What lessons does a religious protest that led to an uprising  in 1549 have to do with human risk?

At first glance, not very much. It’s easy to see it as a distant historical event — something about religion, kings, and a very different world. But as my guest, Professor Mark Stoyle explains, the Western Rising of 1549 is far more than that. It’s a powerful example of what happens when authority imposes change without understanding how people will react. 

Episode Summary
This episode started on a train journey to Exeter, where I was due to give a talk. Looking for a local story to make my presentation more relevant, I stumbled across a battle that had taken place just outside the venue in 1549. The more I read, the clearer it became that this wasn’t just history, it was a case study in compliance, behaviour, and unintended consequences.

Guest Profile
Mark is a historian and leading expert on what he calls the Western Rising of 1549. In this conversation, we explore how sweeping religious changes imposed by those in power triggered resistance, how small incidents escalated into a major rebellion, and why identity, belief, and emotion played such a critical role. Along the way, we discuss how history is written (and biased), why changing language can provoke outrage rather than acceptance, and what this story reveals about leadership, risk, and human behaviour today.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – Introduction: a compliance failure in 1549
01:00 – The train journey to Exeter
02:00 – Discovering the rebellion
04:00 – Why this is a human risk story
05:15 – Introducing Professor Mark Stoyle
07:30 – Setting the historical context
10:00 – Power, authority, and instability
13:30 – What triggered the rising
17:00 – Why language change caused outrage
22:00 – Early resistance and local incidents
25:00 – The tipping point: violence begins
29:00 – How the rebellion spreads
33:00 – The siege of Exeter
37:00 – How history is written by the victors
41:00 – Crushing the rebellion
45:00 – Cultural consequences and language loss
48:00 – Lessons for today
52:00 – Polarisation and modern parallels
57:00 – Final reflections In this episode we discuss

Key Topics

• Why imposed change can trigger resistance
• How small incidents escalate into major crises
• The role of identity, belief, and emotion in decision-making
• Why language and culture matter in compliance
• How authority can misjudge human behaviour
• The dangers of polarisation and “us vs them” thinking
• Why compromise becomes impossible in extreme positions
• How history is shaped by those who win
• The unintended consequences of leadership decisions
• What a 16th-century rebellion teaches us about modern risk

Guest Profile
Mark Stoyle is Professor of History at the University of Southampton. He specialises in Tudor rebellions, the English Civil War, and the history of witchcraft. Originally from Devon, his work on the Western Rising of 1549 draws on decades of research and a deep personal connection to the region where these events took place.

Links
The Western Rising of 1549, Mark's book - https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300276886/the-western-rising-of-1549/

Mark's University of Southampton profile page - https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5wyxqy/professor-mark-stoyle

Mark's publisher profile: - https://www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk/team/mark-stoyle/

What exactly is a sign?  At first glance, that might sound like a strange question. Signs are everywhere: telling us where to go, what to do, what not to do, and sometimes what might happen if we ignore instructions. But as my guest, Jeffrey Ludlow Saentz explains, signs are much more than bits of information on walls or beside roads.

Episode Summary
Jeffrey is a signage designer who works on complex buildings and environments around the world — airports, offices, museums, and other places where helping people find their way really matters. He’s also the author of A Sign Is..., a fascinating book exploring the history, meaning, and cultural significance of the signs that shape our everyday behaviour.

