Send us Fan Mail

We’ve all learned about the Hantavirus this week, with a cruise ship struck and at least three people dead, harkening back to the days of the pandemic. War is still up in the air, with the possibility of peace in Iran, although it’s hard to know if you’re only following President Trump’s Truth Social posts. Can someone take his phone off him? Meanwhile, the stock markets are up and down, with energy and food experts screaming disaster is on the doorstep, but you wouldn’t believe that if you only followed Wall Street, right? In Karachi, Pakistan, at least 10 people have died of heatstroke, while India continues to experience shocking temperatures, and finally, the great man, Sir David Attenborough turns 100 this week.

We’ll be discussing all of that and more, but first, we’re going to look at the state of the insurance industry and what the actuaries are saying. We’ll discuss this within the context of the Nine Planetary Boundaries, and assess the current state of the insurance sector, including how far until it collapses, why it will collapse, and what that means to all of us. Because if it does go down, the global economy is next, and well, that won’t be pretty.

It’s a big, wide discussion, and we are delighted to welcome Praveen Gupta to share his wisdom. Praveen started in insurance back in the late 70s with The New India Assurance Co, followed by CGU, Allianz, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, and finished his illustrious career as Managing Director and CEO of Raheja QBE General Insurance Company. Today he is a blogger, writer and thinker, with articles regularly featured in Illuminem, and he is also an Advisory Board Member for Sanctuary Asia. Praveen has a terrific amount of experience, is a wonderful human being, and most importantly, he’s sitting in Mumbai, India, where he will give us a lived experience of living in one of the hottest cities on earth right now.

Come and join us as we step back and look at the state of the insurance industry, this Friday, 8th May 2026. The livestream kicks off at 8am UK, 9am EU, 11am UAE, 1.30pm IN, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 5pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

We are going to take a different approach this week and re-orient the conversation to the current state of our planet. Yes someone tried to assassinate the US President (and the conspiracy theories are flourishing), yes King Charles is trying to heal the “very special relationship” between the US and UK, yes the war with Iran is at a stalemate and economic impacts growing, along with having a new insurgency erupting in Mali, civilians continuing to be killed in Lebanon, Israel is facing EU anger for buying Ukrainian wheat from the Russians, and the UAE has left OPEC, but…

What is going on with our planet and is it more important than all the rest?

We’re hearing escalating concerns from the scientific community about the forthcoming El Niño (it’s either a Super or Godzilla at this point), AMOC is back in the news as a near-term threat, food shortages are expected to escalate from these changes immediately and long term (even if it’s not included with food insecurity/inflation impact from the Iranian war, so we can expect a double whammy) and the world’s oceans are experiencing record heat ALREADY. Where is this all taking us?

We have Oliver Gill (the water man) back with us as co-host this week as Joe can’t join us, however, unfortunately, Jan Umsonst, the Earth System Nerd, wasn’t able to join us. No problem - an excuse to get him back again soon - but we still covered a lot of topics, from the economic situation today to the state of the planet more broadly.

Come and join us as we step back and look at the state of the planet, this Friday, 1st May 2026. The livestream kicks off at 8am UK, 9am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 5pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a commonly used criticism towards anyone who doesn’t agree with Trump’s agenda, but looking at what he’s doing right now, should TDS be targeted at those still fully aligned with him? Because right now, Asia is suffering immensely due to the war in Iran, we’ve heard rumblings Trump was looking for the nuclear codes (unproven but not unbelievable), and the WSJ reported he had such a mighty tantrum he was locked out of his own war room.

Times are tense for everyone everywhere, and added to this are the escalating warnings of a Godzilla El Niño, we saw New Zealand hammered by extraordinary floods, the UK is in mayhem about Mandelson (again), the ‘Rape Academy’ made front page news, the Druzbha oil pipeline is open again for business, the 90 billion Euro aid package for Ukraine is back on track, the AI backlash is growing, and the Nerd Reich is openly telling the world their intentions, with Palantir publishing a 22-point manifesto.

Because everything is so incredibly intense, we wanted to bring in a special guest who can help us with the mental and emotional load, answering the question – can resilience be learned? Apparently, it can, and we are delighted to welcome Dr Jane Tuomola, a highly experienced executive and team coach who integrates her clinical psychology experience with her work as a coach. She believes that a deep understanding of psychology is key to meaningful behavioural change, finding purpose, and creating lasting impact. Originally from the UK, Jane began her career as a clinical psychologist before relocating to Asia, and today, she serves as a trainer, coaching supervisor, and mentor coach for three globally accredited coaching schools.

