On Amir received his Ph.D in management science and marketing from MIT’s Sloan School of management and is a professor of marketing at UC San Diego. On’s research focuses on using psychological and economic principles to identify successful strategies in different market settings. He investigates different customer decision-making mechanisms and their influences on pricing and promotion strategies, on decision making under risk and uncertainty, and on preference dynamics. He also writes about how insights from research on decision making and behavioral economics may be used to improve business practices and policy making.

On has been retained as an expert witness and testified at deposition in numerous cases. He has also consulted to and conducted market research for companies in the life sciences, biotechnology, media, gaming, and defense industries. On has received several research awards from the Marketing Science Institute and from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.

Topics discussed include:

And much more.

Mickey Bergman has spent over 15 years in various aspects of strategic diplomacy, and coined the term Fringe Diplomacy to describe the new field he is forging, an innovative discipline exploring the space in international relations just beyond the boundaries of States and Governments’ capacity and authority.

He manages relationships and private diplomacy efforts in North Korea, Cuba, Myanmar, Middle East, Venezuela and Africa. Nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Former Governor Bill Richardson; Mickey has led his team at the Richardson Center to facilitate the release of more political prisoners than any other organization. Mickey creates new political capital by leading Professional Exchange Programs to frontier countries such as North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba, Lebanon, and others.  Mickey is Vice President and Senior Advisor at Governor Richardson Center for Global Engagement; was Executive Director of the Global Alliances Program at the Aspen Institute; is a professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he teaches about emotional intelligence in international relations, and was consultant to the Clinton Global Initiative.  Mickey has published numerous articles, interviews, and opinion pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy Online, and Huffington Post. Mickey also has been featured as a subject matter expert for television interviews on CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News, I24news, Global News, and ABC News Australia.

Topics discussed include:

◾The difference between political prisoners and hostages

◾Robert Levinson,  the longest-held American hostage in history, and the newly created Hostage Recovery Act.

◾The implications of the US’s “no-concession” policy on hostage-taking

◾The detainment and negotiation efforts for the release of Otto Warmbier in North Korea

◾How Mickey coined the term Fringe Diplomacy

◾The role of Emotional Intelligence in international relations

◾Why you don’t want to try to negotiate like Donald Trump or Chris Voss

◾The negotiations for the release of American journalist Danny Fenster from Mynamar

◾How the US could improve negotiations with North Korea

◾How to address power differentials

And much more!

Ingrid Lehmann has spent over 25 years working at the United Nations Secretariat in the Department of Public Information and in two UN peacekeeping missions. Ingrid has an MA in history from the University of Minnesota and an MA and a doctorate in political science from the University of Berlin. She was a fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, a researcher at Yale University’s UN Studies Program; and a fellow at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.  She’s the author of  "Peacekeeping and Public Information - Caught in the Crossfire “ and  "Managing Public Information in a Mediation Process (Washington, 2009) and has published numerous articles about international political scandals, the role of media in international negotiations and peace communication.

Some topics discussed include:

-The genesis and evolution of media campaigns as a tool in UN peace operations

-The Brahimi Report

-General Romeo Dallaire, radio jamming and the Rwandian genocide

-How media can ultimately affect policy

-The essential first steps for launching a media campaign on foreign soil

-Major challenges in media campaigns

-Addressing rumours

-Gaining trust

And much more.

Brad is a Professor of Communication, at Ohio state university.  He studies the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence. He was a member of President Obama’s committee on gun violence, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on the topic of youth violence. His research has challenged several myths (e.g., violent media have a trivial effect on aggression, venting anger reduces aggression, violent people suffer from low self-esteem, violence and sex sell products, warning labels reduce audience size).  He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited over 35,000 times. His research has been published in the top scientific journals (e.g., Science, PNAS), and has been featured extensively in the mass media (e.g., BBC, New York Times, NPR). In 2017, he received the Kurt Lewin Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues for “outstanding contributions to the development and integration of psychological research and social action” (jointly with Craig Anderson).

Some topics discussed include:

-Three routes that lead to aggressive behaviour.

-The critical link between self-control and aggression.

-Self-control as a predictor of success.

-Exposure to violent media and the psychological impact of living in war zones.

-Inclusivity, discrimination and the effects of social rejection on individuals.

-The relationship between self-confidence and narcissism on aggressive behaviour.

-Practical research-backed tips for anger management and maintaining control in heated exchanges.

And much more!

Scott Tillema is a nationally recognized leader in the field of crisis and hostage negotiations, passionately training thousands of police negotiators across the country in verbal influence. He has developed a powerful model for safely resolving crisis situations, which is now being recognized and adapted by the private sector for use in sales, communication, influence, and leadership.

Some topics discussed include:

-The FBI’s staircase model

-Role of emotion in negotiation (and how to address them)

-Active listening

-The need for creating autonomy as a negotiation strategy

-The importance of gaining experience through scenario-based training

-The best way to create the ability to influence.

-The power dynamics within hostage and crisis negotiations

-Lying and Negotiation Ethics

-The overlap between hostage and business negotiations

and much more!

Blaine is a labour lawyer and member of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1995, and is an expert in both the practice and theory of assisted labour/management negotiation, mediation-arbitration and facilitation. He has the Chartered Mediator (C.MED.) designation from the ADR Institute of Canada, and is a Registered Practitioner of Dispute Resolution (RPDR) through the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN).Blaine trains Human Resources professionals, Labour leaders and others in Human Rights, Labour and Employment law, Human Resources, Collective Bargaining and Conflict Resolution. He is presently Adjunct Professor of Workplace Dispute Resolution at Atkinson College, York University, Toronto, and Adjunct Professor for the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto.

In this episode, Blaine unpacks workplace conflict and walks us through his restoration process to transform toxic workplace cultures.  Topics discussed include:

-symptoms and causes of toxic work environments

-the cost of unresolved conflict in the workplace

-the major reason professionals leave their positions

-how to identify conflict in the workplace

-the process and challenges of workplace restoration

-how conflict training is a core competency of leadership

-how trust is at the core of the workplace restoration process

-the use of coaching as a tool within workplace restoration

-what managers and business owners can do to assess and prevent conflict in the workplace

-what employees can do if they find themselves in toxic environments

And much more.

Chris Burke has an incredibly diverse background and is a communications expert, with extensive experience in conflict situations.  Chris is an Australian, and after a broad range of international projects, settled in Kampala, Uganda, where he has made his home for over 20 years, and is a sought after on-the-ground professional to execute and consult on major projects for organizations including: CARE,US-AID, the World Food Program, the WWF, UNICEF and the Carter Center, to name a few.  He played an instrumental role in the implementation of the Nairobi Peace Agreement and is sought after for his experience with land-related conflicts - including land tenure and socially responsible and compliant agroforestry practices.  Chris has spearheaded many sensitization campaigns; was involved in UN Peace Keeping Operations in South Sudan; he even initiated and directed the undertaking of establishing the first commercial FM radio station in Juba.

Some topics discussed include:

-impacts of culture on communicating

-creating trust for effective communication

-the impact of communication technologies on violent conflict

-strategies to address infodemics

-sensitization campaigns

-general tips for foreign aid workers and traveling abroad

And much more.