In this conversation, we explore why good signage is often invisible, how buildings “speak” to us through wayfinding systems, and what signs reveal about power, trust, and human behaviour. Along the way we discuss hacked traffic signs, casino design, airport navigation, and why something as simple as an arrow carries centuries of history.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – Introduction: why signs are more interesting than they first appear
03:00 – How Jeffrey became a signage designer
04:00 – The challenge of helping people navigate complex buildings
07:00 – What actually is a sign?
09:00 – Why “everything can be a sign”
11:00 – The power dynamics behind signage and authority
13:00 – How designers observe signage in the real world
14:30 – Cultural differences in wayfinding and navigation
19:30 – Why Jeffrey wrote A Sign Is..
22:00 – The fascinating history of fire safety signage
24:00 – Curiosity and the stories hidden behind everyday signs
27:00 – Hacked construction signs and unexpected messages
31:00 – Trust, authority, and information on signs
35:00 – Advertising, nudging, and attention
36:00 – Information overload and competing signals
39:00 – The learned language of signs and symbols
41:00 – Why good signage is “invisible” when it works
43:00 – Airports, trust, and wayfinding design
46:00 – How people become signage designers
47:30 – How casinos, airports, and museums use signs differently
50:00 – The psychology of navigation
54:00 – Why signage can’t work perfectly for everyone
57:00 – Why wayfinding is an art rather than a science
01:02:00 – Jeffrey’s book A Sign Is and where to find it
01:04:00 – What signs might look like in the future In this episode we discuss

Key Topics

• Why signage is a form of behavioural communication
• How buildings “talk” to people through wayfinding systems
• The psychology of navigation and spatial awareness
• Why good signage is invisible
• How casinos deliberately make navigation harder
• Why museums minimise signs while airports maximise them
• The cultural differences in how places are navigated
• What hacked traffic signs reveal about trust in authority
• Why signs act as nudges that shape behaviour
• The limits of signage when designing for large groups
• How digital navigation may change our relationship with physical signs

About Jeffrey
Jeffrey Ludlow is a signage and wayfinding designer and founder of Point of Reference Studio, a design practice specialising in signage systems, environmental graphics, and branding for public environments. Trained as an architect, Jeffrey’s work sits at the intersection of architecture, graphic design, and behavioural psychology — helping people navigate complex spaces more intuitively. He is the author of A Sign Is, a book exploring the cultural, historical, and behavioural significance of the signs that surround us.

Links
Jeffrey's book 'A Sign Is...' - https://oroeditions.com/product/a-sign-is

Point of Reference, the Madrid-based studio Jeffrey founded - https://pointofreference.studio/

What Can a Cocktail Teach Us About Curiosity and Creativity? At first glance, documenting Negronis around the world might sound like a frivolous hobby. But could a simple cocktail become a vehicle for curiosity, experimentation and creative thinking?
 
On this episode, I speaks with geopolitical strategist Marc A Ross about an unusual passion project: ordering and documenting Negronis wherever he travels. What began as a casual habit has evolved into a magazine-style project called 50 Negronis, capturing cocktails from elegant bars to chaotic airport lounges. Along the way, the project has revealed something deeper about travel, culture and the value of experimentation.
 
But as the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear this episode isn’t really about cocktails. Instead it’s about how curiosity leads to discovery, why creative side projects matter, and how experimentation can enrich both our professional and personal lives.
 
Curiosity Starts With Small Experiments
Marc’s Negroni project began almost accidentally. While travelling frequently for his work as a geopolitical strategist, he started ordering Negronis and photographing them. What made the idea interesting wasn’t a search for the perfect drink.

Instead, Marc documented the entire experience — the great cocktails, the mediocre ones, and the truly terrible ones. That curiosity created a lens through which to experience the world differently. Bars became places for conversation, experimentation and discovery, and the project grew into a collection of stories from cities across the globe. 

Creativity Through Play
A key theme of the conversation is the importance of playfulness. Marc deliberately avoids treating the project too seriously. The photos are simple smartphone snapshots, the documentation is intentionally loose, and the goal isn’t perfection.

That approach mirrors how many creative projects evolve; by removing the pressure to produce something “definitive,” the project becomes an experiment. And in the process, it becomes easier to create, learn and iterate. 

Authenticity, Communication and Personality
We also explore how side projects can sharpen professional skills. Marc argues that communicators, leaders and even politicians should experiment creatively and share aspects of their personality. Authenticity matters. Whether it’s documenting cocktails, running unconventional events, or experimenting with new formats, people connect more with ideas that feel genuine. Sometimes the most powerful way to communicate is simply to follow an idea that genuinely interests you.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – A cocktail as a conversation starter
Introduction; why Negronis might seem like an unusual topic for a podcast about human behaviour and yet…

02:00 – Recording in Sundance, Utah
Marc describes the Brigadoon gathering and its focus on conversation rather than traditional conference formats.

