I chat with Professor Gloria Mark and Tyler Shores about digital wellbeing.

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Show Notes

I chat with the marvellous Professor Gloria Mark and Tyler Shores all about the idea of digital wellbeing. We take a dive into the world of digital shorthand, how emotions can be contagious over digital media and the effects that task switching has on the brain. Tyler chats about how multitasking and busyness can be seen as a sort of badge of honour and why that is problematic, and we end up with a fun discussion on the value of boredom and what we all do with our browser tabs.

Gloria’s website
Tyler’s website

Things mentioned in the episode:
The Zeigarnik Effect (handy little article on this)
Browser tab parking (handy little study)
BBC values based wellbeing framework
The Now Habit by Neil Fiore
Tabs by Ohm-I

I chat with renowned penetration tester Tinker Secor about information security awareness, how malicious hackers think, and how he made himself incredibly ill by attempting to push through burnout. We discuss how security and safety are becoming increasingly entwined and how important it is to take care of your mental and physical health and understand the perils of burnout.

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Show Notes

I chat with Tinker Secor former US Marine and penetration tester in information security and current security tester in Industrial Control Systems and Operational Technology. We chat about the role infosec has and it’s importance as well as the pressure the work puts on staff. Tinker discusses his experience of severe burnout that lead to an FND diagnosis and how important it is for management to take care of staff. We finish up with a brief chat about how security and safety are becoming intrinsically linked in the worl of OT and how online security is an ever changing set of goalposts that many people work very hard to keep up with.

This is a great journey through the perils of burnout and trying to push through it as well as a dive into the hidden world of infosec – something we all brush up against on a daily basis without realising.

Tinker Secor on Twitter

Malware Tech on Twitter
Malware Tech blog
Dallas Hackers Association
Dallas Hackers Association Twitter
Mental Health Hackers

I chat with Sarah Howell, Head of HR at Creative Assembly, and Sarah and Rosie from the charity Safe in Our World all about the importance of looking after mental health in the workplace and how best to create an encouraging space to increase diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry.

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Show Notes

I chat with Head of HR at the award winning games developer Creative Assembly, Sarah Howell, alongside Sarah and Rosie from Safe in Our World, a videogames specific mental health charity.

We discuss the importance of wellbeing in an industry that is rife with burnout and crunch, what support is available both at CA and SIOW, the difficulty of working from home and how to move forward with flexible working conditions, and we finish up with a great discussion on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the industry and what CA do to help improve this area and be the change we want to see.

Creative Assembly Legacy Project
Safe in Our World
Black Girl Gamers
Autistica
POC in Play

In celebration of UCL’s wellbeing festival Replenish Dr Rayner chats with Cathy all about her book Dear Reader and how Cathy has turned to reading and books for comfort and therapy during her life.

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Show Notes

Dr Samantha Rayner talks with Cathy Rentzenbrink about her book Dear Reader, and the therapeutic effects of reading on mental health and wellbeing. It’s a lovely episode that travels through time with books that affect multiple generations, how books are enjoyed for what they are not who they are marketed at, and how writing can be hard but the satisfaction of finishing is worth the difficulty.

Cathy Rentzenbrink’s books
Everyone is Still Alive debut novelThe Last Act of Love
A Manual for Heartache
Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books
and her debut novel Everyone Is Still Alive is released in July 2021

Authors and works mentioned in the episode:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Agatha Christie
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
Georgette Heyer
Jean Plaidy
Harriet Evans

Cathy’s book recommendation
Humankind by Rutger Bregman

I chat with Jordan about how to start over completely from scratch and how important it is to surround youself with good support, as well as how good well thought through feedback makes all the difference

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Show Notes

I have the great honour this week of interviewing a podcasting legend, Jordan Harbinger.

On The Jordan Harbinger Show, Jordan deconstructs the playbooks of the most successful people on earth and shares their strategies, perspectives, and practical insights with the rest of us. He has hosted a Top 50 iTunes podcast for over 14 years and receives over eleven million downloads per month, making The Jordan Harbinger Show one of the most popular podcasts in the world. 
Huge thanks to Jen Harbinger for helping to schedule this in across very different timezones! 

We talk about why his show has worksheets and how unexpectedly popular they are, why it’s important to cover the difficult and gross topics that are happening in the world, Jordan’s strong belief in exposing cults and scams and how you can support friends and family who are trapped in them. We also spend time discussing his Feedback Friday episodes and the amount of research that goes into the responses and how vital that is in order to help people with very niche problems. Lastly we talk about how hard it can be to restart in business from scratch and how looking at those around you who support you and realising what you have done so far can help you to dive back in and start again.

