Oxford Talks

In a world that’s always online, why do we still feel alone? Technologist Kathryn Jacobs cycled 35,000km across the globe, off-grid, on purpose - to find the answer.

🔍 Inside the Episode

(00:00) Is innovation making us less human?

(01:45) What drives Kathryn Jacobs

(03:22) The Africa journey that changed everything

(08:05) Cycling off-grid with no GPS

(10:15) Fear and vulnerability on the open road

(12:33) What she packs to survive, not perform

(16:08) When the road disappears, adapt

(18:40) Rafting the Grand Canyon: her next adventure

(20:17) What tech gives—and what it quietly takes

(23:01) We photograph everything. But do we feel it?

(25:32) Can AI ever match real creativity?

(28:15) How tech is reshaping how we learn

(30:22) Holding onto identity in a digital world

(33:10) The growing divide no one’s ready for

(36:40) Why the next billion-dollar company will be tiny

(39:55) No data, no direction

(44:30) What matters most in a world run by AI

What makes a brand unforgettable? It’s not the product. It’s not the logo. It’s the story.

In this episode, we sit down with Shivali Bennion - co-founder of Shaded Studio and the creative force behind the Coachella-style marketing conference Dreamland. From helping legacy brands like QVC modernise to taking indie startups from £200k to £2M, Shivali reveals how storytelling isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s your most potent growth strategy.

Most people scroll past 10,000 images a day without knowing they’re being shaped by them. Marine Tanguy wants to change that.

🔍 Inside the Episode:

00:00 – Creativity vs. the Algorithm

01:25 – Why Visuals Shape What We Value

03:13 – The Time Management Habit of a CEO

06:47 – What It Takes to Join Her Agency

09:17 – The Hidden Criteria Behind Talent Selection

11:11 – Art or Data? Rethinking Objectivity

14:12 – Can You Market the Unmarketable?

17:36 – AI Art, Ethics, and Ownership

21:09 – Why Critical Thinking Is Under Attack

24:46 – Combinational vs. Transformational Creativity

27:04 – Why Creativity Still Isn’t Valued

29:24 – How Advertising Targets the Vulnerable

33:00 – What We Lost After the 19th Century

36:10 – Do You Have Visual Rights?

41:59 – The Geography of Consumer Manipulation

45:14 – How Global Artists Rewire Biases

49:33 – What Her Company Taught Her

54:00 – Does the UK Still Serve Creatives?

56:05 – The Visuals You Don’t Notice—but Should

01:01:54 – Visual Literacy: The Superpower We Ignore

01:07:22 – How One Habit Can Spark Change

What do you get when a tech-savvy CEO obsessed with impact builds a travel app? Something the world didn't know it needed. In this episode, Clare Jones, CEO of Polarsteps, unpacks the soulful mechanics behind scaling with care, leading with values, and building tools that don't just inspire wanderlust, they transform it.

🔍 Inside the Episode:

(00:00) What if travel changed you more than the destination?

(01:04) Why Polarsteps is more than a map, it’s a memory machine

(03:45) From Cambridge to CEO: Clare’s unexpected path to leading Polarsteps

(07:11) What travel really teaches us about kindness and humanity

(10:25) A Mongolian visa disaster and the adventure that followed

(14:36) The moment Clare knew she had to join Polarsteps

(17:12) Building products people feel - the magic behind user retention

(20:20) Can you scale a company without breaking the culture?

(23:01) Why she listens more than she leads (at first)

(25:33) Travel as activism: curating responsible journeys through design

(29:08) The powerful reason Polarsteps lets employees spin a globe

(32:54) What it’s really like stepping into a founder-led company

(36:30) Planning your trip? The AI feature that personalizes everything

(39:05) One app to plan, reflect, and relive your entire journey

(41:16) Could Polarsteps become the travel super-app?

(45:12) The radical leadership lesson Clare lives by: trust first

(49:50) On refugee hosting: why a spare room changed her life

(52:48) What 400 books a year can teach you about empathy

(54:34) Leading with transparency even when the stakes are high

(57:22) What does the future look like for Clare, and for travel?

Relationship reset expert Vanessa Cardenas unpacks the micro-betrayals that shape our self-worth, sabotage our relationships, and echo through generations.

From childhood wounds to marital heartbreak, she reveals why healing starts with awareness, how to silence your inner critic, and why love, real love, requires integrity, not perfection.

🔍 Inside the Episode:

00:00 – Why online dating is making real connection harder

03:39 – “I believe in love… but it’s complicated”

07:28 – The betrayals you never realized were shaping you

11:02 – When society lets us down: betrayal at scale

14:37 – Are we losing our children to screens

18:24 – What AI will never understand about love

23:07 – Too many choices? Here’s what it’s really doing to us

27:33 – The first question Vanessa asks every couple

31:30 – What betrayal feels like when you gave your whole heart

36:07 – Do you still think about the one who got away?

39:56 – Why most people never say what they really mean

43:37 – Meet 'Nasty Chick'—your inner critic in disguise

47:26 – Signs, synchronicity & paying attention to life nudges

51:37 – “I didn’t recognize myself—until now”

55:45 – Finding your tribe might just save your life

59:20 – The fifth grade moment that changed her life

1:03:20 – You’ll only heal when you’re ready

1:07:28 – Final words you didn’t know you needed to hear

What if the real reason your leadership isn’t landing has nothing to do with skills and everything to do with visibility, trust, and timing? Marina shares what it’s really like coaching top CEOs, why most leadership advice is outdated, and how to stop being the obstacle in your own growth.