04:00 – The origins of the Negroni
Marc explains the history of the cocktail and why it remains a classic drink.

07:00 – The “50 Negronis” project
A disappointing airport Negroni sparks the idea of documenting the drinks Marc encounters while travelling.

10:00 – Capturing cocktails around the world
Marc explains how he photographs the drinks and records the ingredients when possible.

13:00 – Cocktail culture and experimentation
They discuss how bartenders experiment with ingredients and create new variations.

18:00 – Why the details don’t matter
The project becomes less about recipes and more about stories, places and experiences.

22:00 – Learning through experimentation
Christian reflects on how creative side projects can help people learn and explore new ideas.

30:00 – Lessons for communicators and politicians
Marc explains why authenticity and personality matter in leadership.

37:00 – Staying curious and having fun
The conversation turns to persistence, creativity and the value of pursuing ideas simply because they’re interesting.

42:00 – Where to follow Marc’s work
Marc shares details about Brigadoon events and his geopolitical newsletter.

Links
Caracal Global, Marc’s consultancy and advisory firm - https://www.caracal.global/

Brigadoon, Marc’s series of lovingly curated events - https://www.brigadoon.live/

Marc on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcaross/

Marc’s previous appearance on the show - https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/marc-ross-on-communication-strategy/ 

Sundance Mountain Resort - https://www.sundanceresort.com/

What’s the difference between a mistake… and a bad decision? My guest knows this only too well. Tom Hardin has been on the show several times before. As Tipper X, he wore a wire for the FBI and helped build the largest insider trading investigation in US history. 

Since then, he has spent nearly a decade speaking to organisations around the world about slippery slopes, rationalisation, and how good people drift into serious trouble. In this episode, he returns to discuss his new book, Wired on Wall Street.

The book goes beyond the insider trading case many listeners already know. It explores the ambition, insecurity and desire for status that shaped his early career, and the patterns he only recognised years later when writing it down. 

For the first time on a podcast, Tom is also joined by his wife, Sue. She played no role in the trades that changed his life, but her life was dramatically altered by them. She reflects on discovering the truth, keeping a secret that wasn’t hers, facing sentencing uncertainty, and what it means to rebuild together. This conversation isn’t really about insider trading; it’s about character.

Key Themes

• Why calling something a “mistake” can soften accountability
• The psychology of slippery slopes and rationalisation
• Status anxiety and the need to belong
• Resume virtues vs eulogy virtues
• Shame versus guilt — and why the distinction matters
• The hidden impact of ethical failure on spouses and families
• What writing a book can reveal that telling a story on stage cannot
• The freedom that comes from having nothing left to hide

Tom’s story is unusual; the human dynamics behind it are not.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – More than insider trading
Why this conversation is about character — guilt vs shame, mistakes vs bad decisions, and the cost of ethical drift.

02:30 – The story in brief
Tom recaps becoming “Tipper X” and helping build the largest insider trading investigation in US history.

03:15 – Why write the book now?
After a decade of speaking, Tom explains what finally pushed him to put the full story — childhood, ambition, insecurity — on paper.

08:00 – The deeper pattern
From Georgia to the Ivy League to hedge funds: the outsider mindset, status anxiety, and the slippery slope.

16:00 – Small decisions, big consequences
Early corner-cutting, rationalisation, and the fraud triangle in action.

26:00 – Resume virtues vs eulogy virtues
How Tom’s definition of success changed — and the difference between shame and guilt.

31:00 – A simple test for integrity
One question that could replace most Codes of Conduct:
Are you willing to be held accountable for this decision?

Sue’s Perspective
40:30 – The night she found out
Shock, disbelief, and the future collapsing in an instant.

44:00 – Keeping a secret that wasn’t hers
White lies, reputational fear, and the strain of silence.

