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We are thrilled to announce the relaunch of the BSPHN Real World Behavioural Science Podcast! After a hiatus, we are returning with fresh energy, a new hosting duo, and a mission to bring you the latest thinking in applied behavioural science. 

Join us for the first episode where Tiago interviews Paul about his "origin story" the BSPHN’s new mission to mainstream behavioural science into public sector service delivery, and why we are definitely not rebranding the acronym just yet!

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We are really excited to bring you this episode with Dr Kurt Nelson and Tim Houlihan of the Behavioral Grooves podcast fame!

Apologies for the lateness of the show, but this one is a great one! Hearing about themany guests that have been interviewed on the Behavioral Grooves podcast, as well as delving into the excellent 'They Thought We Were Ridiculous' series, was so much fun and really enlightening. You can find it here: Ridiculous-podcast.com

We hope you enjoy the show and look forward to hearing from you for new ideas for the show and who you want to hear interviewed in the future.

You can reach Tim and Kurt on Linked In and check out their websites: Lanterngroup.com
behavioralgrooves.com
behaviorshift.shop

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Casey opens this podcast by explaining that she designs for behaviour change in the lab of messy everyday life. It’s right up our street!

Casey Hughes is a digital health leader and applied behavioural scientist with 15 years of experience designing novel behaviour change interventions for the prevention and management of chronic disease.

Working at the crossroads of behavioural medicine, public health, and digital technology, Casey has led the ground-up design of numerous health apps, coaching programs, and large-scale behaviour change interventions at leading organisations such as Stanford, Apple, and Anthem, inc. Most recently, Casey led the design of a neuroscience-based habit formation app as SVP of Behavioural Science at Fresh Tri, inc.

Casey’s work has helped hundreds of thousands of people enhance their mental wellbeing, achieve sustainable weight loss, and reverse chronic illness.

This is an action-packed conversation where Casey makes some brilliant points and brings them to life with great examples too…

We cover:

Adaptive interventions and the role of AI and technology in behaviour change

Designing for failure instead of success

Why we should all have a toolbox of behaviour change models

The importance of sociology in behaviour change

Why ego needs to be left aside in place of humility, in behavioural science

…And a bit of chat about Steve Jobs!

This podcast is delivered as ever on behalf of the BSPHN (Behavioural Science in Public Health Network), hosted with my colleage and friend Dr Tiago Moutela. 

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Theories, digressions, amazing points, laughs. Wow! I’m not sure I would describe this as an interview, but instead a tour du force from one of my favourite people in behaviour science.

In 1hr and 42 minutes, we cover examples of the earliest behavioural scientists (Jesus and Aesop), to dog s*&t, horsepower, John Cleese, serial killers, naturism and a whole lot more!

Rory Sutherland joined Ogilvy and Mathers as a graduate trainee and planner in 1988, becoming the creative director in 2001, from 2008 to 2012 he served as president of the institute of practitioners in advertising. In 2012 Rory founded the behavioural science practice within the Ogilvy group, whose goal is to develop marketing techniques inspired by the fields of psychology and economics rather than shape customers desires through conventional advertising. 

In his book, Alchemy, the power of ideas that don’t make sense, Rory argues that marketing ideas are built around a core that is profoundly irrational. 

Just a few of the vast array of themes from Rory’s incredible mind include:

• Why Jesus was a master of loss aversion.
• How irrational stories drive rational behaviour
• The importance of anecdotal information
• The real reasons we make the decisions we do
• Why we should stop asking the customer
• How to make waiting lists a positive
• Why a meeting with no agenda is good sometimes
• Why most inventors are really marketers
• Why metrics are a distraction 

Thanks as ever to my co-host Dr Tiago Moutela, and as ever to our partners the Behavioural Science in Public Health Network (BSPHN).​

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A cognitive economist, Leigh has gone on a journey through psychology, experimental economics and is now on a mission to bridge the gap between what people SAY they do, and what they REALLY do… 

This is a fascinating chat and will have takeaways that will spark thinking in all fields of work or study. A few of the things that we cover include. 

• The power of stories in gathering rich insight
• Why it’s essential to have rigour behind storytelling research methodologies
• Why the story you tell and meaning you create impacts product value`
• The importance of bringing creativity into research and insight
• System three thinking and helping people to “time travel”

Listen on whatever platform you choose:
 
 👉 SPOTIFY: https://lnkd.in/dEZjzdg ​
👉 GOOGLE: https://lnkd.in/e-E27yXc ​
👉 APPLE: https://lnkd.in/dTGB2Ge ​
👉 BUZZSPROUT: https://lnkd.in/eagdzh6a​
​
As ever the podcast is run in partnership with the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network (BSPHN). ​

You can contact Leigh at @LeighBlue on Twitter or through the Irrational Agency website: https://irrationalagency.com/ 

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This time the tables have turned on regular show host, Stuart King, MD & Head of Distraction at BeeZee Bodies. 

In this special edition, Stu is interviewed by an esteemed panel including BeeZee Bodies Behavioural Insights Lead, Dr Tiago Moutela, Dr Lou Atkinson, Head of Research at EXI, and Dr Neil Howlett, Senior Research Fellow in Behavioural Science at the University of Hertfordshire.
 
Stu shares his journey; from first creating physical activity interventions funded by Sport England, to his time commissioning in Bedford Borough Council, as a Senior Scientist at Public Health England, and finally stepping into BeeZee Bodies full-time as CEO & Head of Distraction, in 2015.
 
