''The issue is, you're not taking breaks, you're just switching tasks. You're trying to multitask, or you're just trying to distract yourself. But, you know, I think that that is a symptom of our modern productivity-focused world, that it has set us up for failure"

Host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Nikolas Williams, head of Research at Emotiv about measuring brain health and performance through neurotechnology. 

Together they explore questions around e.g.:

1. The meaning of cognitive load, stress and performance
2. The power and potential of using EEG in corporate settings
3. Ethical and legal aspects of collecting personal brain data

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''If we're successful with all the longevity research, you will close the gap between years of good health and death. You'll live a great life with very minimal chronic conditions. So that's kind of like the holy grail, I think, for a lot of researchers now, reducing multimorbidity, achieving really good and long healthy life expectancy, and to die a quick death from a very good life, which sounds pretty good to me"

Host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Tina Woods, Social Entrepreneur and System Architect in Healthy Longevity, about the role of the exposome and how to get older, healthier.

Together they explore questions around e.g.:

1. Chronological vs biological age and technologies to measure the latter
2. Intrinsic vs extrinsic exposome and their impact on health and longevity
3. The Wild West of the supplements and ''healthy foods'' market

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''A few years ago, wellbeing in the workplace was seen as a nice to have. Now it's become a must have. We are recognizing that the healthy workforce is not just beneficial for employees. It also reinforces their reputation, long-term resilience, overall success. In other words, it's also good for business''

Host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Ömer Döne, Global Head of Workplace at Sanofi about the journey of corporate wellbeing and the role of workplace design in embedding a culture of wellbeing

Together they explore questions around e.g.:

1. The built environment as a trigger for cultural transformation 
2. Why people stay away from using recharge rooms
3. Collaborative, co-construction focused approaches to wellbeing design

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''Leaders in organisations, I think, are fearful to measure the wellbeing of their people. And by the way, there are now plenty of measures out there — and they are fearful because they kind of intuitively know that the results are not gonna be good. I really do believe that organizations today have a hugely negative impact on the overall health and wellbeing of their people”

Host Linda Jarnhamn holds a conversation filled with energy with Geoff McDonald, global advocate and leading voice for mental health in the workplace. From the transformative power of purpose to navigating mental wellbeing at work and thriving in the emerging brain economy, Geoff shares deeply personal experiences and professional insights that both inspire and inform. 

Together they explore questions around:

1. The positive power and perils of purpose
2. How fear and lack of capability is holding progress back
3. The power of strong collaborative alliances

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''When you tell people that we can make people’s lives better, there’s some segments of society and decision makers where that doesn’t move the needle for them. What moves the needle for them is the economic consequences. So for us, Brainomics is a little overlay. I call it the 1% overlay on the flourishing or thriving story about better brain health and better brain performance. We can show there’s no conflict. People can flourish and your organization can do better economically''

Host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Andrew Nevin and Stephen White, from the Center for Brain Health and dig deep into Brainomics - the economic imperative behind Brain Health.

Together they explore questions around:

1. Why measuring brain health is key for both individuals and organisations
2. How changing a few small habits can result in a 25% productivity increase 
3. How to optimise neural capacity for brain health and performance

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''Just because you're diverse doesn't mean that your workforce is well and that they perform well, right?  

That's completely true, to work well together, to feel you're part of something bigger, to feel connected, to feel respected, feel trust, and to feel secure. All of this, that you talk about now, the vulnerability to be able to create, to be connected, to feel empowered and lifted by your fellow work colleagues. This is completely lost in translation''. 

Our host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Tove Ahlström, Sustainability Expert and EU Climate Pact Ambassador, about the role of Human Sustainability in the broader sustainability agenda. 

Together they explore questions around:

1. The impact of CSRD and ESRS on organisation transformation
2. Regulation and reporting as drivers for sustainable investments
3. More data, better insights, or simply more complexity...?

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''Ultimately our work, hopefully, is beginning to educate corporate leaders that corporate culture matters, and it matters not just because you're going to attract and retain better talent. It matters because it's going to drive performance in the equity markets. If you're measuring and optimizing the right things, it can actually drive the ultimate metric that we still care most about in the capital markets, equity value creation''

Our host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Bart Houlahan, Partner at Irrational Capital about the factors behind and link between human capital and equity performance. 

Together they explore questions around:

1. Human capital as the most misunderstood asset in most businesses
2. The link between human capital and equity value creation
3. Why the investor community still might need some convincing

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''Our financial system has failed us on so many fronts. 

• Why do we have the scale of the climate change challenge?
• Why do we have the health challenge that we are facing?

In order to finance innovation we need to innovate the financial system. Money is not always going where it is most needed. There is a lot of hoarding mentality. There is, as you say, a lot of short-termism. The risk return metrics are built around a rather flawed economic system. Metrics used are actually outdated''.

Our host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Shiva Dustdar, Director Head & Dean of the EIB Institute. Together they will explore questions around:

1. The concept of the Brain Economy and its connection to the broader economic and health challenges we face
2. The need to rethink financial structures to foster innovation and address global Brain Health challenges
3. The importance of systemic investing and the role of diverse perspectives in solving complex issues

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''So I said to Dan (Ariely), look, if people are the most important asset, do you think there’s a chance that we could measure the connection between employees and their employer? And if that connection was predictive, and this is predictive of performance, do you think we could make it investable? And by predictive and by measuring what we were talking about was the ultimate measure of performance, could it have impact on a public company’s future equity value? Its stock price.”

Listen to the 17th episode of the Sustainable Human Podcast to get the full story of how the Human Capital Factor® was born. Our host Linda Jarnhamn talks to David van Adelsberg Co-founder and CEO of Irrational Capital. Together they will explore questions around:

1. The link between human capital and company share price performance
2. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors and their link to equity value
3. Attention paid to this topic by investor and HR communities

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“The way that we think about this in economics is around the notion of externality. That’s one of the long-standing concepts in the discipline of economics and finance, and this is still one of the most important issues that we deal with today. Externalities relates to ''what do my actions generate for others''? This could be positive or it could be negative.''

In this 16th episode of the Sustainable Human Podcast, our host Linda Jarnhamn talks to Juan Palacios, an assistant professor at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics and currently a visiting assistant Professor at the MIT Center for Real Estate. 

Together they will explore questions around:

1. Changing investor attitudes with regards to human sustainability
2. Pricing of externalities for the cost of capital (and brain capital)
3. Why average buildings are struggling (both with tenants and valuations)

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