Come and join us as we disentangle the complexity of this time, and with Jane, develop our resilience muscles while we’re doing it. It’s all happening, this Friday, 24th April 2026, at 8am UK, 9am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 5pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

The pressure keeps ramping up, and this week was like no other, with a potty-mouthed Potus threatening to destroy an entire civilization. While the media and experts try to determine what he meant by this statement – a war crime in its own right (not the act, just saying the words) - the only way a civilization the size of Iran could be destroyed is by going nuclear. Did we really get so close this week? Well, in this day and age, none of us can feel confident it won’t happen, but boy, it wouldn’t be very smart, would it?

Of course, the markets rose and fell, the price of fossil fuels too, and almost immediately, the ceasefire was over, because Israel decided to carry out its largest bombing campaign of Lebanon straight after the announcement, so the Strait of Hormuz is “shut” once again. It makes you wonder if there is a way out of this mess that isn’t utter destruction? Nothing is giving us any confidence yet.

Of course, plenty of other news worth our attention, from a deep dive into Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and whether he can be trusted, the US leaving NATO, JD Vance being JD Vance, recycled plastic is worth something at last, and oh, the US threatening the Catholic Church with the Avignon Papacy. Yep, things are weird, no doubt about it.

To help us dig into this and more, we are delighted to welcome Andy Lopata. Andy is an internationally recognised authority on professional relationships, with more than 25 years of experience helping organisations and individuals unlock the commercial and cultural value of connection. The author of six books and co-host of The Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and has written for Harvard Business Review.

We’re going to discuss Andy’s professional advice on building professional relationships and networking, then translate that into how we can use it more broadly, as we all face deepening uncertainty. It’s going to be valuable.

Come and join us as we disentangle the complexity of this time, and with Andy, gain some tools to navigate the choppy waters. It’s all happening, this Friday, 10th April 2026, at 8am UK, 9am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 5pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

Hooley dooley, what a week! We started in the middle of a 48-hour countdown that seemed to have only one possible outcome – global Armageddon - but then there was a pause (a TACO moment?) with five more days to consider options. Not long after that we heard there were behind-the-scenes peace negotiations starting according to Trump, but the Iranians said it was fake news, all while the bombs kept dropping. No doubt, it has been one of the most intense weeks in living memory.

So yes, we are going to talk about the war, it’s fall-out and impacts across the world, as well as the confusion that seems to be emanating from even the greatest minds on the issue of what’s next. We’ll also discuss the latest state of the climate, including food shocks, extreme weather impacts, and other stories that have our attention, but importantly, for the first hour, we will be discussing how to cope in uncertain times.

To help us do this, we are delighted to welcome Nick Jonsson, a man of many talents. He is an award-winning global speaker, HRD Corp Registered Trainer in Malaysia, bestselling author, as well as transformational master coach and facilitator. He is widely recognized as the world’s number one thought leader on executive loneliness, ranked as the top 28 coach worldwide by Global Gurus Top 30, he’s a Certified Master Coach (CMC) and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), specializing in Executive, Life, Team, and Sober Coaching. He is also a certified and highly experienced facilitator, as well as a supervised counsellor and psychotherapist.

Based on his experiences, we are going to discuss how we can all cope in challenging times, the role of community, the alternatives to unhealthy coping mechanisms, how to feel safe when everything is on edge, why vulnerability is a strength, as well as daily practises to stabilize our mindset and energy in tough times.

We know this moment is hard, we’re feeling it too, which is why we are delighted to have Nick join us this week. Why don’t you join us too - this Friday, 27th March 2026, at 7am UK, 8am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 6pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

The only news story able to break through the cacophony of war is the global conversation happening off the back of Louis Theroux’s documentary, Inside the Manosphere. Every possible view is on the table, and regardless of what that view is, a conversation has begun, which is always a good thing… maybe. Sometimes what begins as positive momentum can turn into backlash, something we saw following the #MeToo movement.

We’ll discuss this story and some wider manosphere perspectives, and of course, the war. It’s not looking good, as escalation seems to be the only plan on the table, which is not going to end well. We’ll discuss the various global ramifications happening, from fracturing alliances to what it means to us, as well as dig into the state of the global economy. Since the beginning of the war, economists said it wasn’t going to happen, but this week we’ve learned oil increasing to $150-200 a barrel is now a much stronger possibility, which would cause economic calamity. We also had Jerome Powell, head of the US Federal Reserve, use the word “uncertain” seven times in his latest press briefing, and what he is uncertain about is alarming.