49:00 – Sentencing day
Why she insisted on being there — no matter the outcome.

52:30 – Reinvention and resilience
Stay-at-home dad years, ultramarathons, and rebuilding a life together.

Links
Wired on Wall Street: www.tipperx.com/book

Tipper X Website: www.tipperx.com

Tom's previous appearances on the show:
Tom's experience as FBI Informant Tipper X - https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/tom-hardin-on-his-experience/
Turning Crime Into A Calling - https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/tom-hardin-on-turning-a-crime-into-a-calling/

Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tipperx

Tom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tipperx/

What happens when someone runs with a business idea they've heard as a thought experiment on a podcast? Can a business have an expletive in its name? And is it possible to run a business that sells a single very specific product?

Episode Summary
On this episode, I’m joined by Charlie Hurst, Tom Noble and Will Sudlow — the founders of Flat White or F*ck Off*, a coffee brand inspired by a thought experiment by friend of the show,Rory Sutherland. The concept is simple: sell one thing — flat whites — and if you want something else… the answer’s in the name.
 
⚠️ *Given the name of the business, this episode contains a lot of swearing!

Within four months of hearing the idea on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, they’d banded together — having never met but being isnpired to give the business a go — built a brand, grown an audience of tens of thousands, and served 1,500 flat whites in a single day at a London pop-up.
 
Most people would've treated Rory's idea as an interesting thought experiment. But Charlie, Tom and Will decided — with Rory's blessing — to actually build it.

In an extended conversation, we explore what it means to:

• Build a brand before you have a product
• Grow an audience before you open a shop
• Share your financials publicly
• Deliberately polarise rather than please

Discover why Charlie, Tom and Will spent £22,000 on a one-day loss-making pop-that served as a live experiment; part marketing, part proof of concept, part behavioural case study.

We discuss why constraint can be liberating, why queues affect perceived quality, how social proof shapes demand, and why narrowing your audience can be more powerful than trying to attract everyone.

This isn’t just a story about coffee. It’s about conviction, creative constraint and what happens when you deliberately ignore conventional business wisdom.

Guest Bios Charlie Hurst
Designer and brand builder. Charlie created the original visual identity for Flat White or F*ck Off after seeing Rory’s idea online.

Tom Noble
Entrepreneur and digital builder. Tom documented the entire journey in public, helping grow the brand’s audience before a single coffee was sold.

Will Sudlow
Co-founder of experiential agency The Impossible. Will brought production expertise to turn the idea into a large-scale pop-up event.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – From Thought Experiment to Real Business: why this is more than a coffee story. 

03:00 – Hearing Rory’s Idea: how Charlie, Tom and Will discovered the concept and decided to act on it.

08:00 – Building in Public: growing an audience before having a physical product; documenting everything online.

15:00 – One Product Only: why selling just flat whites is a strategic constraint — and a behavioural signal. 

25:00 – The Pop-Up Experiment: erving 1,500 coffees in a day; spending £27,000 as a marketing investment.

35:00 – Polarisation & Backlash: criticism, online sceptics and why not being for everyone is the point.

50:00 – Perception, Queues & Behaviour: what they learned about speed, quality signals and social proof.

01:05:00 – Risk, Conviction & Entrepreneurship: why building something in public is both terrifying and liberating.

01:20:00 – What Happens Next: scaling, experimentation and staying true to the core idea.

Links
Rory on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast - https://shows.acast.com/great-company/episodes/rory-sutherland
 
Flat White or F*ck Off - https://flatwhiteorfckoff.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flatwhiteorfckoff/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@flatwhiteorfckoff/ 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/flat-white-or-fck-off/
 
The co-founders
Tom on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasnoble1992/ Charlie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hurst-715364150/
Will on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/willsudlow/
Ask The Impossible - https://asktheimpossible.com/

Rory's appearances on this show:
https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/rory-sutherland-on-compliance/ https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/rory-sutherland-paul-craven-on-alchemy-magic/ https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/gerald-ashley-rory-sutherland/ https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/rory-sutherland-gerald-ashley-paul-craven-at-abbey-road-part-one/

What if we stopped telling women how to stay safe, and started asking why violence against them keeps happening in the first place? On this episode, I’m joined for a second time, by Amy Watson, the founder of social enterprise HASSL. She’s trying to tackle violence against women and girls at its root. Not with another awareness campaign or  safety app. But by building a global movement designed to shift responsibility away from women, and onto society.
 
Overview
When Amy first joined the podcast a year ago, we discussed the scale and reality of violence against women. A year on, she returns to talk about what it actually takes to tackle it. 
In just twelve months, her social enterprise HASSL has grown into a global prevention movement: more than half a million followers, thousands of volunteers across over 120 countries, and campaigns reaching millions of people organically.

But this isn’t just a story about social media growth. It’s about culture change. In an extended and wide-ranging disucssion, we explore why laws alone don’t solve systemic problems, why “stay safe” advice can unintentionally reinforce the wrong narrative, and what happens when you apply entrepreneurial thinking to one of society’s most entrenched issues.

This is a conversation about scale, backlash, risk and moral ambition, and about what it means to build something that refuses to compromise.

Guest Bio - Amy Watson
Amy is the founder of HASSL, a global social enterprise tackling harassment at the root.

HASSL focuses on prevention — shifting responsibility for violence away from women as individuals and onto the cultural and systemic factors that enable harm. Combining research, education and partnerships, it aims to create scalable, long-term change rather than short-term fixes.
 
In just over a year, HASSL has grown into a global movement with hundreds of thousands of followers and volunteers across more than 120 countries.
 
Amy’s work sits at the intersection of social justice and entrepreneurship, applying business thinking to one of society’s most entrenched problems.
 
AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – Intro: From Problem to Action
Christian frames this follow-up as a shift from discussing violence against women to exploring what it takes to tackle it in practice. 

02:00 – What HASSL Stands For
Amy explains HASSL’s prevention-first approach: shifting responsibility away from women and onto culture, systems and male behaviour. 

05:00 – Scaling a Social Enterprise
Rapid global growth, research-driven strategy, sustainable funding streams and a structured five-stage plan. 

08:30 – Education & Engaging Men
Launch of free education resources, bystander tools and conversation frameworks designed to invite men into the solution. 

16:00 – Entrepreneurship, Risk & Moral Ambition
Applying startup thinking to social change; sacrificing financial ambition for impact; long-term vision over quick wins. 

35:00 – Values, Independence & Leadership
Why Amy avoids outside investment, refuses to compromise on inclusivity, and builds operational resilience into the organisation. 

58:30 – Backlash & Online Abuse T
rolling, hate messages and the deliberate disruption of a webinar — and what that reveals about cultural normalisation. 

01:05:00 – Using Criticism as Leverage
Turning recurring myths (“false accusations”, “what about men?”) into educational opportunities and narrative shifts. 

01:21:00 – Barriers to Reporting Why speaking out rarely benefits women; the structural and social costs involved.

01:37:00 – Building a Movement How listeners can engage — and why lasting change requires persistence, scale and collective responsibility.

Links
Amy’s previous appearance on the show - https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/amy-watson-on-violence-against-women/

HASSL - hassl.uk

Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman - https://www.moralambition.org/book

Who determines what 'good' Compliance actually looks like?  The obvious answer is regulators (and in some jurisdictions) prosecutors. But what if it were the regulated Firms themselves?  That's the idea behind purpose-driven compliance, which I'm exploring on this episode.

Episode Summary
To explore this, I'm joined by Veronica Root Martinez, Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, to explore a deceptively simple but unsettling idea: 100% compliance is impossible. While we often behave as though perfect compliance is the goal — and in some safety-critical domains it must be — most organisational compliance involves humans. And humans make mistakes. Things get missed. Context changes. Stuff goes wrong.