The panel dig into some of his key areas of interest including:
 
💡 Why re-defining relationships with failure is essential for innovation
🤝 The keys to healthy commissioner / provider partnerships
🎓 The challenges of embedding academic rigour into the real world
✨ Why courage and bravery are the key to progress in public health
 
As ever, Stu is open and honest about not knowing it all, about being obsessed with asking “so what” and “why” and talks candidly about successes and failures in equal measure.
 
This podcast is hosted in partnership with the Behavioural Science in Public Health Network (BSPHN).

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In this episode, Stuart King and Dr Tiago Moutela, have the pleasure of chatting with Dr Heather McKee. Heather is a known leading lifestyle behaviour change specialist and keynote speaker, with a background in health behaviour change psychology.

Heather is on a mission to provide sustainable, evidenced based alternatives to an industry saturated by quick fixes and fads.

Crediting her natural curiosity and “following her nose”, Heather’s career spans the many possible applications of a specialism in behavioural science.

Starting out her academic journey at Dublin City University, Heather completed a masters at Loughborough University in the psychology of physical activity, and has spent time lecturing at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. She has worked in the community on behaviour change initiatives, with charities, and now consults to large corporations, with a particular passion for companies in digital health.

Heather’s career has not followed a linear path, but her exposure to these different working environments has allowed her to translate her academic learnings into real life settings. Through her varied experiences, Heather has developed her own professional confidence which has led to her own brand of teaching behavioural science, focussed on helping people have fun whilst learning how this can be applied in their setting.

Heather offers practical examples of the ways in which she brings behavioural science learning to life with new audiences and supports them to develop individual intrinsic motivation before beginning work with them at an organisational level.

A must-listen for anyone on a “squiggly career” in the wonderful world of behavioural science!

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In this episode of the Real World Behavioural Science Podcast, my colleague Dr Tiago Moutela Tiago Moutela and I get geeky with Pete around behavioural science and transport. ​

​A self-confessed “transport enthusiast”, Pete’s work has spanned the private sector; as one of the founding team members of the Ogilvy UK Behavioural Science Team, to the public sector; building a team of behavioural scientists at the Government's Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom, and finally to academia at the University of Bath; where he’s seeking to understand more about the psychology of decision making around transport. ​

​Having co-authored a book with behavioural science advertising oracle, Rory Sutherland, Pete is one of the UK’s foremost experts in designing transport solutions in response to human behaviour. ​

​The aim of his latest research is to provide a more accurate picture of what is going on – albeit a much messier, more complex, and nuanced picture - from which decision makers can base investment and design decisions. ​

​Some of the key points the discussion covers includes:​

👉 The often-false assumptions around behaviour relating to travel​

👉The importance of reframing & asking the right questions​

👉The social implications & influences affecting the way we travel​

👉The importance of diversity in decision making​

👉 Managing stakeholder expectations relating to behavioural science​

👉 The importance of collaboration between transport & health​

​Pete remains excited about how much more we could understand about people from the data we could access. We look forward to following his work at Bath University!​

​The podcast is delivered as usual in partnership with the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network (BSPHN).

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Dr Rachel Carey is back for the second of two podcasts, hosted by Stuart King and Dr Tiago Moutela. The first podcast (episode 26) was recorded back in 2021, and Rachel kindly came back on the podcast to update us on progress at ZINC VC.

Now Chief Scientist at ZINC VC, Rachel is a behavioural scientist with a background in health psychology. Following on from our previous conversation about how she applies (and advocates for the application of) behavioural science within start-up environments, Rachel talks about her experiences of and challenges with the often-binary perception of “academia” and “industry”.

Rachel, Stuart and Tiago discuss:

• Putting research & evidence at the core of new ventures 
• Benefits and challenges of moving from academia into “industry
• Experts vs generalists
• Changing the narrative around career paths for researchers
• Robustness and rigour of research 

 Ultimately seeking to help mission-driven individuals to unlock their own impact, Rachel and the growing team at ZINC VC are doing fascinating and exciting work.

You can find out more about them here: https://www.zinc.vc/ or contact Rachel directly on twitter via @Rach_Carey.

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Dr Rachel Carey is this episode’s guest - and this is the first of two podcasts with Rachel, which were previously recorded back in 2021 - hosted by Stuart King and Dr Tiago Moutela.

This fascinating conversation covers Rachels career; from academia into the world of applied behavioral science in the field of science-based, mission-driven, tech start-ups.

We explore how Rachel utilizes behavioural science frameworks in her work, the importance of behavioural science at the beginning of the start-up journey, and how we can promote the adoption of mission-driven behavioural science in public health.


Dr Rachel Carey is a behavioral scientist with a background in health psychology. Following the competition of her PHD at the National University of Ireland in Gallway, Rachel took up a post at UCL in 2014 working with Profession Susan Michie on the theories and techniques of beahviour change project.

In 2016, Rachel joined BUPA, as a senior behavior change research advisor where she led a collaborative programme of work with UCL.


Over the past 5 years as Zinc VC's Chief Scientist, Rachel has built an ever-growing inter-disciplinary research & development team who work with start-ups founders to create new, scalable and impact driven innovations.

Rachel describes the way she uses behavior change frameworks including COM-B, the behavior change wheel, and the behavior change techniques taxonomy, as an objective and structured way to challenge assumptions, and make the product development process more efficient.

She advocates for the need to incentivise and support the involvement of behavioral science in a start-up environment for big impact, but also the cross fertilization, learning and networking of applied behavioral scientists for all sectors.