Jim & George - Ian 1947

grandfather/father/son

A family line can stretch across continents and still feel like one village street. In this episode, I sit down with my second cousin Ian, and we unspool a life that begins in Windhoek, runs through Cape Town and “East London”, South Africa, and eventually finds its footing back in Sussex after his father’s illness forces a return none of them expected. The grief in that chapter is real and immediate, but what follows is practical, determined, and brave: his mother retraining at night school, finding work in Portslade, and rebuilding a home almost from scratch.

What gives Ian’s story its heartbeat is his grandfather, Jim — a restless Sussex character who auctioneered cattle and furniture, bought the Three Tuns, and, by moonlight, muffled horses’ hooves to haul French brandy over the Downs. He rented out his bathroom on Fridays, posted auction bills from a black trade bike, and taught two wide‑eyed boys to fish eels from the River Adur, pluck chickens, and turn allotment rows into dinner. These scenes of rural English life sit beautifully alongside Ian’s sharp memories of South Africa: Manikin Cigars flying from a carnival float, a grassfire racing up a hillside, and a beach lagoon walled off against sharks.

Years later, Ian and his brother return just before the COVID shutdown, driving the Garden Route in a Mercedes van, weighing up Cape Town property by wind and elevation, and confronting East London’s uneasy streets lined with wire and idle youth. Somewhere in the middle of all this, an almost‑career in aviation gives way to a calling discovered by chance in a sixth‑form classroom — a reminder of how a single opportunity can quietly redirect a life.

If you’re drawn to family history, migration stories, and the quiet heroism of starting over, this conversation blends memoir, social history, and the kind of details you can smell and taste: mackerel teas, blue paint on your hands, and the hush of horses crossing the Downs.

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"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Wiggy, Doris, Mick, Peter & more - Sean 1965

grans & uncles/grandson & nephew

In this episode, I sit down with Sean to share vivid snapshots of Wiggy, A grandmother named for her hair, the Londoner who never quite forgave leaving the city, and Ron, the quiet man who gave up inheritance for marriage and then left for war. What starts as a conversation about a beloved gran becomes a richer look at class, place, and the grit of making a home when everything moves faster than your heart can follow.

We trace the years from a teenage pregnancy before the war, through a bungalow built in haste, to Sundays filled with warm egg sandwiches in a house mysteriously heated by fan blowers. The reveal—Ron’s cheeky electric rewire—lands like a family legend: practical, daring, and just a little bit unlawful. Alongside Wiggy stands Doris, Sean's maternal gran, another Londoner who rode the bus back to dance halls every weekend—proof that some places never stop calling.

The conversation shifts to time and its tools—how older hands meet modern screens. Teaching an iPad to a parent becomes a window into empathy, patience, and the wonder of seeing a face across oceans. We talk about Uncle Mick, the young man who left for South Africa and flew high before life tempered the gloss, and how his path shaped the next generation’s sense of risk and return.

Through grief, humour, and the stubborn details of memory, we make a case for why grandparents matter: they are our first lessons in loss, and our clearest proof that ordinary lives carry extraordinary weight.

Pass this episode to someone who still remembers the smell of Sunday tea. Your memories might be the chapter someone else needs.

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"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

David 1967

Well scout, wildcatter, mentor & mate

A £99 suit, a borrowed tie, and a last-minute interview kicked off David’s career—a journey that leapt from the North Sea to Wall Street, and eventually to long Napa weekends after 4 a.m. starts. In this episode, I trace that unlikely arc with him: a teenager who didn’t know oil from Brent crude becomes a well scout by asking sharper questions, then pushes his way from drilling updates into mergers and acquisitions, and finally into institutional equity sales, guiding billion-pound pension flows.

The scenes he describes are nothing short of cinematic. Helicopters slamming onto offshore platforms in the freezing North Sea, a noddy suit zipped to the chin. Paper tickets on the London floor giving way to algorithms and dark pools. A finance director expecting a kid in LA and instead getting Wolfgang Puck at Spago. Kiefer Sutherland opens with a compliment, Oliver Stone debates the soul of Wall Street, and Keanu Reeves glides through a tiny Santa Monica room with calm, generous grace. These aren’t name-drops—they’re field notes on how to meet anyone with poise: don’t perform, don’t fawn, just be human.

What underpins it all is mentorship—and the inches you can reach. A boss who takes a chance sends him to Houston. A wildcatter teaches range and risk. Jerry Jones threads through the decades, from an eight-person meet-and-greet to a long Napa lunch where stories roll and the tip matches the legend. David’s philosophy is simple: life is won in small increments—the six inches in front of your face. Ask for the next challenge before you’re ready. Keep your true friends to ten, and care for them well. Let legacy be kindness, not monuments.

If you’re navigating a career pivot, fascinated by oil and markets, or searching for a mental model that holds under pressure, this conversation offers practical insight and hard-won perspective. Subscribe, share it with someone who might need a nudge of courage. What's the best advice a mentor ever gave you?

What inch are you fighting for today?

Al Pacino - Any Given Sunday - "Inch By Inch"

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“Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.”

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"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."