So if perfection isn’t realistic, the real question becomes: how do organisations decide what really matters? The traditional answer has been to look outward — to regulators, enforcement authorities, and in some jurisdictions (particularly the US), prosecutors. Their priorities, expressed through sentencing guidelines, enforcement actions, and settlements, end up defining what “good” compliance looks like.

Veronica challenges that logic. She argues that this gets things the wrong way round. Instead of letting enforcement priorities dictate behaviour, she makes the case for purpose-driven compliance — where organisations set their own priorities based on their purpose, values, and actual risks, rather than chasing shifting regulatory expectations. Along the way, the conversation explores culture, human judgment, psychological safety, technology, experimentation, and why “best practice” can sometimes make things worse rather than better.

This episode is for anyone who writes rules, enforces them — or simply has to live under them.

Guest Biography
Veronica Root Martinez is a Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, where she researches corporate compliance, ethics, and organisational culture. Her work on purpose-driven compliance challenges enforcement-led models and explores how organisations can set priorities based on their own purpose, values, and risks.

Before entering academia, Veronica practised as an associate at a large law firm in Washington, DC, where she worked on regulatory and white-collar matters — experience that strongly informs the practical orientation of her research.

Links
Professor Veronica Root Martinez – Faculty Profile
https://law.duke.edu/fac/martinez

Veronica on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-root-martinez/

Purpose-Driven Compliance (paper discussed in the episode)
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6078766



AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – 02:00 | “Because they said so”
Christian reframes compliance as a universal human experience — not just a professional discipline — and introduces the problem of rules justified solely by regulatory expectation.

02:00 – 05:30 | Why 100% compliance is impossible
Veronica explains why modern organisations cannot realistically achieve perfect compliance when humans are involved — and why pretending otherwise creates problems.

05:30 – 10:30 | Tolerated misconduct and cultural drift
How allowing “small” rule-breaking can escalate into bigger issues, drawing on behavioural ethics and real-world corporate failures.

10:30 – 14:30 | Risk, prioritisation, and what really matters
A discussion of risk-based thinking, irrecoverable vs recoverable errors, and why organisations — not regulators — are best placed to set priorities.

14:30 – 18:30 | Enforcement swings and resilience
Why compliance programmes built around enforcement trends are fragile, expensive, and reactive — and how purpose-driven approaches create stability. 18:30 – 23:30 | Innovation, uncertainty, and guardrails
Why regulators are always behind innovation — and how values-based guardrails help employees make decisions in uncharted territory.

23:30 – 30:30 | Technology, AI, and the human in the loop
The limits of automation, the danger of over-reliance on tech, and why human judgment remains essential.

30:30 – 36:30 | Rules, loopholes, and malicious compliance
How overly detailed rulebooks create loopholes — and why purpose and principles offer a better basis for accountability.

36:30 – 40:30 | The Costco example
A powerful illustration of simplicity: four ethical principles that employees can actually understand and use.

40:30 – 45:30 | Training, regulators, and unintended consequences
Why blanket training requirements often miss the mark — and how enforcement agreements can accidentally undermine effectiveness.

45:30 – 52:30 | Measuring culture and compliance effectiveness
Moving beyond counting inputs to assessing outputs, including psychological safety, Speak Up systems, and cultural indicators.

52:30 – 57:30 | Experimentation and learning
Why failed interventions aren’t failure — they’re information — and why compliance should be treated as an evolving experiment.

57:30 – End | Reclaiming responsibility
A closing reflection on extrinsic motivation, “because I said so,” and why purpose-driven compliance offers a more human, defensible, and sustainable way forward.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) gets smarter and tkaes over more tasks, what happens to human dynamics like trust, transparency, leadership and empathy. How can humans and machines wowrk togehter effectively?  And how can leaders lead in this new world?


Episode Summary 
AI is often discussed as a technical challenge, but the more interesting question is how it impacts humans and how we will interface with them. As AI becomes part of the world we’re navigating, it raises deeply human questions about trust, transparency, confidence, and how we relate to systems we don’t fully understand.

