The Public Affairs in Practice Podcast

Interview with Richard Gard, Nissan

In an interview episode, I talk to Richard Gard, Director and Head of External and Government Affairs Africa, Middle East, Europe, India, Oceania at Nissan Motor Corporation.
We talk about his background and how he got into public affairs, how he leads a small team covering such a huge region, his use of agency support, how the work of agencies has evolved over the past 10-15 years and how he manages to keep track of so many markets and balance the pressures on his time.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Interview with Robert Magyar, Weber Shandwick

In an interview episode, I talk to Robert Magyar, Head of Healthcare, APAC at Weber Shandwick.
We talk about his background and how he got into public affairs, his experience of public affairs and lobbying across Asia and, in particular, China, and how his experience of running a consultancy.
More details about the book that Robert contributed to, and his chapter on public affairs in China, can be found here.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Interview With Matt Day, Adobe

In an interview episode, I talk to Matt Day, Head of Government Relations, UK & Ireland.
We talk about his background and how he got into public affairs, his experience of working for in consultancy and in-house roles, and how he sees the profession developing in the future.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Interview with John Johnston, Politico, London Influence

In an interview episode, I talk to John Johnston, author of the weekly London Influence email for Politico which covers campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K.
We talk about his background and how he got into journalism, how he has found navigating the industry, and trends for 2025.
There is also mention of the current consultation on the PRCA's Public Affairs Code. You can read details here.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Interview with Doug Pinkham, President, Public Affairs Council

In an interview episode, I talk to Doug Pinkham, President of the Public Affairs Council.
We talk about the importance of public affairs, its role in reputation management, how the industry has changed and what we can expect from the future. We also couldn't avoid talking about the forthcoming US Presidential election!
This episode was recorded before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the withdrawal of President Biden from the Democratic nomination.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Interview with Zoe Cohen, board level director, Master Coach and Activist

In an interview episode, I talk to Zoe Cohen, a highly experienced board-level director and Master Coach.
We talk about the importance of taking action to save the planet, climate communications, her activism and work with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
This episode was recorded before the recent UK General Election and *WARNING* it does contain some swearing.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.
Zoe has kindly provided some links and reading materials for us as well.
Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and support – it’s really important for those of who feel this deeply to not be on our own with it, and to seek support, see https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/index.php/find-support
 
Planetary Boundaries – I described how 6 of the 9 ‘planetary boundaries’ have been identified as broken/passed – here is the framework behind that, developed by Professor Johan Rockstrom and colleagues -https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html (there’s a Netflix movie on it too, with David Attenborough if people prefer, but of course it’s less blunt than it needs to be)
 
The ‘Humanity Project’ - https://humanityproject.uk/ - I talked about the project here in the UK to upgrade democracy, through local community assemblies, and a new grass roots national people’s assembly – by the people for the people 
 
And just to add – deliberative democracy and citizens assemblies can be global as well as local and national. A Global Assembly was run in 2021  https://globalassembly.org/ with 100 ordinary people from all over the world. Now a coalition of organizations, individuals and governments are working to establish a permanent Global Citizens’ Assembly, to address humanity’s greatest challenges, and try to place citizens at the heart of global governance. See  https://www.gcacoalition.org/
 
‘Breaking Together’ – I recommend this book by Professor Jem Bendell. It is a critical and multidisciplinary in-depth view of our current predicament, and some of the potential responses to it. Jem’s blog is here and includes a page on the book with a free e-read version - https://jembendell.com/2023/04/08/breaking-together-a-freedom-loving-response-to-collapse/
 
The ’Great Simplification’ -  If people aren't already familiar with it, this as Nate Hagen’s podcast and YouTube series -https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/ - also a good source of multidisciplinary, big picture perspectives on our human predicament, whilst I don’t necessarily agree with all the perspectives represented, it’s still a good source.
 
‘Defend Our Juries’ - https://defendourjuries.org/ this is an important campaign which began last year to defend all UK citizens rights to a fair jury trial. Jurors have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to their conscience – but this is under attack in multiple ways and must be defended.
 
‘This is Rigged’ - https://www.thisisrigged.org/ - This is a great youth-led, campaign in Scotland, which is taking nonviolent action to pressure the government on food justice to ensure everyone can eat and no one goes hungry

Interview with John Harrington, Editor, PR Week UK

In an interview episode, I talk to John Harrington, Editor, PR Week UK. 
We talk about his work at PR Week, stories that he is particularly proud of, the main challenges facing the public affairs, and how it may evolve in the coming years.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Risk Appetite in Communications: A Catalyst for Innovation and Growth

All organisations need to manage risk. Some do it better than others. Some make basic mistakes; others try to drive out all aspects of risk. But the reality is that some risk needs to be maintained, not least in communications, otherwise innovation can die.
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Five Challenges All Election Candidates Must Be Prepared For

Originally written for LabourList, and with Scott Goodstein, this episode outlines five crucial challenges for which every candidate should be prepared in creating their own winning election scenario.
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Monitoring

In a different type of episode, we hear from five of the leading monitoring companies.
Delivering public affairs training, I am often asked about who can monitoring services. So, I asked leading monitoring companies to tell us more about what they do.
A huge thank you to all those who took part.
To learn more about the companies took part (in alphabetical order):
DeHavilland
Dods
PolicyMogul - with a special offer of 10% off your first year's subscription
PoliMonitor - use the code STUARTSENTME for 13 months for the price of 12 if you trial and sign up
Vuelio - or email sam.webber@vuelio.com
Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications
Thanks to my editor Callums World.