Our information infrastructure is also under assault, from AI fakes about the war, to influencers calming nerves, but it’s Britain’s GB News in the spotlight – should it be renamed Reform TV? By the time we go live, a category five cyclone will have smashed into northern Queensland, and in the meantime, the expected Super El Niño could increase global temperatures by .3°C, which is HUGE, and gets us very close to the 2°C mark.

It’s just us this week and we certainly appreciate the intensity of this moment. We are witnessing the mental health impacts in real-time, and while we don’t sugar coat the news, hopefully it helps seeing all the different threads together, so we can make some sense of it. That’s always our goal. Come and join us this Friday, 20th March 2026, at 7am UK, 8am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 6pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send us Fan Mail

Two weeks into the war between the US/Israel and Iran, and we’re still not sure why. But it’s over, wait, no it’s not, it could be over anytime Donald Trump wants, but it’s over, not yet, maximum damage is on the way, and we’re going to kick them while they’re down. Yes, we’ve been buffeted with war time machismo, however, we could also be in the midst of an end-times Holy War with three prophecies openly discussed. Then there is the wider economic implications, from farmers all over the world unable to fertilize crops or drive equipment, schools closed because no fuel for buses, work from home orders in place across the world to reduce fuel use, food inflation and energy inflation escalating rapidly, and in the Philippines, it’s going dark at night because of fuel restrictions.

As always, we’ll discuss this within the bigger context of how it ripples out and consumes the world, including the environmental impact, and why the situation we are in is a very VERY bad idea, no matter which “side” you’re sitting on.

There is more news to discuss, of course, I mean, have you seen the floods in Australia and Kenya, and the Tornados in the US? However, we’re also going to dig into mandatory ISSB-aligned reporting too – that’s the climate reporting ‘bit’ in the title. You might ask - is it still a thing? Because the US administration rescinded its endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, and the EU simplified its sustainability reporting thresholds through Omnibus I, so does that mean the rules are loosening, the pressure is easing, and we can all relax? Not so fast.

To help us explore this in more detail and uncover what’s next, we are delighted to welcome our special guest, Joanne Flinn, who is on the Thinkers50 Radar for 2026, Chairperson of the ESG Institute, and author of Greensight -The Sustainability Guide for Company Directors. Joanne is a keynote speaker, prolific author, artist, AND right now, she is thinking ‘out loud’ for her next book, publishing early thoughts on Substack. You can find her there.

The intensity continues and we appreciate how overwhelming everything is, so hopefully we can help bring all the different threads together and make some sense of it. That’s always our goal. So why not come and join us this Friday, 13th March 2026, at 7am UK, 8am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 6pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

Send a text

This time last week, the US and Israel weren’t at war with Iran, alas, the very next morning the bombs started dropping. Terrific (not)! It’s been absolute chaos since, with the narrative of the “why” probably the most chaotic it’s ever been, because why did this war start? Pre‑emptive self‑defence against Iranian attacks? Yes and, because Israel started it and we had to follow? Yes and, stopping Iran’s nuclear and missile programme? Yes and, protection of allies / collective defence? Yes and, regime change and “freeing the Iranian people”? Yes and, because Iran is a “global danger”? Yes, and we could go on, we’ve heard it all.

While we will certainly cover a lot more news, the first hour will be focused on this war and what it really means, with a special focus on war, oil, and the economy. We will discuss the war crime of a girls primary school in Iran being bombed which resulted in the deaths of more than 160 people, mostly children, as well as the fact this war is being supported within the US military by Christian Nationalists attempting to fulfil a Biblical prophecy, which will spur the second coming of Christ. Yep, that’s in the mix too.

Joe Augustin can’t be with us this week, and Richard Busellato can only join for the first 45 minutes, so we are bringing in a former guest as co-host this week, Oliver Gill. Ollie is also keen to discuss the UK rivers raw sewage issue, which has gotten a lot of attention, following the release of the new drama/documentary: "Dirty Business". It will be great to get a local insight on this critical issue.

It’s definitely been an intense week for all of us, as we come to terms with another war, but this one has the potential to end in absolute global calamity. Join us as we bring the story together as much as we can. It’s all happening this Friday 6th March 2026, at 7am UK, 8am EU, 11am UAE, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 6pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support.

The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show.

#TheShitShow #UncommonCourage

You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation.

My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage

My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar