Imagine that you suffer from social anxiety that is so acute that you struggle to answer the phone, open the door to your home if someone knocks, or to go outside. Now imagine that in spite of this, you’ve become an adventurer, a speaker and writer. Now imagine that in two short months, you will start a journey to be the first person to swim around Great Britain.
Meet Paula McGuire – our guest on Episode 75. Paula hails from Glasgow and for many years has suffered from acute social anxiety. She was bullied at school growing up, was eventually placed on medications for the condition, and found it nearly impossible to figure out what she truly enjoyed and wanted to do in life. Fear was pervasive.
And yet somehow, Paula took control. She started to try things – beginning with having a go at every sport of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She moved on to try other things – rally car driving, farming, and even being an astronaut for a day. She is a speaker and gave a wonderful TEDx talk. She is an author and has a book coming out called Must Try Harder – Adventures in Anxiety.
In April 2018, she set out on her biggest challenge yet – a 1800 mile (2897 km) swim around the coast of Great Britain – the Big, Mad, Swim Around Britain. That’s not bad for an aquaphobe!
As you’ll hear, Paula has not eliminated anxiety. A big part of this episode and of All Things Risk is that we all grapple with fear and anxiety to an extent. We all deal with the reptilian part of our brains which wants us to avoid losses at all costs. We all have part of our psyches that want to keep us in our comfort zones.
So, what Paula is doing is not only inspirational, it is also a great example of healthy risk-taking. We get into tons of wonderful stuff in this episode. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Show notes:
The Big, Mad, Swim Around Britain
Paula’s forthcoming book Must Try Harder: Adventures in Anxiety on:
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Threats to democracy, the changing nature of military conflict, cyber threats, bots, China, Russia and disruptive change created by hyper connectivity – what does all of this mean? How should military organisations assess and manage risk? What lessons can we learn that are applicable elsewhere? Today, we dive into these topics. This is both and important and informative “big picture” risk conversation. It is also highly enjoyable.
In this episode, we discuss the USA’s military power, “grey zone” competition, and tons more with Nathan Freier. Nathan is a military strategist, researcher, and risk professional. He is an associate professor of National Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College. He recently led a research project that culminated in a report entitled At Our Peril. It asks and attempts to answer the question, of how the US Department of Defence should adapt to the type of disruptive change we have discussed in recent episodes and that we see playing out in today’s headlines.
Indeed, we live in a world of international “grey zone” competition – not quite war, not quite peace. The project Nathan led contains some very interesting insights and innovative thinking on these and related topics. It will provide you with a deeper level of understanding of our world and you don’t need to be a risk professional to follow along and get a lot out of the conversation.
We cover:
- The art of strategy;
- “Softer” aspects of American power in the world;
- The very useful concept of “risk confusion”;
- Cyber warfare;
- Why the US Department of Defence would commission this piece of work – and make it public;
- Tons more!
Show Notes:
Outplayed – Regaining Strategic Initiative in the Gray Zone
Known Unknowns: Unconventional “Strategic Shocks” in Defence Strategy Development
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Find all episodes here: www.allthingsrisk.co.uk
Today, we talk China and its complex relationship with The United States and the West. My guest is Joshua Phillip, an award-winning journalist at the Epoch Times. He specialises in covering national security in the United States in relation to China and is an expert in China’s roles and approaches to espionage, organised crime, and unconventional warfare. We get into all of that and go down a few rabbit holes in this one – each more fascinating than the previous.
Of course, Joshua approaches these topics from a certain viewpoint and it is important to note that the Epoch Times focuses on news about China and human rights issues associated with it – it takes an anti-communist and anti-Communist Party of China editorial stance. We get into a range of topics including:
· China’s persecution of Falun Gong;
· The Chinese state’s relationship with organised crime;
· China and its alleged attempt to subvert US and Western democracy;
· The dark web;
· The role of the People’s Liberation Army in counterfeiting and gray markets;
· Prospects of China-US relations under Xi Jingping
· Loads more!
Show notes:
Joshua’s award-winning investigative work Murder, Money and Spies
New York Times Article - Born on a Queens Street, a Battle Over Falun Gong Goes to Court
Bloody Harvest by David Matas and David Kilgour
1989 Tiananmen Square protests
Fuk Ching Organised Crime Group
The Coming Collapse of China by Gordon Chang
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Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on:
iTunes: http://apple.co/1PjLmKh
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Find all episodes here: www.allthingsrisk.co.uk