On this episode, I'm joined by Professor Tina Weisser, a leading thinker on human–AI collaboration, systems thinking, and organisational behaviour under uncertainty. Together, we explore why trust isn’t something we can engineer into technology, why uncertainty isn’t a problem to be eliminated, and what AI may be revealing about human behaviour, rather than the other way around. This conversation is less about what AI can do, and more about what it does to us. 

Guest Profile
Professor Tina Weisser is a Professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences and a member of the Munich Center for Digital Sciences and Artificial Intelligence (MUC-DAI). Her work focuses on human–AI collaboration, systems thinking, service design, and how organisations adapt under conditions of complexity and uncertainty. 

AI-Generated Timestamp Summary
00:00 – AI as a human problem, not a technical one
04:00 – Tina’s path into human–AI collaboration
12:00 – Why uncertainty is unavoidable (and necessary)
18:00 – We haven’t mastered work — and now we’re adding AI
23:00 – From tools to agents: why this feels different
29:00 – Trusting actions, not facts
35:00 – Ethics, fear, and human inconsistency
42:00 – What this means for students, skills, and learning
49:00 – “Let AI handle the data — humans handle the room”
55:00 – Being right too early doesn’t help
1:01:00 – AI as a mirror of humanity

Episode Links
Tina's LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinaweisser/

Tina's website - www.tinaweisser.com

Munich Center for Digital Sciences & AI (MUC-DAI) - http://mucdai.hm.edu

What lies behind Romance Fraud? Romance fraud is one of the fastest-growing forms of fraud worldwide, and one of the most emotionally devastating. It’s also one of the most misunderstood.

On this episode, I’m speaking to Becky Holmes, author of the bestselling book Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You. Becky didn’t become interested in romance fraud through victimhood or research. She stumbled into it during the pandemic after being approached by scammers online — and instead of ignoring them, she decided to wind them up.
 
What began as a joke — sending absurd messages, inventing ridiculous scenarios, and pushing scam scripts to breaking point — turned into something much more serious. Through humour, Becky uncovered the psychological mechanics of romance fraud: how trust is built, how isolation and gaslighting work, and why believing you’re “too smart to fall for it” is often the most dangerous belief of all.

In this conversation, we explore why laughing at scammers is not the same as blaming victims, why romance fraud closely mirrors patterns seen in abusive relationships, and why shame — not stupidity — keeps people trapped. We also talk about humour as a gateway to learning, the limits of victim-focused storytelling, and the uncomfortable truth that none of us are immune. This is a funny conversation in places. And then it isn’t. 

This is not the first time the Human Risk Podcast has explored romance fraud. On a previous episode, I spoke with Anna Rowe, a victim of romance fraud, about the profound emotional and psychological impact of being deceived by someone you believed you loved.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why romance fraud is a psychological scam, not a technical one
• How humour can expose manipulation without mocking victims
• The striking parallels between romance fraud and abusive relationships
• Isolation, gaslighting, and shame as tools of control
• Why “it would never happen to me” is such a dangerous belief
• The role of AI, deepfakes, and evolving scam tactics
• Why fraud literacy matters — and why people don’t seek it out until it’s too late
• The emotional cost of online exposure and harassment
• What institutions, platforms, and society still get wrong about fraud

Guest Profile
Becky Holmes is an author, speaker, and writer specialising in fraud, online manipulation, and digital harm. Her first book, Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You, explores the world of romance fraud through humour, storytelling, and lived experience.

Her second book, The Future of Fraud, examines how scams are evolving in a world shaped by AI and digital identity.
 
Links and resources

• Becky’s first book Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You - https://share.google/fKQ6qCL1l8Ygl1ey2
• The Future of Fraud her second (out April 2026) - https://share.google/fKQ6qCL1l8Ygl1ey2
  
  
• Becky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckyholmeshatesspinach/
  
  
• Becky on Instagram: Becky Holmes (@deathtospinach)
  
  
• Becky on Twitter/X: https://x.com/deathtospinach?
  