🔍 Inside the Episode

(00:00) Intro – Meet Marina

(01:12) From finance to coaching CEOs

(06:05) Why most coaching doesn’t work

(10:10) Visibility is a leadership strategy

(15:30) Trust: the foundation of real coaching

(20:12) What to do when there’s no chemistry

(28:00) The cost of leadership silence

(33:08) Leading through uncertainty without all the answers

(38:00) The kind of leaders we need now

(43:15) The book that transformed Marina's life

(45:20) Final thoughts + where to find Marina

What if tomorrow’s dinner depended on today’s technology? In this gripping episode, Jamie Burrows, former fighter jet technician turned vertical farming pioneer, warns of a future where only the ultra-wealthy can afford fresh food.

From growing greens in nightclubs to designing farms for space stations, Jamie’s journey is anything but ordinary. Shocking predictions, real-world solutions, and a roadmap for food equity - this episode has it all.

🔍 Inside the Episode

(00:00) From fighter jets to farming

(03:50) The truth about vertical farming

(07:42) How DJing funded his education(13:30) Starting a farm in a rave den

(19:10) Delivering produce on the London Tube

(24:45) Raising £4.1M with no pitch deck

(30:10) The robots taking over agriculture

(35:22) Why vertical farms can’t grow everything

(38:18) 75% of our food is at risk

(41:15) What Iraq’s Prime Minister fears most

(44:10) The fragile web behind your groceries

(47:50) Will food soon be for the rich only?

(51:38) Should you grow your own food?

(54:00) Building farms for space missions

(58:25) Jamie’s warning for the future

What do Tesla, Mercedes, and your car loan have in common? Meet the founder whose quiet tech empire is quietly powering the global auto finance industry.

🔍 Inside the Episode

(00:00) What powers your car loan?

(02:18) Why being late to AI is fatal

(04:49) The billion-dollar system you’ve never heard of

(07:36) How a small startup landed Mercedes-Benz

(10:15) The trust strategy that built an empire

(13:42) Explaining auto finance like you’re five

(17:05) What really decides if you get approved

(19:58) AI, ethics, and invisible data trails

(23:00) The moment that nearly killed their innovation

(27:20) How cloud disruption changed everything

(30:55) Why big companies resist obvious solutions

(34:22) Vertical vs horizontal: where Netzol fits in

(38:01) How to train 1,400 people in AI

(42:06) The secret to building internal AI experts

(45:30) AI agents: the future of workflows

(48:41) Will AI take your job? Not if...

(51:50) This tech quietly powers $500B globally

(54:23) The book that changed his mindset forever

(56:15) What legacy really means for a founder

Success on the outside, self-doubt on the inside? RTT hypnotherapist Wajeeha Khan explains why, and what to do about it.

🔍 Inside the Episode
(00:00) Why most people don’t know where their self-doubt begins
(02:42) “We were not born thinking we weren’t enough”
(05:13) The invisible weight of expectations you never chose
(07:56) What a 4-year-old in Paris taught me about sabotage
(11:44) Can trauma begin in the womb?
(15:36) How your subconscious builds beliefs before age 7
(19:20) “I didn’t cry—so they thought I was fine.”
(23:10) The myth of pain as punishment
(26:48) RTT explained: what hypnosis really is
(30:40) What your childhood might be trying to tell you now
(34:05) “I just want to feel safe” — when one sentence reveals everything
(37:28) Why your mind resists healing (and how to outsmart it)
(41:42) The truth about emotional pain we quietly carry
(45:59) Resetting the belief that love = approval
(49:33) Is your worth tied to your role? (The motherhood revelation)
(53:01) You don’t need a title to be worthy
(57:45) The moment you realize: “I don’t have to live this way”
(1:00:10) The second life begins when you choose it
(1:03:33) How to stop giving people the key to your happiness
(1:07:50) Building a life—and identity—outside of your job
(1:10:19) Why everyone needs therapy (yes, even you)
(1:13:41) Wajeeha’s final message: start where you are

What really happens when one company buys another? It’s not just about numbers—it’s about people, purpose, and power.

In this eye-opening conversation, M&A expert Thomas Kessler reveals the emotional and strategic layers behind 46 global mergers. From integrating 25,000 employees under one brand to navigating cultural clashes in billion-dollar deals, Thomas shares stories you won’t find in finance textbooks.

🔍 Inside the Episode

(00:00) Why “What’s your purpose?” is the question that changes everything

(01:42) The surprising power behind buying, not building, a business

(03:51) Mergers aren’t just for giants: why small businesses need to listen

(06:03) What actually gives a business its value? (It’s simpler than you think)

(09:45) From medicine to M&A: how a hip implant company launched his career

(13:10) The billion-dollar mistake companies make during integration

(16:25) The real reason most mergers fail (hint: it’s not the financials)

(19:48) What 25,000 employees taught him about purpose-led leadership

(23:12) How to unite two completely different cultures under one brand

(26:30) The Golden Circle in business: applying purpose beyond TED talks

(30:01) When “What’s in it for me?” derails an entire deal

(34:15) A peek inside one of the world’s most complex tire mergers

(37:20) What startups and Fortune 500s both get wrong in M&A

(40:43) Why “defense tech” is shaping the future of innovation in Europe

(45:08) How data privacy and culture clash in global acquisitions(48:56) His advice to anyone stepping into M&A for the first time

(52:33) The Oxford Class: 74 videos, 20 lessons, and what you’ll learn

(56:10) One book that transformed his thinking—and might change yours

Whether you’re a startup founder, executive, or curious mind, this episode will change the way you see business forever.

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