Headlights in the distance. Two elderly evacuees in the cab. A van bogged down a kilometre from the Russian border. That single night becomes the turning point for Tenby Powell, a former soldier and business leader who now runs one of the few foreign‑flagged humanitarian teams still operating on Ukraine’s front line.

We sit down with Tenby to unpack what aid work looks like when drones own the sky and mines haunt the verges. He explains how KiwiKare moved from broad donations to precision medical impact: Road of Life ambulance transfers, targeted hospital resupply sourced locally, and Heat for Health, a clever programme that turns old water cylinders into stoves and boilers so families can cook and keep warm when power and water are cut. Along the way, he shares candid lessons from the field: why pull logistics beats push shipments, how to plan routes that respect shifting minefields, and when to abort missions because a sector is too hot.

The hardest dilemma sits at the centre of the story: in a war where humanitarian markings attract strikes, how much of every donated dollar should fund electronic warfare equipment, hardened glass, and underbody plates instead of antibiotics, dressings, and fuel. Tenby talks through the numbers, the ethics, and the brutal arithmetic of survival after losing ambulances to drone attacks. He also highlights the partnerships that make the difference—Ukrainian NGOs, hospital directors, and head nurses who set priorities with precision and hold teams to account.

If you care about effective altruism when it counts, modern warfare’s impact on civilians, or what it truly takes to evacuate patients under fire, you’ll find hard truths and real hope here. Subscribe, leave a five‑star review, and share this episode with someone who wants their support to matter.

Visit KiwiKareUkraine.co.nz to learn more about Tenby's work and help fuel the next lifesaving mission.

Donate Here:

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kiwi-kare-ukraine-kiwi-aid-and-refugee-evacuation

Socials

https://www.instagram.com/tenbypowellnz/

https://www.youtube.com/@kiwik.a.r.eukraine1488

https://web.facebook.com/TenbyPowellKiwiK.A.R.E/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

Reach out to us at - hello@noordinarymonday.com

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WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61

A tiny part failed, a race unravelled, and a dominant team learned a lesson that reshaped its season. We sit down with engineer and technical leader Ruaraidh McDonald-Walker to trace the arc from childhood curiosity to Mercedes’ hybrid breakthrough, then step into the heat of the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix where creeping temperatures and unseen constraints forced brutal clarity. What failed wasn’t the obvious component; it was an overlooked piece in the electronics. The fix demanded humility, predictive tools, and a culture strong enough to ignore blame and choose action.

We unpack how Ruaraidh pivoted early to electrification, why nobody knew what a racing-grade electric motor should look like, and how Mercedes fused chassis and power unit thinking to create a single, coherent system. Ruaraidh takes us trackside to describe the reality behind the garage screens, the cadence of remote factory operations running on Australia time, and the difference between dyno confidence and race-day chaos. The Canada story becomes a leadership case study: avoid decision stasis, derate early when the data hints at a slow-burn failure, and keep an open mind when physics contradicts assumptions. From there, we zoom out to thermodynamics, energy efficiency, and why electrification isn’t fashion but physics.

For future engineers, Ruaraidh shares practical advice: build things, question sources, volunteer at circuits, and treat creativity as a core engineering skill. Music, Lego, and pinball machines become tools for recovery in a high-pressure world; recovery, in turn, sustains performance. Along the way, you’ll hear how a blame-free culture enabled bold ideas like unconventional turbo layouts and how predictive models turned panic into process after Montreal.

If you enjoyed the story, follow or subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick five-star review to help more listeners find the show. Your support helps us bring you more candid conversations with people who build at the limit.

Ruaraidh’s Socials:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruaraidh-mcdonald-walker-1608a64/
https://www.instagram.com/f1ruaraidh/?hl=en

Formula Student Website - https://www.imeche.org/events/formula-student

Formula One 2014 Canadian Grand Prix Highlightsx - https://youtu.be/839YKsTnMns?si=IlB3pLBFWuUzvKZW

Dollar Academy Pipe Band - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc1gVYzFKB0

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If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61

A cheetah on a Hollywood set with Angelina Jolie. A Jack Russell with terrible timing. And a moment in a rural hospital that rerouted two lives toward a mission bigger than fame or adrenaline. We sit down with Namibian conservationist Marlice Van Vuren to unpack how a preventable loss led to N/a’an ku sê, a holistic model that protects wildlife while strengthening the communities who live alongside it.

Marlice grew up on a sanctuary with the San, speaking their language before Afrikaans or English. That early bond shaped how she reads animal behaviour and why indigenous knowledge sits at the centre of her work. She takes us into the quiet heroics of raising cheetahs and leopards from days old, the reality of anti‑poaching in vast open landscapes, and the tools her team deploys—canines, horses, drones, and gyros—to deter and disrupt. The stories are visceral: 2 a.m. feeds, near‑misses in the field, the heartbreak of arriving too late, and the stubborn hope that gets you back out before dawn.

We also trace the long road from weekend medicine boxes to a free clinic that now sees thousands of San patients each year. Marlice doesn’t gloss over the hardest parts: addiction, landlessness, and the grind of generational change. She shares how donors took a chance, how transparency built trust, and how a lodge created jobs that reinforced conservation goals. Her message is disarmingly simple—start small, act locally, and let action compound. Purpose isn’t found in slogans; it’s built in the bush, in clinics, and in everyday choices that make room for others.

If you care about cheetah conservation, anti‑poaching strategy, indigenous language preservation, or sustainable travel in Namibia, this conversation offers a clear, working blueprint. Listen, share with a friend who loves wildlife, and if you can, visit or support N/a’an ku sê. Subscribe for more stories that turn purpose into practice, and leave a review so we can bring more voices like Marlice’s to your feed.

LINKS:

https://www.naankuse.com/

https://web.facebook.com/naankuse/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

https://www.instagram.com/naankuse_foundation/

DONATE:

https://www.naankuse.com/donate

SUPPORT THE RANGERS:

https://naankusefoundation.salsalabs.org/wildliferangerchallenge/index.html?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnL0BTBEs0ZVAoUYwwLgIFmI21P54C3yCikpRK3NyNYgvx-_L3SE4wLCJPBbc_aem_tp2fHeyNBrtge7bB9yrfwA

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If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com, or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61