  
• Becky’s book agent profile: https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/becky-holmes
  
  
• Previous Human Risk Podcast episode with Anna Rowe on being a victim of romance fraud: https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/anna-rowe-on-romance-scams/

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – Why romance fraud matters
Christian explains why the podcast is returning to romance fraud, linking this episode to an earlier conversation with victim Anna Rowe (linked in the show notes).

02:00 – How Becky Holmes got into romance fraud
Becky describes how being approached by scammers during lockdown — and deciding to wind them up — accidentally turned into deep expertise.

05:00 – When jokes expose the script
Absurd replies, fake crime scenes, and the moment Becky realised scammers weren’t reading messages, just following scripts.

09:00 – Laughing at scammers, not victims
Why humour can highlight manipulation without blaming those who fall victim — and how the book shifts from comedy to something much darker.

14:00 – Romance fraud as psychological abuse
The parallels with abusive relationships: isolation, gaslighting, shame, and why people stay, return, or fall again.

21:00 – “It would never happen to me”
Why believing you’re too smart to fall for romance fraud is often the biggest risk of all.

28:00 – What the media gets wrong
Victim-focused storytelling, ignored systems, and why AI, deepfakes, and scam scripts matter more than headlines.

36:00 – Fraud literacy and prevention
Why people don’t seek out information about fraud until it’s too late — and how humour can be a gateway to awareness.

45:00 – The personal cost of online exposure
Online harassment, cyberflashing, and the emotional toll of spending years inside the systems you’re critiquing.

55:00 – What’s next for Becky
Upcoming books, speaking work, and where to find her online.

Why do we struggle to talk about grief? Why that matters and what we can do about it, is the subject of this episode.

Summary
Grief is something almost all of us will experience, and yet something we still struggle to talk about openly. Not because it’s rare, but because it makes us uncomfortable. We lack a shared language for it, feel uneasy about how long it lasts, and often don’t know how to sit with people who don’t simply “move on”. 

On this episode, I'm joined by Amy Kean, founder of Good Shout, for a deeply human conversation about grief, work, identity, and what it really means to give people space to be themselves.

Amy has been on the podcast before. Since first encountering her work, I have been consistently inspired by her willingness to be unashamedly herself: thoughtful, curious, and open about experiences many of us keep hidden. When she recently shared reflections on grief on LinkedIn, it sparked a desire to invite her back; not for a tightly structured discussion, but for a conversation that could explore the wider dynamics around loss. 

What follows is an unusual episode. It begins with grief, but moves into related territory: compassionate leave versus compassionate return, what actually helps when someone is struggling, why workplaces are often so bad at dealing with loss, and why talking about difficult things might be one of the most important human skills we have.

Rather than offering neat frameworks or tidy conclusions, this conversation creates space; for reflection, for discomfort, and for honesty. 

If you’ve experienced loss, this episode may offer comfort or recognition. If you haven’t, it may give you insight into how to show up better for others when the time comes. And above all, it helps normalise the idea that grief is not something to be hidden or hurried past, but something we should be able to talk about.

The episode is dedicated to Amy’s dad, Lord Terence Kean.

Relevant Links
Good Shout, Amy's company — https://goodshoutcommunity.com/

Amy on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycharlottekean/

Amy’s previous appearance on the show talking aboiut Communicating Effectively —
https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/amy-kean-on-communicating-effectively/

Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry —
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60324067-death-of-an-ordinary-man

AI-Generated Timestamp Summary
01:05 – Why Amy, why now
03:40 – Remembering Amy’s dad
08:30 – Double grief and anticipatory loss
10:40 – Stroke, hope, and uncertainty
14:40 – Grief, work, and performance
17:35 – Naming emotions out loud
22:05 – Talking about grief on LinkedIn
27:40 – Compassionate return 
30:05 – The cognitive cost of grief
33:05 – Why we don’t talk about death
35:05 – How to help someone who’s grieving 
41:05 – Creativity, curiosity, and grief
49:05 – AI, voice, and being human
53:05 – Shameless and deathbed economics
01:02:00 – Final reflections and dedication