solo – Rebecca Seal

This week we welcome Rebecca Seal. Rebecca is an author, journalist and occasional TV presenter. Her book, SOLO: How To Work Alone (And Not Lose Your Mind) was mostly written in 2019, before the pandemic, but became a bestseller when it was published in 2020. It has now been translated into multiple languages and is available worldwide.

In this episode we dive into philosophical and practical advice on how to work 'solo'. We cover:


- Why passion for your work can be a problem
- How meaning can be found in all forms of work and life
- The money trap
- How to work solo but never alone
- Resilience for solo workers
- How to fuel your body for work

Rebecca is the host of the Solo Collective podcast, a series of conversations about how to cope with solitary working. She is also an award-winning food and drink writer, and has written 10 cookbooks, most recently LEON Happy Guts, a cookbook about good gut health. She lives in London with her husband, a photographer, and her two daughters.

You can find more about Rebecca at: https://www.rebeccaseal.co.uk/

Tune in for the 3rd season of the Solo Collective Podcast (from mid-March): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-solo-collective/id1555707166

Or read her articles for the Guardian at: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rebeccaseal

In this episode she mentions work by Ashley Whillans, Annie Auerbach and Bruce Daisley.

This episode is part of our mini-series on the Future of Work. Listen to episodes with Chase Warrington, Alex Pang and Shamsi Iqbal to hear more.

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Feb 17, 202226:51
Working Smarter – Shamsi Iqbal

Working Smarter – Shamsi Iqbal

This week we welcome Dr. Shamsi Iqbal. A Principal Researcher in the Modern Work Transformation Org in Microsoft, Shamsi is on the frontline of research, investigating productivity, attention and the future of work.

Most recently her work has focused on redefining productivity in the new future of work, introducing novel ways of being productive through leveraging micromoments, and balancing productivity and well-being in interaction design to empower individuals and help organizations thrive.

In this episode we explore the future of work with Shamsi, through the eyes of a productivity research. We discuss:

  • - Micromoments
  • - The Triple Peaks of Productivity
  • - Where AI does (and doesn't belong)
  • - Technology for Hybrid Work
  • - The Role of Technology in the Future of Work

Shamsi's research has been covered in the New York Times, MIT Tech Review among others, and also featured in the King 5 News (NBC affiliate in the Seattle area). Shamsi has served on many organizing and program committees for Human-Computer Interaction conferences, is currently serving as an ACM TOCHI Associate Editor, was a guest Editor for IEEE Pervasive Special Issue on Future of Work and was the General Co-chair for UIST 2020. She is one of the co-authors of the document Microsoft released on the Future of Remote Work in 2021. 

Shamsi received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 and received a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2001.

Find Shamsi's work at:

The New Future of Work - Microsoft Research [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/] - a wealth of information on remote and hybrid work based on research conducted by Microsoft researchers on topics such as personal productivity and wellbeing, hybrid meetings, thriving organizations and so on.

Shamsi Iqbal at Microsoft Research -  [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/shamsi/]

Or read:

The Rise of the Triple Peak Day [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/triple-peak-day]

The Ways We Disconnect [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/ways-we-disconnect-work-life-balance]

How to Focus in the Always-on Economy [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/always-on-economy-focus]

This episode is part of our mini-series on the Future of Work. Listen to episodes with Chase Warrington, Alex Pang and forthcoming with Rebecca Seal to hear more. 

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Feb 03, 202229:55
Working Shorter – Alex Pang

Working Shorter – Alex Pang

This week we welcome Alex Pang, advocate of the 4-day workweek. Alex has spent two decades studying people, technology, and the worlds they make. A Silicon Valley-based futurist and consultant, he is also the best-selling author of Shorter: Work better, smarter and shorter - here's how, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, and The Distraction Addiction.

A growing number of businesses are shortening their working week to address problems with low productivity, poor mental health, and unequal working opportunities. Workers are still paid the same salary for a four-day week and the results are revolutionary. In this episode we explore this movement with Alex, and discuss:

  • Why companies are moving to a 'shorter' week
  • How working less increases creativity, productivity and reduces burn-out
  • What culture changes are needed to move to a 4DWW
  • How a shorter working week fits with the future of work

Alex, runs a consultancy company, strategy.rest, where he has worked with governments and Fortune 500 companies; spoken at venues ranging from CIA headquarters to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to the Googleplex; and held academic positions at Stanford and Oxford universities.