The Jordan Harbinger Show

Episodes mentioned:
David Kilgour – The Heartless Art of Forced Organ Harvesting
Frank Bourassa – The World’s Greatest Counterfeiter Part One
Rutger Bregman – Humankind: A Hopeful History

Feedback Fridays
Psychopath after your son
Chased by a European gangster

An insightful discussion about Creative Health and UCL’s new Master of Arts and Sciences in Creative Health with two fabulous guests heavily invested in a more holistic approach to health and with a great love of the arts.

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Show Notes
This episode introduces UCL’s new MASc (Master of Arts and Science) in Creative Health.  I chat with The Rt Hon. Lord Alan Howarth of Newport CBE and Professor Helen Chatterjee MBE who have spent many years working and researching in the area of Creative Health. We discuss what Creative Health is, how it can help people, and what the new Masters degree will cover.

Links to everything mentioned in this episode
UCL MASc in Creative Health
National Centre for Creative Health
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing – Creative Health:The Arts for Health and Wellbeing
Artlift
National Academy for Social Prescribing
Creative Families
Staying Well Project

I chat with Stella and Sasha about the balance between being a Dean, being a researcher, and how the UCL faculties of Arts and Humanities and Social and Historical Sciences have coped during the pandemic. We also chat about department pets.

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Show Notes
With me today are UCL’s Dean of Arts and Humanities, Stella Bruzzi, and the Dean of Social and Historical Sciences, Sasha Roseneil.
We talk about the difficulties of balancing work and life, how research fits into the role of a Dean, the effects of the pandemic on academic life and research, and the joy of being allowed to go out swimming again. We also talk about Pebbles the Warwick campus cat, Indiana Bones UCL’s Archaeology therapy dog and how all departments should have a pet. Sasha talks about her lovely dog, and Stella talks about her two lockdown kittens. We discuss plans for returning to physical university and how important having a holiday is, especially this year.
This is an enlightening and fun episode that hopes to give insight into the inner workings of being a university Dean in a time of great change.

I chat with Cat and Dan all about how disability and accessibility affect the workplace, jobseekers, and how important it is to include those for whom you are making adjustments in the decision making process.

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Show Notes
A brilliant episode in which myself, Cat Mitchell, and Dan Holloway discuss the role of accessibility in the workplace, how those with disabilities should be included in decision making processes for accesibility, and how the pandemic has affected the accessibility of the workplace. We also chat about our worries of the disabled community being left behind as the country leaves lockdown, and how accessibility needs to be incorporated into many more things including job applications and workplace culture.

We encourage you to engage with us on Twitter about the ideas in insights discussed in the podcast and look forward to hearing from you!

Link to Cat Mitchell’s Twitter
Link to Dan Holloway’s Twitter
Link to Rebecca’s Twitter
Link to Shelf Healing’s Twitter 

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Show Notes
I have a lovely catch up with one of my lovely old colleagues from Sony Mobile in Sweden, Gabriella Bergstedt. We chat about the joy of fika and what it entails. The differences between working in Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland, and how important it is to have certain types of policies and workplace attitudes to create a productive welcoming environment.

We go over Sweden’s parental leave policy and what it means for parents, how well rounded the work benefits are, the wonderful ergonomics accommodations as standard, and how well structured Swedish companies are for encouraging employees back to the workplace after sick leave.

It’s a great episode and one that raises some very important points about companies taking care of employees as standard.

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Show Notes
I get the chance to chat with Dave Player, founder of Team BRIT and KartForce, and Andy Tucker, one of Team BRIT’s racing drivers all about the motosport team and the role of disability.

Team BRIT is a competitive motor racing team consisting of disabled drivers. They are a competitive racing team, not a charity, and they race against teams of able-bodied drivers on a totally level playing field — something that no other sport can offer. They aim to make racing history and take a team to the world famous Le Mans 24hr endurance race, becoming the first ever British all-disabled team to do so.

We talk about how Team BRIT has pioneered accessible driving controls that suit all of their drivers and their varying levels of disability. We also chat about the role the team has played in helping many of their drivers to rediscover themselves after injuries, become better at managing their disabilities, and how many past members have gone on to achieve great things after being part of the Team BRIT family. We visit the current and past cars Team BRIT race in and have an exciting bit of news about their upcoming season.

This episode highlights Team BRIT’s vision to support, inspire and motivate people facing physical and psychological challenges by demonstrating what can be achieved through motorsport.

If you’d like more information about Dave, Andy, and Team BRIT, check out:
Team BRIT’s website
Team BRIT’s twitter