You can find Alex: 

At his business, Strategy.Rest: https://www.strategy.rest/?page_id=8650

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/askpang/

Or @askpang on Twitter and Instagram

This episode is part of our new mini-series on the Future of Work. Listen to episodes with Chase Warrington and forthcoming with Rebecca Seal and Shamsi Iqbal to hear more.

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Jan 20, 202232:31
Working Remotely – Chase Warrington

Working Remotely – Chase Warrington

Jan 06, 202229:49
"Good Burdens" – A Guest Episode From JOMO(cast)

"Good Burdens" – A Guest Episode From JOMO(cast)

This week, we are sharing with you an episode from the JOMO(cast) podcast. In this abridged version we hear host Christina Crook discuss with Albert Borgmann his concept of Good Burdens.

Born in Germany in 1937, technology philosopher Albert Borgmann has seen technological transitions and upheavals unknown to many. Throughout his long life, he’s studied and written about the impact of technological advancement on every aspect of society. Within this context, Dr. Borgmann joins Christina on the JOMO(cast) to discuss the cost-benefit analysis of technology’s ability to lift our burdens, and why good burdens are vital to preserve if we want to live intentionally and with joy.

Hear Christina and Albert discuss:
- The history of technology and it's changing impacts
- The perils of distraction
- The concept of Good Burdens
- How technology can obliterate good burdens
- Why the culture of the table is a hopeful place

Listen to the original conversation: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/24-the-joy-of-good-burdens-with-albert-borgmann/id1467390472?i=1000487173726

Listen to more episodes of Jomo(cast): https://www.christinacrook.com/jomocast

Learn more about Christina Crook & JOMO: https://www.christinacrook.com/

Order Christina's new book, Good Burdens, based on this concept: https://www.christinacrook.com/goodburdens

Read books by Albert:
-Crossing The Postmodern Divide (2013)
-Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry (2008)
- Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology (2003)
-Holding Onto Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium (2007)
-Real American Ethics: Taking Responsibility For Our Country (2010)
-The Philosophy of Language: Historical Foundations and Contemporary Issues (2012)

Follow @experiencejomo on Instagram, Facebook + Twitter

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Dec 23, 202127:41
The Power of Fun – Catherine Price

The Power of Fun – Catherine Price

This week, we welcome back Catherine Price, founder of ScreenLifeBalance.com and author of How to Break Up With Your Phone and The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.

In this light-hearted episode, we explore what exactly 'fun' is and talk about how to make space for more of it in our lives! We cover:

  • Why you may well feel dead inside, and how fun can make you feel alive
  • How technology can get in the way of fun
  • What Catherine defines as 'fun'
  • The enormous health and productivity benefits of fun
  • How to structure your life to encourage fun magnets
  • How to have more fun this holiday season!

For more fun you can also sign up for Catherine's newsletter at HowToHaveFun.com https://howtohavefun.com/, where you can access:


-  ”What’s Your Fun Personality Type?” quiz
-  ”Are We Fun Compatible?” quiz
-   Bookclub and Discussion Guide
-   Pre-order links (and pre-order incentives, including pre-launch access to a special “Fun Toolkit”)
-   A global #Funtervention challenge in January and February taking place via Catherine’s newsletter and social media feeds (30 days of helping people create better screen/life balance and have more fun)

You can also follow Catherine on Twitter (@Catherine_Price) and Instagram (@_CatherinePrice)

Catherine Price: https://www.screenlifebalance.com/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Dec 09, 202128:03
Digital Dopamine 24/7 – Dr. Anna Lembke

Digital Dopamine 24/7 – Dr. Anna Lembke

This week, we talk with with Anna Lembke, a clinician scholar and leading global expert in addiction. Anna recently appeared in the Netflix Documentary, The Social Dilemma, and in August 2021, released the book Dopamine Nation, exploring how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

Her view is that, for many of us, our technology use is contributing to our pleasure-seeking habits, tipping our neurological balance and making us miserable. This is an episode rooted in science, which is too important to ignore. We discuss:

  • Why it is fair and important to use the term 'digital addiction'
  • The role of dopamine on our brains and why it gets us hooked
  • How our 'tolerance' to using technology will naturally increase overtime, leaving us wanting more quantity or potency in our digital experiences
  • The mechanisms within technology that keep us hooked
  • Why it is easier than ever before to get distracted
  • Why digital detoxes are necessary
  • How to use technology in a more balanced way
  • And why, for the sake of our brains, we should ignore distraction and turn towards pain

Anna Lembke is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before various committees in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, keeps an active speaking calendar, and maintains a thriving clinical practice.

In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021), an instant New York Times Bestseller, explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

To learn more about Anna: https://www.annalembke.com/

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music and audio production: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Nov 25, 202128:21
Four Thousand Weeks – Oliver Burkeman
Nov 11, 202133:52
 Is Your Smartphone Irresistible? – Adam Alter

Is Your Smartphone Irresistible? – Adam Alter

Do you sometimes feel like you are not in control of your day? Before you realise it, your plans and time have been hijacked by a diversion and you don't know why. If so, you are not alone.

This week, we speak with Adam Alter, author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink. He is a social psychologist and expert in the effects of subtle environmental cues on human cognition and decision making.

In this episode, we discuss:
- factors which shape our behaviour and decision-making, like names and colours
- why the technology we use is so influential
- how addicted we are to technology
- how technology companies are removing friction to hold our attention
- why our struggles with smartphones are just the beginning
- some top tips to resist the Irresistible.

Adam is a Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the Robert Stansky Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow, with an affiliated appointment in the New York University Psychology Department.

He is the New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible, which considers why so many people today are addicted to behaviours including incessant smartphone use, video game playing and online shopping; and Drunk Tank Pink, which investigates how hidden forces in the world shape our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

More on Adam: http://adamalterauthor.com/

To purchase Irresistible: http://adamalterauthor.com/irresistible

To purchase Drunk Tank Pink: http://adamalterauthor.com/drunk-tank-pink

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Music: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Oct 28, 202125:07
Habits, Hooks, and How to be Indistractable – Nir Eyal
Oct 14, 202128:33
Information, Attention, the Internet, and Our Brains – Nicholas Carr

Information, Attention, the Internet, and Our Brains – Nicholas Carr

Sep 30, 202125:26
Music, Games, and Keeping Track of Time – Jack Wall
Sep 16, 202121:31
Sprints, Breaks & Async Work Done Well – John Zeratsky
Aug 26, 202120:10
Curiosity, Fear & 'Match Fit' Leadership – Holly Ransom

Curiosity, Fear & 'Match Fit' Leadership – Holly Ransom

What if we did something that scared us every single day? How would that reset our perspective on life? What could we achieve?

In this episode, we welcome Holly Ransom, an expert in disruption and future leadership. As the founder and CEO of Emergent, she helps individuals and teams formulate the questions to find their strategy for making effective change.

Named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, Holly is also widely recognised as one of the world’s top female keynote speakers. She has delivered a Peace Charter to the Dalai Lama, interviewed Barack Obama on stage, was Sir Richard Branson’s nominee for Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List’ of Future Game Changers to watch in 2017, and was awarded the U.S. Embassy’s Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Leadership Excellence in 2019.

Her new book, The Leading Edge, brings the real-world leadership lessons of so many diverse thinkers and pioneers she’s met to the fore.

In this episode we discuss:

  • - why fear is a game-changer
  • - the power of curiosity
  • - why leadership is not 'match-fit' to manage the future of technology

For more from Holly:

Host and Producer: Georgie Powell https://www.sentientdigitalconsulting.com/

Theme music: Toccare https://spoti.fi/3bN4eqO

Aug 12, 202125:45
Laziness Does Not Exist – Devon Price
Jul 29, 202124:25
Deep Work & Inspired Rest – Alicia Navarro
Jul 15, 202124:27
Going Light – Kaiwei Tang
Jul 02, 202123:18
Are you Futureproofed? – Kevin Roose
Jun 21, 202131:55
Laziness, Love and the Joy of Missing Out – Christina Crook
Jun 11, 202121:07
Nature, Adventures and the Place for Tech – Jenny Tough & Alex Roddie
Jun 03, 202121:22
A World Without Email – Cal Newport
May 27, 202122:30
The Juggle, Modern Writers and the Truth about Productivity – Joanna Rakoff
May 21, 202124:06
The Truth about Youth and Technology – Larissa May
May 13, 202123:29
Super-foods, the Blame Game and Toxic Positivity - Jocelyn Brewer
May 07, 202121:58
Teens, Parents & The Machines – Doug Kaufman
Apr 29, 202122:00